“People are scared of you.” He said as he leans over and looks into her eyes. The coffee shop was quieter than ever considering the storm brewing in. She raised an eyebrow on his statement but she kept a faint smile ready on her face.
“And they don’t fear you?” She said in response. It was another attack towards him, of course. It was his turn to ready his own faint smile. Maybe a smug one if he has the table on his side.
“They’re intimidated by me. There’s a difference.” He decided to go with the smug smile instead, confidence suits well with his personality, but just like everything else in his life, it was a mirage.
There’s attraction between them, there’s no lying about that. But it wasn’t the face, it wasn’t the personality, their attraction is something else more pure. Their attraction is a goal; it is something that’s developed through years of working together, getting into the mud and filth together, just to attain that one singular thing. It was the very thing that kept them working as a team, as a partner, almost like one entity with two minds.
“The first time we talked properly, you talked about building an empire,” He started. He gave a long look at his coffee, staring at the white swirls on his cappuccino. He knew that she was looking at him and he let her for a while. “You said that I was going to be one of your subjects.”
In other words, she wanted to crush him, just because he was lesser than her, weaker than her.
“That still hasn’t changed.” She said. Her face was stiff, she knew that she had gotten into his mind, but something was wrong. He gave off a sigh, smiled, and shook his head.
“Well, now, I won’t object.” He said and looked straight unto her eyes. He could see the shock within the reflection of her gazing eyes. “You are meant to be a queen and you will be a queen. I saw that in you the first time. The fury, the fire, the determination, the courage, I have seen all that in you and you know what makes you so different from other women? You don’t sell yourself less for what you are. You know your cost and you know that you’re worth more than all the diamonds and the stars in the universe combined. That makes you strong and that makes the rest of them weak.”
She did her best to compose herself. She coughed, trying to hide how shock she was by his statement. He was making a play on her. He wanted to get something out of the conversation.
“So now you’re just going to give up and become one of my subjects?” She said directly at him, without stuttering. Something was truly wrong. “You’re not going anywhere with your flattery.”
“There’s no point. I’m going to lose either way.”
“But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try.”
“No that means that I shouldn’t even try.”
He couldn’t mean all the things he said to her. She couldn’t believe that he would give up so easily. She expected so much more from him, so much more of a fight. It felt like it was some kind of ploy and yet, she felt that he was genuine. But no, she argued, he’s more manipulative than that. He wouldn’t lessen himself if he had nothing to gain.
“What do you want?” She had asked despite herself. She didn’t want to pull that card prematurely and yet she did. She felt impatient just because she felt that she was being played.
He raised his shoulders alongside his arms.
“Nothing else but to become a loyal subject to your empire. At least that would help me from getting destroyed.”
He looked pathetic. He sounded pathetic. She expected more from him, she keeps expecting more from him, she didn’t want him to take the blows; she wanted him to fight back, like he always does. But he didn’t. He simply took her attacks, attacks that she wanted him to deflect and fight back.
“I’ve thought about it for a while, actually.” He said and took a sip from his coffee. She wouldn’t even dare touch the coffee cup in fear that he would see her hands shaking. “Let me ask you a question, what happens if an unstoppable force meets an immovable object?”
“I don’t know.” She replied. She felt bad for her response; it was one way of telling him that he was falling right to his plan. Whatever his plan was.
“Universal destruction.” He replied. “If the force from the unstoppable force collides with the immovable object itself, it would lead all the pent up energy to distribute itself away from the immovable object, hence possibly destroying everything around it.”
“So you’re trying to prevent that?”
“No.” He replied and paused for a while. “That’s just a theory. The answer for the question is not an answer by itself. It’s an explanation. Think about this for a moment. If such entities exist, why wouldn’t they exist as one? An immovable object can be an unstoppable force at the same time, can it not?” He explained. “What I am trying to tell you is that if I become your subject, we could be both the unstoppable force and the immovable object at the same time.”
She laughed.
“Is this your way of confessing your love for me?” She asked.
“No. This is not a confession, this is a proposal.”
“Proposal for what?”
“An alliance.”
She looked away from his gaze and into the streets outside.
“A queen needs a king.” She said, there was sadness in her eyes. He wasn’t plotting anything against her. He was telling the truth. But she wanted to make him something more. After all those times they spent together, all the things they have made, all the things they have sacrificed, he deserves so much more than being just a loyal subject. She had lost. She had fallen for his statements. She wanted to; she wanted to fall for him for such a long time.
“You have your husband.” He replied.
“Is he even suitable to be a king?” She met his gaze again. She wondered if he could see what she wanted from her eyes. He did, but he chose not thread on it.
“He doesn’t have to be suitable to rule like a king, the empire has you for that. He doesn’t need to think like a king, you have your mind for that. He can be a placeholder king, a trophy king, a king that is shown to the public for the sake of having something to show.”
“You really see this empire happening, don’t you?”
He smiled and he really does see the future in her eyes.
“I saw it in your eyes the first time we met.”
She gave off a sigh. Time was running out. She needed to be back on the road for her campaign.
“I want you to be my king.” She said finally.
He grabbed her hand from the table and kissed it gently.
“Oh, milady, but I am just lowly seer who can see the future.” He said. He made her smile and that meant more than anything else in the world for him. “Now, my queen, go out there and set fire to the world.”