#I don't think I'd die but I'm more worried for the other wastelanders if I fail

[the-dons-waste]

I- What does that mean!!?

( @pea-bois )

This is so fucked up.

[fate-magical-girls]

One day when they're just chatting, the King asks the Queen if she has hobbies aside from her work running their country. It actually actually makes her pause and think. She's been so caught in this web of administrative meetings, political intrigues, and the obligatory occasional royal banquet that she's barely had any time left for herself.

"Riding." She finally says. "There's nothing like feeling the wind whip in your face while you speed by everything. Sometimes I'd just take my Thundering Leopard into the wasteland and let him run. And then it felt like we were the same beast, and we could run all way over the horizon without even getting tired."

The King listens intently, and she continues on.

"Jousting tournaments. I didn't always participate, but I like seeing the knights' armor gleam. I like being caught in the excitement, especially when they're off their horses and going hand to hand; wondering it this is it. This is the fight where one of them actually kills the other. And sometimes they'd ask me for tokens, and then I'd cheer as those men went out to fight, or even die for me. Gave me some perspective."

She realizes that explanation might have been a little intense, but the King isn't cringing yet.

"Dressmaking."

The King smiles. He doesn't laugh, so she feels safe about going on.

"I like the feel of different fabrics, and watching the way they drape off bodies. There's a lot you can show off with a dress. A lot you can hide as well. I'm sure they told you how good my needlework was when they got us engaged."

She falls silent. There are many activities that no longer has time for, activities she took for granted back when she was a powerless but carefree girl.

The King fidgets, then speaks without looking her in the eye. "I don't know anything about clothes, and I haven't jousted much...but uh...I do know how to ride."

"Are you suggesting something?"

"Well...grandpa had a hunting lodge in this forest..." As he speaks, his tone grows more assured.

"I've still got business..."

"No, it won't interrupt anything." He looks her in the eye, clearly excited. "We're supposed to make a tour around the country during harvest time, right? Inspect how the nobles are managing their estates? What if we did a quick detour over there? And...I can get horses...and other people who like riding..."

She has to agree. It's been so long since she's dashed into the wind.

The country-wide tour is a long and complicated affair, and it's all worth it for that one moment of freedom at the hunting lodge. The Queen makes sure the saddle and reins on her horse are well-secured before hopping on. She notices the King not making the same checks, and asks him if he needs any help. He tells her not to worry.

She does one back and forth lap around the lodge. It's exhilarating in a way entirely different from scoring a victory in war or negotiations. It's only when she gets back that she sees the King walking beside his mare behind her.

"It's been a while since we rode together, and the saddle chafed both me and her. And I can't ride bareback, so yeah. Did you like it, though."

She laughs and dismounts.

"Come on. I'll show you how to ride bareback if you show me how to twirl those candlesticks like you did last week."

I think the funniest dynamic for arranged-marriage royalty would be a queen who came here 100% prepared to murder her future husband and rule as a widow queen in her own right, only to discover that the king is autistic as hell and responds to her wish to rule with "oh thank god please do, I don't want to be bothered by these people. I can just tell them to go bother you instead, if you really want that. I've got beetles I wanted to study."