Free Meri by Reog

Chapter One
     
     
    “Men are idiots!” Meri growled as she stomped down the long hall toward her parents’ private apartments. Vibrant murals of ocean creatures leaping among foaming waves adorned the left wall of the corridor while on the right a soft, salty breeze wafted through the open, floor-to-ceiling windows and swirled amongst the gauzy blue-green curtains.
    Meri ignored the colorful dance. “Idiots, idiots, idiots! All of them!”
    “Surely you aren’t talking about me, Cuz?”
    Stopping abruptly, Meri spun around and glared at her cousin. Then, after shaking her head and mumbling a curse under her breath, she launched herself against his chest and wrapped her arms around him. “Ban! When did you get back?” Leaning back in his arms, she cocked an eyebrow and stared into his handsome face. “And you know very well you aren’t an idiot. You may be a scoundrel, a womanizer and an unrepentant drain on the royal coffers, as Grandmama likes to say, but you are not an idiot.”
    His grin widened and he bussed Meri’s cheek. “If you hadn’t been complaining about men, I’d blame your snit on Grandmama. What’s wrong? Every servant I’ve encountered is tiptoeing around like there’s a wet Gattan in the palace.”
    Pushing herself out of his loose embrace, Meri tucked her hand under his arm and led him down the corridor at a much more sedate pace. “Oh, it’s Grandmama’s fault, all right. She refuses to acknowledge that I’ve abdicated my status as heir to the throne, has stated it’s time I married and has told Tendallis Davenet that he is the perfect consort. What’s more, she told him that Father completely agrees with her!”
    A short bark of laughter exploded from her cousin’s throat. “Tendallis Davenet? That pompous imbecile? Why him?”
    Meri ground her teeth. “Because his family is old and has royal blood in their ancestry. Something like ten generations ago, one of the daughters married the fourth son of the king, which, according to Grandmama, makes Tendallis the most logical choice for my husband. Not ten minutes ago, that pompous moron accosted me on the beach, patted my hand and told me not to worry my pretty head about governing Mediria. He’ll take care of all that. I’d only need to raise the children.” Meri snorted. “As if he’d have any idea how to govern our peoples!” She snorted again. “As if I’d allow it! He’d have us at war with both Varce and Gattan in a week’s time. But it doesn’t even matter, damn it! I am not going to be Mediria’s next ruler! Why won’t Grandmama believe me?”
    Pulling Meri to a halt, Ban turned her to face him. “Because she refuses to accept that everyone won’t bow to her wishes. Calm down, Cuz. You’ve abdicated and your father and the Council have accepted it. Ignore Grandmama. I do.”
    After staring into her cousin’s grinning face for a few seconds, Meri felt her lips twitch. As usual, he was right. She was getting worked up over nothing.
    He cocked his head to the side and chuckled. “Besides, you wouldn’t have made a very good queen anyway. You spend too much time thinking about sex. Are you sure there isn’t a bit of Drakian blood somewhere in the royal line—other than mine, that is?”
    Without warning, Meri punched Ban in the stomach and got a great deal of satisfaction watching him double over. “Bandalardrac Hardan! Just because you’re half Drakian and obsessed with sex doesn’t mean anyone else in the family is!”
    Hands on her hips, Meri watched her cousin cough and wheeze as he stood doubled over with one hand braced against the wall. More than once she’d rued the day that she’d cornered her cousin with some very specific questions about sex, but he’d been the one person she knew would answer her honestly. Sure, she could have asked her mother, but somehow she didn’t think the current queen of Mediria would be very comfortable talking about sex toys.
    Ban, on the other hand…
    Shaking her