I stumbled upon A Wife For The King—a web novel about a modern woman named Pamilerin, who becomes the king’s secretary and eventually his wife.
Within the first several pages, I could practically touch the cold marble floors of the palace, smell the rustling silky dresses, and taste the spicy smell of palace kitchens. The anxious steps of Pamilerin, the silence of staff as they talked in low tones, and the burden of royal expectations fell like a tangible person on my chest.
The position of secretary is offered to her by her father and when he says just a month, it sounded to me like a trap I was more than happy to fall into. The confusion and astonishment (mingled with ambition and dread) of Pamilerin, became mine. I got up close to my screen, held my breath and thought, I am in.
In the palace, power and pressure are a living tapestry of every day. The orders trickle down the adviser of the king. Pamilerin has to achieve between dignity and survival. I was cheering her to get through court eyes, back door policies, and entangling rumors.
There is one scene that I still smile over and that is when Pamilerin runs into the king in one of the halls and almost spilt tea over the king wearing the traditional embroidered robe. The breathless sigh, The shock of nerve, The edge of blade serenity--the instant held my breath. And in that instant there was a spark of electricity between them.
However, romance is not the only thing in the palace. It is jealous colleagues, power politics and back-stabbing, and silent power games. There was a certain uneasiness: the rustle of a servant woman, the sound of sandals, inquisitive eyes of a courtier. Pamilerin was helpless and this caused me to protect her. I wanted the story to carry her away from home, or at least to the other side--to a life that she would love.
My chest tightened when the king finally proposed to her (as wife-in-waiting, then later on as wife) to be his wife. Not with that kind, you know, of romance--but the actual, beating-like kind you get when folks are doing the big thing right or wrong...or the big thing right or wrong.
He is a king with a heavy responsibility. She is a woman who yearns to be free. I was jealous to see them come closer together, over strategy sessions, sweet words at the end of long days, and one-sided assassinations of rivalry. I reflected on how weird the situation is when work pours into my heart.
The secret smiles. The stolen glances across scrolls are exchanged. When he grabbed her hand to hold her steady in front of the royal car. Those were breathing moments. I could feel my pulse go with theirs.
It is not just a fairy tale. Unstable unions bulge, and secrets tumble like dominoes, and Pamilerin transforms herself into a pawn to significant queen-in-waiting. She is taught diplomacy, what is expected of her in classes, palace etiquette, and all this time she has held on to the values that she brought with her: independence, empathy, and the burning sense of fairness.
When she draws her first lines, declining to be a spy, declining to be a puppet, like I straightened up in my chair. Yes!--she is learning that they have the power to exercise as well.
The enemies of the King rise up, betrayal is at the door, and Pamilerin has to make a choice between love and duty. The stakes were high and I was dizzy. I did not want the world she lived into to break her heart--or the man she had fallen in love with.
I sat back heart full after the story was finished.
I recalled that day when Pamilerin started to work at the palace; that tension in her chest, that rotation of palace dresses, that stench of fear. And then to the epilogue--her laughter through gold halls, babe in arms, all the future dissolved. I was touched by that arc.
I was asking myself whether I could expand into more. This narrative put me in mind: you can. It is possible to stand high and tall in power-made worlds. It is possible to love and not lose yourself.
And as to the king--his journey had a lesson to me. Real leadership is not about power-it is listening. Concerning selecting compassion. Protecting someone not because you were told to, but because you felt like it.
The last two images was gotten from web:
Source 1
Source 2