[ CW ] Write a story that begins with `` I should n't have said [ yes/no ] to [ him/her . ] ''

`` I should n't have said no to him,'' Queen Malvina says quietly. 
 
 `` Rather too late for that, your majesty. Best not look weak in front of the lad. A queen has to appear decisive.'' 
 
 Malvina gives her majordomo and captain of the royal guard a look. 
 
 `` I thought you were on his side?'' She asks slyly. 
 
 Sir Lawrence shrugs from atop his skeletal steed, the beast's head snorting even in death as it walks alongside the queen's open carriage. 
 
 `` I am,'' he says defensively. `` And yours... What's good for him is good for you and vice-versa.'' 
 
 `` I fear you're not making very much sense, Sir Lawrence. I do n't see how me keeping Dieter under what amounts to house arrest for the duration helps him aside from keeping him safe.'' 
 
 `` You wish to undo the curse you set over this kingdom?'' He does not wait for anything more than a nod to come from his liege. `` Now, why do you think you've been unable to reverse it?'' 
 
 Queen Malvina glances aside at the rolling landscape, ashamed at the truth. 
 
 `` Because, I am not strong enough.'' 
 
 `` Exactly. Or rather too strong. Now, I respected your father greatly, but he had his hands full running a kingdom and was far over his head when Mordnacht gave you your gifts. If he had a clearer head, he might have made sure you received some instruction in your powers from Her. Alas, he rejected my suggestion outright; your mother's death too fresh in his mind.'' 
 
 Queen Malvina's eyes widen in surprise. 
 
 `` You? You told my father he should have had me taught by Mordnacht?'' 
 
 He nods, signing honesty. 
 
 `` I did. I likely know her better than any other soul alive... or at least undead. It was I who delivered the message your mother and you needed her. I was too young to fight in the Wars of the Dead, but my father was a squire during the last one. As terrible as she may have seemed, she was forthright and unflinchingly polite when I first meet her, even as she was willingly to readily eat me. She's a... being of her word.'' 
 
 Queen Malvina purses her lips, her mind calculating. 
 
 `` So that's why you leaped at my idea of meeting with her,'' she says. 
 
 `` Indeed. I've been hoping for the day when you'd take tutelage under her, every day for a hundred years. I believe it's the only way for you to end this curse.'' 
 
 `` Everyday?'' Malvina looks away. `` Why did n't you just tell me?'' 
 
 `` It's not a servant's place to command his liege. And besides, change is not productive unless it's self-desired. *When the pupil is ready, the master will appear... *'' 
 
 Malvina gives a unqueenly wince at the last line. 
 
 `` That's terrible and cliche and- wherever in the world did you learn it? Dieter?'' 
 
 `` Dieter.''
