Page 41 of The Broken Queen

I’d never met Father’s parents, they were absent from our lives, but it often made me wonder how they were as parents. He was so cold hearted to me, but great with my daughter. It didn’t make any sense.

“Slade. The whole kingdom knows you’re in love with him. They watched you both grow up, fall in love and suddenly fall out of love. But you never fell out of love with him did you?”

I gulped, and really wish I had the iced late in my hands now. Anna was the closest thing I had to a friend. A part from Lewis, she was the only one I really talked to or confided in. The friends I had growing up didn’t like the pressure of the crown on their backs and decided that it would be better to not be friends with me.

“No.”

Her eyes grew. “Then why not tell him? Or your father for that matter?”

I scoffed. “Father would never listen to me. And Slade, well, he hates me now. Why tell him when he despises me?”

“Next!” The barista called out.

My eyes glanced away from her and at the cheerful, blonde man standing behind the counter. I stepped up and told him my order.

I nodded behind me, “I’ve got her drink too.”

Anna moved forward and told him what she wanted.

“Alright, that’s twelve dollars and seventy-two cents.” I handed him my card and Anna thought it was the perfect moment to put her two cents in again.

“I’m just saying, you need to tell someone. Not just tell, shout it from the rooftops. That man deserves to be loved, and being loved by you? That would make him a fucking King.”

The man’s eyes grew wide, and he started making eye contact with everyone but us. His cheeks twinkled pink. I shook my head and put my card in the card reader.

“Would you like a receipt?” He still avoided my gaze.

“Yes please.” He handed it to me and I walked off to a table. I figured the least Anna could do since she was hounding me would be to get our drinks. I threw the receipt in my purseand dropped it into the seat next to me. I leaned back against the chair and avoided contact with several people who had their gazes locked on me.

“Excuse me, Miss?” I looked up when a sweet little girl walked over to the table. She seemed to be older than Julianna, first or second grade perhaps.

Her Mom was standing behind her with a smile on her face.

“Hi,” I said quietly. I never knew how to react when it came to other people. I didn’t treat them as common folk, they were citizens of this country just like I was. They earned their money by working hard, paying their taxes and just trying to make it by. I had no right to judge them. I was sure some of them had lived a life almost as horrifying as mine, if not worse. There was no need to throw status around.

The little girl had two blonde braids and bright blue eyes. As she grew older, I was sure she would only cause trouble for the boys in this country. She was beautiful, and looked almost exactly like her mom.

She gave me a white teddy bear with a red ribbon on it. I bet that’s for Julianna. The kids were quite fond of my daughter and always seemed to send gifts to her. But that little girl had a big heart and most of the toys she got, ended up going to the orphanage when we would visit. She always said, “Mommy, those kids don’t get to live in a big house like I do and have a lot of toys. We should give them some of mine.” She continued to amaze me day in and day out with her kindness.

I was brought out of my thoughts when she pushed the bear in my direction. “This is for you.”

My heart, my poor broken heart, melted. This was by far the sweetest thing anyone had ever done for me. "Thank you, sweetie. That’s so kind of you.”

I carefully took the bear from her hands and was surprised by what happened next. She jumped into my arms and gave mea big hug. I looked to her mom, and she was still just smiling. Tears welled in her eyes and I wondered what this family had been through. For them to be so trusting of someone from the crown, maybe they weren’t doing so well.

I wrapped my arms around her and patted her back. Quickly after, I let her go, and she went back to her mom. Something nagged at the back of my mind and I reached in my purse. There was my receipt and a random pen I always kept on hand. I quickly wrote down my number and stood up.

The woman appeared to be around my age, and with a daughter similar in age, it wouldn’t hurt to befriend her. Especially if they are going through a hard time and need someone to talk to.

I kept it short and to the point as I handed her the paper with my number. “If you need anything, or just want to talk. Reach me through that.”

Her eyes widened a bit, but a small tear fell from the corner of her eye. She nodded. That right there told me that she needed someone in her life. That something was going on and she needed a friend.

She mouthed a “thank you” to me and pulled her daughter away. I sat back down just as Anna arrived with our coffees.

“What was that about?” Her mouth moved from side to side as if she didn’t trust what just happened.

Most of the people who worked for the crown were always on watch for anything that could go wrong. It was their job to protect us, but it was my job to trust that not everyone would be out to hurt me. The only person who could do severe damage was the same one my heart belonged to.

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