Page 4 of The King's Queen

“Oh yes, it was quite refreshing.” I smile with feigned innocence, though I know my cheeks are still flushed with the exertion of my failed escape. Ms. Eida nods curtly, that vein bulging from her forehead again.

“Very good. You’re dismissed.” She waves her shaking hands at the young guard, whose face blushes crimson again once the attention is turned to him. He squeaks and offers a hasty bow before stumbling out from the room. The door is left slightly ajar upon his departure. The clacking of Eida’s heels sounds like chickens strutting as she takes small, hurried steps to shut the door. The thought makes me giggle.

“That boy won’t last,” the elderly woman groans while she lowers herself back into her chair.

“Who is he?” I ask. “I haven’t seen him before.”

“No one of consequence.”

I frown, but Ms. Eida doesn’t seem to care too much for my displeasure, as per usual.

“Your Highness!” My tutor’s shrill voice and the aggressive tapping of her foot brings makes my head spin. “Who established the Raonkin Mage ban of 1428?”

“My great-great-great-great-uncle, King Alguird the Fourth.” Eida smiles satisfactorily.

“Excellent, now tell me…”

I answer all of her questions with the same dull, monotone voice I always use with her, trying to slip away mentally if I can’t physically escape today. It’s never anything exciting or useful. Just facts about people who are too dead for me to care about.

I rest my head on my arms and think back to that horse from earlier, Vestíg. He must have come with the Tesslari delegates, seeing as Torin didn’t know him. My friend spends most, if not all, of his free time in the stables, grooming, riding, and flirting with the stable hands.

But then what of the Tesslari? It is customary for delegates to visit every few years, as we also send our own party to their empire to ensure our alliance is still strong. However, the delegates weren’t supposed to arrive with such a grand procession for a few more months, let alone today. Then there was that man from earlier. Something about him unsettled me. Maybe it was the way I couldn’t see his eyes from under that hood or how unnaturally white his teeth were. I’ll have to ply Blaine for information later; if Father were to tell anyone, he would be among those told.

“I can’t keep working like this!” someone hisses in the distance, though it all sounds like I’m under water, the words floating just out of reach. I must have dozed off.

“I understand, take the afternoon, Ms. Eida. I will call for Tanja to come deal with the princess.”

“Thank you. She needs you to keep her head on her shoulders.”

“Good day, madam.”

Those scuttling footsteps recede, and I screw my eyes shut even tighter once I hear the faltering steps coming towards me. The footsteps stop a few inches away, and then a warm breath is fanning my face. So close, this person is so close now. A gloved hand reaches up and gently brushes a stray hair from my face. My breath hitches, and the hand falls as if it has been burned.

“I know you’re awake, Verosa,” Blaine says coldly, that warmth disappearing immediately. He takes a few steps back, but I keep my eyes shut and force my breathing to be even. He waits a minute, and I debate dropping this act when he begins to walk away.

“Fetch Tanja. The princess has been requested for dinner by His Majesty,” he says before adding quietly, “they’ll have company.”

The maid he stopped agrees in a hushed whisper before darting off down the hall to find my lady in waiting. Blaine pauses before his off-beat footsteps echo down the hallway, going the opposite way. Like he was never really here at all. My cheek and tip of my ear burns red hot where he had touched it. What had he been thinking?

I don’t have time to consider it when Tanja enters the room. I can tell it’s her by her bouncy and graceful footsteps.

“Mai Reinhavich.” Her voice is a saccharine song, a lilting croon. Then, when she confirms no one can hear her, she shouts, “VERA!” She smacks my arm.

“Ow! What the-“

“Oh, good, you’re up.” She laughs, tugging me unceremoniously to my feet. Her deep brown eyes are sparkling with mischief. Her chestnut curls bounce on her shoulders with every step as she drags me towards the door.

“His Majesty has requested a royal dinner tonight, so we’ve got to get started early if we want you to be ready in time.”

I scoff. “It can hardly be called a ‘royal dinner’ when there’s only two of us and that grand dining hall.”

“Well.” Tanja bites her lip and looks down at her feet before staring back up at me. I’m caught off-guard when I fully blink sleep from my eyes and take in her appearance. Her shoulders are slumped, rather than pinned back with that regal dignity Tanja usually carries herself with, and her skirts are rumpled as if she’s been clutching at them all day. I pull us to a stop.

“What is it?” I demand. My beloved maid begins fiddling with a loose curl.

“You just have company tonight, that’s all!” she says suddenly, all of that exuberant joy once more highlighting her feminine features. She takes to humming a tune as she drags me to the bathing chambers, as if having forgotten all that troubled her before.

“Who?” I ask as she and the maids begin stripping my worn skirts and gown from my body. Royalty has long since left me without a scrap of modesty…around my maids, at least. I let them guide me towards the luxurious tub while Tanja pulls out an engraved box.

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