Persuasion in the Pantry [Maid for More #1]

Chapter 43: Part 3- An Audience with the Queen

Verushka tiptoed through the gallery to the tune of growing whispers. The Queen's waiting guests were becoming audibly restless and Verushka swiftly slipped under the confines of the servant's staircase before one of the curious ton broke ranks and wandered away from their pen. She pushed against a thin planked wooden door and stepped within the final room. Verushka was met with a rainforest in lush bloom. The scent of well-watered soil and orange blossoms filtered through her nostrils as she weaved under full canopied leaves. Luscious lilies from the Orient sprouted beneath her feet and long trailing jasmine brushed against her cheek until the pathway opened into a central courtyard. Across the reflective surface of a pond littered with lotus was the silhouette of a man who made her heart sing.

Cain turned towards the sound of tentative footsteps as the clouds shifted overhead and sunlight streamed through the domed glass ceiling. He blinked several times adjusting to the sudden shift and shielded his eyes from the glare with a raised hand.

"Hello?" Blinded by the light, Cain called out hoping to elicit a response. Met with silence he tried again to smooth the awkwardness of a first meeting with his bride.

"It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance," he offered. "I am Lord Cain, Duke of Bexley." A vacuous cavern or soundless space was all that greeted him and so he took a moment to close his lids and clear the luminescent spots from his eyes. When he opened them he found himself unable to comprehend the vision that awaited him.

"I know who you are," Verushka responded in confused shock.

"What are you doing here, Ver?" Cain entreated.

"The Queen sent me... to you, I think." Verushka bit worriedly at her lower lip.

"Why? What has happened?" Cain glanced around the empty courtyard in futility. "Has something happened? Did Her Majesty send you with a message?"

"Ah... I think that I am the message." Verushka took one tiny step towards her lover and watched Cain's body seize with apprehension.

"You can't mean-"

"I think I do."

"But she never-"

"No, well she wouldn't would she."

"Is this another one of her tests?!" Cain exhaled with a rush of frustration. "This is madness."

"Is it?" Verushka took another step towards him. "I know that the Queen likes to have her little games but she is a kind and generous monarch as well as a friend to you. Perhaps she was testing your loyalty and it looks like we passed. Somehow amidst her own turmoil maybe she has managed to orchestrate our happy ending."

Cain strode the circumference of the pond and grasped Verushka's hands in his own. "Tell me truly, Verushka. What did the Queen say to bring you here?"

"She merely intimated that she wished to speak to me after she had greeted her guests and directed me to this room until such a time as she was ready." Verushka's brows furrowed as she turned the Queens words over in her mind.

"To the exact room that she knew I would be waiting?" Cain noted dubiously.

"It does seem unlikely," Verushka sighed.

"Completely improbable," Cain agreed.

"And yet, here we are," Queen Victoria smiled from the open doorway.

The Queen crossed the threshold allowing Prince Albert and the Duchess of Bexley to file in after, shutting the door behind them.

"What are you doing here, Mother?" Cain asked startled.