Maid For You

Chapter 53

"I heard that you sprained your ankle." She tilted her head. "Of course, you must sit. Take the seat just across from me."

"Thank you, your majesty," I bowed my head and made my way to the cushioned seat across from her. Miss Alexandria sat in a chair in between us on my right, and the Queen sat right before me.

"Goodness, you don't look so good." Queen Klara noted. "That's to be expected after a long hike, but have you not had time to bathe?"

"l apologize," I started. "Missus Lucile said I should see you immediately, your majesty."

"Oh, it didn't have to be that immediate," the Queen scoffed. "Of course, Missus Lucille is very prompt and exact; I shouldn't be surprised."

So far the Queen was not impressed with my appearance...but it didn't seem like she was about to fire me.

"It doesn't truly matter, in the end," she said. "We all know that you're a pretty girl."

"Oh!" I hadn't expected that. "Thank you, your majesty."

"So," began Queen Klara. "The hike."

I stiffened in my seat.

She picked up a teacup on the small mahogany table next to her and began stirring it with a small spoon. "Of course, you storming down the mountain was rather unprofessional, truth be told. But, I'm sure even you are aware of that." She rose an eyebrow, and wore an amused smirk that I recognized from Prince Coleman. "That being said, my son can be a blithering idiot so I cannot entirely blame you for your actions. And of course, I believe he fancies you somewhat so he lets you get away with such behavior."

"What?" I blurted out as she took a poised sip from her teacup.

"You look very confused, Miss Carmichael," Miss Alexandria said. Her voice was melodious and calming—it reminded me of honey and milk. "Is there a question we could answer?"

"Um..." I had a lot of questions about Prince Coleman, but I didn't know if they were appropriate to ask. "Am I in trouble?"

"No, you are not," Queen Klara said. "Missus Lucille takes on the burden of delivering unpleasant news, and telling people that they are, as you put it, 'in trouble.'"

"Oh, I see." I paused for a moment, and decided to risk bringing up the Prince. "So then, about Prince Coleman..." I hoped the Queen would elaborate on her line about him fancying me.

Queen Klara looked at Miss Alexandria and nodded at her. Alexandria responded with a quick bob of her head before standing up and making her way towards the doors. "Don't worry about Coleman." The Queen said. "We're not here to talk about him."

"Of course not," I said with a strained smile. She just couldn't say things about him liking me and then drop the subject!...well, technically she could do whatever she wanted since she was a literal queen, but still!

"Do you remember when you accompanied Prince Coleman and a few of his lady friends for tea?" Queen Klara asked me.

"Yes, your majesty," I answered.

"And do you remember what you and I briefly discussed?"

I pursed my lips and thought for a second. "Oh, yes. You talked about the queen girl thing for the fall festival, right?"

"Yes. The queen maiden of the Autumn Festival is a tradition we Areganans have enjoyed for over 20 years." She smiled. "I suppose I ought to elaborate more on the whole affair. I was rather limited with the details before. See, I was the one to introduce the queen maiden tradition to the Autumn Festival."

I watched her intently.

"I'm sure you aren't all that intrigued by the background of it all, but I think it's useful for you to know." She uncrossed her legs and tilted her head. "I don't know how much you know about me. You might have noticed that my accent is a bit off from the rest. I'm not from Aregano; I'm the first born of the King of Durmanhein."

Ah, I thought. Suddenly her German encounter with Prince Coleman in the hallway made more sense. Durmanhein's native language was German.

"Anyways, my father's first wife was my mother, but after discovering his mistress, my mother was furious. I can't say I blame her for her fury." She chuckled very softly. "I think most other women would have tried to make things work with my father; he was next in line for the throne. However, my mother came from an incredibly wealthy family, and she really wasn't someone to toy with. To make a long story short, their divorce actually ended very well for myself. My mother and father split before having any other children together. While my father went on to have more offspring, my mother did not. Through my father, I was a princess of a powerful country, and through my mother, I inherited a fortune that was not granted to the rest of my half-siblings. This made me very desirable to suitors. In the end, Collin won my heart. He was very handsome." She smiled. "--and still is!"

"At the time, Aregano did not flourish so much as it does now. The country has a lot of natural resources and beauty, but it was rather poor and had suffered from some not-so-wise leadership. Fortunately, Collin was very wise, and I was very rich." She took a sip of her tea. "And so we worked together to make Aregano greater than ever. I, myself, helped quite a bit with what one might call "public relations." I started to connect people to the country through parades and visits and the introduction of new traditions and holidays. The Autumn Festival was not so formal of a thing back when I first became Queen. Many people would celebrate their harvests around the same, but it was never an official holiday. We, my husband and I, formalized it and supported the Autumn Festival. It takes place the first week of every October. Children get the week off from school, and there are parades and markets and all sorts of fun events during the week.

"On the fifth day of the Autumn Festival, on Friday, that year's queen maiden is announced. The queen maiden is an Autumn Festival tradition that I introduced. The concept behind it is that anyone can be queen maiden. Occasionally, the role is given to a regular Areganan girl. However, more often than not, the role has been instrumental politically speaking. Many nobles will offer wonderful incentives in order to have their daughter selected as that year's queen maiden. It's a very nice opportunity to have on one's record, not to mention it's quite a fun experience. The queen maiden first gets to ride in an open carriage with the royal family on the Friday morning parade. She also attends the royal luncheon, the evening banquet, and the ball. She is given many beautiful dresses for the occasion, she gets to stay in a lovely room in the palace and is waited upon hand and foot, and she is supposed to be given the upmost care and attention from all the noblemen throughout all the events. After the luncheon, she gets to choose a nice young man to be crowned as her very own prince for the rest of the evening. It is a very fun experience for her, overall."

"I see," I said at last. "Sounds like a pretty good gig."

The Queen took another sip of her tea. "Yes. A very good 'gig' indeed."

 I sat and stared at my feet awkwardly, unsure of what to say. "Well," I started. "Have you picked the queen maiden for this year yet, your majesty?"

It's probably Lady Madeline. I thought. Because that would be my luck.

"I have." Queen Klara leaned forward slightly. "I've chosen you."