Special Orders
POV: Alexandra
Lucien was having a pleasant conversation with Lucy about when Nystasia and I visited her with the toys and Nystasia showed the children some of her illusion magic. Lucien was listening intently, adding in his commentary every once in a while. This sight was what I was hoping to see when they met. Seeing this let me know that Lucien was going to be a wonderful father, he was already practicing this with his potential first child. I had prayed that even if I didn’t win, Rayla would since she seemed like a much nicer person than Melody. I would try to appeal to her if she was going to win the competition that she take in Lucy. If not, I have the assurance from my father that our House would take her in but I thought it would be such a shame seeing these two interact like this that Lucien wouldn’t be Lucy’s adoptive father. He looked up at me and winked when Lucy was talking about how it was going to be great when she gets out of her cast. Doc interceded, “It shouldn’t be much longer and once you do, we can release you to your new caretakers.” Lucy gasped, “I thought I was going to Tarn to live in the orphanage. Did I get adopted already?” Doc looked up at Lucien, “I thought someone had told the child. Did I ruin a surprise?” I shook my head, “No, you didn’t. I think we were just waiting for His Majesty to meet with Lucy.”
The little girl’s eyes widened, “Does that mean His Majesty is going to be my new daddy? Will I be a princess?” I shrugged, “Not necessarily. You see there is a decision process going on to determine who will marry His Majesty. If the lady chosen agrees to adopt you then you will be His Majesty’s daughter. For now, you will be living at Blackwood Deep manor.” She scrunched her nose, “But I thought you loved each other, can’t you just get married? Why does someone else have to decide who His Majesty gets married to? Also, Blackwood Deep manor sounds pretty scary. Can’t I live with you, Alexandra?” I sighed, “Well, you see, His Majesty didn’t want people to argue over the Queen’s throne so he wisely asked a council to choose a wife for him in hopes to eliminate any bickering. He did this before he fell in love with me so he has to see it through despite his feelings. That is what being a King is about, sacrifice for the sake of his people. You wouldn’t want to see people go to war with each other for the sake of one person’s decision. Right?” She shook her head, “I guess not but what about the scary place? Do I really have to live there?” I giggled, “I live in Blackwood Deep manor, Lucy. My father has agreed to sponsor you until you are adopted and that is where my family lives. I can promise you that Blackwood is not scary at all. It is a forest but there are so many pretty things there. Princess Nystasia is living there as well and you can meet my other family like my uncle Talon. He was once a great General in the military.” She smiled up at me from her chair, “That sounds awesome!”
Shortly after, her face fell, “What if the new Queen doesn’t want to adopt me though?” Lucien crooked his finger under her chin to bring her face up to his, “You need not worry about that Lucy, you will be adopted by Alexandra’s family. You’d essentially be her little sister. Doesn’t that sound fun?” She shrugged, “I’d rather she be my new mommy. She’s so nice and sweet like when she brought toys for all of us. She didn’t have to do that but she was kind enough to. Lady Kastilidan wasn’t nearly as nice, she was a big meanie actually like Lady Maigny. She visited the hospital tent once and she was making disgusted faces at us. I don’t think she likes children. She’s awful.” Lucien stifled a laugh and looked up at Malinus, “I love this child.” Malinus smiled back, “I think I do too, Your Majesty.” Lucien rose up from his kneeling spot and sighed, “Sadly, my ladies, I must cut out time here as I have a realm to run. Thank you for brightening my day with your presence. I will need you to stay behind, Alexandra, as I have your next orders from Elder Enzo for the competition.” I nodded, “Okay, let me just say my farewells to Lucy.” He nodded at me and took Lucy’s hand and kissed the back of her hand, “Until another time, my lady.” She giggled, “Farewell, Your Majesty.” He went over to his desk and started handing paperwork to Malinus and giving him commands. I turned to Lucy, “I think that went well. I think he likes you a lot. I have to talk to him now but I will be by later to check on you. Okay?” She nodded, “Okay, Alexandra. Please stay safe.” I nodded but thought that was an odd thing for her to say to me since she didn’t know my life was constantly in danger but I shook the thought from my mind as Doc wheeled her out of the tent.
I turned to Lucien and waited until he was done giving orders to my ever-so-diligent cousin. Malinus took the stack of paperwork that Lucien had just handed him and made his way out of the tent. On his way out, he winked at me, “Have fun, dear cousin. Your orders are something quite interesting.” I turned to him and asked, “What do you mean?” He smirked, “Oh, you’ll see. I got to write it out for Elder Enzo and it is very different from anything any of the other candidates were given.” He smiled as he turned to me with a scroll and handed it to me, “I’m told to let you read the orders and understand them. You can ask questions of the expert assigned to you. You can have a seat while you read through your orders. I am sure you have heard the rumors about Enzo and Edgar’s district so these are the orders that will sustain you throughout your time here.” I sat down and pulled the scroll open as Lucien picked up his pen and started to scribble on a paper. The orders spoke of continuing humanitarian work with the children and assisting the doctors with whatever they needed. The new evaluator who would be grading my work would be Doc once I brought the official orders from the King to him. I would also need to check in on Countess Kastilidan once a day. The biggest and most important work will be done in medical research. There is a new type of medical magic that I would need to practice and develop for the betterment of the realm and its future. I thought to myself, “No pressure or anything.” I finished reading the scroll and handed it back to him. He shook his head, “That is for you to keep.” He picked up the paper that he had been scribbling on that had his seal. He handed it to me, “This is for you to give to Doc. This is his official orders to be your observer for this portion of your test.” I took the paperwork from him and bowed, “I think I will leave you to it then. You look like you’re super busy.” He sighed, “I wish I wasn’t. If I had it my way, your task would be to keep my company.” I raised an eyebrow at him, “That would be rather unproductive of me, wouldn’t it?” He shrugged, “It would motivate me and feel like that would be pretty productive.” I giggled, “Well, not very productive for the people of the Glades though. Have a great day, Your Majesty.” He smirked at me, “It’s already been good. Be safe.”
I turned away from him and exited the tent as Derek was standing outside having a chat with the guard. He smiled at me, “Ready for the day, my lady.” He had said my lady in a mocking tone. I rolled my eyes, “Alright smart ass, let’s get going.” He laughed behind me, “Oh come on, Lex. You know that that was super cute for you and your future kiddo to be named my lady by your future husband.” I sighed, “Nothing about that statement is guaranteed. That’s why I have to work my level hardest to make sure that I impress the council with my work and genuine attitude towards my tasks. I now have to impress Doc for that.” He put his arm around me, “That shouldn't be too hard then, Lex. He’s already impressed with you.” I shook my head, “Well that would work but I have to develop new healing magic with my soul father’s magic. I think I’m going to have to summon him so I can ask some questions about how I might go about developing this magic.” He ruffled my hair, “Relax, Lex. If anyone can do this, it’s you. You have the smarts and you just always somehow find a way to get things done.” I looked up at him, “I can’t help but think that this magic could help Jess too.” He leaned his head on top of mine, “I love that you think of your friends even when something like this could benefit you.” I shook my head, “It benefits the realm and, by extension, Jess so I am very determined to see this through for them more than anything. If I benefit from this by winning the competition, that’s just a bonus.”
We walked up to the medical tent as Doc was emerging, lighting up a cigarette. He took a puff and smirked at us, “You know? I know this shit can hurt my body but I can quit. It’s the only stress relief I have between my tasks.” He looked down at the paperwork that I was carrying, “It looks like you have official orders.” I handed it out to him, “It’s for you. I’m supposed to deliver this to you. I suppose if you have questions you can probably ask His Majesty since the Elders have left the area.” He nodded and took another puff before he took the paperwork from me, “Yeah, heard about that. I had offered my services if only temporary but they told me there weren’t injuries, that it was just a contamination. Seems strange to have no injuries from contamination but I’m not going to question it. Let’s see what we have here.” He dropped the cigarette on the floor and stomped on it. He pulled the scroll up to his face and readjusted the glasses on his face. He looked up at me and smirked, “So I get to give you orders from here on out, kiddo? I am very lucky, I could use your talents on some things, especially your ability to connect with people. Let’s see what else.” He read the orders further then looked at me pointedly, “So medical research is to be your main purpose and I am supposed to help you.” He looked up at Derek, “I think you should be her research assistant. She will need it.” Derek smiled back at him, “I’d love to help her out. This seems like a very important thing for everyone.” He then nodded, rolled up the scroll, and stuck it in his lab coat, “Indeed it is young Chalshin, indeed it is.” He turned to me and placed a hand gently on my shoulder, “I suppose, then, that we will need to set you up a space to do your research. This should be a very interesting thing to watch. I feel like it will be history in the making and I am very much here for it.”
