Tea For Two
I was surprised to see Malinus show up to Blackwood since barely knew him. Dana had showed him into the study to wait for me. It was not immediate evident why he was here, but I would be cordial with him since I had hoped to work with him some day, “Good afternoon, Lord Malinus, you caught me at the right time. I was just about to go to tea with my godmother Vanessa.” He smiled and nodded, “I will not keep you long Your Grace. I am merely a messenger.” He pulled a golden envelope out of his pocket and presented it to me. I smiled and took the envelope from him, “How is His Majesty? I’m hoping relaxing like I am. Last night was rather exhausting.” He rubbed his chin and looked at me, “Well, the Prince visited earlier and there was no doubt a little conflict. Things are often uneasy with the two brothers but after last night, it was a little more heated. I suspect you know why.” I blushed and then nodded thinking about the kisses that I shared with the King last night, “I believe I do.” He smiled at me, “Don’t worry Your Grace, His Majesty knows exactly how deal with the Prince. If you’ll excuse me, I cannot be away for long. The King has taken the day off so I must be there in his office just in case.” I nodded, tucked the envelope in my pocket and walked him to the front door, “Please travel back safely Lord Malinus and thank you.” After he left, I went back to the study and locked the letter in my desk, I was expected at Vanessa’s cottage shortly so it would have to wait.
I left the study and walked towards Vanessa’s cottage on foot. It wasn’t too far away from the manor, so I didn’t believe I needed any escort to get there. It was a nice day too, so I wanted to take in the sights in silence. It wasn’t long before I was in front of her little cottage. I raised my hand and knocked on her door. She opened the door with a smile, “I was waiting for you, come on in.” I passed through her door to see a little brick oven on the wall below her front window and the fireplace on the left far side wall. To the right was a small kitchen with oak cabinets and white counters. In the center of the room was a small table. Vanessa didn’t have a couch or anywhere to sit other than the table, so I made my way to the table. Behind me Vanessa giggled, “I have a sitting room upstairs if you want to be more comfortable.” I shrugged, “I really am not picky, whatever is easier for you.” She smiled, “I already have it all set up in the sitting room so technically that would be easiest.” I nodded and followed her up the stairs. There were two rooms upstairs that I had assumed that were both hers and her mother’s at one point. She walked to the room to the right of the stairs whose door was open. I entered and found a black couch that had gold embellishments and a small coffee table with a black tea set that matched that of the couch. All of this sat in front a small fireplace and there were various snacks on a small, tiered tray.
She motioned for me to take a seat and I took a seat on the far side of the couch. She sat next to me and poured the tea, “I opted for Earl Grey from Terre. Sugar? Cream?” I nodded, “I would like both but not too much sugar.” She pulled out the sugar cube and placed it in the hot tea and then a few drops of cream before handing it to me. I swirled the spoon around the cup and took a sip immediately tasted the aroma of the rose that is so famously in the Earl Grey tea. It had been my favorite growing up and tasting it now was good enough I closed my eyes. Vanessa spoke to pull me out of my bliss, “So, who was the boy at the party?” She didn’t mince words and I wouldn’t opt to lie to her either. I inhaled sharply, “He said his name was Burnett, but I found out last night that it was the Prince in disguise. He said he had magical items to help him sneak into Terre and disguise himself.” I looked at her trying to gauge her reaction and just as I suspected would happen. She furrowed her brow and took a sip before speaking again, “He didn’t hurt you; I assume.” I shook my head, “No he mostly warned me to not trust the King or anyone in Vellum for that matter. He called the whole lot in attendance a bunch of peacocks trying to jockey for favor with me.” She giggled, “Well he’s half right and just as pessimistic as ever. He’s wrong about the King and I hope you are aware of that. If there is anyone Vellum you could trust more than me, it would be Lucien. I don’t believe he would ever do anything to hurt you. As for the magical items, I wasn’t aware of anyone in Vellum who could make a cloaking item. I thought I was the only one. This is concerning.” She frowned and sat in silence for a while before she got up and walked over to a cabinet and rustled around in it. I heard her make a grunting noise then she came and sat back down. She turned to me frowning, “I’m not sure how he got a hold of my item, but my cloaking item is missing now. I think I need to lock my cabinet now.” I nodded and looked down at the cup in my hand, “I’m sorry Vanessa, I wish I had known it was yours so I could ask how he got a hold of it.” She shook her head and patted my knee, “It’s okay kiddo. I will just have to be wary about who I trust. Many people are in and out of here on workdays because of my side business. I will need to figure out who helped him take it is all. Trust me I will find out eventually.”
I nodded and took another sip of my tea before she spoke again, “So, how was the Blood Ritual? I see you had to cut your hand which means quite a lot of blood was required of you.” I blushed again at remembering the Blood Ritual and I recounted in detail to her what it was that we had to do during the ritual. Her eyes widened as recounted to her about the French kisses that the King and I were forced to do during the ritual. She giggled, “Be honest, you enjoyed it. He’s not an ugly man and you could do worse for a first kiss.” I blushed and took a sip of my tea, “I didn’t hate it.” She smiled a big smile that reminded me of the Cheshire cat’s smile in that movie I watched when I was little. I knew she was thinking of something rather devious, she often smiled at my father that way before picking on him. She took a nibble of a small cookie that was filled with a jam, “Do you want me to find out what he thought? I mean, you are officially a candidate for Queen now.” I frowned at her, “I like the King. A lot. I just don’t know my feelings on him right now and I don’t really have any aims towards the throne. I know that I will be forced to take part in this competition, but I don’t know if I will try very hard.”
She giggled, “Well would you mind if I found out anyhow? I’m curious if anyone could soften the heart of Lucien. He has never seen any lady in Vellum as one who could turn his heart. Perhaps our gorgeous newcomer could turn it in her direction. Besides, you keep saying you want to make a difference here. What better way to make a difference than to be the Queen who just about has the most power in Vellum. Luckily the system here in Vellum is not discriminatory towards women when it comes to power. If the Queen Mother had chosen, she could have ruled after the King passed away. She was far too grief stricken to rule so she abdicated to her sons.” I sighed, “I want to make a difference, but I don’t want the King to think I am getting close to him for power. He seems like such a good man, and he certainly deserves a wife who will match his good heart. I just don’t know if I can honestly say that I am suitable.” Vanessa put down her tea and turned to me, “Ugh, I really don’t understand either of you. I see two beautiful young people who seem to get along well. Why not just give it a chance?” I sighed, “I will keep an open mind during this silly competition, but I really have no desire to marry anyone. I’m still young and I just want my career to flourish without having to worry about someone else. I promise to make an effort.” She giggled, “I told your mom I would convince you to take this seriously. We saw you two dancing last night and your mom believed he was one of your two destined suitors.” I recalled what the Grand Pretre said about the two destined suitors, and it dawned on me that his official color was gold. I gasped, “She’s right. I am not sure how I didn’t think about it until now. I won’t write him off because She cautioned me against it. I suppose my question would be if I could delay any wedding plans until I was complete with school.” She pulled her hand to her chin to think, “I am not sure the council will concede for that long, but they may compromise to let you wait until your first year is done. By then, you might have the experience of a scribe.” It would have to be enough; I don’t know if it was right for me to come in and take a throne from a lady who had probably been groomed from their birth to be Queen. We had sat and chatted about various things about Vellum and the university that I would need to know. Vanessa had implored me to go home before the sun set so that I wouldn’t be caught in the woods in the dark. As I was walking through the woods, I felt that something was off. Usually, you would hear some sort of background noise. Crickets and various animals but I had heard nothing. It was silent and the only thing I could hear was the hard beating of my heart as I had feared what the lack of noise meant. All of a sudden, I heard a whirling noise somewhere close by in the woods and running footsteps coming towards me. I was frozen in the spot with fear wondering what those noises meant before I felt arms around me a stinging on my cheek.
