Black Tulips

"You look well rested." Queen Elvira said, looking at Hector's sleepy eyed reflection in the dressing mirror as he lifted himself off the bed. He managed a small guilty smile.

"I feel so too."

She smiled and turned back to the mirror.

"Do you have somehwere to go now?" He said, coming up behind her.

"I am just decking you for my husband." She answered lightly, with an air of nonchalance, like it was so natural. And maybe it was, but not quite to him.

A blush rose up his cheeks as he sucked his lips in. He wasn't sure how long it would take for him to completely get used to it, but he could admit that it was far more enjoyable now than it used to be.

She turned to him when he didn't say a word, catching his brush and she let out a small laugh.

He cleared his throat shyly and reached for the comb. "How...about I help you with your hair?"

She nodded with a pleasant smile and he took the comb and came behind her. He let his fingers carefully smoothen the hair, before he started to moved the comb, working it between the strands and carefully preceeding it with his fingers.

She smiled a little as he did, her pleasure showing in the smile that reached her eyes.

"How many times have you combed a woman's hair?" she asked, as he made a small middle partition.

"I sometimes believe I could have done it much younger. For my mother. I am not so sure if I actually have, however."

"You definitely have." She said and he snickered.

"Thank you." He answered, then set the comb down and slowly rubbed in the pure essential oil, rubbing through the strands in groups of handfuls.

She closed her eyes as he massaged the oil in, and when he removed his hand to take the comb, she immediately held it back, guiding him back to her hair. He didn't need her to say more, and just went on massaging her scalp, taking his own reward in the way she seemed to relax under his working fingers.

She finally opened her eyes and let out a small breath of relief. "For some time, I did believe I was in heaven,"

He laughed. "You flatter me, your...Elvira."

She have him a small look through the mirror. "I am only letting you go now because I believe you have a letter to write?"

He swallowed, dropping his hands from her hair after passing the comb one last time, satisfied it looked as perfect as always.

"I believe I do."

He leaned from behind her to drop the comb, then gave a small smile and walked away, presumably to write the letter on his own.

Queen Elvira decided to abandon the tiara today, and look as simple as possible. With a simple blouse above a fully tulled dark pink skirt that flowed behind her, she believed she did look less royal.

Hector made his way towards the small garden he had found earlier that morning while he had been looking for the river's bank. He trudged his way through, making sure to know the path he took.

Luckily, the black tulips he had come across the first time were still there, magnificient against the sheen of the sun.

Strangely now, it did remind him of the Queen's hair, and with a small smike, he took a few, then made his way back to the palace.

He wrote a short letter and then attached the bunch to the scroll. With that, he kept it on her bedside, where he knew she would take it from when she was ready to read.

Queen Elvira was exanining a few samples of lip colour by the time Hector was done.

"You should have lunch first. I need to make a choice." she said to him, gesturing to the well laid out table.

"A choice?" he asked, walking slowly towards the small stool that had lots of colors on it. "Are you thinking of painting?"

She looked up to him, her brows furrowed, before it suddenly straightened out and started to laugh. "Painting? Yes, then. My lips are the canvas."

Hector blinked, letting her slight sarcasm sink in, and he broke into a small smile, then let himself sit beside her.

"I am quite unfamiliar with a lot of things."

She nodded. "You do not need to know either."

He nodded and then leaned over the colors, his eyes scanning them. He extended his hand to pick the dark pink color, then let his gaze slowly move to her lips.

She was not looking at him as she was focused on the colors too. He looked at the color again, then slowly back at her lips again.

It would look striking against those beautiful rosebuds, and against her pitch black hair, she would look ethereal, almost like she always did, just with a little more spice.

He swallowed, unable to take his mind off it. His thoughts were slowky deviating as rather than how the color would look on her, he started to imagine how her lips would feel.

Would they live up to their appearance of simple exquisiteness, or offer a simpler course? Could they be rougher? Or would that depend on her?

His eyes shifted to her eyes for a moment, then back to her lips again, his chest constricting.

It did feel like he knew the answer already, but something was stopping that memory. He shook his head and turned away, dropping the color vial a little noisily.

Queen Elvira turned to him, her eyes moving from him to the vial.

"Is something amiss?"

He shook his head absent mindedly, his throat feeling a little dry. "Everything is fine, Elvira."

She examined him for a while, then turned fully to him, putting his face between both her palms. She drew closer to him, her eyes darting across both of his.

"Are you sure?" she asked, worry lines creasing her forehead.

"I..." he brought his eyes to hers, then lowered them again, and finding no respite from his wandering thoughts, looked back up at her eyes.

"Talk to me." hs said, moving closer.

He swallowed hard, his heart picking up pace.

"There is...nothing."

She gave a small smile and let him go. He let out a small breath and moved away from her, finally having a break from his thoughts.

For the rest of the color choosing session, he struggled to keep his eyes away from her face in general, hoping the colors would drown out the voices in his head.