"Ettinsmoor? Is that what we're calling it now?" Imira asked.
"Better than 'the northern lands the Ettins inhabit' don't you think?" Peter asked in return.
"I suppose it's catchy," she agreed. "So what do we do now?"
Peter looked around the room...
I AM JUST GOING TO REMIND EVERYONE THIS BOOK IS RATED MATURE SO...
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I didn't need to ask what time it was to know it was late. Very late. The room was drowning in daylight and I could hear there were people outside the bed-chamber. That's the downside of all this: there is always someone waiting. Someone to greet, a hand to shake, an individual to charm, a dull conversation to have or an occasion to look good for. My day is rarely my own ever since I became Queen. I try to cram it all together, the boring parts that is, so that I can have some time of my own either in the afternoon or in the morning, depending on the circumstances, but unless it is in the schedule, I can't just do whatever I feel like. Not anymore. It was different while I was pregnant, I had the ultimate excuse. No one says no to a pregnant woman, much less a pregnant Queen. But now I am back in the game, one hundred per cent, which is why I find it odd they allowed me to sleep in. I must have missed all my morning appointments, why didn't anyone wake me up?
There's a little bell beside the bed, we use it to call the servants and with one ring of it Jane walks through one of the doors and curtsies.
"What time is it, Jane?" I ask her.
"Noon," she informs me.
"I'll be damned," I mutter. "Can you draw me a bath please?" I ask as I look for my slippers.
"Right away, Your Majesty,"
I start to head out to the sitting room but she stops me. "Lady Danielle is outside. Lord Stryder says she's your new lady-in-waiting?" She sounds doubtful. Of course she does, she is aware of the dislike I have for the redheaded girl.
Oh, fuc- "Yes. Yes, Lord Stryder is right," I was hoping he might forget, but nothing ever escapes him.
"She is right outside," Jane repeats.
Of course she is.
Well, I'm not letting Danielle see me like this. "I shall speak with Lord Stryer over breakfast. In here," I declare.
She doesn't need to be told twice. Jane nods, curtsies, and leaves through the main door to do as I have asked.
The lack of privacy in this life is appalling. Anyone with the right title can just waltz into the sitting room without an invitation. That is why there is a separate corridor leading to the bath room and dressing area. And why we have meeting rooms and separate studies in our chambers, it tends to get crowded.
The door opens again and breakfast is carried in by Lily and Amelea. They are followed by Henry who carries a load on documents that no doubt require my signature.
"Why didn't you wake me up Stryder?!" I demand, but he knows I am only joking.
"And risk getting on your bad side for the next few hours?" He asks me with a quirked brow. "I think not, I remember what happened last time,"
