Queen's Obsession

Chapter 9

*Suzanna's P.O.V*

Working as the court scribe wasn't really a hard job I found out as the month went on. It wasn't necessarily an easy one but it wasn't that difficult either. It was repetitive which is what I liked. My hand was always aching after I finished work but I was already used to the pain.

Pandora had also warmed up to me it seemed. She wasn't quite kind to me but she was most certainly nicer to me. She had also loosened up quite a bit. I only say this because at one point after court, Captain Orion had walked into the room and thrown her over his shoulder before leaving. Pandora had threatened me into silence after the fact but she was holding back a smile.

Pandora also helped me get dresses made of thinner fabric. I still got quite hot since I wasn't used to the hot weather but I didn't get nearly as overheated. I was still always sweaty after work because for some godforsaken reason, the throne room had many different windows that allowed the sun to shine into the throne room.

I had just gotten through explaining some of this in a letter to my parents that I then sealed. They had sent me a few letters over the past few weeks. Most of them were simple ones saying that they were proud of me for accepting the job. It seemed that they had changed their mind about how they felt about me taking the job.

I hadn't responded to most of their letters, they hadn't really said anything response worthy. I had only just now sat down to respond to their letters since I was bored. I only did so since I was bored. I shook my head to clear my thoughts as I folded up my letter and sealed it. I still had some time to take it to the mailroom before curfew started.

I understood why the castle had a curfew in place, to make sure that no one was wandering in places they shouldn't be. However it was still annoying to have to be in my room by a certain time. It was the principle of things as having a curfew reminded me of when I was a teenager and so I felt disinclined to listen to it.

I hurried out of my room to take the letter to the mailroom. I passed a few of the guards that I had become friendly with. They had clearly started patrolling which meant that it was a bit later than I thought it was.

I hurried to the mailroom, putting my letter in the out of kingdom bag. I decided to take a longer path to get back to my room, just to put off going to bed. A walk that happened to take me past the throne room.

A light shined from a cracked doorway from a room close to the throne room. The room was usually locked up tightly during the day with guards outside of it. Despite the saying of curiosity killing the cat, I still felt inclined to peek.

The room was dimly lit by candles and had portraits lining the wall. The thing that really drew my attention though was the two portraits at the very back of the room, the one's Queen Seraphina was kneeling in front of. I felt like I was intruding, moving back slightly when my shoulder hit the door. It moved only slightly but made a creaking noise when doing so.

"Come here," Queen Seraphina's voice was soft but held some steel in it. I hesitantly entered the room, walking over to her. Her face was obscured by a gray veil and she wore matching gloves.

"I didn't mean to intrude, your majesty," I said as I bit my bottom lip. She still hadn't turned her head to look away from the portraits so I took the chance to inspect them. The first man was clearly an older man, in his forties, with dark curly hair and dark brown eyes. Speckles of gray dotted his hair and he had smile lines showing all over his rich brown face.

The next portrait was of a younger man who looked similar to the first but much younger. The key differences between the two was that the younger man had longer hair and a slightly broader nose. His cheekbones were slightly higher and his face was much more gaunt.

"My husband and son," Queen Seraphina spoke, her voice interrupting the silence. "I sit vigil with their portraits every night," she muttered. Her voice was rougher, sounding choked and I kneeled next to her. "They couldn't find my husband's body, I couldn't even bury him," she whispered.

"I'm sorry your majesty," I whispered as I instinctively reached out to touch her hand. She froze at the contact before turning her hand over and gently holding my hand. Her lace glove was smooth against the skin of my palm.

"I sometimes hope that he'll return to me, alive and healthy. It's a foolish wish," Queen Seraphina muttered.

"Not so impossible, my great-grandmother thought the same so imagine her surprise when my great-grandfather showed up one day," I said with a small smile. "He wasn't so off the hook for how he chose to do it though," I stated slyly.

"Oh? How did he choose to show up?" Queen Seraphina asked.

"He crawled into bed with her," I said. Queen Seraphina snorted softly as she shook her head.

"If Theron ever did that to me, he'd be sleeping in the doghouse regardless of how happy I was to see him," she said.

"I'm sorry about what happened to your son," I stated quietly.

"Thank you," Queen Seraphina said. "I never wanted either of them to join the war but they said it was their duty. Their duty was to stay safe, how am I supposed to run a kingdom without either of them?" she asked quietly.

"For what it matters, I've only been here for a month and you seem to be doing a pretty good job," I informed her. Her hand which was still holding mine squeezed it gently. I flushed over the fact that she was still holding my hand and I had completely forgotten about that fact.

"Thank you dear," Queen Seraphina said softly. The pet name made my brain stutter to a halt and I knew my cheeks were dark red.

"I should get back to my room, it's getting close to curfew," I said as I stood up. I let go of her hand as I tried to ignore the embarrassment that was running through me.

"Goodnight," Queen Seraphina said, a soft chuckle escaping her. I could feel her stare burning into my back as I walked out of the room.