Queen's Obsession

Chapter 91

I believe more of Seraphina's perspective was requested so here that is.

*Seraphina's P.O.V*

Suzanna seemed to enjoy looking around the butterfly garden. She was constantly stopping to look at the flowers, her hands always moving but she seemed nervous to actually touch any of the flowers. It was kind of sad how nervous she always seemed to be.

Subconsciously she did seem to seek my approval for everything she did. Most people didn't know, not even Suzanna seemed to know, but she was constantly glancing at me. There was a sort of fear in her eyes when she looked at me but it had slowly dissipated the more and more she regressed.

"You can pick some of the flowers, cherub," I called to her. I saw her shoulders stiffen for a moment when I first called out to her but she relaxed when I finished speaking. She seemed to nod to herself before she reached out and picked a pink flower. She had kept pausing by it, glancing back at me before looking at the flower.

Suzanna brought it over to me, twirling it between her fingers as she looked at me. I could see the hesitation in her eyes. She seemed to nod to herself after a moment.

"You hold?" she asked quietly, the words escaping her so quickly I almost didn't hear her.

"Of course sweetheart," I reassured her as I took the flower from her gently. She smiled slightly before she turned and went back to exploring the garden. I wasn't worried about her running off, the windows that were open were too high up for her to reach and the only door out was guarded by Orion and Pravin

It was nice to have the silence of the garden broken by Suzanna's excited giggles whenever a butterfly landed on her. Her pure joy and happiness was just so sweet. I had only seen her that excited when she got her puppies.

Normally this place was so quiet that I couldn't stand being here for long. This garden had been a gift to Malik when he had started showing interest in studying butterflies. Part of the reason Theron gave it to Malik, at least in my mind, was to keep him busy and keep his mind off the political tension that was slowly building between our kingdom and the one that was run by Queen Circe.

I had only visited this place a few times after Malik's death and each time I hadn't stayed for more than five minutes. This had been his sanctuary for so long that the silence was deafening. Normally he was always talking so his voice had once filled this place with life or he was drawing and I could hear the sound of his quill on the paper, scratching it just barely as he drew.

Perhaps that was why my mind had latched onto the idea of Suzanna being my daughter. She and Malik were so alike in so many ways. The way they tapped their fingers together when thinking or the way the ink had started to stain the tips of their fingers. The way that they are both so defensive of their creations whether it be drawing or writing.

Deep down I knew that was why my brain had latched onto Suzanna being my daughter. The similarities had just become reminders of what I had lost and so my mind had latched onto her being my daughter in an effort to try and fill the void in my chest.

However Suzanna had become so much more than just a reminder of Malik. I had grown to care so deeply about her the more I got to learn about her. The way she was constantly bickering with Pandora. The way she tilted her head to the right whenever she was lying. How she was so sweet yet so fierce at the same time.

It had scared me the way my mind had wrapped around the idea of isolating her, keeping her away from everyone and everything. It had been for her protection, yes but I had done it all wrong. I was selfish, so incredibly selfish to want to keep her to myself and away from any potential danger.

I had lost essentially everything that made my own little family and I never intended to find someone else I could possibly care for as a child. I had found her job application in a pack of Queen Circe's folders when I was looking through her office after she had been executed.

Pandora had been griping about being my only scribe so I had looked through the files, trying to find a citizen of Circe's kingdom to hire. I need to start building a relationship with the citizens so hiring some of them to work for me was my best bet.

I had hired Suzanna because she seemed to be the best of the candidates to help build a relationship with the citizens. She was the daughter of two prominent noble families who were relatively well liked. It had been a hiring decision that had worked out quite well.

"Mama," Suzanna's voice snapped me out of my thoughts. She was standing very still and there were butterflies resting all over her body. I could see that her eyes were slightly wide but I couldn't tell whether she was scared or frozen with happiness.

"Do you need help baby?" I asked as I stood up. I removed my veil, running a hand through my loose curls as I walked over to her. She nodded her head just slightly, a butterfly resting on the tip of her nose. She had some flowers clutched in her hand and I reached over to grab the flowers from her hands.

The butterflies chased after the flowers and I chuckled as I sat the flowers down lightly. Suzanna shook herself off once most of the butterflies had gone for the moving flowers and she clung to me. I chuckled as I wrapped my arms around her, holding her close as I rocked back and forth slightly. No matter how much I wanted to change how I had first handled this mother daughter relationship with her, I would do it all over again to keep her safe.