'Birthday Tea'

**"There are some things so dear, some things so precious, some things so eternally true, that they are worth dying for. And I submit to you that if a man has not discovered something that he will die for, he isn't fit to live." By Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.**

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Princess Mugda, the only princess in the Ant Kingdom was born of a concubine. In as much as this sounded like a normal occurrence for royalty, it was a bizarre one for the royals of Ant Kingdom, because of the Hanwisan process. She was the exception that was left to live because she came not from the queen, and she was female. Maidens had no right to the throne of Ant Kingdom, so when she was brought forth, there was no need to 'get rid' of her like with the other young ones.

To the general citizens of the kingdom, just thought that the royals preferred not to give birth to a lot unlike other lands and kingdoms, because only the royals and a very tiny fraction of them, knew of how the birthing and the lineage system worked in their land.

The story was that, Mugda's birth mother died in childbirth, but no one could verify this and not that they dared to. However, none of the attending maids and physicians were alive or around to collaborate or affirm any of the incidents from then. All of them had either decided to retire from their works to not be heard from again, or had mysteriously died of strange illnesses.

But this was unimportant because the Queen of the land will forever be the 'mother' for all of the children brought forth by the king. So Mugda's mother became Queen May, but she was raised by her assigned attendant who also doubled as her governess. This person was Aile who had been with her from childhood.

Mugda had grown up beautifully in the eyes of the world, she had become a princess who could hold her own, and was very independent as well. She loved to get her way, and this was always a bone of contention between her and her royal mother, but Mugda did what Mugda wanted, and she could care less about what anyone thought of her. The only person she revered and was somewhat wary of was her brother, Indicy. That was a line she had never dared to cross and would not even dream of.

She was now a tall princess of about 5ft 9, and had relatively small breasts, but a rather large hip size, that gave her a drool-worthy look but as most princesses, she had been sheltered and confined in the palace most of her life. She loved to dress in unconventional ways, and many were now used to her so none paid much attention. Her royal colour, green, matched her eyes perfectly which was similar to her brother's eyes. And her blond hair, unlike that of her brother matched that of her dead birth mother, she had been told.

That same morning, as Tarragon fished for information from Lendon and Dude taunted Indicy, Princess Mugda sat in her tearoom after having breakfast that morning as she nursed her tea.

She stretched out her long and pale legs in front of her and this caused Aile to frown. "My princess! You have to make etiquette part of your daily moments, even if no one is here observing you!" she said in a slight reprimanding but fond tone. Mugda just rolled her eyes and retorted, "You said it right. No one is here to see, so let me just be myself! Don't be so uptight!"

Then swiftly changed her tone as her eyes narrowed and she turned gloomy from her mischievous demeanour. All her attendants and guards were used to her, so no surprise registered on their faces when she commanded,

"Go and get me that girl!" she said this to no one in particular, but Aile, her chief attendant knew exactly what her lady wanted, so she dispatched two guards to the task.

It was none other than Lendon who had been summoned for that morning, by Princess Mugda and when she was 'escorted' in by the guards, stood a little to the side and remained bowed. Tarragon, Aile, and some other maids were also in the room but going about their tasks.

Mugda looked up from her tea after Lendon had been in that position for what seemed to be a long while, as the maids were almost done with their cleaning, and she had been ushered in with them as they commenced their work. Mugda said to her, "I've heard of your escapades …You appear to have had such an adventurous week! It makes me wonder if you remember which palace you work for? Do you now remember?" she asked with obvious fake curiosity laced in her voice,

Lendon remained bowed but said not a word because she knew that the question that had been asked required no answer.

"I should get her flogged to serve as a lesson to the rest," Mugda whispered this part to herself, so the other maids did not hear her but as the room was quiet, they did hear her. They had smirks on their faces as they watched secretly with relish, the 'punishment' that was to be meted out to Lendon. By now, almost every maid in the palace was envious of the 'King's girl' and a lot of them wanted nothing but to see her downfall.

Mugda continued as she had not seen the reactions of the others in the room and she was lost in her own pondering world, "She is good at what she does and occasionally helps me with her potions for my health … If I get her flogged, I may not get my favourite tea. She is the only one with a head to get it right." Mugda whispered to herself again, woefully as if she had lost someone dear in her life and not just contemplating about getting someone flogged.

As Mugda deliberated on the suitable way to 'handle' Lendon, in walked Alan as he announced himself, and entered without waiting.

"What is the meaning of this! Who let him in?!" Mugda screamed and got up.

Alan bowed and said,

"I bring instructions from the King,"

This made Mugda calm down a little, but the annoyance was still present on her face.

"What does his majesty want?" she asked,

"The maid, Lendon, is to be re-assigned to his palace… effective immediately!"

Almost everyone paused in their tasks and turned to look at Lendon, but she remained bowed and unmoving, as such no one knew what she was thinking, as they could not see her facial expression.

Mugda said, "And why would I adhere to this order?"

Alan smiled wryly and added,

"You are mistaken, my princess,"

Mugda raised her eyebrows in response to that and asked, "and why is that?"

Alan replied, "It's a command and not a request!"

"I am just here to inform you."

The smile froze on the princess' face as everyone's faces registered shock.

Alan turned to Lendon who was still bowed and asked her, "What are you still doing there? Let's go!"

Lendon bowed to the princess and followed closely on Alan's heels as they exited the chambers.

Mugda, in fury, threw the teacup in her hands at the nearest wall breaking the cup and spilling its contents. She stomped her feet when they had left and angrily said to Aile,

"Get me a 'birthday tea', now!"

Aile shook her head and motioned to one maid to get it ready. She thought, "If this is what will get my princess to calm down, then so be it!"

Tarragon and some of the maids who did not know what it meant, hang around for they knew that Mugda's birthday was not due for months ahead.

One guard and one maid who had a delicate teacup in her hands entered shortly. The guard without hesitation stripped his garment off into his 'birthday suit'; he was as naked as he came into this world. He went down on all fours in front of the princess. A green velvet cloth was draped over his back, and then the teacup was placed on his back!

Tarragon who was blushing on seeing the man strip now had eyes as big as saucers! "Th-is w-a-a-s the birthday tea?!" She exclaimed but wisely just in her head as not a word passed her lips.

"Isn't it refreshing to have tea like this Aile?" Mugda asked her head maid

"Join me," she added as she delicately held the teacup and sipped while oblivious to the reactions of all in the room.

Aile who was used to the princess's weird demands was the only unbothered person in the room. She said in return,

"I'm okay, my princess, please enjoy your tea."

The other maids scurried out of the room as they were not sure what will be asked of them considering the princess' current mood.

Tarragon only spent a moment dwelling on the birthday tea saga. She thought to herself as she also exited the room,

"…And Lendon said she was not close to the King", she shook her head and muttered to herself,

"I guess that's the limit of her friendship."

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