Breakfast Hell With The Royals

Lela heard voices as she approached the dining area. Cherry voices, followed by deep voices, then stifled laughter. The guards she passed by bowed their heads, while an old butler, who looked to be about his early fifties, smiled at her, directing her to the table where everyone was seated, light smiles on their faces as they watched her, forfeiting all conversations like she was the most important one in the room. Well, in a way, she was.

Lela was nervous, especially because it was the first time she was meeting the royal family without Kimi being directly behind or beside her. She took in a deep breath and bowed, a hand over her chest as she did.

"Finally she's here," she heard a light whisper, but the voice had been faint and her head was bowed so she didn't know who said it, but I sounded like a woman. Lela plastered an easy smile on her face as she wiped her clammy hands on her dress, like that would help stop her heart from banging against her rib cage or her ears from ringing. She muttered a small "thank you" to the butler who showed her where to sit; which was beside the older princess she had met at the stable a day ago, and opposite an empty seat. Fayan.

There was no doubt that the space belonged to Fayan, but she found it hard to imagine Fayan sitting there and enjoying breakfast with his family. Fayan looked like a rebel, he had the word written on his forehead. He was a rebel, and eating breakfast with his family was too mundane an act for him.

The King watched the young princess, the way her eyebrows furrowed as she watched the space opposite her. She hadn't even noticed the butler serving her breakfast, she sat quiet and stiff. He cracked a small smile.

"The Queen thought it would be best to let you have breakfast with the rest of the family," the King started. Lela snapped out of her thoughts immediately, her eyes wide as she turned to him. She blinked a few times then smiled. She was acting out of character, far from how a well trained Princess would act, but in her defense, she wasn't a well-trained princess, and Kimi, who wasn't a well-trained princess either had been the one coaching her, which she was even surprised Kimi didn't find weird.

"Eating in my room was comfortable, but it was lonely. I'm grateful to the Queen," Lela bowed to her. She thought she was doing great. She turned back to the space opposite her, her eyes darted to the side for a split second only to find a pair of intense brown eyes watching her. She blinked a few times, then looked back at the first prince again, to be sure she had seen him looking at her and it was not her imagination. It wasn't. The first prince still had his eyes on her, his eyes changing from intense to soft as he smiled with his eyes.

"Fayan is absent," the King pointed out, putting a fork of grape into his mouth. Lela nodded, wondering why the older man was pointing a very obvious fact out.

"I sent him out on an errand. Did he tell you about it?" Lela cocked her head to the side, pretending to think when she knew the murderer that is her husband to be didn't tell her anything about an errand, plus why would he tell her anyway? It wasn't as though they were lovey-dovey.

"No, your Highness, he did not. I saw him on the day he left, at the stable when I went out on a stroll," Lela replied. Wondering if it was okay for them to know she went to stroll in the stables.

"It was purely coincidental that I met him there," Lela felt the need to add because the others at the table were looking at her like she said she went to kiss Fayan goodbye. The King let out a strained laugh and nodded his head, earning him an eye roll from the queen who didn't find anything funny.

The King was talking too much. Before Solela arrived, the King had been quiet, but now he was smiling and talking like the princess was his daughter. The Queen didn't have anything against the Princess, not entirely. She was only mad that she couldn't secure the Princess for her first son, and the King who successfully secured her for his first son was rubbing it in her face.

The Queen curating a plan on how to get back at the King smiled and then turned to the princess.

"So, have you thought about where you would like to live when you get married?" The Queen's smile was angled at the princess, but it was for the King. It was a smile of satisfaction as the King cleared his throat, shooting daggers at her. The King didn't like talking about Fayan and the princess leaving the palace when they got married, because he knew it would only make the Queen happy. It had been her wish to have Fayan stay away from the palace and her children for years, that was why even though she didn't like the union, she wasn't entirely opposed to it, since it meant Fayan would leave.

The Queen had asked that question with pettiness toward the King, and that was what she focused on, not on the trembling Lela who was about to die. Lela didn't know anywhere in Oswind besides her room and the garden and the queen was asking her about where she'd like to live? She didn't even know she was going to leave the palace when she got married. Did the princess know places in Oswind? Was she expected to know where to stay after she got married? A thousand questions ran through Lela's mind, and she bit her lower lips, trying to slow them down. It wasn't working.

"I" she started to say but her voice came out weird. She cleared her voice but didn't say anything. What could she say? While Lela found it hard to say one word, Cora found it amusing, smirking as she watched the princess. Lela would've been about to overcome her fast-rising anxiety if she didn't have eight pairs of eyes staring at her.

"Mother, you know she has not had the time to leave the palace, she would not know. It would be best to ask Fayan when he returns," Teagan cut in for her. Lela had never been so grateful to him the way she was at that moment, not even when he saved her from falling. She passed him the sweetest smile she could muster.

The King smiled, finally finding another way to get back at the queen.

"Why don't you take her around today? I'm sure the Princess would like to see Oswind," The Queen froze. There was no one the queen was protective of like Teagan. She had four children in total, but all her attention, her love, and care went to Teagan because he was her first son and heir to the throne and the King knew it since she didn't try to hide it. He knew that Teagan had a soft spot for the Princess that the queen had been trying to get rid of for a while now, and a solo meeting with the princess would only increase his attraction for her. The king was playing dirty, but he didn't mind. Teagan wasn't going to end up with the princess no matter how much he liked her anyway. The Queen turned to the King, her eyes relaying just how much she hated him at that moment. The king smiled and placed his right hand on her left hand as he watched Teagan's smile widen, totally loving the idea of taking the Princess out.

"Thank you so much, your highness," Lela thanked the King oblivious to the fact that she was being used as a petty fight between the King and Queen. The King nodded at her, loving his mischievous works.

"If the King permits, I would like to go too," Cora's high-pitched voice chipped in, smiling at the Queen. The Queen nodded her head, a proud smile on her lips. She was still annoyed that the King would put Teagan in that compromising situation, but she was grateful that Cora would be there, making sure Teagan wouldn't have any heart-to-heart conversations with Lela.

Lela could finally eat now that no one was asking her any questions, or talking to her. Lela had lost most of her appetite though, but she still wanted to have something so she wouldn't be seen as rude. A butler hurried to Lela's side, noticing she wanted something, she smiled thankfully at him.

"I need strawberries," Lela smiled while the butler as well as everyone else froze, all watching her like she just lost her mind.

"Strawberries, Princess? You are allergic to strawberries."