Chapter 29: Tea With the Queen

I was just invited to have tea with the Queen. 

I couldn't see an acceptable reason to decline, nervousness not being a good reason, so I couldn't really say no. It isn't like I won't be prone for the sake of my other, even if not as prone as lying on my bed would be, and accepting seems like it could give future benefits over ignoring it. So, I suck up my anxiety and agreed. 

Passing through the halls, we arrive at a glass door with a flourishing garden visible just beyond. The maid opens the door and tells me, "Take your time." leaving me to walk alone through the garden. 

Not long after I enter, I see Queen Lertra sitting at a table under a gazebo in the center, surrounded by purple flowers that contrast her golden blond hair. 

She gives a warm smile on my arrival as she gestures to the open seat nearby. "I'm happy to see you accepted my invitation. Come, have a seat." 

I thank her for her courtesy as I took the seat she offered. She picks up the kettle and pours some of the tea into a cup for me, something I didn't think the Queen would do herself considering even the princess had her own tea poured by maids. 

I taste the tea and find it refreshing, a wonderful taste that's complemented by the smell of flowers that surrounds us. The Queen also enjoyed the tea but this led to nothing but silence between us for the first few minutes after my arrival. 

… 

Despite having this tea that can relax my muscles, the silence kept my nerves on alert, reminding me of my situation of being alone with the woman who rules this land. A stranger to me personally I had only met once for about 5 minutes just yesterday. 

The Queen was first to break this silence. "Have you heard about my encounter with your grandfather?" 

'The first conversation is about Uldrei! Right, he is the one thing that connects us...' 

"Yes, I heard you tried to recruit him into becoming a Keeper once. He talked about it many years ago, but I was only recently reminded by Princess Maridia during our shopping trip." 

I'm happy the Princess brought up their interaction beforehand or it would have seemed as though Uldrei never talked about their interaction since it was first offered. Though he didn't tell me about it, I shouldn't let her think he never said anything in front of his grandchildren. 

"I see," began the Queen. "I asked him after he bridged relations between us and the Jiiruno kingdom if he would become a Keeper. It was just after I gave him his last name, Deidura. I was too young back then to understand why he declined considering the benefits that would've come to all by his acceptance."

She took a sip before moving to the benefits. "Not only would his name have strengthened relations between the kingdoms, but his power could've helped keep the peace for the 30 long years that passed between then and now. Had he accepted, there is much he could have gained. Be it a saying on the development of the Kingdom. Be it allies that he could trust to protect the people, the treasures that would have come to him, and the protection that would have been given to his family had he not."

I listened to the Queen's reminiscence on the past, on everything Uldrei left behind by choosing to decline working with the Kingdom in its development. A situation of 'What could've been' had he not lived his life in a monster-infested forest where he lived alone before we met.

But I know full well he wouldn't have accepted despite only having those three days to live under his roof. She could've even added "not die" to that list and it would've been a complete list of what Uldrei didn't care about. 

I dared not respond myself, leading to a minute of silence as I watch the Queen in a daze over the time long passed before her dark blue eyes rose from the cup back to me. "What happened to make him disappear from history for 30 years? A man so great deciding to live in a land run by as a way of living a quiet life with his grandchildren, I can only guess the pain to cause that judgment." 

I couldn't really begin to guess the true reason myself, even if I was truly related to him. But I can guess what answer she would accept.  "Yes... 15 years ago is when we first started living in that forest. Before then, my father and mother died, and our grandfather arrived shortly after to grieve at the loss of his son. A pain he rarely ever talked about just like how little he talked about my grandmother. He had to raise our father into adulthood alone, only to then raise us too... Me and my brother understood that, so we wouldn't dare ask him directly. My brother and I had much we wanted to do for him, but living was all he ever asked of us." 

This lie I made up was woven between truths I heard from his own lips while spending time with him on top of the truths of his last wishes for me, filling in every hole in between with whatever I thought could fit. 

Queen Lertra leans back in her chair, this story seeming to have solidified my image in her mind, the, now, story of my past. 

I can only hope she bought it. 

A sigh escapes her lips. "So, he disappeared, not because he didn't want to fight anymore but because of grief over his lost love and the need to raise his child. Only for repeated fate to take his son after..." 

The Queen held a complicated expression, not sure how to take the conclusion she may have come to once before asking me. "It's... a more upsetting end to his life than I wanted to hear. Even when I pieced together most of it by solely the Keeper's report on their first encounter with you, I had hoped it wasn't like this." 

She looks me in the eyes, giving a somber yet gentle smile before asking. "Veda Deidura. I would ask if you're willing to become a Keeper in his stead?" 

I couldn't hide my surprise when the Queen asked that, even my other nearly tripping over himself as Veda's voice leaks out. "W-what?" 

The Queen gives a light laugh, understanding my surprise. "Will you become a Keeper?" 

It was just as surprising the second time, but I tried to calm myself, the interactions with my other half helping to ease my mind before I began bringing up every issue with this that came to mind. "Aren't there already a maximum number of Keepers? It is like saying you are going to be firing one of them soon." 

The Queen lightly shakes her head, expecting that question. "It isn't that I will be firing one of them. But terrible things happen far too often in their line of work that could leave a seat empty. What I ask you is to be ready to take up a position for when a seat is open, be it through them quitting or an unforeseen death of a current Keeper." 

"More than that, it's for when I step down and my daughter takes over my position. She may not be prepared yet, but if she has someone like you and Serci watching over her, I can rest easy knowing she's in capable hands." 

"You make it sound like you're dying," I try to joke. 

But with contemplation written over her face, realization seeps in as she answers. "I have an illness I was born with. It only showed symptoms when I reached the age of ten and I would've died five years later had it not been for the Crown of Fate that has been used to keep my lifespan at its best every week."

"But this illness has never gone away and every time my life is in danger, the crown won't keep the side effects in check, instead taking the immediate threat to my life out of the equation. This sickness will eventually take me and I fear it to be sooner than later." 

'This is... unexpected. When I came here to have tea with the Queen, I could have guessed the offer but this... Wait...'

"If you have had it since before you were Queen then does that mean Maridia also...?" 

Before I could finish, she cut me off, reassuring me. "This illness is mine and mine alone. Maridia doesn't show any signs of this life-consuming illness so it may be a rare disease not passed on by our bloodline."

I am relieved but still trying to find an issue that could make her reconsider asking me to take a Keeper's position. "You still don't really know my capabilities; I could be weak and unfit for a position like that." 

She chuckles at that response. "You're far too modest for your own good! And a bad liar. An ability to regenerate a missing piece of a whole chicken back from nothing is no small feat. Most healers are incapable of doing that no matter how hard they try." 

Embarrassment dyes my face for being called out by the very thing used to get me a ride to the University. One of the knights or servants must have seen and gossiped about the Peddler's freakout. 

I contemplate my options. She says it doesn't have to be now, that it is simply a yes or no question. If I would be willing to consider the option... 

'...Wait... The answer should be simple then..." 

I take a moment, look the Queen in the eyes and answer. "I'm sorry, but I have to decline." 

She doesn't bat an eye when she hears my answer. "Why is that?" 

She would obviously want a reason for my decline, so I try to be clear and concise with my reason. No lies but I definitely can't tell her my full... circumstance. 

"I just don't want to be tied to one place. I may have spent my entire life in that valley but now that I'm no longer tied there, I want to travel and see what the world has to offer. Being a Keeper might have a lot of power over the Kingdom, but it has a lot of responsibility too, a responsibility I don't think I'm ready for myself. Be it the soldiers that are under my wing or the law I have to enforce, it just isn't the power I need, nor want. I'm willing to help Maridia and this Kingdom when needed but I will be doing it as myself, not as a Keeper." 

She sits there for a moment before taking a sip from her teacup before I see her satisfied smile. "Like grandfather like granddaughter. But I'm glad to hear you'll help my daughter despite declining." 

With the conversation ended, I'm now mentally exhausted. It feels unbelievable it's only been a few minutes since I first came to talk. 'Tough it out Veda, for Verei's sake too.' 

"Speaking of my daughter," began the Queen. "how was your shopping trip with her?" 

She gestures for the tea kettle and I feel something in the air, something that makes me swallow before I bring my cup closer out of politeness. "I-it was a lovely time. We looked around the city and got gear for my trip to the University of Oriel." 

She pours my cup, the warning bells not disappearing despite only the Queen being the only one here. As I took another sip to try and parch this dry throat the Queen continued with a bit more of a menacing tone mixed into her smile. "That's lovely to hear. Is she still showing interest in adventuring and the like? I'd hoped that faze ended long ago considering she will be taking my place within the next few years." 

The moment I heard that, the feeling that this was going to be just as, if not longer, more exhausting, conversation than the previous one became clear. This Queen wasn't going to pull punches when it came to her kingdom, but especially not when her heir is involved.