Garden Party

Carina didn't open her eyes again until late in the afternoon, her eyes blinking slowly as she adjusted to her surroundings. When she realised where she was, and what had happened, she was suddenly sitting up straight, sheepishly glancing towards Spencer sitting beside her.

"I'm sorry I fell asleep... I must've been more tired than I thought." Carina mumbled, embarrassed that she had actually fallen asleep on him.

Spencer chuckled, clearly not having minded at all. "It's fine. If you're still tired I can escort you back, and you can return home to sleep some more."

"No, no, I'm alright now. I came all this way, I might as well take advantage of it. How about you show me around a bit?"

Though Carina felt she really could sleep a few more hours, she'd still much rather spend time here than at home with Vanessa. She had a feeling now that she's met the King and the Queen, Vanessa will try and make her move on Carina much faster.

"Of course." Spencer agreed.

Instead of showing Carina one of the hundreds of rooms in the palace, he instead brought her outside, and lead her to the garden. Carina gushed at the sight of all the pretty flowers, her appreciation for the view making Spencer smile.

Part way through the tour, Carina began to hear the sound of voices and laughter.

The both of them walked deeper into the garden to investigate, and came upon the Queen who was clearly in the middle of hosting some sort of gathering.

"Mother." Spencer greeted.

Carina stiffened up yet again at the sudden reappearance of the Queen. "Your Majesty."

The Queen only smiled and beckoned them over to the table.

Once Carina walked over, she noticed that the table was filled with other women around the same age as the Queen. They all looked and acted as if they were someone of importance, so Carina made sure to remember not to act out of line.

"My, my, who is this lovely young lady?" One of the women asked, smiling at Carina.

Carina curtsied. "Carina Rayburn, Madam."

"Ah! So this is the girl we've heard so much about!" Someone else exclaimed, looking Carina up and down as she did so.

"I'm quite happy with her." The Queen said, catching Carina and everyone else by surprise. "My son was lucky that he made the smart choice by announcing his intentions so early, or else I'm sure she would've been snatched up by someone else!"

Carina was confused by the sudden praise, but was thankful the Queen seemed to think so highly of her.

"Thank you for the compliment, Your Majesty, but I believe I'm the lucky one for being able to stand beside someone as wonderful as Prince Spencer." Carina replied, knowing that flattering her son would no doubt be just as effective as flattering the Queen herself.

The Queen laughed in delight, prompting the other women at the table to follow along.

"Such a sweet girl!"

"Yes, what a treasure!"

"If Prince Spencer hadn't already gotten there I would've introduced her to my own son!"

"Prince Spencer and Lady Carina really are perfect for each other!"

"They do make a lovely pair!"

Carina could only stand there and smile awkwardly as all the women began to compliment and praise both her and her relationship with Prince Spencer.

"Mother," Spencer cut in, effectively silencing everyone at the table, "I still have to show Carina around the rest of the palace."

The Queen nodded approvingly. "Of course, of course! Go on, you two."

As Carina made her goodbyes and turned to walk off with Spencer, she wondered about the gathering of women. She knew that the Queen wasn't allowed out of the palace unless it was for something extremely important, so it only made sense that instead the Queen would invite her friends to her instead of going out to see them. But Carina had no memories of ever hearing about the Queen hosting tea parties, so it surprised her to stumble across that scene.

Just as she was beginning to wonder about the identities of the women there, Spencer spoke up again from beside her.

"Those were the Flowers."

Carina paused for a moment in her steps. "The Flowers of Aecus?"

Spencer Nodded. "Yes. They meet for tea with my mother every week. Since my mother rarely gets to leave the palace, she likes to hear about the current trends and gossip from them."

Carina smiled to herself as she thought about this, knowing that if she told Vanessa about how she met with the Flowers of Aecus and how they fawned over her, she would be enraged beyond belief.

Dealing with Vanessa was at the same time exciting as it was exhausting.

As Spencer continued to lead Carina down the grassy path, she hoped that Vanessa would show her a satisfying reaction.