Awkward Tea

Raquel headed to the throne room, pushing open one of the doors before the servant could stop her. Not that he would attempt it seeing as Raquel had the biggest scowl on her face, annoyed that she was being interrupted.

Sure, she was playing hooky from her Crown Princess duties under the guise of training, but that was because she needed to clear her head. Her curse was acting up again, a flare of pain spreading across the right side of her face.

Calm down, Raquel…You don’t need to get into another fit in the throne room. It’ll only cause more rumors to spread.

Taking a deep breath, she headed closer to the throne and said, “Father, you called?”

Just as the words left her mouth, she noticed a man with short blond hair bowing before her father. His back was to her but it was clear to her he was a noble from the silks he was wearing.

When he turned around, she was surprised by how frail looking he was despite his tall frame, as if a gust of wind could blow him over.

The pale man stared at her with his blue eyes, his face blank as he took her in. Raquel wondered who he was, never having seen him before.

Then it clicked. This man was one of her suitors!

“Raquel, this is Duke Westerwyn.” The emperor suddenly said, breaking the moment between the two. “Duke, this is my daughter, the Crown Princess of Cadilaria, Raquel.”

The man bowed. “It’s nice to meet you, your highness.”

“Likewise Duke…” Raquel started, waiting for a name.

“Duke Ryker Westerwyn.” The man drawled out.

His voice was much deeper than Raquel had expected but she was soon realizing this man was full of contradictions. Tall but frail looking with a deep voice and what looked to be determination in his eyes.

Raquel wanted to smile at the thought but stopped herself. Instead she simply said, “It’s nice to meet you, Duke Ryker.”

“Ha! I’m glad to see you’re taking a liking to each other.” The emperor exclaimed, sounding somewhat excited.

Raquel stared at her father with a blank look on her face. It was clear to her that her old man was playing at something. The greed in his green eyes was as clear as day.

She looked back at the duke. He didn’t seem that great and she never heard of the Westerwyn duchy. What did he have to offer that made him so great?

Then again, his looks alone were contradicting so what was another surprise.

“Raquel, why don’t you take our guest and show him around the palace gardens. It’s a lovely day to have tea in the garden, don’t you think so?” The emperor spoke, stopping Raquel’s train of thought.

Raquel smiled at the familiar tone. The emperor made it sound like a request when in reality it was an order. He acted as if Raquel had free will to do as she pleased, to choose.

But she didn’t. Not with the emperor controlling her curse.

“Of course…I’ll have Nicole bring us some refreshments.” Raquel murmured to the emperor before looking back at the duke. “Shall we go?”

“Of course, your highness.” The duke nodded before following her out the throne room.

***

Raquel stared at the brown liquid in her teacup, bored out of her mind. It had been twenty minutes since Nicole had left the duke and her alone in the rose gazebo near her palace.

And throughout that time the two had been quiet, drinking tea and staring at each other. She wondered why the duke even bothered joining her if he was going to sit there and eat pastries.

Maybe his kingdom is forcing him to be here. It could explain why he can’t hold a conversation for long. He’s not interested in marrying a demonic woman.

Raquel wanted to laugh at the last thought. Maybe he was scared of offending her so decided being quiet was the safe thing to do.

“So…You’re the Duke of Westerwyn.” Raquel said, deciding that they needed to have some type of conversation.

”Yes…” Ryker answered, stuffing another pastry into his mouth. “It’s in the Pellan Kingdom…”

“Pellan Kingdom?” Raquel wondered, suddenly regretting not listening to Nicole about taking some geography lessons.

“It’s the kingdom to the south east of the empire. I’m surprised you don’t know that, Crown Princess.” Ryker looked at her with a weird expression on his face. “The Westerwyn duchy actually borders your empire and is a supplier of your magical goods.”

Everything started to click. If his duchy was a big supplier of magical goods to the empire, it was no wonder her father wanted an alliance with him. It looked like she was going to have to do some research on the kingdom.

“I see…” Raquel murmured. “I guess it slipped my mind seeing as I deal mostly with the military. My older brother, Prince Anthony, deals with trade and negotiations of the empire.”

Ryker nodded his head and soon awkward silence fell upon the two again. Raquel wondered what was making the duke so anti-social when she suddenly noticed his gaze.

It was lower than before. Raquel looked down, wondering if she had spilled something on herself again. The gods help her if she did, because Raquel knew she was going to get an earful from Nicole and Baroness Anthea.

But it wasn’t that. No, it was way worse. The strings on her tunic were undone, showing off half her cleavage. Raquel felt a sense of dread flow through her. She had forgotten about undoing it.

And when Nicole was pointing at her chest earlier, it was to warn her. Gods, she felt so stupid. How could she walk around like this…

“Ahem…” Raquel coughed to distract the duke and she tightened the strings at the top of her tunic.

The duke looked up at her, his ears going red at being caught. Raquel wasn’t sure how to feel about that, his blushing showing he wasn’t totally afraid of her, which was a good thing.

But he was also not being a proper gentleman…

“I apologize, your highness, but could I take your leave?” Ryker asked, getting up.

“Go ahead…” Raquel sighed, deciding it was best to end this whole horrific garden tea situation.

“Thank you.” Ryker bowed before hurrying off like a demon was chasing him.

Well, the demon is still sitting down. Maybe I should count to ten before chasing after him. Raquel thought, scoffing.

But that thought ended as a voice called out to her, “Your highness…”