Little Princess

Throne

*Nymeria's P.O.V*

Queen Belladonna was the first one up, moving to my side quickly. She felt my ankle, offering me a small apology when I yelped from the pain. "You've just twisted it my dear, no real damage has been done," she reassured me. I didn't care about the damage done to my ankle though, I cared that it hurt.

"Move Belladonna," Queen Elvira said as she stood up, walking over to us. I shrank away slightly, she scared me a little bit. She was very imposing with the way she held herself and carried around a certain aura of being strict. I didn't like strict that much. Queen Elvira crouched down, taking my ankle in one hand as she held the other hand over it. She closed her eyes, her hand glowing a soft golden color. The color leapt off of her hand, touching my ankle and sending sparks throughout my body.

The pain was gone I realized rather quickly when she set my ankle down. My leg was still tingling slightly from whatever she had just done but there was no pain when I moved my foot. My face lit up, a small smile on my lips as I looked at her.

"Thank you," I whispered, my face flushed from embarrassment. I was such a baby, I had only twisted my ankle and it had caused me to cry.

"You are very welcome," Queen Elvira said as she nodded her head, straightening up and returning to her seat. My attention returned to Queen Belladonna who was still kneeling next to me.

"Perhaps we should take your heels off? We wouldn't want you to fall again would we?" Queen Belladonna asked as she carefully removed my heels before standing up. She offered her hand to me and I felt a sudden urge to take it, to let her help me. I was too stubborn for that though and got up without any help from her.

"Not a baby," I whispered, my cheeks burning slightly.

"No one said you were," Queen Ordelia pointed out, making me duck my head. I went to my seat, sitting between Queen Elvira and Queen Morticia. I glanced up slightly to observe everyone, looking at them curiously.

Queen Riniya seemed to be making a separate cup of tea for herself, a tea bag sitting in her teacup. Queen Belladonna seemed to put extra milk in her cup while Queen Elvira did not put any milk or sugar in hers. Queen Ordelia had stacked two sugar cubes neatly in the center of her teacup. I turned to look at Queen Morticia, tilting my head slightly when I saw the red liquid that sat at the bottom of the cup. Sensing my staring, she turned her head slightly to meet my gaze.

"It's blood," she stated simply as she poured some tea into her cup, the blood mixing with the tea. "I must drink it to survive," she said, mistaking my curious look as one of disgust based on her guarded tone. I could see why, my eyes narrowed slightly when I was curious and I had a resting bitch face as Castien had told me several times.

"Does it taste good to you? Or does it taste like copper?" I asked curiously, making her blink as she took a sip of the tea.

"It tastes divine to me little princess, it only tastes like copper to humans," she informed me. "Everyone else can stomach the taste of it, for some species the taste is sweet like honey and for others it is a savory taste," she said carefully.

"Is it sweet or savory for you?" I questioned, as I tilted my head to the side. Her eyes fell to my neck and she ran her tongue over fangs as she smiled.

"Depends on the bloodtype," she said as she tore her eyes away from my neck, looking me in the eyes. Her blood red eyes glittered in the light as she smiled slightly. "Now I believe Elvira is trying to speak to you," she said as she nodded her head. I turned to look at Elvira, deciding to not question her about the thing she did to my ankle earlier. I would ask questions when she didn't look quite so annoyed.

"Do you take milk or sugar in your tea?" Elvira questioned, making me relax slightly. If that was all she wanted to ask then I was fine with that.

"I take a little bit of milk and three sugar cubes in my tea," I informed her.

"A sweet tooth then?" she questioned as she prepared my tea for me. I shook my head slightly, my braids moving with the movement.

"Not really, I only drink my tea this way because of my brother, he likes his the same way," I stated. I noticed some stillness from the queens when I mentioned my brother.

"Your brother? He is younger than you, yes?" Queen Riniya asked. I shook my head as I accepted my tea from Queen Elvira, taking a cautionary sip from it. "Then since he is older, he should be the one ruling right?" she asked. I tensed at her question, setting my teacup down.

"He should be," I said hesitantly as I stared at the tablecloth and ran my finger along the seam of it. "My grandfather banished him when he turned 18, he thought he would rule longer that way. My grandmama couldn't reverse the banishment even after he passed because he put certain clauses in the banishment that prevented her from doing so," I informed them, my heart beating rapidly in my chest.

"You don't sound so sure about the reason your grandfather banished him," Queen Ordelia said, her voice soft.

"I don't. I think that's why he thought he did it but I think my mother was the one who was afraid my brother would usurp her place in ruling," I said honestly. "She didn't think that my grandmama would realize that nor did she realize that my grandmama set up things so that when she passed my mother would never get close to the throne," I said, a small frown on my lips.

"So the throne went to you," Queen Ordelia murmured as I nodded my head.

"As much as I wish it hadn't," I whispered as I held the teacup close, letting the warmth envelop my palm. I was drawn out of my thoughts when Queen Elvira gently took the teacup from my hand and I realized that my hands were shaking quite badly. I looked up, suddenly feeling embarrassed to talk about my family's issues to these strangers. I quickly left, my bare feet scraping on the stone floor as I fled the room.