Queen's Adviser

Chapter 23

*Elizabeth's P.O.V*

"Shut the door Zelene," I say quietly as I drop into my chair, resting my head in my hands. I was embarrassed, slightly ashamed as well. I didn't want my advisor, a woman I had known for less than a day to see a fight between my mother and I!

"Are you alright?" Zelene asks quietly as she sets down a small bowl in front of me. I look to see it has a bunch of chopped up fruit. I grab a piece of a fruit, popping it into my mouth. It's a chopped piece of strawberry, one that is very sweet in my mouth. I quite enjoy the sweetness, it helps soothe my mind.

"I don't know what my mother has told you. But I promise it is not always like this around here. My mother's usually never around long enough for us to get into fights," I inform her, eating another bite of fruit with my fingers. The juice from the fruit is very sticky and I hate the feeling. I grimace slightly, looking for something to wipe my hand.

"Here," Zelene offers me a napkin and I gladly take it, wiping my fingers off on it. My fingers are still kind of sticking from the fruit juice but they're remarkably less sticky now that I have something to wipe my hands off on.

"Thank you," I say as I glance up at her, noticing how she glances at the door as if she expects my mother to come back inside the room any second now.

"She won't come back. She'll probably return home to her husband and write me a letter about my behavior and how much it disappointed her," I mutter, my lips curling up slightly in disgust at the thought.

I hated it when she wrote letters to me. Sure they were supposed to be a way for us to easily be in contact with each other but I didn't want a stupid letter every now and then! I wanted my mom to be able to just sit down and talk to me, not like a lady to her queen with duties to her people, but for her to talk to me as her daughter who she cared about.

"I wouldn't be so sure of that, your majesty. I do not believe that Lady Euphemia is one who gives up very easily. Everything I know about her tells me that she is quite stubborn," Zelene says, making me frown.

"Yes, she is extremely stubborn. Something that I inherited from her," I mutter, earning a slightly raised eyebrow from Zelene.

"It matters not... if she comes back I will tell her that I don't wish to speak with her," I state as I raise my chin up defiantly at the thought of my mother barging back in and demanding a conversation.

"Something I don't think Lady Euphemia will appreciate but I understand how you feel," Zelene states, making me nod my head slightly. I doubt she actually understood how I felt but I won't object to her words.

"You may think you do but I cannot impress on you that you truly do not understand my mother and I's situation. Not unless you've had to deal with her your entire life," I state, making Zelene frown as she seems to be trying to understand my statement.

"My mother and I might not have the best of relationships but we at least get along. So in contrast, your relationship with Lady Euphemia seems a bit rough so I may not be able to fully tell you what I think," Zelene says."Besides, it's not my place to have judgements on what your relationship with your mother is. My job is to assist you with your job as queen and that is all," she states.

"Yes, that's right. My job. I should be focusing on doing that," I say as I look back down at the laws. I am still reviewing them, deciding what laws are feasible and which ones are not. Quite a few of them come from a place of concern but they're just not feasible when it actually comes down to enforcing them.

"Do you want me to get you something to drink?" Zelene asks, making me shake my head slightly at the offer. I wasn't thirsty, at least not right this second. I would just drink later at lunch.

"Oh, can you ask the kitchen maids to arrange my lunch to be out in the gazebo?" I request, earning a small nod from Zelene before she leaves again. I sort of miss her already. She was a comforting presence with her just standing beside me as I worked. I think most people would like her presence so I suppose if she doesn't work out as my advisor, she could always work for someone I knew. I mean that is IF she doesn't work out. I'm sure she'll work out though.

I snack on my fruit, continuing to make revisions on some laws that I'll have to review again once the revisions have been officially added. My handwriting wasn't pretty enough to write all the laws plus I didn't want to so I had hired people to write them. That way I didn't have to write and the handwriting was pretty enough that people didn't gripe about my writing ability.

Before too long, my hand touches the bottom of the bowel and now I'm out of fruit. I frown for a moment, upset that I was out of fruit. I quite liked fruit, it always tasted nice. Unlike vegetables which were always gross and made me wrinkle my nose up at the thought of eating them. I should have asked Zelene to make sure that there were no vegetables in my lunch. Oh well...I'd just suffer.

I manage to get a decent way through my revisions before Zelene comes back. She actually manages to startle me with how she kind of just appears in front of me. Logically I know that she probably just walked through the door and was just quiet but it still makes me flinch back in surprise.

"You need jingly jewelry or something! You cannot sneak up on me like that," I say as I put my hand over my heart, trying to catch my breath. That earns a small laugh from Zelene as she smiles at me.

"I am sorry your majesty, it was not my intention to scare you," Zelene apologizes as she bows slightly.

"I don't totally believe that. You are entirely too sneaky for someone not trying to scare someone," I inform Zelene who simply shrugs her shoulders as if it was my fault for being scared. Perhaps I was at fault for being so jumpy but I liked to think that problem layed with Zelene.

"Well regardless of me possibly being sneaky, it is time for lunch," Zelene says, making my eyebrows furrow as I check the time. It was that late in the day already? I couldn't believe that I had lost track of time so easily. I mean I was normally much better about not losing track of time. Especially because I had a lot to do.

"I suppose you are right," I say as I move to stand up, groaning in relief as my body hurts from sitting all day. The day wasn't even half over and I was already sore and ready for bed.

"Are you okay?" Zelene asks, making me nod.

"I'm fine, just extremely ready for this day to be over," I state as I lead the way out of my office, walking down the hallways in the quickest route I know to the garden. Zelene follows me but I'm sure she'll soon know this route better than I. I mean she seems to learn very quickly.

I make my way out into the garden, my ankle nearly twisting from the heels that I'm wearing sinking into the ground. However if I stick my arms out and just focus on walking I manage to walk over to the gazebo with no trouble. I have only just sat down at my chair, turning my head to look at the garden when I spot her. My mood drops when I see my mother and I sigh as I close my eyes, bracing myself for our surely to be annoying conversation. I mean, any conversation with my mother was annoying but I was sure this one would be especially annoying.