Noble Gardenia

Chapter 9

After her father's death, the search for a husband for Leah had been put on hold. The queen had been exclusively wearing black since the funeral a week earlier and her deminer had shifted substantially. Instead of her usual strict, prim and proper attitude she kept to herself and only spoke when necessary. Leah had been going on a lot of long walks the last week. It gave her time to feel whatever she needed to. Her thoughts were still mangled, but at least she was starting to come to terms with them.

Leah had not seen Jacob since her father's funeral. Lately, she had only been hanging out with Lucy and her canvas. She had abandoned the horse painting at the moment in favor of something more abstract. She was trying to create a visual representation of her feelings. She had also been writing a lot of poetry. Turning snippets of moments and memories revolving around her father into verse. She wanted to move on with her life though. Sometimes she wondered what that meant.

Jacob was supposed to visit the palace later in the afternoon, she was not sure she was ready to see him, as she had not since the funeral. She sighed and took a deep breath, looking at her reflection in the mirror. On her vanity table sat the crown her father had given her. She glanced at it before leaving the room, leaving the crown by the mirror. Leah walked to where she was supposed to meet Jacob, and there he was in a navy-blue suit, holding something behind his back, his expression falsely neutral as if he was trying not to smile at her.

"May we take a walk princess?" he asked her, a slight smile crossing his face. Leah took a deep breath and nodded as he motioned for her to lead the way. Leah led him out to the gardens, to a specific patch of the filled with bushes wrapped with cypress vines.

"Princess?"

Leah turned to see Jacob standing still, smiling at her, hand still behind his back.

"I got you something." He held out a silver crown, polished to perfection with set-in sapphire crystals. Leah took it, admiring its beauty and elegance.

"Wow it's... so beautiful. Thank you." she said, smiling at him as she continued to examine every inch of the crown. Jacob reached for the crown, placing it atop Leah's head.

"You look stunning Princess." Jacob said with a smile, "I thought you might want a new crown; I barely saw you wear your old one. It always looked a little big on you," Leah blushed slightly and looked down. Maybe a new crown could be the beginning of her fresh start.

Jacob smiled at her again, "Shall we walk around the gardens, I do not believe I have seen all of them yet."

"Yeah, of course." Leah said, once again snapping out of her thoughts. Leah spent the afternoon walking with Jacob around the gardens, the silver crown still perched on her head. There conversations did not flow as smoothly as they did before Leah's father's death, but they found things to talk about, such as music and writing.

"I am working on a new song," Jacob said, "This one is on piano, I am trying to write lyrics for it this time instead of just instrumentals."

"What is the song about?" Leah asked.

"I am not fully sure yet," Jacob looked off into the distance, "I am just writing what feels natural."

Leah nodded, "I hope you play it for me when you finish it."

...

Eventually Jacob decided he must return to his family.

"I had an amazing time with you today, princess" Jacob smiled at her, giving a small bow as his small squad of guards came to escort him away.

"Thank you for coming, Jacob." Leah said with a curtsy. She watched Jacob walk away before returning to her room to continue working on her painting.