*Euphemia's P.O.V*
Shopping while carrying around an awake child is very inconvenient. Shopping while carrying a sleeping adult is near impossible, I've learned.
She's not exactly light and easy to carry anymore. She's also very dramatic. I so much as move a hand away from her and it's instant pouting from her. It's like I've completely abandoned her if I so much as think about going back to my shopping.
I don't necessarily regret putting her to sleep with my old tricks, as she probably needed this nap, I just didn't expect the difficulty of keeping her asleep to be so hard.
It used to be that I could just rest her on my hip and she would in return rest her head on my shoulder and be content. That way I could at least get some shopping or whatever done in peace. Now she is just a giant drama queen and demands my full attention though.
It does have me wondering if just waking her up would be the better option but she was always so cranky whenever her nap ended too soon. It's one of the reasons her "too old for naps" phase had her over a lap, getting her bottom reddened way too many times but what do I know. I'm only her mother and my suggestion that sleep will improve her mood was always so clearly me tricking her.
Speaking of a mother figure, what is she doing here?
"Why are you here, Grey?" I ask, not bothering to even turn to look at her as I hear the bells on the door ring from someone opening it.
"Can't I come see a dear old friend and her child?" She asks in return, causing me to finally turn to stare at her with a deadpan look. Not fazing her in the slightest, I ask my next question instead.
"How did you even find us? Are you tracking us now?" I ask, earning a smirk from her.
"I don't have to... your lovely husband is constantly getting updates so I just happened to so conveniently overhear one so knew to come here. As for how I knew this store, your favorite royal guard captain is outside creating his patent bubble of protection with his mere presence." She starts to say before I cut her off.
"He's not a royal guard, or captain... not anymore, and you know I have nothing to do with that. I can't control no one wanting to go near him." I say, shrugging and making Beth whine from being disturbed.
"Well it's never hard to find you when he is around. All I have to do is look for the 10 foot bubble in the crowd of people and there you are!" She says, earning a sigh from me that once again disturbs Beth.
"So why are you here, Grey? I know you wouldn't just come out here to say hi. You hate long trips too much for that!" I ask her again, quickly getting fed up with the both of them!
"Fine... Elizabeth needs to sign these. They should have been signed weeks ago but instead they were filed away for later and conveniently forgotten about." She tells me, digging out the papers she is talking about.
"And you couldn't sign them because...?" I ask, giving her a questioning look.
"Because these are important and need the queen's signature! I would never do something so nefarious as forging her signature on these!" She says with clearly fake innocence, making me just roll my eyes before walking over to her.
Making Grey take Elizabeth from me, I ignore her initial pouting and whining from being moved from her spot. Especially because she quietly settles in and Grey is all too happy to pass the papers to me for Beth.
"Don't act like you don't do this every time you visit. It's not lost on me that Beth just happens to catch up on all her mundane work every time you visit. Only those old fools would believe she actually works that hard while you are there." I complain to Grey, as she completely ignores me in favor of helping Beth get comfortable in her arms.
"I don't understand why you care so much about what you do for her. I know you know I still help Beth finish everything whenever I'm near by and can spare the time. We know that Beth knows too. It's not like we can exactly hide from her the fact she all of a sudden has way less paperwork to do after we leave." I point out as I find a flat piece of wall to sign Elizabeth's name on.
"You know why. I'm just a Duchess! You are the former queen and now the most feared merchant! We aren't the same and you know it. You get caught, everyone would pretend they saw nothing. I get caught and every piece of paper she ever signed will be questioned!" Grey whisper yells at me.
"Plus, there is nothing wrong with me having a line that I'm unwilling to cross. If you are willing to sign whatever, great. Good for you! Just because you are though, doesn't mean I have to be. I'm allowed my boundaries and making important decisions behind the queen's back is not something I'm willing to do!" Grey lectures as I finish skimming over and signing the last of the papers.
"So bad ride here then?" I ask with a smirk, giving the papers back to her.
With my hands free now, I massage my wrist as it always hurts anytime I have to sign my daughters name. It's just so sloppy looking that I question what she was doing during all those penmanship lessons! I mean, would it kill her to at least make her name flow correctly and not constantly stop and start?
"It was fine. Just long... and I get to do it all again once I'm done here. Looking so forward to it." Grey complains as she stuffs the papers away.
"And you aren't enjoying yourself now? I'll take Beth back then so you can start your long journey home now that you have the signatures..." I tell her and smirk when she twists Beth away from me.
"She clearly wants me. Plus, you had your turn! It's mine now! My ride home can wait!!" She says while holding Beth very protectively.
"Have you ever seen her like this?" I ask, struggling to hold back the smile as Beth gets a handful of Grey's neckline.
"Like this? No, but she does occasionally act... a bit immature. Some days I forget I'm talking to the queen and not a young child. That I can't just stick her in the corner or throw her over my knee until she listens to me like I used to. I have to wait her out or just let her suffer the adult consequences on her own." Grey informs me, lightly swaying Beth to keep her comfortable.
"What if you didn't?" I ask, causing Grey to halt in place and stare at me funny.
"She isn't a child anymore, Euphemia. She's the queen! The kingdom would be in an uproar if we just started spanking the queen for acting immature. I don't know how she has been acting on this trip, but this isn't her normal behavior. She isn't normally acting like this or like a child at all. It's more just on her more stressful days that her child-like behavior comes out." Grey informs me, not understanding my meaning at all.
"I know that, Grey. At least I know she is an adult and ruling queen. I'm not trying to turn her into my full time baby again. Trust me, I know better than anyone how old my daughter, and we, have gotten and it's far too old for that. But why can't we at least... encourage the immaturity when she is away from the castle and is staying with one of us, away from prying eyes?" I ask and for once, it's not an immediate refusal. In fact, she looks mildly interested now! Maybe my plan isn't so crazy after all!
YOU ARE READING
Queen's Adviser
FantasyElizabeth has been ruling her kingdom for 3 years now. She's gone through countless advisors in those 3 years. When she's finally ready to give up on finding herself one, she meets Zelene.
