The Queen's Pleasure

The contract

The following morning, as Carina had said, Maya woke up alone. Her queen, her lover, was up and about fulfilling her duties as queen. Things were not as slow as they were for Carina back when she first met Maya and chose her among the contestants. Now Carina was busier and Maya knew there would be days like this. She didn't mind it. She knew what she was getting into when she chose to be here with the Queen. When she chose to belong to the queen.

She got out of bed naked, found some clothes and made her way to the mess hall for breakfast. There she met Jo. Jo informed her that the queen was speaking with town leaders about plans for development. Maya was proud of her. It didn't matter in the larger scheme of things. She was sure the whole kingdom loved their queen and took pride in having her. She was hardworking, she always put them first, and she devoted her life to their wellbeing. They were grateful and they showed their gratefulness to her in their loyalty, and sometimes in the gifts they would bring her.

When breakfast was done Maya had made enough small talk with some of the people in the palace, who she had grown accustomed to seeing around. She saw Jo walk about the hall. So she ran and caught up with her.

"Hey!" Maya said.

"Hey," Jo said nervously.

"What are you doing today?" Maya asked.

"Oh, nothing," Jo said.

"I was about to go meet Andy, wanna come along?" Maya asked.

Jo paused in her step. Looked at Maya and then said, "Sure"

The whole way there Maya could tell Jo was not herself. She could tell she was a little on edge. And when they reached Andy's store, Andy looked surprised to see Maya. But not so surprised to see Jo. And that's when Maya put it together. She looked at Jo.

"You were in fact heading here to see Andy before I asked you, weren't you?" she asked. And Jo shrugged, clearly put on the spot by Maya's questions. Andy whacked Maya for worrying Jo and then Maya noticed how both of them were nervous and on edge now.

So Maya decided to worry them some more. This would be her entertainment for the day.

***

The three of them were now on horses, making their way out to a field of flowers. After hanging around Andy and Jo long enough, they finally gave up on getting Maya to leave and invited her to the little picnic they had planned for the day.

Maya initially feigned offence at the fact that she wasn't informed of it earlier but then accepted the invite anyway. Andy rolled her eyes.

Maya rode right between Andy and Jo's horses, completely thrilled to be the third wheel...third horse?

When they sat below a tree, enjoying the view of the never-ending pastures of green and the patches of flowers, Andy opened the picnic basket and began removing some food she had packed. Maya divided everything into three and shared jokes about Andy, with Jo.

They were finally beginning to stop getting annoyed by Maya's presence. But after a few more jokes and some more stories, Andy shifted closer to Jo, leaning on her shoulder. Maya saw it and immediately felt guilty for raining on their parade.

"I uh, I'm gonna go pick some flowers for Carina," Maya said. Jo nodded, realising why Maya was suddenly leaving them alone.

Maya walked quite a distance away, thankful that they allowed her their company and now wanting to give them a little privacy for a bit. As it is, maybe they wanted to get out of town so they could spend some time together without all eyes on them. Everyone knew Jo as the queen's assistant.