The Princess, the Pea and the Night of Passion

Chapter 11

Lionel took Adara to breakfast via some long winding route, which annoyed Adara. When she arrived for breakfast finally, the royal family — the king, queen and prince were already seated. Surprisingly, the queen greeted Adara with a smile so broad it threatened to extend beyond her face. In fact, the queen looked giddy, like she might actually jump for joy. Maybe the king was as good in bed as his son, Adara thought. If she and the queen had experienced similar nights, Adara could understand why the queen was so joyous.

The prince stood and pulled out a chair for Adara opposite of where he'd been sitting. She smiled at him, but tried not to make it too intense, lest anyone suspect he'd been with her last night.

No sooner had the prince returned to his seat than the queen turned to Adara, that same giant grin plastered on her face. "Did you sleep well?"

Adara thought back to her complete lack of sleep and tried to reply truthfully, but with omissions. "I very much enjoyed the room, Your Majesty."

The queen's smile faded and she looked serious. "Aren't you polite, my dear," she said. "But you can be honest with me."

Adara tried to look nonchalant, but she was getting nervous. What was the queen getting at? She wondered if she could know. But, if she knew, she wouldn't ask about it, would she? Adara looked briefly at Richard, but he, too, looked curious about what his mother was asking. "Your Majesty," she said. "The accommodations were very generous of you."

The queen nodded curtly. "I see you're too polite to be honest," she said as she clutched her hands and sighed. "Well, dear, I'll be honest with you. I overheard what you said to your girl. That you didn't sleep well last night."

Adara's mouth popped open in shock. "You heard?"

The queen frowned and nodded. "Yes," she said. "I didn't hear everything, as you're a very quiet talker my dear, which is good. Discretion is important in matters such as these, but your maid servant repeated enough of what you said, that I realized what you were talking about. You said it was 'as hard as a boulder,'" the queen said, shaking her head as if it were the most scandalous comment to ever cross the threshold of her ears. The queen continued, her voice quiet as she repeated what she'd overheard. "You said you were 'pounded all night.'"

Adara swallowed and looked at the Prince, who raised an eyebrow. Then she turned back to the queen, who was staring. Adara was unable to hide the horror and embarrassment. "I'm sorry," she said. "You weren't supposed to hear."

The queen waved away the comment. "It's alright, dear," she said kindly. "Now it's my turn to apologize. The night you experienced is all my fault."

Adara was confused. She looked at the queen, then the prince, and then back at the queen. Was the queen saying she'd sent Richard to seduce her? That didn't make any sense.

"I'm confused, mother," Richard said. "What are you saying?"

She turned to her son. "Oh yes, dear. You would be confused, because I didn't tell you. If you must know, I didn't believe Adara was a princess, so I decided to put her to the test. It's a test any true princess can pass, and Adara did, with flying colors. I had the staff set a single pea in the bed frame and then stack twenty mattresses on top of it. Only a real princess would feel that pea through the mattresses. Clearly Adara did. She was pounded all night by it, and it felt as hard as a boulder. I mean, as soon as I heard her say she didn't sleep at night, coupled with the other things, I knew she had felt it. Such sensitivity. Sensitivity only a princess would have."

Adara managed to suppress the laughter that was threatening to break loose. She nodded and lowered her head. "Yes, Your Majesty, it was the pea," she said. She looked over at the prince. "It was as hard as a boulder, and so, so big. I felt it all night long. It was relentless."