The Beginning

Chapter 5: The Tea Party

I marched back to my room and Karena was waiting for me.

"How did the presentation go your majesty?" Karena asked while curtsying in her dirty maid clothes. I was too annoyed to correct her and I just flopped into a chair and proceeded to remove the pins out of my hair until it flowed down my shoulders. "What are you doing? As a princess you must wear your dress for the day." I threw the pins in a heap on the table and placed my face in my hands. Karena's voice softened then, "Is something the matter?" I glanced up.

"I have to get married." I said, tears brimming. "I don't want to marry just anyone. I want to find love."

"Well Mae that is an easy fix." Karena smiled, resting a hand on my shoulder. I looked at her as a tear fell down my cheek. "You just have to find it."

"What do you mean?" I sniffled, wiping my hand across my nose.

"All you have to do is find it, fall in love."

"You make it sound so easy Karena."

"It's not, but you have time. Don't overthink it too much."

I didn't answer her but turned around and motioned to the zipper on my dress. She complied and unzipped me. I went over to my dresser and pulled out a pair of jean shorts and a crop top.

"Ma'am that is not appropriate for tea with the duchess and the queen. Connie will be there as well, you do not want to embarrass our queen."

"I don't care what they think of me. I didn't want this so I will wear what I want." I said, pulling my hair up into a high ponytail. "Now if you excuse me. I have a tea party to attend."

The tea party was held in the back garden , I don't really know what I expected. There was a small round table amongst the flowers with a large umbrella overtop. The duchess and Ms.Romulie were both wearing black flowy dresses and were taking delicate sips of tea. I cleared my throat so that they would acknowledge my presence. The duchess gave me a cold stare but Ms.Romulie smiled warmly at me.

"Join us my dear." Ms.Romulie said, pulling out the chair beside her. I plunked myself into the chair and poured myself some tea. The teapot had a very intricate design of flowers and I found it interesting.

"Ms.Romulie, what is that flower?" I asked, pointing at the teapot.

"Well that is your family crest your majesty. Surely you know what your family crest is." The duchess sneered. I gave her a smile and shook my head.

"Sorry ma'am my morals are different than yours." I said cooly.

"How so?"

"While you learned to have manners, I learnt how to rip people's throats out. When you learned how to be a princess, I learnt how to be a killer. But now I see we aren't much different. Ma'am." I said, not even trying to hide my attitude. Ms.Romulie shot me a look that I ignored, the duchess's face grew red as her temper grew.

"Where's Connie?" I asked.

"She couldn't join us. Something happened at the institute and she had to go back. I'm sorry." Ms.Romulie answered, setting a hand on my shoulder.

"What happened? Is everyone okay?" I asked, panic rising in my voice.

"I don't know. I haven't had time to check it out but I'm sure it's been taken care of."

"Are you sure? Because if any of the people in there were hurt I don't know how I could live with myself."

"Mahogany don't worry everything will be fine." Mrs.Romulie reassured me. I relaxed a little and pushed back against the chair. She poured me more tea and I drank it immediately. The duchess was staring at me like I was a freak, I just crossed my arms and stared at my feet. It was quiet for a while and I only looked up when I heard footsteps. Loki was marching towards the table at a brisk speed. His hair was pulled back into a ponytail and he was wearing a black jacket.

"Good morning Duchess, your majesty." He said whilst bowing slightly. The duchess smiled creepily and Mrs.Romulie nodded curtly. Loki gave me a slight nod before sliding into the chair between the duchess and I. "Room for one more?"

"Of course dear." The duchess said smiling. Her bright red lips pulled tight against her slightly yellow teeth. I slid the tea pot towards him while Mrs.Romulie handed him a tea cup. "So Loki, how was the hunt?"

"It was grand, we caught 3 rabbits and a quail." Loki replied, like he was reading off a script. I gave him a look that said I have no idea what you're talking about.

"Every couple weeks or so, my father and I go on a hunt." He said directing the sentence at me.

"That's cool I guess." I said, taking another sip of the lukewarm tea.

"Very interesting indeed." The duchess said while smiling again.

"So Mae- your majesty where is Connie? I thought she was joining us for tea." Loki asked.

"She had to go back to the institute, some emergency."

"You okay?"

"Yeah. She can handle it I'm sure. She's Connie for goodness sake." I replied.

"I just wanted to let you know Mahogany, our messengers have contacted prince Nicolas. He will be visiting in two days." Mrs.Romulie piped up from behind me.

"Why?" I asked.

"Because you must get to know him before you will be wed. Remember he also has to propose to you before you can get married officially." The duchess said. I couldn't tell if she was being malicious or not, either way I didn't like the way she talked to me.

"Well that'll be fun." I said sarcastically. Loki was trying hard not to laugh as the duchesses face flushed in rage again.