Peanut Butter Fingerprints

Chapter 2

"Budding Flower"

~•~

"A thing of beauty is a joy forever: its loveliness increases; it will never pass into nothingness."

-John Keats

~•~

America

Hazily, my mind drifted out of a drug-induced sleep and pinpointed muffled voices somewhere close by. My eyelids were too heavy to open, so I merely let my head roll to the other side of the pillow as I listened to the conversation. I inhaled deep breaths through my lips to ward off the faint nausea threatening to send me sprinting to the bathroom, and tried to focus on what the two masculine voices were saying.

". . . still have the meeting, Mr. Schreave," a distinct voice argued.

Calling Maxon 'Mr. Schreave' instead of Your Majesty? That could only be—

"Stavros, as much as I would like to proceed with the meeting, you know we can't without America."

"But--"

"She's the only reason the Italians have agreed to come and discuss trade with us. Without her, I am afraid that the negations won't be as smooth as we hoped."

I finally opened my eyes and picked out the source of the noise. Stavros, the once head advisor who had been promoted to head of the province representatives, was speaking with Maxon right outside our bedroom door. It pained me that I just had to get sick on our fifth anniversary and not to mention the night before the trade negotiations with the Italian monarchy. These negotiations were crucial to our plan to widen our international trade. Without Italy, we wouldn't be able to convince other European nations to trade with us. Maxon had been fretting over the issue for a while, and I had screwed up this huge opportunity for him and our people. 

And not to mention the fact that I was letting down Nicoletta, who had flown in for the party the night before. Her relatives were scheduled to arrive in our country the morning after, which would have been right about then. The Italians and some of the province representatives were probably waiting for me to start the meeting; I was sure Nicoletta wouldn't have it if I wasn't there. 

I cursed and rubbed my forehead with my fingers. Mary, who had been sitting in the corner of the room on a velvet chair reading a book, stood when she noticed I was awake (more than likely she heard me curse in an unladylike manner) and approached my bedside. She unscrewed a pill bottle on the nightstand to my right and handed me two green pills and a cup of water.

"This should get rid of your nausea, America," she said sweetly as I downed the pills and water without hesitation. "I think you'll be able to attend the meeting if you're up to it."

"I think I will. Thanks, Mary," I whispered, giving her a tiny smile.

"My pleasure." She then leaned over me, beckoning with her hand for me to come close. I pushed my fists into the bed to sit up and scooted forward so I could hear her better. "His Majesty has a surprise for you," she whispered, giggling behind her hand like she knew something I didn't. 

My eyebrows furrowed, but a smile soon popped onto my face. Maxon must have planned for us to have our 'date' later that night, since I ruined the special evening he had planned the night before on our actual anniversary. I couldn't wait to hear what he had planned for us. A picnic on the roof, or maybe a night of dancing in the candlelit gardens, or even just a movie night in the theater would be romantic. I wasn't sure that I could handle the anticipation. 

"Can you give me a hint?"

"Um, well, it's a gift, but it's not going to come for a while. . ." Mary trailed, her eyes darting to the floor.