The Queen of Stones

Chapter 4

I quickly stand up and leave as well, with Davi right beside me. As we walk through the corridor on the way to the dining room, I place my right hand on Davi's arm.

"Did you read the article in the newspaper?" I ask, wondering what is his opinion about it.

"No," he says. "I liked the photo though."

I sigh and let my shoulders fall. We keep walking in silence, which helps me to notice the faraway figure of a thin man walking fast in our direction.

"Your Majesties," Vincent Wardwell says as he approaches us. "I need to discuss something of extreme urgency."

"It is my lunchtime, Mister Wardwell," I politely decline looking at his big hooked nose. "You can talk to me during my office hours."

"It really is of extreme urgency."

"Talk then," I say frowning as I and Davi continue walking.

"A man has just applied for the carrier position."

"That's good news," I say. "We have been looking for a new carrier for the past eight years."

"There is a slight problem, though," he says rubbing his hands together. "He is from an improper family."

I stop and look at him, focusing on the golden pin shaped like a bee that is attached to his suit. For the people who could not afford to have every piece of clothing embroidered with a symbol of their power, the pins were a great choice, being used by every member of the staff and a minority of lower rank nobles, who were constantly mocked at court.

"He is the nephew of a woman who had a son out of wedlock."

I start walking again and Davi accompanies me. "He is the cousin of a bastard," I state. "Why are you bringing this to me? You know we can't associate the crown with this type of family."

"Because his power is perfect for the job and, if we don't find a carrier to bring what we need from Earth, soon we will have to start draining things from our own land. Our gasoline deposits are almost in a minimal capacity." He stops for a second and licks his lips. "Maybe we should consider him. He has a last name, after all, it's just not a good one."

"No, but you're right, we should be more concerned in finding a carrier," I say. Extend the offer for all of Asteria. If they come from outside of New Royale, they can get permission to live in Aridell."

"I will, Your Majesty." Vincent Wardwell bows. "Thank you for your time."

"Oh, I almost forgot," I say stopping for a second. "Go to my office later, Mister Wardwell, there is a folder I need you to collect."

"Of course, Your Majesty."

Vincent Wardwell leaves as quickly as he arrived and, minutes later, I and Davi reach the dining room. We have lunch together and I head back to my office to work, leaving Davi to go back to his activities, whatever they may be.

After Vincent Wardwell's quick visit and few hours of boring paperwork, my productivity begins to decline, becoming harder to focus each second that goes by. Because of that, I decided to walk around the palace until I have to start getting ready for tonight's event, the opening of the Naming Season.

On the entrance of the garden, I walk past a guard who asks if I need to be accompanied. I say no. The garden is inside the palace grounds, so I don't need guards around to keep me safe. This is one of the main reasons which I hate going to Aridell, all of the guards surrounding me, trying to keep me safe. At the palace, I can walk freely, but outside, it feels like war. Like I was seconds away from being murdered.

This part of the royal palace is composed of long rectangles of highly tended grass with paths surrounding then, mostly to give the impression of walking on grass without actually having to walk on grass. It is very beautiful. However, this is my least favorite part of the garden.

After the open hay, there is an entrance to a small maze, with a few meters of tall bushes. When I was a kid, I spent a long time trying to figure my way through this maze, in times ending up lost and having to be rescued. But I don't need help anymore, because, apart from the fact that it looks considerably smaller now, I now know the path by heart.

I slowly walk around the maze for a bit, even sitting down in the dirt at some point to enjoy the rays of sunlight hitting my skin. Then decide to move on. Pacing around the garden for a bit longer before entering the palace again, fixing my dress and wiping out the dirt as I go through the door.

Inside, the royal palace is built out of white marble and decorated with gold. At this time of the day, as the sun is going down, the light that breaches through the enormous windows brings a feeling of warmth to the normally indifferent walls; which reminds me to go check this golden hour at the library.

As I enter the long library, I look straight to the windows, decorated with colorful stones. These stones were taken from the Stones Sanctuary and placed in a way that, when the light reaches them, it projects a magical glow in the ambient, casting purple, pink, yellow, and blue rays in the thousands of books placed in the white shelves. It is definitely the most beautiful image that my eyes have ever had the pleasure to see.

I walk around the library, looking for a book to flip through and end up choosing The Great, one of my favorite books about King Richard the Great, and how he changed the entire fate of Asteria by unifying it and establishing the Second Agreement. I sit on the floor and open the book on the first page, the page of his portrait. I can feel the power just by looking at his face. I run my fingers through my face.

I wonder if people feel this way by looking at me, if they feel the power of a great monarch who can change the history of Asteria. Probably not. After all, I haven't changed anything. I am not great.

I hear a loud blast of something hitting the floor. The contrast of the noise with the quiet ambient alerts me that someone else is here. I quickly stand up and walk around, seeing, in the last corridor of bookshelves, a badly dressed man with black hair holding, with one arm, about seven large books. He looks surprised to see me.

"I'm sorry for the noise, Your Majesty," he says. "I dropped a book."

"That's okay."

I go back to the corridor I was in, sitting on the floor again and grabbing the book that I left on the floor. I read pages and pages until I start to have a certain difficult to read the words since there was no more sunlight coming through the windows. I close the book and walk to the clock near the door. When I see that it is almost 7 pm, I quickly put the book back in its place on the shelf and walk to my room to get changed for the opening.

I hope things go well tonight.