Only a moment later, a heaping plate of food is brought in. There is roasted chicken and beef. Mashed potatoes, vegetables. I haven’t seen a meal like that…maybe ever. My mom isn’t much of a cook. Well, none of us are. We take turns, because that’s only fair.
But that means that our meals are cheap and simple. This is nothing like that.
And there’s so much butter. On everything. I try to hide my delight, because I don’t want him to know that this is one of the more exciting things to ever happen to me. Obviously, I fail at that, because when I take a bite of the mashed potatoes, something appears in his eyes, and he leans in. “You like that?”
“Yes,” I say. “What’s not to like? Obviously your chef is very good.”
“What is your favorite thing to eat?”
“I…” I don’t want to tell him that I don’t know. But the truth is, I am right at this moment eating the best thing that I’ve ever had in my entire life, and I would not have said that mashed potatoes were my favorite food. But these mashed potatoes are.
“I don’t know,” I say finally.
“You don’t know?” He’s looking at me like that again. That keen, serpentlike examining. “We shall have to find out what it is.”
“Shall we?” I bite back the question as to whether or not it’s so he knows what to make for my last meal.
I probably shouldn’t bring death up every time I’m with him. If it’s on his to-do list and it slipped his mind for a moment, I shouldn’t remind him.
I take another bite of the food, and I am tempted to tell him that right now, whatever all this is, is the very best thing I have ever eaten. I don’t. I feel that it is a bit much to act grateful.
“What sorts of things do you wish to do as queen?”
The subject changes abruptly, and I have to chew and swallow my food before I can answer. “Well, as I’ve mentioned, I wish to study.”
“Yes. But as queen, the scope of your duties will encompass overseeing certain programs for the nation.”
“Well. I’ve lived among your people for all of my life. So I have a lot of opinions about the way the country is run.”
“Do you?” he asks. “Excellent. Tell me.”
“Do you really want me to…point out the flaws in your present system?”
“Yes,” he says. “This is all about improving things for our people.”
I’m surprised by this. But then, I’ve been completely surprised by him from the moment I first met him. There are ways in which he’s just like the stories. But also…he isn’t.
The myth of King Lucian is just that. A myth.
Though, I’m not entirely sure if the version that is sitting in front of me right now is better than those myths or worse. I can’t tell if I’m being played with. Like a mouse rather than a sparrow. Or if he’s being somewhat sincere.
“I would really like to see increased funding for education. The public school system as well as the universities here. The public universities in Alabria lag behind the rest of the world. I was going to go to university in England. Most likely. I was looking at a few places around the world, but the idea of going here was never one I took seriously. The investment in research simply isn’t there.”
“Then we will invest in research,” he says.
“You… Just like that?”
“You have the ear of the crown, sparrow.”
“And will I be able to study?”
“Perhaps in a fashion. We will see. There is the matter of heirs.”
My stomach clenches tight. “Yes. I am aware of that… But surely we can delay. I’m only twenty-two.”
He makes a regretful sound in the back of his throat. “So young.”
“You could have chosen someone older. My sister is only twenty-four.”
