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Ophelia pulled out the chair at the head of the table and scooted it underneath her queen. An extra piece of wood had been added to the chair with a hole that perfectly fit her staff. The queen set it there so that it would remain closer to her than it was to anybody else.
"Thank you all for accepting my invitation. I do apologize for yesterday's disruption and I can assure you nothing like that will happen again."
Jack was the first one to grab his cup. Even though it was only the early morning the glass of red wine that had been poured was practically gone. He took the last sip of his drink back like a shot.
Blond hair was neatly tucked behind his ears and his dark blue shirt brought out the gorgeous color of his eyes. The collar of his shirt came up his neck and the end of his hair caught on it as he turned his head to look at the queen. High collared shirts were a ridiculous new fashion Sienna was seeing more and more from men.
Queen Sienna smiled back at him as they locked eyes. Not because his smile was particularly charming or because for once his lips weren't cutting a straight line across his features but his empty wine glass suggested he was either nervous or a raging alcoholic. Either of those things suited Sienna just fine. He cleared his throat and she thought that he was about to speak but it was Lucian that beat him to the punch.
"I do not doubt that. I hope that they are caught and put on trial accordingly, especially since they ruined the evening."
"Especially because they ruined the evening? Don't you mean ‘I hope they are caught because they clearly had to be under the influence of the Impelling,’" Leo inserted.
This morning Leo's bronze hair hung around his shoulders more messily than she'd seen it last night. He definitely looked like a farmer and more so he sounded like a commoner.
"If it is the Impelling, then I can assure you that they will be dealt with swiftly.” Sienna took the glass of wine being offered to her by a servant. It was nothing more than a prop of course because Sienna wouldn't let herself get drunk. She held a great deal of power and would not let it be stolen from her if she didn't pay enough attention.
Hollis snorted and even if she had been trying to avoid looking at him directly her gaze immediately shot to him. Oh gods. Hollis was gorgeous. Handsome in the way that he always had been and it only got better when he smiled. He ran his fingers through his black hair and gave Sienna an amused look. Could he tell that he still took her breath away?
"Mr. Weebly, would you like to give us your input on the subject?"
"Mr. Weebly," he whispered under his breath, not even hiding the way he rolled his eyes. "I don't figure I have much of an opinion on anything, but what it looks like to me is someone was finally acting on their frustrations toward the crown. Is that not why we're doing this? No need to downplay the niceties of it. You want a husband. You want an heir because you and your sisters think that that will make Pasia like you more."
"Pasia loves the queens. They saved us from the Fae who all too often were using us," Thomas said, his glass totally empty.
"You bring up a good point, Mr. Delroy. What the two had done yesterday, while it is considered traitorous, was that not exactly how you and your sisters came to power?" Hollis leaned forward in his chair, his eyes traveling from the top of Sienna’s head down to the beautiful pink bodice before he brought them back up to her face.
Lucian's chair groaned as he himself sat back putting his weight onto one armrest. A black brow arched and those green almond eyes flared with humor. "Mr. Weebly, who knew you had such a loose tongue?"
Sienna tapped her nails against her wine glass holding his stare.
"I'm just laying out the information as I see it. I've been quite concerned too.” He glanced at his friend. “We all have. If we have such high walls surrounding this country and magic that keeps the Fae out how exactly are people being infected with this…Impelling. That suggests that there are Fae within these walls."
Queen Sienna tried to plaster a smile on her face to hide the rage starting to boil up. After all, a queen that has nothing to hide should be open to questions and giving answers. She needed these men to see the nicer side of her. She needed a king. And Hollis with his peasant opinions wasn't going to get a rise out of her. He wasn't going to ruin this for her.
She’d turned down potential suitors as a young girl always hoping that one day he would realize he loved her. She wasn't gonna let him scare anyone else off.
"When the walls were erected it is possible that there were a few Fae still within the country that had not yet fled. They remain in hiding and that is why we have such a heavy patrol. And each person that we find with the Impelling is another clue as to where they might be hiding. When we find a heavy concentration of people infected we know a Fae could be in the area. We've caught a couple since building the wall in this territory already." She laughed. "But that's information you better keep to yourself because we don't share that publicly. I'm not trying to get the citizens in a tizzy."
They would be hunting down anyone and everyone thinking that they were Fae in Glamour. Chaos.
"Is that not what is happening now?" Hollis asked. He sent another glance at Leo, who nodded his approval but didn't speak up. At least Leo had the sense about him to keep his mouth shut.
Queen Sienna sighed heavily and leveled Hollis with a dangerous look. "I apologize, I was unaware that I would be coming to breakfast to be put through interrogation. I thought it would be nice for us all to get to know one another."
“My due apologies to my Queen." Lucien lifted his drink. “Perhaps I started this conversation out on the wrong foot. It would only be right if we start over. You look quite stunning this morning; might I say that pink very well could be your color."
Sienna gave him an approving nod. As Thomas was already speaking up, "It looks as though you received my gift." His cheeks heated to an even darker shade of red. "It's more beautiful on you than I even imagined."
Her hand drifted up to her wrist and she brushed the bracelet. The doors to the kitchen swung open and staff were immediately hurrying inside and setting plates down in front of them. Another welcomed distraction. Sienna gave the men her sweetest smile, making sure to make eye contact directly with each one of them. When she got around to Hollis she instead glanced down at her plate. Breathing in the savory scent of the meal, she picked up her fork, signaling the men that they were allowed to eat.
"Yes, thank you all so much for the gifts. It was such a pleasant surprise to wake up to such beautiful tokens of your affection. My room smelled like a garden!"
"Oh yes, you used to love playing in gardens. I remember how much dirt used to cling to our clothes at the end of a fun day." Hollis was already cutting into a thick slice of ham.
Jack pointed his fork between the queen and Hollis. "That's right, you two know each other. How so?"
Sienna felt her face heat even though she tried to force her body not to have such a reaction. She thought Hollis being here would be nice. She thought she'd be able to show him that she had become something bigger and greater than what she used to be. Shouldn’t she be everything he ever wanted? And instead, here they were and all he was doing was reminiscing about the past.
