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“Wh-what do you mean, your majesty?” Her head bowed and then slowly rose. Isabella’s hands held firm against her apron, but the queen noticed how she was repeatedly rubbing her hand over the other. Queen Evalyn smiled, softly, hoping to relax her— her gaze, however, was focused.
“Heavens, Isabella, I’m not trying to accuse you of anything.”
Isabella grinned.
“I was only wondering what you did different. I am certain the flavor profile tastes, well, different. It’s delicious but there’s this sweetness of sorts.”
Isabella beamed. “I’m pleased you like it, your majesty. I did add something.”
The queen nodded. “I thought so. What is it?” She leaned forward as if she was sitting on the very edge of the velvet cushion of her chair.
“Why, it’s vanilla. I was told it would mix seamlessly with some of the bitters of that herbal mix.”
“It does, indeed. Thank you. I’m sorry to have kept you from your work.”
Isabella nodded. Bowed. Then she left.
“Well, mystery solved.” The king crooned.
Evalyn turned her sights onto her husband. She glowered at him, just a bit. “What is it, exactly, that you have been doing over at your desk? Isn’t it a bit early in the day for your letter writing?”
“Someone is quite curious this morning?”
The queen continued to glower. He started to laugh, cleared his throat, and then grabbed some kind of book and walked toward her. He handed it to her and sat in the chair nearest. She hadn’t seen it for some time. Evalyn rubbed her hand against the black leather cover. There were gold swirls at the four corners with the family crest at the center. While she gripped the edge of the book she flipped it open. There were so many memories. Some of which was in her handwriting, some from Francisco, and then there were tiny paintings from past events.
With pages opened, she clutched it at her chest. “I can’t believe you found this.” She felt a tear prick the corner of her left eye.
“You were quite the collector of memories.” King Francisco leaned over and pressed his lips to her forehead.
“That’s sweet.” She went back to scanning the pages of the book.
“We look so, well, young.” He hesitated.
“We were,” she just shook her head. It was hard to imagine. It felt like a world away. She continued flipping through the pages and then stopped. Her hand held firm to the page as her throat felt dry, like she hadn’t just been guzzling down tea.
“Evalyn, what’s wrong?” She could hear the concern but shook her head. “Darling, don’t tell me that you’re alright. I can see that you’re not.”
Her muscles felt strained by the pressure of how hard she squeezed the edge of the page.
“I-I—” she bit her lip and then finally glanced at her husband. “Do you remember this?”
King Francisco leaned as far as he could, until he saw the page. “Wasn’t this one of our many outings?” The queen didn’t speak, but merely pointed at a person.
He swallowed. “Wasn’t that your friend? I can’t remember her name, but she was so secretive and mysterious.”
“Jezzabell,” her voice cracked. “Her name was Jezzabell.”
His eyebrows furrowed. “What do you mean was? Did she change her name or something?”
She grabbed his hand and laced her fingers around his. “Of course not, silly. I just haven’t seen or heard from her for a while.”
“I’m sure she’s fine. How long has it been?” His foot bounced a bit.
He was so patient. So, understanding of it all. She was not a woman who believed in coincidence, but it had been a long time.
She shook her head and focused back on her husband. “It has been about sixteen years.”
His eyes bulged. “That’s right. The day Aironell was born.” He looked away. She followed his gaze down to his foot tapping against the ground.
