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“That’s very kind, thank you,” Ophelia told him sincerely.
Calix looked as though he’d just swallowed something unpleasant. “I just don’t want you in my kitchen every day.”
“I don’t want to accompany the queen to your kitchen every day, so if you could send it up, that would work better for everyone.”
I gave him a long look, hoping that I was conveying with my expression alone that it would be far better for both of us if we didn’t have to spend any more time together.
That was obvious, wasn’t it? So why did he look like he was ready to disagree?
Chapter 5
ONEWEEKLATER
I didn’t much like leaving the kitchens.
The kitchen was my domain. The rest of the palace was not. My skin always felt too small for my body when I had to deal with snobby courtiers, but I was braving the palace corridors today.
In the time that the queen had been here, she’d spent a large portion of her days in the garden, which meant that was where Levana was too.
For reasons I couldn’t understand, there was an incessant itching restlessness under my skin that I was pretty sure Levana was the only cure for.
Butwhy? Yes, I’d been obsessed with her on sight, but that should have eased off after sex, not worsened. And it wasn’t as though she made it easy for me to lust after her. Levana mostly avoided me, and had raised her haughtiness levels up significantly whenever she had to visit the kitchens.
Why wasn’t that off-putting?
I found Levana pacing at the very edge of the public gardens, near the walled-off bit that was exclusively for the royal family’s use.
“Did you lose the queen?” I teased. “Isn’t that your one job?”
She shot me an impatient looking, coming to a stop and crossing her arms over her chest. “Isn’t your one job cooking? I don’t see any kitchens around here…”
“I do see something delicious though.”
I grinned as Levana failed to suppress a surprised laugh. “That was the worst line I’ve ever heard, I can’t believe you just said that.”
The queen must be out of earshot if Levana was speaking so openly.
“Is it a line if I’m speaking truthfully?”
Levana huffed out another quiet laugh, shaking her head slightly. “They’re in there, by the way. The king and queen.”
She gestured at the high walls of the private garden.
“You’re not going stand at the entrance? How un-guard-like of you.”
“You wouldn’t either,” Levana grumbled. “The smell is quite… overwhelming.”
“Thesmell?” I replied, choking on a laugh. I was already accustomed to Ophelia’s scent changing with her mood, and I’d heard through the chains of gossip that she produced something quite potent around her husband, though I’d assumed it had been exaggeration.
Levana wouldn’t lie though. She was loyal to a fault.
“I believe it’s a good thing,” Levana added hurriedly. “I was waiting in the hall while they discussed the details, but my guess is that it shows some kind of compatibility. I don’t know why I’m telling you this, it’s very unprofessional of me.”
I leaned back against a tree, watching as she resumed her pacing. “Who else do you have to talk to?”
She paused. “What?”
“Who else do you have to talk to about this stuff?”
