Page 6 of The Lies of Lena (The Otacian Chronicles #1)

Chapter Five

“ T hat guy was a total flirt,” I told Mother while washing the dishes. I had just strolled in moments before, struggling not to show amusement.

“Why do you sound annoyed by that?” Mother questioned as she wiped down our kitchen countertop with a damp rag. “I thought he was handsome—and my, was he sweet!”

I paused, soap dripping down my hands.

Yes. Yes, he was.

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t mildly fascinated by him. No one from the Inner Ring had ever shown us kindness, save for Gerald and Guinevere, and that was because we were of use to them. Everyone else looked at us like we were a total other species.

They wouldn’t be entirely incorrect about that.

“Well,” I said as I resumed my dish cleaning. “I guess he’s just not my type,” I lied .

Mother chuckled. “Please, I think he is everyone’s type.”

I gave her a raised brow. “Oh, really?”

She swatted me with the rag, and I chuckled softly. I then mentioned how we planned to hang out again, and through Mother’s excitement, I could tell she believed it was a date, despite me denying it. I purposely left out the training part.

The day went by quickly. After helping clean the disaster left in the kitchen after Mother’s frantic cooking, I went to tend the garden, the sun providing precious heat.

The rest of the afternoon was for my studies. Mother was willing to let me go to the public school in the Outer Ring, but we determined that it was less of a risk for me to be homeschooled…less of a chance to get close to anyone.

If I were different, I would want that. I saw kids my age walking from school most afternoons, hearing their chatter as if they had not a care in the world. I couldn’t imagine what that was like.

After dinner, my body was weary. I crawled into bed, trying my hardest not to think about Quill. His lazy smile was the last thing I thought of before I drifted to sleep.

I felt a cold presence over me, but I couldn’t move my body. I couldn’t even open my eyes. I just lay there, paralyzed.

Something was whispering, but it was so faint I couldn’t decipher it. I wanted to scream, ask it what it wanted, but I just lay there, hearing its soft murmur, unable to move a muscle.

My eyes flung upon, and sunlight had begun to shine through the gossamer curtains in my bedroom. I was covered in sweat.

What the hell was that last night? Surely a dream?

I wiped the sweat from my forehead and flung my quilt off me; the coinciding breeze felt terrific. Sitting on the edge of the stiff bed, I kept trying to recall what that voice was trying to say. It must have been a dream, but I always believed dreams had a deeper meaning. That presence was similar to what I felt in the forest yesterday.

I wonder if Quill had the same dream.

I ran my hand through my hair. My copper coils were more defined since I washed my hair last night.

I heard a knock on my door, and Mother scurried in, excitedly clenching her teeth.

“Well, don’t keep me in suspense! What is it?”

She proceeded to tell me, while lightly bouncing up and down, that the Queen was visiting today. Had the news been about the King, that bouncing would be trembling. But Queen Ryia was as kind as they come. She came down last year and seeing her dazzling attire and hairstyle had left me both star-struck and annoyed.

Quickly, we got ourselves ready to avoid missing her appearance. Yet again, I did my signature half-up hairstyle and opted for my prettiest dress, if you could call it pretty. It was a deep navy blue, and its length almost reached the ground. My favorite part was the petal sleeves, but though the dress was lovely, it was a tad too large for me. I wore a black bustier over it, which gave a slightly more flattering look.

I met Mother in her room, where she was fussing over a piece of hair that was not cooperating. She huffed, slumped her arms down, and blew up on a stray piece of hair in front of her face. She turned to face me after noticing my presence and looked me up and down.

“You look beautiful, Lena.” She smiled with tears in her eyes. “You look so much…older than last we saw the Queen. Like a woman.”

“Thank you,” I replied sheepishly, scratching the back of my head. It was true, the looking-more-womanly part. Compared to last year, my hips had widened, and my chest had grown.

We headed out, strolling toward Linora Park, arguably one of the prettier areas of the Outer Ring. It was a large, open field of grass, save for the decent-sized pond on the outer edge that had a wooden bridge crossing over it. It was forbidden to fish, but I knew plenty of fish swam beneath. Most days, the park was filled with residents having picnics, children running through the field playing games, or local musicians trying to earn some copper for their talent.

Now, the park was packed like sardines, chattering voices filling the air. The number of people crammed here made me feel uneasy, but it was incontestably the happiest the people down here got. My lips couldn’t help but turn upward at that fact.

“Shh, she’s coming!”

Various voices began whispering and gushing at each other as trumpets and drums began playing in the distance in a beautiful and powerful melody.

It was too mobbed for me to push to the front. Mother, on the other hand, had gotten a pretty decent spot. I pulled myself up on a lamp post, and the added height its stone base gave me provided a perfect view of the incoming Queen over the crowd.

The music began to crescendo as Queen Ryia’s guard marched down, her float behind them glistening in the morning sun. Gems dazzled along the outsides, a rainbow of color. I fought the urge to roll my eyes but couldn’t help but slightly gawk.

I could never imagine having wealth, even a fraction of that.

The Queen was now around forty feet away from me, give or take. Her obsidian, satin gown, a perfect match to the kingdom’s gothic castle, hugged her body in all the right places before spilling delicately on the floor beneath her. Her shoulders were bare, showcasing her sand-colored skin, and her hair was pulled into a sleek updo, its color almost the same shade as her dress.

In short, she was stunning.

She waved at the crowd, giving a genuine smile. She never threw gold; it would quickly turn into a fight. So, after her greeting, she would shop at local businesses, spending a generous amount at each one. We were to head back to our stand after this, the market commencing again on any day royalty appeared.

She continued to wave when her gaze landed on me. She stopped in her tracks, her hand frozen in mid-air.

I gulped, my smile disappearing.

Was she looking at…me?

A moment later, she resumed her waving, yet her eye contact remained on me, me without a doubt.

And then she continued looking at everyone else once more. Perhaps she found it improper, a person just holding on to a lamp post while royalty was present. I nervously lowered myself and decided to head to our stand early.

When Mother met me back at our stand, after plenty of citizens had streamed into the market, she gushed over the Queen, just like she had in the past. After that, she gave me a raised brow.

“Why did you leave early?”

“I…I just wanted to get a head start on setting up.” Indeed, my early arrival allowed me to get our stand looking extra clean and welcoming. I wasn’t about to tell her of my strange interaction with the Queen.

The market was soon bursting with energy, and local musicians played their tunes in all different areas. People sold a wide variety of goods, from food to clothing to jewelry, perfume, and so much more.

Before we knew it, the Queen was gracefully walking through the market, guards surrounding her in a square. She made her way around, both Mother and I trembling with nerves. In previous years, she hadn’t made it to our stand, as there was a total of ninety vendors. She probably went to half during her time here, which took up nearly the entire day. But then, once again, the Queen’s gaze turned to me, her electric blue eyes meeting mine, and I realized I had never seen her this close before. She spoke something to her guards and walked up to us, them trailing behind her.

I could hear Mother suck in a breath, and I stiffened .

“Welcome, Your Majesty,” Mother breathed while bowing. I matched her a beat later. “We are known for our baked goods and our elixirs,” she stated as she raised her head.

“So, I’ve heard,” Ryia mused. “Word has spread in the Inner Ring of your business.”

Mother and I exchanged wide eyes, somehow surprised that the Queen knew such insignificant matters regarding the Inner Ring.

“I’ll take everything you have in stock,” she continued. “I would love to try some, along with my staff.”

I thought Mother would faint as she processed the information.

“Oh, that is so kind, Your Majesty!”

We counted the price of everything as quickly as possible.

Twenty-three, thirty-one, thirty—shoot.

I could feel the Queen staring at me, making me lose count, and my cheeks heated. I dared to look at her, and to my surprise, she was beaming at me.

I returned a nervous smile and continued counting.

“The total for everything…is three-hundred-twenty coppers,” Mother hesitantly stated.

The Queen raised her arm and signaled for one of the guards, who walked up and handed her a black velvet pouch. Without opening it, she gave it to me.

“I do not carry copper,” she said. “But I do carry silver. There are one hundred pieces in there. I don’t wish to count it out, so keep it all,” she said with a wink.

Mother and I gaped before Mother finally spoke. “T-thank you, Your Majesty.” One thousand coppers equaled one hundred silvers, which was also ten gold. She gave us over triple the amount. We both bowed, and the Queen smiled softly before walking to the next place.

“Oh…oh my gosh!” Mother squealed, grabbing my hands. We both couldn’t help but jump for joy. She gave us enough to buy food for at least two months!

We closed our stand after the Queen's guards collected our items, and we moved swiftly on our way back home.

“Let’s get pizza tonight! We deserve it,” Mother said as she nudged me with a smile. I smiled back, but when I looked away, my lips began to turn downwards despite the blessing that had just occurred.

Why was she staring at me?