Chasing Legends
By: Shmeilia Rockie

Chapter Twelve


Ambrose knocked on the door to the Queen's study. Her voice answered immediately, granting him permission to enter. He stepped inside the cozy room and quietly shut the door behind him. The clean white walls here were trimmed in gold. A lit brick stone fireplace behind her leather chair. Books of every shape and size lay haphazardly piled atop every available surface, save for one clear space on her desk.

The room fit her personality quite nicely. Ambrose enjoyed spending time there, and had spent many a late winter night sharing wine and stories with Lavender and Ahamo after the girls had been spirited off to bed by a fussy Talla. Of all the rooms in the Palace, this was the one in which he thought he could never feel uncomfortable.

Apparently he was wrong. It felt rather stuffy and small.

The Queen looked up from some paperwork as he entered and smiled weakly. "Good morning, Ambrose."

"You summoned me, Your Highness?" He asked as he bowed stiffly.

"Yes, have a seat." She motioned for one of the under-stuffed chairs in front of her desk. "Sorry about the mess. I've been helping Tutor do research on earth magic."

Ambrose moved a pile of books from the chair to the floor so he could sit in it. "Quite alright. How's the translation coming?"

"Slowly, but that isn't why I called for you." He frowned at her evasion, but she didn't acknowledge it. Instead, she moved from behind her desk to the chair next to him. "I'm going to speak candidly here, and I expect you to do the same. At this moment I'm not your employer but your friend. All right?"

Her amethyst eyes were boring into him with the intensity of a doctor peering at a new virus under a microscope. He swallowed hard. "Sure."

"I have noticed just how close you are with my youngest daughter." Oh boy, here it was. His brain unexpectedly locked up so tightly he could barely think at all. His pulse quickened and the room felt hot. Strangest of all, he had a powerful urge to introduce himself. She must have sensed his discomfort, for she put a hand on his arm to calm him. "Ambrose, what exactly are your feelings toward Deegee?"

He deflated, allowing his shoulders to slump just slightly. "Inappropriate. But don't worry, I haven't acted on them."

"Does she know how you feel?"

"I'm not sure." He let out a slow breath. This wouldn't be so hard if Lavender hadn't been her mother. Or his boss. Let alone both. And he still couldn't read her expression. "I think she might, but that might simply be wishful thinking on my part."

Relief washed over her. She could always count on Ambrose to be a gentleman to a fault. She leaned in toward him slightly, allowing a small smile to grace her features. "Well, if it is any consolation, you have my blessing as her mother should you decide to court her."

"I-I do?"

"Of course, Ambrose. I want my daughter to be happy, and you do an admirable job keeping her that way. Besides, you're my oldest friend and I want you to be happy too. If that means you do it together, then so be it."

He stood suddenly and held a hand out to her. The grin on his face couldn't get any wider if he tried. "Oh, thank you, Your Highness! You do not know what this means to me."

"Oh, I have an idea," she retorted as she shook his hand firmly. That look of pure joy was contagious, and she found herself grinning too. "Now all you need to do is ask her."

The smile slid from his face faster than it had appeared. Of course, there's a catch. There's always a catch.


"Knock, knock."

Deegee rolled over and squinted groggily up at her older sister. "Oh, it's you. What do you want?"

"Good morning to you too, Deege." Azkadellia laughed and shoved Deegee's leg's over so she could sit on the end of her bed. "Were you expecting someone else? Ambrose, perhaps?"

The younger woman sat up and stretched her arms over her head. "What if I was?"

"Well, he did want to wake you, but I told him the only way he'd be allowed to set foot in your bedchamber was if you were wearing his ring. I do hope he got the hint, it was a bit on the subtle side."

"Oh, Az, you didn't!"

"I did. He stalked off in quite a huff too. Mister Cain thought it was pretty funny."

Deegee covered her face with a pillow and groaned loudly into it. "Thanks a lot, now I'll never be able to look him in the eye again!"

"Stop being melodramatic and just pretend you don't know about it." Azkadellia patted her foot. "Hey, speaking of eyes, let me look at yours. I want to see if you're back to normal."

She reluctantly pulled her pillow away from her face so Azkadellia could see her irises. Her sister stared at her intensely, her brow slightly creased and her lips drawn into a thin line. It made Deegee slightly uncomfortable. "Last night they were still a bit sea foamy."

"Well, you look fine today, but it's hard to tell in this light. How do you feel?"

"Famished. Is it too late for breakfast?"

"Yes, but no one will stop you if you want to sneak food from the kitchens." Az said with a smile, a mischievous glint gleaming in her eye. "All you have to do is play the pity card. 'Oh, but I was so sick yesterday, I simply couldn't keep anything down.' Which is the truth, so it isn't even lying. You just have to pretend to be some fragile thing and the servants trip all over themselves trying to help you."

"Azkadellia! You can be such a rotten little stinker sometimes." She punched the older girl in the arm a bit harder than she meant to. "They don't get paid nearly enough for that kind of harassment. I should know; I used to serve food at a diner and nobody ever gave a damn about my feelings either."

Azkadellia put a hand on her chest, looking affronted. "I don't do it all the time! No need to get defensive about it."

"Sorry, Az. I'm just a bit cranky, that's all. I'll feel better once I've got something in my stomach." Deegee went to the wardrobe and pulled out the first thing she saw. As she dressed behind the screen in the corner, she let her mind wander. "I'm going to ask Gli- Ambrose for dancing lessons today."

"Oh? Any chance he'll be escorting you to the ball?"

"It's possible." Deegee finished buttoning up her blouse and reemerged to find her sister looking through her sketchbook. She reached for her black flats. "Promise not to tell anyone if I share a secret with you?"

Azkadellia looked up at her incredulously. "Of course. You shouldn't even have to ask."

She hesitated, before sitting next to her on the bed. She felt like she was fourteen and in High School all over again, gossiping with her best friend about that cute so-and-so in Geometry. "I think he feels the same way about me as I do about him."

"You're just now figuring that out? Everyone else knows it already."

"So I'm the last to know? Figures." She tossed up her hands in frustration.

"No, I'm pretty sure the last person to know is Ambrose. He may not even know it right now." Azkadellia smirked. "For a genius, he's a bit on the slow side. He did work out that you had a crush on him as a child, but only because you followed him around like a puppy. Then again, a bird might of let it slip that you said were going to marry him."

Deegee threw down her pillow like a gauntlet and lunged at her sister. "That's it, Az, I'm going to tickle you to death!"

The two princesses were off like a shot, scampering through the corridors and down the stairs as though they were on fire. Their shrieks of laughter would have woke the whole castle if everyone weren't already awake. (As it was, many an eye rolled.) Azkadellia took a sharp left, leading Deegee to the kitchens as if that had been her plan all along. She wove her way between the confused clean-up crew before dashing out the side door, a finger to her lips. Deegee stopped as if she'd been shot as soon as the aroma of fresh-baked bread hit her nose. Never before had something so simple smelled so heavenly. She closed her eyes to savor it, vaguely pondering the best way to ask for scraps without offending any of the staff.

Luckily, she didn't have to. "Ah, Princess, I see we had the same idea. Did you miss breakfast too?"

"Ambrose, good morning." She turned and smiled at the man as he handed her a chunk of bread the size of her fist. She sank her teeth into it greedily; it tasted a bit like sourdough. "Yes, it seems that way."

"Are you feeling better today?" He asked as leaned against a kitchen island.

Something about his posture seemed off, and she wondered if something was bothering him. She figured he'd volunteer the information when he was ready, so she didn't press it. "Much better, thank you. In fact, I think I might be up to some dance lessons later."

"Excellent! May I have the honor of being your teacher, or do you have someone else in mind?"

"Oh, you may. I wouldn't dream of learning from anyone else."

Putting on these airs was a tedious affair, but completely unnecessary. They weren't fooling anyone. Cain and Azkadellia watched from the doorway leading into the servants' quarters. Cain rolled his eyes, fighting the urge to say something very rude very loudly. Instead, he opted for a not very satisfying snort. "If they get any more formal they'll be in each other's pants."

Azkadellia sniffed and stuck her nose in the air. "Well, I think it's cute."

"Yes, it is. That's the problem. I hate cute. I despise cute. Did you know I eat stuffed animals for breakfast?"

"Uh huh. Sure. Just keep telling yourself that, you old softy."

They smiled at each other and made their exit, leaving the pair to flirt in peace.