CHAPTER 3
EUCALYPTUS: new life
I woke up on the left side of the bed, alone.
It was bright outside, brighter than the Hyuga Kingdom. Everything in the Uzumaki Kingdom was bright, vivid, colourful. Even when we had arrived late last night, I could see colours glowing in soft light of sconces and lanterns.
We had spent the last week travelling, with nights spent at different luxurious inns – in separate bedchambers. The Emperor was with me in the carriage the whole ride on the day we left, but for the next remaining days, he travelled in another carriage. I was left with Shizune, who was supposed to be my lady's maid once we arrived at the Uzumaki Kingdom. We exchanged polite small talks a few times, and the one time I asked her about why the Emperor changed his carriage, she told me that he thought I was uncomfortable with him.
I was. But I could not figure out if he was angry or disappointed because of it.
It was late when we arrived, so the Emperor skipped a tour and led me straight to his chambers. I did not know what I expected, but it was certainly not what he did.
I did not see much of his quarters, just some doors and decorations in the hall. He opened one of the farthest doors, into his bedchamber. It was large, spacious, and bright, like everything else in his kingdom. There was a large ornate bed slightly right to the centre. The wall on the right side had two doors – bathroom and closet, I assumed. The wall on the left side had a fireplace, looking cold as if it had not been in use for months, which was probably true. A large, off-white, cozy-looking settee, heaped with thin coverlets and cushions stood facing the fireplace. A study table with a chair was placed along the wall through which we entered. Large windows and glass doors made up the wall behind the bed, with pale, embroidered curtains drawn over them. Moonlight sneaked through them in places.
Just watching that room made my heart thunder. And then he said the last thing that I would have ever expected, "Which side do you take?"
I turned to him, confused, and he gestured to the bed, "How do you sleep? On the right side or left?"
I never had any preference, but still I said, "Left."
He nodded and then, "Let me ask for your belongings. If you want to change, you can take the bathroom. I'll change in the closet." Then he went to the door to say something to someone and left it slightly open, "Someone will bring your clothes here in a moment. Make yourself at home."
He went into the closet, and I looked around the room again. What am I going to do without a dresser?
I thought for a moment and then went beside the study table to take off my heels. I removed my jewellery – earrings, necklaces, bracelets, the comb pin holding my high bun – and deposited all of it on the table.
Someone knocked on the door and I called them inside. It was a soldier, with two trunks, and another following him with two more. They submitted the trunks in front of the table and bowed. "Your Majesty."
I wondered if the Emperor ever felt half as odd at being called 'Your Majesty' as I did right then.
I smiled, "Thank you, gentlemen. These will be enough for now; you can bring rest of my belongings tomorrow."
They bowed and left, closing the door behind them. I opened the first trunk I reached – the maids had told me each of them had a collection of dresses to make it easy for my week-long travel. The trunk I opened had a light pink nightgown, and I smiled when I realized that I wore pink on the day of my wedding too.
I took it and went into the bathroom. At least the bathroom was similar to the one in Hyuga Kingdom. Light coloured, with all the same paraphernalia. The familiarity eased some of my nerves. I took off my dress and underdress, hung them on a hanger, washed my face and arms and then carefully removed each and every pin from my hair. Then I put on the nightgown and took deep breaths.
When my heart was not thundering anymore, I picked up all the hair pins and left the bathroom, carefully moving toward the table without passing a single look at the now-occupied bed. When I finally deposited my pins and turned, I saw the Emperor was asleep, on the right side of the bed.
He had laid on his side, facing me, and wore a loose, threadbare shirt and pants that were definitely not appropriate for someone of his status. His lips were parted lightly. I let out a relieved breath and walked over to the bed.
I had thought I would not be able to sleep on my first night here – and truthfully, not only because the surroundings were completely foreign – but I fell asleep minutes after I switched off the bedside table light.
I woke up four times during the night. The first time I did, I noticed that the Emperor had rolled over on his stomach, and consequently slid closer to me. He was snoring – not loudly but not softly either. I wanted to scoot away, but I was already at the extreme corner of the bed. The next three times I woke up, he was in the same position and I concluded that it must have been his snores that kept waking me up.
The fifth time I woke up, it was finally morning. I thought the Emperor would be there, talking, or probably giving orders but he was not. I was alone and confused and it was late and bright and hot.
The change in weather was not much noticeable at night, but now in the late morning it was almost intolerable. I got off the bed and went into the bathroom to freshen up.
The bathtub was large, easily enough for six people, and it was filled to the brim, scented lightly with oils and flower petals. I smiled happily when I felt it – it was cold, just enough cold to relax in the hot and humid air of Uzumaki Kingdom. I had never once taken a cold bath in the Hyuga Kingdom. It was winters for more than half of the year there.
I stripped and entered the tub, my nerves tingled from the cold first but got used to it within seconds. It was the best thing I had felt in the past week.
After I was finished with everything, I picked up a robe from the shelf beside the small dressing table – my clothes from last night were gone, and fresh towels and robes filled the shelf. I tied a robe and twisted a towel around my hair.
In the room, my suitcases were gone, and so was my jewellery from the table. The closet door was open, and I thought the Emperor might be in there. I was tempted to run back into the bathroom, but chastised myself for my thoughts. He has been nothing but nice and respectable to me since we met, and I should stop making preconceptions about him.
I knocked before I entered – he might be indecent in there – but he was not even there. I felt relieved. The closet was much longer than it was wide, and the farthest wall had a – thank heavens – a dresser. One side of the dresser was lined high with the Emperor's clothes – shirts, pants, coats, vests, cloaks, nightclothes, armours – with a three-feet high cabinet running on the floor along its length. Over it were some of his accessories – rings, chains, necklaces, watches, hats, knives. On the other side were my clothes, not all of them, maybe one-third. The tops of cabinets on my side were empty.
There was girl – young, younger than me – sitting on a stool in front of the dresser. She was smaller than me, with short, dark hair in a ponytail. A box was on the floor beside her and it seemed that she was putting my jewellery from the box into the dresser. She had jumped and turned as soon as I had opened the door. Now she was stumbling to stand and bow to me, "Your Majesty."
"Good morning. Are you putting up my jewellery in there?"
"Yes, Your Majesty. I can go, if you'd like," she stammered, then added, "or I can help you get ready, if you need any assistance."
I looked at my limited clothes, and realized I could not wear any of them in this weather. It was too hot in the Uzumaki kingdom to wear those clothes comfortably. I would need new clothes, soon.
I picked up a red, sleeveless gown from the hanger. Its chiffon skirts were somewhat airy and it was one of the most comfortable gowns I had.
"Thank you, but I will be fine by myself. What is your name?" I asked her.
"Akira, Your Majesty." She answered timidly.
"Okay, Akira. Can you leave while I change? Maybe you can help me with my hair after that."
"Yes, Your Majesty. I will be right outside," Akira bowed and left, closing the door behind her.
I changed into the red gown and went to the dresser. Almost all of my jewellery was already in the dresser, with many unfamiliar pieces in addition. I picked out red earrings that matched with the dress, and a long black chain instead of a necklace and two bracelets.
"Akira!" I called out.
Akira was behind me within seconds. "Yes, Your Majesty?"
"Can you please do my hair?" I requested, looking at her in the mirror.
"Of course, Your Majesty." She came behind me and removed the towel from my hair, mussing them lightly.
"Any preference for how I should do your hair, Your Majesty?"
I did not have much of an opinion on my hairstyle, but I certainly wanted to be called something other than 'Your Majesty'. I wanted to ask her to not call me that, maybe 'my lady'? I was used to that already. But I did not know if the Emperor would like that, and I did not want to take any risks on the first day (or was it eighth day?) of my marriage.
"No, I just want something comfortable. It is much hotter here than in Hyuga Kingdom and I do not think letting them loose would be pleasant."
"No, loose hair is surely a torture around here. I'll tie them up in loose braids for you, Your Majesty." Akira's hands had started working before she had even started speaking.
She braided my hair silently at first, but then said, "May I ask you something, Your Majesty?"
"You do not need my permission to ask me anything, Akira."
"If it's so hot for you here, won't you be uncomfortable in that dress? It looks warm."
I smiled softly. It was warm, but only here. If I wore this dress in Hyuga Kingdom, it would be on one of the few hot days in summers.
"This is one of the least warm dresses I have, Akira."
"Oh. Then we will have to make you new and cooler dresses quickly. I cannot imagine how you will spend the whole day in such a heavy dress."
"That was my plan. Does the Emperor allow you to wear pants in the palace?"
Akira herself was wearing a red shirt and black pants. Maids in the Hyuga Kingdom wore only skirts, and God forbid a lady of the house is seen in pants outside of training.
"We have a choice. We can wear either a skirt or pants, however we want," she chirped.
I wondered if the Emperor would let me wear pants. Though I did not know if I would feel comfortable in them after wearing dresses and skirts all my life.
"Are the winters very cold here?" I asked. Would the cold here feel familiar or even more foreign?
"Oh, very much, Your Majesty. It gets chilled here, but it barely ever snows."
"That is quite a pity. I am very fond of snow."
"You can visit the Hyuga Kingdom whenever you wish to see the snow, Your Majesty. I've heard it's really cold there, but of course you would know that. His Majesty will surely oblige with your requests," Akira said cheerfully, like the thought of His Majesty fulfilling my wishes made her swoon.
"Hmm," I hummed noncommittally. Whether he would oblige or not, it would not matter, because I was never going to ask.
No matter how much I might miss the Hyuga Kingdom or regret what I said in the court, I would not go back there until I was invited – along with an apology.
Akira finished my hair – loose braids twisted up to make a bun, like she said – and smiled at me in the mirror, "Done."
"Thank you, Akira," I said as I stood up, making my way out of the closet.
When I saw the empty room, I remembered that I had no idea of the whereabouts of my husband – it sounded so strange whenever I thought that, my husband, can you imagine that? And a nice, handsome one at that – one who tends to be absent, too, along with all of that.
I turned to Akira, and asked, "Have you seen Shizune?"
She nodded, "Yes, Your Majesty. Miss Shizune sent me here to set up your closet. Let me call for her. She must not realize that you are up."
Akira left and I wandered around the room, predictably ending up in front of the glass doors of the balcony. Just as I was about to push them open, I heard the familiar high but soothing voice from behind me, "Apologies, Your Majesty. I did not realise that you were awake."
I turned around to see a small, petite woman, around my height, bending low at her waist.
"You can rise, Shizune," I said, feeling a bit easier with someone I knew.
"Yes, Your Majesty," she said as she rose up. She had small, pixie hair and wore short heels, with a different uniform than Akira – red shirt, long, black skirt with red highlights and a black leather belt at her wait. She had a beautiful white pearl necklace, too.
"Do you know where His Majesty is?" I asked, because I could not stop myself.
"He leaves early with General Kakashi for training. By now, he would be in his study room, going over reports. He asked me to show you around the palace after you have eaten, and anything else you need me to do."
I noticed she said 'asked' and not 'told', but maybe I was just overthinking it. "Well then, we should probably go over for breakfast, right? Lead the way, please."
Shizune led me out of the room, pointing out the rooms in the King's (now Emperor's) quarters. The Emperor's study was right beside his bedroom, and my heart skipped thinking how he had been just on the other side of a wall most of this time.
Then there was his library, his personal armoury, a private conference hall, a few spare bedrooms – one of them belonging to the previous Uzumaki king, untouched since his death almost a decade ago; the Emperor refused to use it as his own when he was named the king – a private liquor cellar, a meditating room and a private training room (that was right beside, and accessible through, the armoury).
When we finally exited his – our – quarters, I was greeted by the wide, high-ceilinged pathways of the Uzumaki palace. They did not have walls on either side, instead there were gardens and lawns, like the palace itself was a collection of numerous scattered little buildings connected by short, roofed walkways.
Turned out, I was correct.
Shizune led me through the open, airy (humid) pathway until we reached a crossroad – we had encountered quite a few solo pathways branching off but Shizune said that she would take me through them after I had breakfast.
We turned left – right one led to the military training grounds – and then left again after passing two more branching pathways.
The dining hall was large, high, and well-ventilated – every room in Uzumaki palace seemed to be well-ventilated, and understandably so. The heat would have been intolerable if they were not. The dining table was long, for more than twenty people, but it dwarfed in the huge room.
A servant pulled out a chair for me, the one on the immediate right beside the head, and I sat down. Shizune stood somewhere behind me; it made me feel a bit awkward.
"Did you have your breakfast already, Shizune?" I asked before I could think if I should.
"Yes, Your Majesty," I heard from behind me.
Suppressing the urge to request her to at least sit with me, I drank from the glass of cold pineapple juice the servant brought for me.
By the time he brought the rest of my food – crumpets, eggs (hard-boiled, soft-boiled, fried, scrambled and omelette), toast (three different kinds), scones, roasted vegetables, sausages, bacon and pudding – I had finished all the juice and asked for a refill.
Looking at the food, I wondered if that would be the right moment to tell them that I was fine with cereal as my breakfast. Because it was obviously not all for me.
Not that I spent all of my mornings eating cereal before – the Hyuga Imperial family had breakfast together most of the days. But I still really loved cereal, especially with dry-fruits and strawberries.
When the servant refilled my glass, I drank half of it and decided to quietly eat what I was given.
After breakfast, Shizune offered to show me around other buildings. I asked if we could just stroll in the gardens, and she agreed. She also pulled out a bonnet for me seemingly out of nowhere, and it matched with my dress.
A few minutes in the open gardens under the unforgiving sun of Uzumaki Kingdom, and I steered us back to the nearest pathway I could see. We passed through different quarters of buildings and Shizune trailed behind me, telling me what they were. When I got particularly interested in one of the gardens with black bamboo, Shizune asked if I would like for some table and chair to be set here. I got momentarily embarrassed, thinking she was making fun of me, but when I looked at her, she was very much serious and genuine. I politely refused and moved on to the nearest pathway.
"Is there a specific reason for such a dense forest of black bamboos?" I asked a few minutes later after thinking about it. It was certainly not in style with any other gardens I had seen, but then again, every structure here was different than the other.
"Yes, Your Majesty. Through the bamboo forest is the way to the Uzumaki Temples," Shizune answered from behind me.
"Uzumaki Temples?" I asked.
"They are the shrines to our ancient gods and goddesses, Your Majesty. They have been here for centuries of generations."
"But I thought the Senju were the natives to Uzumaki Kingdom, not Uzumaki," I asked as I remembered what I had studied about the history of other Kingdoms when I was a child.
"They both are, Your Majesty. The Senju and the Uzumaki have both lived in this kingdom for hundreds of years. There were Senju Temples, too, a way far from here, but they were mostly destroyed in a war a couple hundred years ago," Shizune explained to me. It seemed the history of this kingdom ran much deeper than what I had been taught.
"Oh, I am sad to hear that. I would have loved to visit the Senju Temples, as well as the Uzumaki Temples."
"You can still visit them anytime, Your Majesty. They might be just ruins now but they are still a wonder of the past. And as for the Uzumaki Temples, I am sure His Majesty would be willing to take you to visit them one of these days himself. Though not in the near-future, I believe," Shizune said, adding the last line as an afterthought.
"Why not in the near-future?" I asked, wondering when would the days come when he would take me to visit his kingdom. In the eight days of our marriage, all I had seen of him were a few hours in the carriage and a few minutes while he slept beside me on our bed.
"That is something I wanted to talk to you about, Your Majesty. Do you wish to hear it right now or would you rather wait until we are somewhere you would prefer more?"
I looked around myself and there were only guards every few yards along the pathway. "I'm fine right now, Shizune."
"Yes, Your Majesty. His Majesty wanted me to inform you that we have to host your coronation ceremony soon. He was wondering if one month would be fine for you?" Shizune finished and I came to a stop and turned to her.
"Coronation ceremony?" I asked and then thought, of course, there would be a coronation ceremony before I became the Empress. How could I forget that?
"A month later? I… do not have any issue with that, I suppose?" I said uncertainly, unsure what His Majesty meant by asking me that. But then I realised, "Why does everyone already call me Your Majesty when I am not coronated yet?"
Shizune smiled, "We already see you as our Empress, Your Majesty."
I blushed, "I… Thank you, Shizune. But why is His Majesty asking me about it?"
"He thought it might help you get settled if you were to oversee the planning of the ceremony. If you have any questions, you can ask him during or after dinner or you can ask me, as you prefer."
I nodded, "Thank you, Shizune. I will think about it."
I slowed as I neared a building quite similar to the Emperor's quarters. "It also reminds me; do you think you can get some dresses made for me quickly? I do not think the ones I brought with me will be suitable for this weather."
"Certainly, Your Majesty. My seamstresses have already started on them, I will just need your measurements first," Shizune said from behind me.
I stopped when we reached the quarters, "Which building is this, Shizune? It is very similar to His Majesty's quarters."
"These are the Queen's quarters, Your Majesty."
I turned to her, shocked, "Queen's… like, for the Queen?" Then, immediately realising how daft that sounded, I cleared my throat and spoke again, "I mean, if these are the Queen's quarters, why was I not informed about them?" Why am I not staying here?
Shizune looked down for a moment as she answered, "That I do not know, Your Majesty."
I frowned and then nodded.
"Can I see them?" I asked.
Shizune hesitated before saying, "I think so. I mean, I wasn't told otherwise."
The Queen's quarters were not much different than the King's quarters. They looked much more cheerful but were structured similarly. There were a few bedrooms, one of them larger than others (for the first Queen, I was told; it left a bad taste in my mouth and I was not foolish enough to deny my thoughts: how much longer until I am moved here and someone else graces the Emperor's quarters), a library, two sitting parlours, a few nurseries, one private training room (that one surprised me, especially when I saw how well it was equipped), and a solarium (for winters).
When I was done, I asked Shizune where she would like to take my measurements – seeing the solarium sent a fresh wave of hot weather and humidity over my overheated self.
She took me back to the Emperor's bedchamber (which I supposed I would not be calling ours anymore). Turned out that the Queen's quarters were just about a corner from the King's quarters, on the opposite direction than the dining hall. I did not know why I was shocked.
When Shizune escorted me to the closet, I saw that it was now filled with everything I had brought with me, and other things like jewellery, bonnets, footwear, overcoats. She left me there while she fetched one of her seamstresses.
When Shizune came back a few minutes later, a friendly middle-aged maidservant was with her. She had brought a small podium with her, placed it in the centre of the closet and had me stand on it in my underdress after taking off my red dress.
Taking all the measurements took some time. I asked the seamstress (her name was Kaki) questions about the kind of clothes she was making for me, and she told me she had taken ideas from the dresses I had brought and she thought she would make the new dresses similarly, with lighter and airier fabrics and less layers.
I agreed with her suggestions, and asked her if she can do some of my own designs soon. Especially the one for coronation. I had an idea about a coronation gown and I could draw it before the next morning, but I would have to run it by the Emperor first, of course. I had absolutely no idea what kind of dress he would deem appropriate for my coronation.
I would also have to ask him what kind of dresses he would deem decent. I had never won a dress that was shorter than floor length, but the humidity in this kingdom was making it hard to even think about clothes that covered so much.
When Akira left, she told me she could have some dresses ready by next morning and I resisted the grin that threatened to break on my face. I could not wait until the dinner was finished so I could change into the much cooler night robes.
It was evening, but there was still time for dinner, so I asked Shizune to escort me to the library – the Emperor's library since it was the one nearest. It was almost twenty feet high, with floor to ceiling shelves along all the walls, filled with tens of lit sconces to compensate for the lack of light that could enter the room. A large, round table was at the centre with various kinds of writing and drawing supplies. Surrounding it were numerous chairs placed in no discernible pattern.
"Does the Emperor fancy painting?" I asked Shizune, seeing a lot of painting supplies lain around.
"No, Your Majesty. It was the previous King who used to be fond of painting, before The Wars." Before he died, she meant.
I nodded and walked along the shelves, reading the titles, wondering why would the previous king paint in such an unlit room – at least unlit by any painter's standards.
When it was eventually time for dinner, Shizune escorted me back to the dining room. It was as empty as it was in the morning.
As soon as I sat on my designated seat, a servant came and presented me with a cool mixture of flavours that pleasantly teased my tastebuds. But I resisted and put it down after a sip.
After a minute, servants came and started placing various dishes on the table. I wondered if I should stop them – I was not going to eat before the Emperor arrived, especially since he was the one who wanted to have dinner together.
But before the table was fully decorated with every kind of dish – six different types of sushi, tempura, soba, udon, yakitori, katsudon, chasu, gyoza, tonkatsu, three kinds of soups, roasted vegetables – the Emperor entered, with General Kakashi at his heels.
I twisted a little to watch him; he was wearing military pants and ruffle shirt again, which was open at the collar, with sleeves uncuffed and pushed up his arms this time. He looked as handsome as the first time I saw him. But he was not looking at me. He was looking at Kakashi, tilting his head. Kakashi was apparently talking about something under that mask of his that he always seemed to wear.
"We'll talk about it, Kakashi-sensei. Tomorrow," I heard him say before he sat on the seat opposite of me, instead of sitting at the head of the table. Then I noticed the plate set there for him, and wondered if this was usual.
Kakashi stood behind him, the way I knew Shizune was behind me. The Emperor laid out a towel over his lap and then looked at me, smiling brilliantly, "Hey, Hinata."
I felt my cheeks flush, and I felt the same thing I felt when he first said my name in the carriage. "Hi."
Immediately, I lowered my eyes, embarrassed. I should have responded with 'Good evening, Your Majesty'. I should not be so disrespectful to him.
I resisted the urge to correct myself when he gave no indication of being the least bit offended. Instead, he almost looked pleased. But that can be for a number of reasons.
"How was your day? Did you like the place?" the Emperor asked, looking at me before starting to fill his plate with whatever he wanted to eat. I took it as my cue to do the same.
"It was very nice, Your Majesty. I mostly visited the gardens, but I enjoyed myself. I think it would take quite a few days to finish the tour of the whole… estate," I stopped myself and wondered if I should say anything else. But the Emperor was listening to me attentively and I found myself continuing, and trying not to get flustered at his undivided attention, "I must say that you were correct before. It is going to take some time to adjust to the weather. It was really hot today."
At that he smiled again, this time somewhat apologisingly, "You are not going to like this but… today was actually one of the cooler days of the season."
I did not like it. Not the least bit.
His eyes trailed downward for the first time and then back up two seconds later, "Maybe you could wear something lighter tomorrow?"
"This was the least warm dress I had brought with me, Your Majesty. My… lighter clothes should be ready by tomorrow," I explained.
The Emperor frowned, "You didn't bring any clothes suitable for this weather?"
This time I could not hide my embarrassment, "I, ah, did not really participate in any of the preparations for the wedding. My maids packed the lightest clothes I had, but I guess that was not enough…"
The Emperor frowned even more, but Kakashi chuckled. Instantly, the frown was replaced by an annoyed scowl, "You can have a seat and have dinner with us, Kakashi-sensei, or you can head back to your chambers and have dinner with your own charming self."
"Then I guess I will be heading back, Your Majesty."
The Emperor scowled, "Don't call me that." Then he looked behind me, "You too, Shizune. You are welcome to eat with us or wherever you want. You don't have to stand there. I can take care of Hinata from here."
I raised my eyebrows, but only General Kakashi saw, and I thought he grinned behind his mask. I twisted my head to see Shizune bowing, "Well then, good evening, Your Majesties."
Shizune left, and Kakashi followed.
When my plate was full, the Emperor asked, "Shall we start?"
I nodded and he dug into his food after saying to no one, "Thanks for the food."
I repeated the phrase quietly and then started eating. He did not say anything while he ate and I wondered when should I talk to him about the coronation ceremony.
"If you want to say something, say it, Hinata," he said after he finished chewing his last bite. How did he know?
He took a sip of a drink and I started, "I wanted to talk about the coronation ceremony."
He nodded, "What about it?"
"Shizune said you wanted me to help plan it," I said timidly.
He nodded again, "Yeah, I mean, if you want to. I thought it might let you familiarise with the workers and the buildings in the estate." He smiled good-naturedly.
"But I do not know anything about how ceremonies are done here," I said honestly.
He shrugged and continued eating while I spoke, "It's nothing different. You can talk to Shizune; she knows everything. She is the one who has been planning every function for the past five years and they have been perfect."
Well, she did not know everything. But, "She plans everything? Alone?" One person could not do all of it alone. Planning a ceremony required a lot of delegation.
"Actually, I am supposed to organise the major tasks and assign them to different people and they are supposed to coordinate everything. But I dump it on Kakashi-sensei and he dumps it on her. She is too responsible to dump it on anyone else or entrust anyone else with it. So, she ends up doing all of it alone. A perfectionist, that one."
I was liking her more every day.
"Alright, I will help Shizune," I agreed and then fell silent. I did not know if I should talk about anything else. I did not have the courage to talk about most of it.
When we finished and our plates were cleared, I looked at the Emperor to see he was watching me with a soft smile. Instinctively, I reached up to clear my hair from my face, fidgeting under his stare.
He blinked then looked into my eyes, his smile shrinking but still there, "It is nothing. I was just thinking."
"About what?" I asked automatically, then added, "Your Majesty."
He slumped back into his chair, and his gaze fell downward, at his hands presumably. He let out a breath and tilted his head up a bit to look at me, "About when you are going to stop calling me that."
I turned my head to the side, flustered by his gaze as well as his words.
"I meant before that," I muttered abashedly.
The servants came back with desserts, and I picked up the coldest one without even seeing any of them.
"Before that I was thinking how much I would love it if you would allow me to show you our gardens at night. We might even encounter a sparkle of fireflies."
I smiled a little. "I would like that, Your Majesty."