Chapter 8 Breakfast with the queen
Elara's Pov
Breakfast that morning carried a suffocating formality that made my skin crawl. Mira escorted me down through the cold stone corridors to the dining hall, pulling open the double doors for me before quietly bowing and leaving the moment I took my seat.
The long dining table was set for far more guests than actually occupied it, lined with polished silver urns and crystal carafes, everything arranged with a strict, eerie precision.
Queen Emerald sat at the head of the table when I arrived. She was breathtakingly beautiful. Her long hair was pulled back into an elegant ponytail, and she wore a stunning silk green dress that draped softly against the carved high back of her chair. She wore a light smile on her face, but looking closely at her, I could see an unspeakable weight sitting deep within her eyes.
"Elara," she said softly, her light smile broadening as I sat down. There was genuine warmth in the way she pronounced my name, far more than I had expected from anyone in this palace.
"Please, eat. I am sorry I was unable to greet you properly when you arrived yesterday. The journey must have exhausted you."
"It is quite alright, Your Majesty," I replied, placing my linen napkin across my lap.
"Emerald or mum please," she offered with a gentle, melancholic tone. "We are family now, whether either of us fully comprehends what that means yet."
Jessica stood silently near the stone wall behind Emerald's chair. She moved with a quiet, watchful grace that immediately put me on edge, standing close enough to hear every whispered word. Since meeting her yesterday, her cold demeanor had unsettled me, but seeing her here, acting less like a chief maid and more like a sentinel, made my instincts prickle.
"Jessica has been with our household for many years," Emerald said, noticing my uneasy glance toward the wall. "She is practically family herself."
Jessica offered a polite, impeccably nod, but her smile never reached her dark eyes.
The meal proceeded slowly. Emerald asked gentle questions about Ashenvale and my family, carefully steering the conversation away from the one subject I desperately wanted to ask about. I answered as best I could, though my mind kept drifting back to the horror of the previous night: the breaking chairs, the crashing bottles, the terrifying animalistic roars, and the violent thud of a body slamming against the oak door.
"Kael will not be joining us this morning," Emerald said eventually, her tone cautious. "He keeps to himself during these early weeks. It is not personal, Elara. Please do not take it as a slight."
"When will I see him?" I asked directly not knowing where the boldness came from.
"In time," Emerald replied gently, though a subtle warning lingered beneath her soft words. "These weeks are agonizingly difficult for him. For all of us. Patience will serve you well here."
I nodded, though her evasive answer sat wrong in my stomach. Trying to compose myself, I reached for my crystal goblet of sweet juice.
Before my fingers could fully wrap around the stem, Jessica moved. Quick, smooth, and silent, her hand appeared at my elbow to lift the goblet away, replacing it with an identical glass of water set down in front of me before I could even register the swap.
"Forgive me, Lady Elara," Jessica said smoothly, her voice completely devoid of emotion as she stepped back. "That glass had a hairline fracture along the rim. I would not want you cutting your lip on your first morning."
I stared at the new glass, then at the goblet resting on her silver tray as she continued around the table like nothing out of the ordinary had occurred. I had not seen any crack on that glass from where I sat.
I drank the water anyway, knowing that refusing it would mean voicing a dark suspicion I could not yet prove, especially not with the Dowager Queen watching me with such hopeful eyes.
As breakfast neared its end, Queen Emerald set her linen napkin down on the table, her expression turning serious as she looked at me.
"There is one more matter we must discuss, Elara," Emerald said, her voice dropping into that gentle, unyielding tone of royalty. "Your current guest room was only temporary for your arrival. Today, the servants will be moving your belongings."
My stomach plummeted. "Moving them? Where?"
"To the Prince's wing," Emerald answered smoothly, offering a small, reassuring smile that did nothing to calm the panic rising in my chest. "You are his wife now. You belong in the master chambers alongside Kael."
I froze, the breath catching in my throat. The master chambers were right in the heart of the east wing, the exact corridor where I had stood just hours ago, listening to glass shatter, wild animal roars, and a heavy body slam against the door.
"Is that... necessary so soon?" I managed to ask, my voice barely above a whisper as my eyes flicked toward Jessica, who stood watching me with that same unreadable, chilling calm.
"It is tradition, my dear," Emerald replied firmly, standing up from the table. "And it is time."
I sat completely motionless in my chair as the Queen offered a final polite nod and exited the room. I was being moved directly into the lion's den, into the very same hallway where a monster had tried to break through the wood in the dead of night, with no escape and no way out.
