Celeste nodded and then looked at Hazel. She smiled when she saw the girl looking confused. "Don't worry, none of that will happen to you," she said.
Hazel stared at the woman whom everyone seemed to respect so much and did not understand why she was willing to help her. They didn't know each other so she was not obligated to help her. She looked at Arzaan and wondered what his relationship with her was. Nothing about the way he interacted with her said he saw himself above her. But rather, it felt as if she was of a higher standing than him but she knew that could not be.
From what she had learned so far, The king of Arcadia, which was Arzaan, was the highest authority, so there was no way there could be someone else more powerful than him. Then could the woman here be his mother or something? This thought made more sense to her than any other because even Idril and Evergreen had addressed her as queen and gave a bow.
She looked between Celeste and Arzaan but she could find any similarities. Maybe he looked like his father?
"You are wondering who I am, aren't you?" Queen Celeste asked. She smiled when Hazel blushed. She knew she was right.
"Well…" Hazel tried speaking but didn't know what to say due to the embarrassment of being caught.
"That is alright, child, you have the right to wonder," she said and looked behind her as if something there had caught her attention. The smile left her face for a moment but it returned shortly and she patted the back of Hazel's hand. "Have home bring you go me when you are ready, I will be expecting you," she said to Hazel. Letting go of her hand, she turned to face Arzaan, "I have to go now, there is something I must do,"
Arzaan nodded and kissed her cheek. "Be careful, call.me if you need my help, or you can just ask Idrl, he has a lot of free time lately," he said and Idril glared at him from the side.
Celeste saw that and let out a light chuckle. It seems he was mad at Idril for something, it didn't look serious so she won't get involved. "I will be sure to do that," she said and looked at Hazel, "Take care of him for me would you?"
Hazel nodded even before realizing it. By the time she did, it was already too late and Celeste was gone. She sighed inwardly and took an audible deep breath that made Evergreen raise a brow.
"What is it that you have that belongs to your Queen?" Arzaan asked, taking the attention away from Hazel. Past her bedtime already and she looked tired. He wanted her to have some rest too.
Hazel, who had almost forgotten about that, turned to look at her too. She couldn't remember fidgeting anything. She didn't bring anything with her that she couldn't have. Her eyes went wide when Evergreen showed her a small picture frame. It was only it back that she could see but it was enough for her to recognise it.
Walking to where Evergreen stood, she took it in her hands and smiled very brightly. How could she have forgotten something so important? It was with her before she jumped into the portal that led her here. Everything that happened since rgatoment had clouded her kind making her forget about this one picture that meant the world to her
"Thank you so much for bringing this back to me," Hazel said. The gratitude in her voice could be mistaken. She was truly grateful which left them wondering what it was. The two men had only seen the back of it and still had no clue what was on the other side of it. The item looked foreign to them, so they could not guess what it was.
"You should say that Olivia, she found it," Evergreen said with a shrug.
"Then thank her on my behalf, I will do that too when I see her," Hazel said, not thinking too much about it. She was just glad to have the photo back.
"I will take my leave with your permission, Your Majesties," Evergreen said. She had done what she came to do and even got a bit more than she would have thought. It finally made sense to her why Hazel was mated to the king. Was a dragon mage and no e of dual nature. With this, she won't be considered inferior or unworthy, but at the same time, she will be hated by many too. Their history with mages has not been forgotten by all.
"Of course," Hazel said while Arzaan nodded his head. With that she bowed and left giving a fleeting glance at the elf.
I should leave too, I will see you both by morning," Idril said and walked away. The couple looked like they needed a bit more time to themselves, he didn't need to intrude.
Left alone, Hazel turned to Arzaan and smiled, still hugging the photo. "Who is Olivia? I would like to thank her," she inquired. She didn't know many people but she was sure everyone here already knew who she was.
"She is the nymph of the Light River, she rarely comes out to meet anyone but she can also be a huge pain sometimes. Hard to deal with," He said and Hazel laughed. Seeing him scrunch his nose while he said it was funny. Now she was looking forward to meeting her. Not many could get Arzaan mad or stressed like this. "Why are you laughing?"
"Nothing, I think she would be fun to be with," she said heading for the door. He followed and smiled walking beside her.
"You she gives me a hard time yet you think she will be fun?" he asked with a raised brow.
"Mhm, I do," she said and stopped, turning to look at him. He looked at the thing she still held close to her chest, he didn't know what was in her hands yet but if it could make her this happy, then he didn't mind it was. "She don't even know who I am yet, but she was able to tell what was mine and have it sent to me,"
She turned the photo in a way that he will be able to see it and gave it to him what was on it. "This is my mother,"
He stared at it and and how realistic it looked and wondered how a portrait could capture so much detail. "She is beautiful," he said. There were similarities between Hazel and her the woman in the portrait.
"She is," she said and resumed walking. "I miss her," she said and he stiooed walking and wondered if the woman was the reason why Hazel wanted to return to her world.