Larisa felt as if her soul was about to be drained dry, she kept looking at the moving lips of the old man in-front of her as he taught her but nothing registered into her ears, all she knew was that he was talking but she couldn't hear what it was that he was saying.
Her mind started to drift away as she anticipated her upcoming birthday in a few days. She would be turning fifteen and would be given a palace of her own. She was thinking of asking for Orchid palace to be given to her but she wasn't confident that it would happen.
Orchid palace is where she was born and raised for the first seven years of her life by her mother. It was constructed specifically for the kingdoms Queens only and her asking for it could be met with strong rejection from the courtiers but she still wanted to give it a try.
The next few days leading up to her birthday were spent with her acting like a puppet, she would wake up early, practice, greet Consort Ari before heading to the library. She had been used to this kind of existence before but going back to it did not sit well with her.
This kind of existence was draining her emotionally and mentally every single day. When Maynard first appeared in her life, she really didn't care much, he was just another addition to her monotonous life.
She doesn't know when it started but in between all those times that he walked with her to the library, something changed within her and his waiting figure as she left the harem gates became the site she looked forward to the most every morning.
Their tacit agreement of acting as though she didn't rush to meet him and him acting as though he had just arrived and wasn't waiting for her never ceased to bring a smile to her face.
She doesn't know if he will ever know how much it means to her to have him wait for her every morning and accompany her.
Larisa stood at the gate leading to the outer court, the weather was sunny and warm today but she only felt a deep and uncomfortable hollowness inside that left her entire body feeling cold.
It was the fifth day that Maynard hadn't been waiting for her at the gate, after mastering all her courage she had asked her brother about his whereabouts two days ago,
Dario hadn't looked up from his papers as he said, "I don't know where he is or when he will come back."
"But he is your friend, shouldn't you know where he is."
"Like you said, he is my friend and not my son. He has his own private life that I can't interfere in."
She left his study feeling even more helpless, would it be like last time when they hadn't seen each other for months?
She didn't have any confidants in the palace she could send to ask around about his whereabouts and even if she tried bribing someone and they do find out where he is, what then? She couldn't even follow him anyway, she felt like a caged bird.
On the day of her birthday his shadow was still nowhere to be seen. A knock at the door disturbed her sad thoughts
"Come in." she called out.
"Good morning and happy birthday princess," Lifar said with a smile as she placed the food on the table
"Hmm"
Lifar looked at the downcast expression of the princess before proceeding to push the dishes in-front of her.
"Princess, I heard a few gossips from the maids, should I tell you?"
Lifar continued despite Larisa not responding, "The maids were talking about how the young lord looks handsome in formal attire today."
Larisa sat up straight from her chair before she found it too embarrassing to show such anxiousness, she lay back in the chair and coughed a couple times to hide her embarrassment. She looked at Lifar, who had a smug look on her face and looked away as naturally as possible. Lifar's smile still did not dissipate in spite of this.
Larisa got ready quickly after eating and went to the main hall after greeting Consort Ari.
The main hall was grandly decorated with silks in colours of blue and gold. After some contemplating she went to the side hall which was the king's study, her father had gone out on an expedition three months ago and only came back yesterday. She didn't go to welcome him since it was already so late when he arrived last night but now she had the chance and maybe she could also ask for the palace while at it.
She was stopped at the door while someone was sent in to ask for permission if she could enter, the person did not take long to come back and inform her that he was a bit busy and that she should wait for a bit to which she agreed and rejected the offer to go to side room and wait. She would wait in-front of the door.
Surrounded by rolls and rolls of books, the king sat behind a big red painted mahogany table, he had only slept for a few hours before he began reading reports of what happened while he was away and how it was handled and if there were any changes that needed to be made. He had given Prince Dario the authority to handle the kingdom's affairs while he was away but there were still some things that needed the king alone to approve of them.
He finished the reports at dawn and was ready to get a little sleep before his daughter's birthday banquet but was not even allowed such a luxury as both the military and civil officials chose dawn as the time to report whatever it is they had.
He hadn't seen his daughter in such a long time and matters of the state could not be delayed so he let them in and thought of dealing with them as quickly as possible so he shouldn't miss his daughter's birthday like last year due to being caught up by too much work.
The civil officials stood to the right while the military officials stood to the left.
A civil official came forward and bowed, "Majesty, six towns near the border have been flooded due to the heavy rains in the region, many farm lands and homes have been destroyed. The refugees from these towns have been accommodated by Chiradzulu city which is closest to them but they refugees are too many and their food reserves are not enough to last them long, I implore you majesty to send provisions to them."
A military official stepped forward as soon as the civil official finished speaking not even giving the king time to respond to the civil official's words.
A military official stepped forward as soon as the civil official finished speaking not even giving the king time to respond to the civil official's words.
"Majesty, scouts at the border have reported seeing several troops entering the Mauling kingdom's border camp in the past few days."
A heated discussion immediately ensued amongst the officials.
"Those shameless people, they clearly want to take advantage of the devastating floods that have hit us."
"Truly kicking people when they are down."
"Majesty, please send troops to the border to attack the Mauling kingdom otherwise they might think we are push overs."
"How can that be, many people have been displaced by the flood and they need food and shelter fast, if we are to send out troops now, they will not only need provisions for the journey going there but also provisions to last them throughout the war period and we don't even know how long it will last,"
Voices agreeing to the last official's words could be heard The king finally asked,
"Then what do you suppose we should do."
"Majesty, in my opinion we should focus on helping the flood victims first, Mauling kingdom has not yet even attacked us, for now the troops at the border should just defend if they do attack." Said a civil official
"Preposterous," bellowed a military official, "defending without attacking will drain the soldier's strength and morale over time, if they can't defend anymore and the Mauling troops break through, have you thought of the consequences if such a thing happens."
"But General, what about the people who are suffering right not,"
"So you want to sacrifice the whole kingdom's population because of a few people."
"But those few are also our people."
The General pointed an angry finger at the official, "Are you saying I don't care about the people."
"Enough!" The king yelled as he slammed his fist on the hard wood table sending a few filed flying.
"I asked what we should do. I did not however tell you to fight amongst yourselves, the military officials handle the external affairs of the kingdom while the civil officials handle the internal affairs but although your parts may seem to be separated they are in-fact interconnected with each other and both are needed for the kingdom to thrive."
The king let out a tired sigh as he waved them off, "Let me think about first and we will address this again at tomorrow's court meeting."
The official's left quietly, who would be shameless enough to stay after being scolded like that.