Elora could barely suppress a frown when she thought of the work waiting for her.
‘Is there a spell that reads everything audibly?’ she thought, hoping a spell like that existed.
She couldn’t picture herself reading through those documents, and they would be more still heading her way.
She shivered at that thought.
‘I’ll make the spell myself if none exists, there was no way in hell that she was going to spend all her time in the study with her face buried in papers.
With this thought, she reached the opened door of the audience chamber.
She sensed her aunt’s hate-filled gaze on her, but when she turned towards her there was no glimpse of it on Roes’s face.
Rose stood and greeted her flatly, ”I have seen Your Majesty.” She bowed slightly, waiting for Elora to wave her to straighten up, but waited and watched Elora taking her time to sit down.
”Aunty, you may rise; there’s no need to bow so much- we’re family.” Elora uttered hypocritically, causing Rose’s veins to throb with anger, ‘Why did she say that when I greeted her with my back lowered!’ Rose thought angrily.
Her hands clenched hard into fists at her side, fighting hard to control her anger.
Thorn sat on a chair at the side and watched their interaction with a brow raised in interest.
”Here’s the money,” Rose said, stretching the ring towards Elora.
She was mentally exhausted, her throat hurting from thirst and her stomach churching from hunger.
She just wanted all this to end quickly; the more she gazed at her nieces, the more her heart throbbed from anger.
Nalia stepped forward and took the ring from her hands, handing it over to the queen.
Elora played with the ring between her fingers; from the corner of her eyes, she watched Rose gaze follow the ring with heartache, and a beautiful smile bloomed upon her lips.
”Count the mana stones carefully; we don’t want a mistake in the figure,” Elora ordered as she glanced at Thorn.
She handed Nalia the ring to pass to Thorn and turned to see Rose’s furious stare, which she wasn’t able to hide in time.
”Aunty, I’m not calling you out; we can’t eliminate the possibility of a mistake when taking out such a huge amount.” Elora’s words didn’t lessen her anger; instead added more fuel to it.
It was just waiting for a moment to explode.
A smile slipped from Thorn’s face at her words, though it disappeared immediately.
He focused on the task at hand.
His red glowing hand covered the ring and the contents of the ring spilled inside the room.
Nalia’s eyes narrowed when she saw the red light on Thorn’s hand.
‘A master level mage.’
Thorn was almost buried in mana stones.
The mana stones spilled all over the room forming a hill.
Thorn was startled, not expecting a huge amount, but his heart settled.
He looked around him and knew he couldn’t count it the normal way, so he placed the ring on the desk; he brought out his pen, and with a writing motion, red spell words floated in the air, surrounding the mana stones and the ring.
Elora leaned back in her chair and watched his actions, nodding at his smart choice.
The mana stones floated in the air; one after the other, they entered the ring, the number counting boldly on the body of the ring.
Thorn sat back in his seat but the stone continued moving with his pen glowing red.
The mana stones moved slowly but accurately into the dimensional ring.
Elora closed her eyes, patiently waiting for Rose.
This moment was agonizing.
She watched all her hard-earned money flowing into another’s treasury.
The time flew past; the butler walked in with a tray of iced tea and pastries for the queen, a maid following behind with Thorn’s tray as well, but no sign of Rose’s.
Elora’s eyes opened; she picked up the cup and sipped slowly, selectively ignoring Rose’s stare; he picked up the milky-crusted cake and bit down on it; she chewed with a satisfied face, causing Rose’s stomach to growl.
Thorn sipped his, without any pressure of the sudden tension in the room.
Rose couldn’t help it any longer.
”Your Majesty, it’s against etiquette to not serve the guest tea,” Rose said through gritted teeth, watching as the queen dropped the cup unhurriedly.
”Albert!” Elora summoned the butler.
He heard his name being called from the door and walked in, bowing respectfully to the queen.
”Yes, Your Majesty?”
Sigh… “It was wrong not to serve our guest tea.
The queen castle certainly isn’t lacking in tea.” She uttered in a lecturing tone.
”I apologize for my lapse,” the butler said in a humble remorseful tone.
Rose watched, her anger soothing a bit, feeling she would soon quench her burning throat.
At least the queen knew proper etiquette.
”You’re forgiven, don’t let it happen again.
And do bring the tea slowly.
We have to make the guest feel properly looked after.” Elora ordered, her words emphasising the word ‘slowly,’ which the butler caught loud and clear.
Thorn almost choked on his tea by her words.
He honestly thought she was reprimanding the butler, but her words were just for show; her real message was in her last sentence.
He glanced at the clueless woman, and a flash of pity filled his gaze.
But his heart held an expression of watching a play unfold.
This young queen is very interesting.
His gaze was hidden behind the rim of his cup, as he sipped.
”Yes, Your Majesty, I’ll make sure to bring it slowly and carefully.” Albert bowed, and a smile bloomed on his face, but when he straightened up, his expression remained respectful.
He left the room under Rose’s hopeful gaze and the room regained its silence as the mana stones counted.
Thirty minutes passed and there was no sign of her tea.
Rose fidgeted in her seat, her throat burning and her lips dried from lack of liquid.
Her gaze occasionally went to the door, longing to see the butler’s figure, but nothing.
Tears of frustration slipped from the corner of her eyes when she recalled Elora’s words, and it instantly dawned on her that her tea wasn’t coming anytime soon.
Her mind blanked, her suppressed anger exploding at once- pushing her to do the unthinkable.