Mate I never wanted

Lunch tea has never been like this

Vivian

As I was about to open the message, the ship came to a sudden halt and I almost tumbled off the seat that I was on.

What the hell?

During the whole tumble my phone went flaying across the room and I released a small swear under my breath as I got up to get the phone.

Just as I was about to return to my seat and finally read the message that Lucien had left me, the doors to the pilot cabin opened and one of the ment that greeted me before stepped out into the room.

"Oh, good you are ready. We have landed. The queen is waiting for you in the east garden for afternoon tea. Plese follow me."

I was not given even a moment to catch my breath or even process what is going to happen, because the man just turned on his heel and walked out through one of the entrances. With no other choice, I followed him as we walked out of the spacecraft after that man.

We landed in what looked like one of the driveways of the royal palace.

In my life I, like most of the empire, have only seen pictures of the royal palace. It was a very secure place, where only a few selected people were invited to visit this place and only the emperor could extend the invitation.

Feeling a bit lost for words, I looked around the beautiful palace, taking the beauty of the ancient building and intriqute architecture that we stood in front of.

The whole territory was huge, surrounded by a high brick wall that separated the outside world from anyone wishing to enter the place or see inside.

"This way, miss."

The man said as he started walking in a direction of what looked like a side entrance. Feeling a bit lost, I followed the man. The beautiful gardens and all the different types of trees and plants surrounded me and all the scent got me dazed. With every breath I felt my lungs getting heavier and heavier.

"The dizziness will pass."

I heard the familiar voice of the queen and I instantly dropped into a big bow.

"Your highness."

The older woman pulled off what looked like gardening gloves and handed them to one of the maids who was waiting for exactly that.

"The air here is much purer than in the capital. Lucien's lungs were affected by his illness, and we needed a place where he could move freely and spend as much time in fresh air, so that is why I created those gardens surrounding the castle. I wanted my boy to have a chance to spend time outside without the need for a mask or medical equipment. For the first few years, he was not allowed by doctors to breathe the heavy air of the city and needed to wear air filtering devices at all times, but they were heavy and so restrictive, he could barely walk in them. We looked into so many solutions, but this felt like the best one."

She extended her hand and fondly touched one of the trees next to her.

"He never mentioned that he had lung problems..."

"That is because he himself doesn't really remember most of this... and I never really explained it well to him. He already had so many problems to deal with, and I just didn't want to pile more things onto his plate. So I never told him the truth why we had these gardens. To this day, he believes the lie that I just really love gardening."

Confused, I stared at the older woman.

'So you don't like it? Then why do it, for so many years after? I am pretty sure that he is completely fine now."

She released a deep sight and looked at the beautiful greenery around us.

"I grew to love it. After he was returned to me, so sickly and broken.... I felt so helpless. There was nothing I could do to help him, so save him and there was no way to take away the pain he was going through. So I needed an outlet, a purpose and a way to do something, so I clung to the idea of a garden and a belief that this garden would help him."

She chuckled lightly as she looked fondly at the flower bushes next to us.

"I was so sure that if I just built the garden and made it perfect it would fix everything... that it would fix my boy..."

The sadness in her voice gripped my chest in a tight lock.

"It sounds silly looking back at it now, especially because I was really bad at gardening and I really hated it... but I guess it was the thing that kept me sane."

For a movement she looked completely lost in thought, but then she just shook her head and shined a bright smile at me.

"Okay, enough of the sad stories, the tea will get cold, and I am sure you are tired from your training and all the physical tests."

She did not wait for my answer and just walked in the direction of a little table with a trea set and a tray of pretty cookies and other sweets. Once again, I had no other choice other than to follow after her. As we got closer, the memorizing scent of the tea and the sweets had my mouth watering as I realized it had been a while since I last... great...

Taking a deep breath, I swallowed the saliva that was gathering in my mouth due to the delicious scent. Once the queen sat done I followed right after her. Before I could offer to pour the tea or help in any way, the older woman was already on the task as she filled two cups of steaming hot tea.

"This is my favorite tea. I get specially made just for me by one of the tea experts in the east. There is no other tea that I drink."

She smiled at me as she pushed one of the cups towards me as she lifted her own cup and took a long sip of the piping hot liquid.

"Okay, enough about me."

Confused, I stared at her. Only now did I remember that I still had no idea why she invited me here. Sure, the most obvious and only reason why she did it, was because of Lucien, but that still doesn't narrow down the possible pool of reasons as to why I am having afternoon tea with the Queen.

"I guess you are confused as to why did I invite you here."

The woman said, as if she was able to read my mind.

"That question may have crossed my mind."

I said with a fake smile as she took another sip of her fancy tea.

"Well, I think I can explain my reasons to you. You see, the royal doctors always keep track of the prince's health and I get constant updates on that... but those only include his physical health and my boy works extra hard to maintain a strong and healthy body. But physical health is not the only thing I worry about. For us hybrids, mental things are just as important or even maybe more important than physical ones."

Still feeling a bit confused, I stared at the older woman until she decided to explain what she was talking about.

"Sorry, my queen, I do not follow what you are implying."

She flashed me a bright smile as she met my eyes once again.

"I want you to tell me the truth about what has happened so far. I know that he had another heated episode during your training. And I want to know more about your relationship."