Queen's Obsession

Chapter 10

*Suzanna's P.O.V*

Something had fundamentally changed in Queen Seraphina and I's relationship after that night. I couldn't prove it but it seemed quite different. Maybe I was just overthinking it, I did tend to do that sometimes.

The first thing I noticed was that my desk had been moved more into the shade. Some would say that was little proof but that was only my first piece of evidence. Besides, I had never complained about sitting in the sunlight to her, I had only ever mentioned once to Captain Orion.

I could feel her staring at me. Her face may be hidden by a veil but I could feel her gaze on me. She had started to linger in the courtroom after court was over, even after Pandora left. She never said anything to me, she seemed to be keeping to herself.

After a few days of it, I finally had to ask someone about it. If only to either get confirmation or to be told that I was imagining things. I knew I couldn't go to Pandora, I didn't feel comfortable enough to ask her a question about her sister.

Instead I chose to go to Captain Orion. He was easy to find, patrolling the castle around mid-day was something that he did everyday. Since it was my day off, I managed to locate him quite easily. I just had to ambush him when he eventually checked the balconies so that is what I did.

"Why do women insist on ambushing me?" Captain Orion muttered when I suddenly stepped out in front of him.

"Probably because it's fun and that's not the point of me ambushing you. Has the Queen been acting odd to you?" I asked. Orion paused for a moment as he looked up at the ceiling.

"Not that I'm aware of," Captain Orion shrugged his shoulders. "Do you think she has?" he questioned as he looked me in the eyes.

"I don't know, I just feel like I can feel her staring at me sometimes. Makes me all jumpy," I said as I shivered slightly.

"It's probably nothing, you're probably just stressed from the new job," Captain Orion stated. "It's your day off, you should go explore the kingdom. I think you would enjoy it," he informed me.

"Yeah, that would be nice," I said as I nodded my head. "I still think Queen Seraphina is staring at me but I'll let it go for now," I told him. I already had my coin purse tied to my chemise under my dress. I never went anywhere without it, I was too paranoid about having it stolen from my room.

I headed down to the village that lay at the foot of the castle. It was huge and had many people bustling about. I was entranced by the sights as I moved from shop to shop. Most things I took little interest in, I didn't really need to buy food or clothing. I did however stop to buy a thing of grapes to eat while I strolled the market.

I may have also gotten distracted by a few animals. It wasn't my fault that I found a really cute goat, I really wanted a goat now. I also found a bunch of puppies. I got to hold one for a bit before having to return it to the family that were selling the puppies. If only I didn't live in the castle, I would have loved to keep the puppy. 

I finally ended up at a cart that was selling hand sewn stuffed animals. They were quite cute and I absentmindedly touched the little teddy bear that was on my bracelet. I looked over the stuffed animals with a small hum before picking up a stuffed wolf.

I checked the pricing on it before biting my bottom lip. A gold coin for one stuffed animal was quite a bit more expensive than I thought it would be. Nonetheless I bought the stuffed wolf anyways. I hadn't bought anything else today so I felt like splurging a little bit today was okay.

By the time I made it back to the castle, the sun had gotten significantly lower in the sky. It was already dark by the time I made it back to the castle. Perhaps I had been a bit more distracted by the animals at the market than I was willing to admit.

I tucked the stuffed wolf under my arm as I walked the castle hallways. I was still full from snacking on grapes the whole time I shopped plus dinner had already ended. I squeaked audibly when I rounded the corner and ran into Queen Seraphina.

"You alright dear?" Queen Seraphina asked. I nodded my head mutely as I had to readjust my hold on the stuffed wolf. "Cute wolf, you go to town today?" she asked.

"Yeah, Captain Orion suggested it," I said simply.

"Course he did, he'd live in the town square if he could," Queen Seraphina sounded amused. "Did you find anything interesting while you were down there?" she questioned.

"There were some cute puppies, I really wanted to take one with me," I said after a moment. I was aware of how close we were standing and I fought to keep myself from moving backwards.

"Yes, there is usually a litter or two of puppies around this time of year," Queen Seraphina said softly. "You wanted to get one?" she asked.

"Yeah, then I remembered that it probably wouldn't be the idea to bring one here and try to raise it in my room," I said simply. She made a small humming noise of agreement before looking at the moonlight that was coming in through the windows.

"It's getting quite late, you should head to bed darling," Queen Seraphina said. I shivered slightly at the nickname, my face flushing from the nickname.

"I probably should," I admitted as I went to step around her. Her hand gently brushed against my arm and I shivered at the feeling of the glove on her hand pressing against my arm.

"Goodnight cherub," Queen Seraphina whispered, her words right next to my ear. I waited for her to walk away before I cleared my throat and headed to my room. I tried to ignore the burning feeling in my cheeks.