Something Extraordinary

Chapter Thirty - Demons of the Past

Azalea had moved into Renée's bedchambers for a few weeks now. The Queen had initially imagined it would be very difficult to become accustomed to sharing her bed, but to her great surprise, she found herself sleeping much better with the girl in her embrace.

Likewise, Azalea was over the moon about the new sleeping arrangements and didn't question it. Back in college, she slept with Taylor in the dorms, and the intimacy of being in the Queen's arms as she slept comforted her immensely.

Each morning, Renée woke up a bit earlier than Azalea and she would savour the feelings of holding the girl in her arms. Occasionally, she would brush her fingers across her cheekbones, admiring her delicate features that held a resilience that Renée admired. When Azalea would begin to awaken, Renée pretended to be asleep. Then, the girl would kiss her sweetly before getting up to fetch breakfast for the both of them, despite the fact that they had maids to do those tasks as well. Renée thought it was an adorable gesture so she always pretended to be asleep until Azalea returned with their food.

This morning, she awoke as usual, but Azalea was not in bed. She sat up quickly and looked around. It was still dark outside and Azalea normally did not wake up this early. She could feel herself panicking slightly.

Calm down, Renée, maybe she went to get a glass of water. There's no reason to overreact.

Despite the logical reasoning, Renée arose from the bed anyways and slid on her shoes. She walked over to the door just as the connecting bathroom door swung open. Her entire face filled with relief as Azalea appeared in front of her.

"Zali..." she whispered reaching for her hand to lead her back into the room.

"I was in the bathroom. Did I wake you?" Azalea whispered in worry as they walked back over to the bed.

Renée forced herself to laugh softly. "No, my dear. I suppose I just woke up earlier than usual today and were wondering where my beautiful girl went off to."

The comment made Azalea blush. She was still getting used to the outward affection from Renée, but it pleased her very much. "Can we snuggle for a bit? I think it's much too early to be awake." Azalea grinned slightly, making Renée chuckle.

"Of course, my dear." With that, Renée settled down again, this time with the girl in her arms and her face buried in Renée's shoulder. Having the girl in her arms settled her internally. She slowly fell back into the dream world and it was much later than usual when she awoke again.

To her surprise, Azalea was still in bed beside her, but she was sitting up and reading a book. When she noticed the Queen was awake, she smiled brightly and leaned in to kiss her forehead. "Good morning! I didn't want to wake you so I told them to bring brunch up a bit later. You looked so peaceful." Azalea said sheepishly with a small grin.

"Your presence brings me peace." Renée replied without hesitance, which brought a blush to the young girl's cheeks. Azalea reached to help Renée sit up, setting her to rest against the pillows.

As if on cue, there was a knock on the door. "Wow, they're good." Azalea whispered under her breath.

"You may enter." Renée spoke in a clear voice as the door swung open.

Azalea was taken aback. She had expected to see a maid with their brunch, but instead, Alden was standing there, holding a tray of food. His expression held a hint of a smile, but his eyes were wary. Azalea quickly jumped up to help take the tray from him.

Renée stood up abruptly as well. "Alden, what a surprise. They sent you with the breakfast this morning?" She joked, making the older man chuckle as he approached the two of them. Azalea set the tray down and straightened herself.