A Muse Her

Chapter 36

Maia was falling in love with Oost den Burg and its people. After they spent the day in the city, Mateo took her out to the countryside where she met a few farmers who lived in the smaller hamlets and villages that supplied the produce, meat and grains for the country. She learned that Oost den Burg was fairly self-sustaining and only imported goods that wouldn't grow in the maritime climate like bananas, mangoes, oranges and lemons.

And when the people greeted them in the small towns beyond the cities, Maia finally got to see the common prince Mateo had been branded as.

He didn't think twice about helping a few farms load hay into their bars or turn the townsfolk down when they invited them for a drink at the country tavern. Not that she expected him to act any differently, but it was comforting to know that Mateo was the same thoughtful and helpful man he was regardless of his title.

Yes, Maia was in love with Mateo, the country and the people except when she was thrust into the clutches of the Women of Endowment. She didn't much care for Oost den Burg's group of high society socialites. The women who paraded themselves as charitable philanthropists – which they were and they did it well – but Maia had trouble following proper etiquette.

She hated leaving half her food on her plate of miniscule offerings. Meeting after fucking meeting to plan the next fundraiser or charity event – which could have been planned and sorted through emails, but left her exhausted by end of the day. She'd barely written a word in the last few days and she was constantly apologizing to Eline for failing to read the tasks she'd given her.

She felt like she hadn't seen Mateo in a week because she was always fast asleep by the time he got home from his day. She didn't even know what he was doing because she was so busy they hadn't even had time to talk.

The only good thing that had come out of these soul-draining engagements with the Women of Endowment was that she'd managed to get closer to Gesina, which proved to be somewhat useful. She told her that Sven had left and gone home, but she hadn't opened up about Jorien's plans or his feelings about Mateo getting involved in royal affairs again.

"Maia, you look more exhausted than me," Gesina said, sliding a hand over her stomach as they toured the rooms of the library set for refurbishing. "You should take the afternoon off. I can handle the rest of this."

"Are you sure? Anna – I mean the Queen seemed like she really wanted us to do this together," Maia said as she jotted down a few notes about the layout of the room. "I don't want her to think I'm not pulling my weight."

"Yeah, it's fine. We've done most of this wing of the library," Gesina said, patting her hand. "I'm used to the demands. You haven't had much of a break since you got here and you need to rest up before Adrie's hen do tomorrow." She nodded, looking over Maia's shoulder. "And it looks like Hendrik's here to pick you up anyway."

Maia turned around and a tired smile tugged at her lips at Mateo striding through the library toward them. "What are you doing here?"

"My meetings finished early so I thought I'd see if I could steal you away," Mateo said, slipping his arm around her waist. "If that's alright with you, Gesina?"

"Oh it's fine. I was just telling Maia she should take the afternoon off," Gesina said, waving them away. "Me and the curators can handle the rest."

"Thank you," Maia said, slipping her notebook in her purse. "I'll send you and the curators my notes on the space later."

"Sure, just enjoy the rest of your day," Gesina said, kissing her cheek. "We'll catch up after the weekend."

"Come on, liefje," Mateo said, guiding her out of the library. "I've got a nice relaxing afternoon prepared for you."