Little Queen

11

~~~

Idalia's POV

~~~

It's been two days since my first adventure off the estate and Draven has made time to take me out each day since, even if it was for only an hour or two between his meetings with daddy. They've been so busy since the ball, constantly in papà's office or a conference room but I knew better than to ask either of them what was going on.

I've been keeping to my routine with the exception of avoiding Maxen as much as possible. I don't know what he's been doing and I thought he would try to apologize to me after our fight but I think he's avoiding me too. Ranger and Gunner have been good distractions and I've thrown myself into pastimes. The gardens have never been fuller or better-taken care of and I had finally mastered a run on the piano that's been giving me trouble for weeks.

My fingers mindlessly drifted over the ivory keys, the clean sound of the grand piano ringing out through the marble encased room. I learned Bach's Prelude when I was nine and I always seem to come back to it when my mind is occupied. I can't stop wondering why everyone was so busy. Papà almost never pulled my guards and in this week alone Gunner and Ranger have been called away four times, leaving me with two random guards I had never even met before.

What could possibly be so important that papà would not only take my guards away but call in someone from another family?

"Your playing never ceases to amaze me"

I startle at the sound of his voice, not having expected someone to come into the room without a guard announcing them. My hand slammed down on the piano in surprise, an ugly groan coming from the instrument.

"You scared me," I say huffing a deep breath.

He smirked, "Sorry little queen, you don't usually startle so easily."

I trail the tips of my fingers over the silent keys, "I usually have guards I know I can trust. That makes it easy to not be startled."

Maxen gives me a look and leans against the side of the grand piano, "You know all of your father's men are trustworthy."

"I know that, and I'm sure they're good guards. I just don't know them personally that's all."

He hums, nodding in understanding. An awkward silence falls over us which is something that has never happened to us before.

"I, umm, we should probably talk huh Piccola Regina?"

My eyes drop to my lap and I give him a small shrug, "Yeah, probably."

Maxen sits on the bench next to me and pries my twisted hands apart.

"Mia Piccola Regina, I said some horrible things to you but I never meant them. I panicked when I saw who you were with and reacted badly. You've not even met the entire family and I know you wanted to meet new people at the ball but Kingston is not a person you should trust. My entire life has revolved around keeping you safe and the first real chance that someone could have hurt you was at the ball when you were supposed to be under my watch-"

I tighten my grip on his hands, "Draven would never hurt me though Maxy. Did you know he convinced daddy to let me off the estate?! We've gone out three times this week. He's very kind to me, you just need to be kind to him, you'll see."

Maxen chuckles but it doesn't sound nice.

"My little queen, I love how kind you are, how trusting you are. But you don't know why he's being so nice to you, promise me you won't trust him."

I smile softly at the worry in his voice. My hand untangles from his and rests on his stubbly cheek, "Maxy, I love how you worry for me but he is kind. I have no reason to not trust him."