A Sprinkle of Stardust

Chapter 10 - Peppermint

"I beg your pardon?"

"Your shoes. Take them off. I can tell your feet hurt."

Lyrani glanced at Lady Trelle. Nash would never know what she saw in the other elf's face that made her turn back to the teacup on the table in front of her, setting the last leaves inside with hyper-focus.

"I appreciate the thought, Your Majesty, but my feet are none of your concern."

"Indeed," said Lady Trelle. "Come now, hurry up. You can rest when you're done."

Lyrani didn't say a word, just tensed her jaw.

As for Nash...a slow heat crept across his face, a sure sign that he had made a mistake.

Before, it would earn him a gentle but firm word with his mother, perhaps a slap from his grandmother if he was unfortunate, but now, it would earn him far worse.

He had to tread carefully.

Nash turned away from Lyrani. It was better for him to pretend that she wasn't there, that she wasn't feeling pain that could be eased if it weren't for him, just like every other elf who served him without question just because of who he was.

Lady Trelle watched Nash, her eyes glinting with something he couldn't put a name to. "Start at the beginning."

"What?" Nash blinked at her, confused.

"You told me you didn't know where to start telling me about yourself." Lady Trelle's finger traced slow circles on his knee. "Why don't you start at the very beginning?"

Nash didn't remember much about his beginning, so he started at his first memory. "I remember playing with Benje at the edge of a stream."

"Benje? Your right-hand man?" Lady Trelle rested her elbow on the table, propping her chin up with her manicured hand. 

"Yes, that's him. I was tiny, maybe three years old. He was a few years older, so a bit like a big brother."

"He still is, from what I've seen," said Lady Trelle.

"Oh, definitely."

Benje was as caring and protective of Nash and as unintimidated by him and his status as he had been then. He still caught Nash when he fell and picked him up when he wanted to stay down.

"Anyway, I remember Benje splashing me. I started to cry and my mother came to console me. Benje began to cry too, because he had made me cry."

"Oh, how precious." Lady Trelle leaned forward. "What happened then?"

Nash found himself mirroring her motion. "I don't remember."

She smirked.

"What's that look for?" Nash asked.

"I'm just picturing this big, strong king in front of me being scared by a handful of water." Lady Trelle laughed.

Nash raised an eyebrow. "In my defense, I was a toddler."

"We all were once, weren't we?" Lady Trelle smiled. "Still, I've never pictured the king of Elvenland as a child. I'm curious what he was like."

Nash opened his mouth to reply even as he had little memory of what he had been like during the fuzzy, most distant end of his past, but Lyrani appeared in front of him and set a porcelain cup and saucer on the table before he could speak.

Steam floated from the teacup in a wisp, carrying a smoky aroma with it. It was a strange, watery green colour as if it couldn't decide on one shade.

"Your tea, Your Majesty."