Axel stretched out on the soft mattress, untangling himself from the mess of sheets and comforters that enveloped him. His hand falls beside him on the mattress as he pushes himself up, lifting his upper half up to scan the space. Since the night that they made up, Samuel had asked Axel to stay in his room with him and Axel had agreed. Yet, it wasn't like Samuel to disappear in the mornings without warning.
Axel stood, fixing the bed as best as he could with what the maids had shown him, knowing they would still have to fix it, but seeking to help in any way he could. He turned to head into the washroom when he spotted Samuel on the balcony, leaning against the railing. Smiling at the sight, Axel makes his way over to him, coming up from behind and wrapping his hands around his bare abdomen, placing a kiss against his back.
"Good Morning," Samuel sighs, leaning back into his embrace and bringing his hands to rest above Axel's on his stomach.
"Good Morning, boyfriend," Axel returns. He had made a point of emphasizing the word since that night as well. "What are you doing out here so early?"
"Nothing..." Samuel offers, turning in Axel's embrace to face him, "... just thinking."
"About what?" Axel asks, reaching up to peck his lips.
"I want to introduce you to my mother." Axel tenses at his words, and Samuel can see how his words affect him, bringing his hands up to rub Axel's shoulders. "You don't have to, I just thought-"
"No," Axel cuts him off, "no, it's not that. I'm just excited that you want us to meet."
Samuel smiled as he caught the blush creeping onto Axel's cheeks, "I would have introduced you long ago if it hadn't been for her health. But, she has regained most of her strength, and the doctor says she is strong enough to entertain visitors now."
"Then I can't wait." Axel smiles up at him and they share a brief kiss before Axel pulls away, excusing himself to use the restroom.
🐚 🐚 🐚
Axel had been telling the truth when he insisted he wasn't nervous about meeting the Queen, but as they stood before her bedchamber doors, he felt the slightest bit of nerves surging through him. He had met countless royals before, and he knew what to expect when meeting another monarch, but he had never met a monarch that was also the mother of his boyfriend.
"Remember," Samuel began, "she still may not be all good, so just... let her take the lead."
Samuel reached out to take Axel's hand in his own, and a surge of comfort rushed from Axel's palm through his body, fighting off the nerves that had built. With a reassuring squeeze to Axel's palm, Samuel instructed the guards to open the doors, and they entered the large chamber. The Queen's room was kept in pristine condition, and Axel was in awe as he took in everything within the room.
"Lilith?" a soft voice called from behind them and Axel's entire body ran cold, his grip on Samuel's palm tightening in an instant, "Lilith, is that you?"
"Are you okay?" Samuel whispers, having moved closer to Axel.
Axel couldn't respond as his words caught in his throat, his body refusing to relax. He nodded at Samuel, who stepped around him at the move and led him into the room.
"Axel, this is my mother, Queen Katherine Kristley," Samuel begins, pulling Axel beside him at the foot of the bed, "mother this is Axel... my boyfriend."
"Oh, dear," The Queen sighs, bringing her fingers up to her lips in thought as she turns to face Axel, "my sincerest apologies, my boy, it's just... you're the spitting image of her."
"Of who?" Samuel asks, surprised at the exchange.
"His mother, love."
Samuel's expression drops, realizing what had affected Axel so much when they had entered. He attempted to squeeze his hand, but before he could, Axel pulled his palm from Samuel's grip.
"How..." Axel begins, as his words fail him, "h-how do you know my m-mother?"
"We aided your mother in the war against the sea witch fifteen years ago," The Queen reveals.
"Mother, how do you know about the sea witch?" Samuel asks, taking the words right out of Axel's mind as he speaks. "Do you know Axel is..."
"A merman, I presume," Katherine returns.
"But humans are... my mother would never..."
"I know what your species believe of us humans, Axel," the Queen begins, "but your mother... she was different."
"Please, your majesty, tell me what happened," Axel chokes out, and Samuel could see the tears forming in his eyes as he spoke, "please..."
"Of course, dear, but call me Kathy. You are dating my son, after all," Queen Katherine smiles, as she pats the bed beside her for Axel to move closer.
Samuel stepped around the bed to stand beside Axel, reaching down to place a hand on his shoulder.
"Fifteen years ago, your mother washed up on our shore, and she came to see us. She revealed everything about your species and even revealed her true form to us to convince us, which she did not need to do. As soon as she mentioned her Kingdom was under the threat of a witch, Robert, my late husband, he had already decided to help. He could never, in good conscience, refuse help to people in need."
"Mother..." Samuel began, but the Queen held up a hand, silencing him as she continued.
"We shared a very close relationship with your mother, Axel. She was a dazzling and intelligent person. My husband, he gathered hundreds of the ships from our fleet and set off with her back to her Kingdom. But when the fighting started, they killed your mother," Katherine paused at the statement, "and the sea witch turned her ire on us. She cursed the waters and any ship within range of the area sank to the bottom of the sea. They slaughtered our forces underwater, and those that made it back to the ships, like my husband... she caught in the curse and killed in the shipwrecks. Only fifty soldiers escaped her wrath and returned to Meridian."
"Th-" Axel began, but was cut off.
"How could you keep this from me my entire life!" Samuel bursts, catching both Axel and his mother off guard. "You knew the entire time, and you never told me the truth!"
"It was not my place to reveal the existence of merpeople, Samuel," The Queen insists. "They asked that we keep their existence a secret, and we vowed to do so. Who would even believe us if we spoke about a Kingdom full of merpeople..."
"I don't care about the merpeople!" Samuel bursts, "I understand why you never spoke about them! But why did you never care to tell me the truth about how father died?!"
"I told you he had died at sea, as was the case," The Queen continued, "but telling you any more would have just left you with questions I wouldn't have been able to answer."
"But you-"
"Would you have believed me?!" The Queen burst at Samuel's insistence, pausing for a coughing fit before readjusting her position on the bed. "If I had told you the truth, before you saw it all for yourself, would you have believed me?"
"I'm sorry," Samuel sighs, realizing the truth to his mother's words, and stepping back to the bed, "you're right."
"I'm sorry, too, my love," The Queen reaches out to take his hand, and Samuel lowers himself to embrace her.
"Thank you, your... uh, Kathy," Axel breaks the silence, as Samuel and the Queen separate, "for telling me about her."
"I should be the one thanking you, my dear," Katherine returns, reaching out to take Axel's hands in her own. "I can see the way you've changed my son. The happiness that you've brought to him since you arrived, I've never seen him so happy in his life."
"I promise all I want is to make sure that he is happy," Axel assures, as the Queen squeezes his hands with a smile.
She releases one of Axel's hands to reach out for Samuel's, holding on to both of them as she watches them exchange a smile with each other. "You cannot imagine the joy that you two have brought to my heart knowing that my son has found the man he is meant to be with."
The Queen and Samuel share another hug, and afterwards, the Queen reaches over and goads Axel into one as well. Samuel calls the servants in to set the table for tea, as the Queen insists they stay longer, and asks her future son-in-law to help her out of bed and over to the table, swatting Samuel away.