Chapter 82 The Look of Love
The royal chambers.
Olivia was alone for the first time in two days. Her thoughts raced through her mind. For fifteen years, Monika had sung or spoken of brave people and their place in the history of the kingdom. She never spoke much about her father, the king. There were no stories or songs about him, and there probably never would be. The songs and stories told that these people were the bravest when surrounded by good people. The queen needed her secret court.
Raúl turned around when the door opened. He bowed slightly to the queen: Your Excellency.
Olivia: Your name is Raúl, right?
Raúl: Yes. I am a sergeant in the royal guard. I am at your service.
Olivia: I want to visit the young servant who is injured. He is in a room on the ground floor. Also, I would like a page to gather a few people in the room with him and me.
Raúl: Of course, my queen. Boys.
The young queen looked at the other nine guards who formed a corridor leading to the main staircase. She saw the guard who had whispered to Raúl earlier.
Olivia: Guard, what is your name?
Guard: Mateo, your greatness.
Olivia: Mateo, are you friends with Raúl?
Mateo: Yes, he is my commander and best friend.
Olivia: Why is the count angry with Raúl, and why are you here if the count is angry with your commander?
Mateo: Raúl likes to fight. He almost got into a fight with other guards in the great hall. The count wants him to stay away from the guards loyal to other nobles.
Olivia: And what about my second question?
Mateo: When Raúl fights, he does it very well. If we need to defend this hallway, we want Raúl to be here, my queen.
Olivia: Thank you. The truth is very important to me. Raúl, Mateo, would you accompany me to room of Frieder?
They walked on either side of her, following the same pace she had chosen. To her, they seemed like giants. The feeling was very strange, but also pleasant. She observed many maids and pages in the corridor near the area of the Count of Arms. She saw Antonio.
Olivia: Mateo, can you bring that page over here, the one with the dark hair and blue eyes?
Mateo: Of course, my queen. His name is Antonio.
Mateo took two copper coins from a small pouch he wore on his belt and offered them to the queen with subtle movements.
Mateo whispered: Queen Olivia, I can request a bag of coins for the queen to use with the servants if she wishes.
Olivia smiled and whispered, Thank you. Yes. Please.
Olivia, the queen of Costa Lunas, had never held a coin in her hand. She had never had any need for money. She never left the grounds of the royal castle. She had never paid for anything. Now, everyone she saw was paid by her coins, the coins of the kingdom.
She entered the room and looked at some of the people she considered her first friends.
Gunther stood up and bowed deeply: Queen Olivia.
Frieder bowed his head in a sign of respect: My queen.
Olivia: How are you?
Frieder: Better, Your Excellency. It still hurts a little, but your maid is a good nurse.
Gunther: Yes, she saved Frieder.
Frieder: Skinny boy is being dramatic. The wound was not deep. I will be with my horses soon.
Olivia noticed a different feeling in relation to these boys, a feeling she did not quite understand.
Antonio: Your Majesty.
Olivia turned quickly and looked into the blue eyes of the page.
Olivia thought: My Goddess, he is so handsome.
Olivia: Antonio, please find Lupita, Marco, Kerstin, and Yegor. I want to meet with them here.
Antonio: Of course, Your Reverence.
She offered him the coins, and when their hands touched, her heart began to beat rapidly.
Antonio smiled: Thank you. I will look for them right away.
Olivia thought: Why does my face feel so warm?
Gunther suppressed a smile and looked at his boyfriend with sparkling eyes. The muscular young man frowned and shook his head, as if to say, Quiet!
Olivia spoke after the page had left: I need my frie...my secret court.
They waited only a few minutes, and the secret court of Queen Olivia assembled.
Olivia: When we are together, please do not call me queen, Your Majesty, or any other title. Every time adults do that, it makes me feel really nauseous.
Lupita approached her and hugged her: You are going to be fine, Olivia. I think I know why the goddess sent me a Pegasus. She wants to help you.
Marco: I did not receive a Pegasus. I only received an old man and four guards who arrested me. But here I am.
The group shared a needed laugh.
Olivia: I need ideas. There are two counts who want to kill me, and I think they have more soldiers. Count Esteban is worried, and he seems like a brave man. Does anyone know anything that could help me?
Marco: There are boys here who know how to fight. The page who found us fights like a soldier. And Yegor, he is a beast from the wild.
Frieder: My father was a soldier who fought against Puerto Blanco. There are more among the servants.
Kerstin: Find the fathers and brothers of the maids who were taken prisoner. They will fight out of revenge.
Lupita: Poor men always fight for the kingdom if there is coin involved. They risk their lives so their children can eat better or so they can drink more.
Gunther: You have war Unicorns. Three hundred of them, and the same number of strong knights.
Olivia: Yes, the Unicorns. High Priest Emiliano told me that they do not obey his orders. I wrote an order to the captain instructing him to appear at the royal court meeting tomorrow to swear an oath of allegiance to me. I do not know who will obey me and who will not.
Yegor: I will fight for you, Olivia. Kerstin told me she thinks you have a good heart. That is enough for me.
Kerstin: They all fought for the maids who do not matter like me. They will fight for a queen.
Yegor took the hand of Kerstin. He did not understand exactly why, but he knew he would defend her against an entire army. The queen noticed the look in his young eyes. Olivia saw the same thing in the eyes of Marco when he looked at Lupe and in the eyes of Frieder when he saw Gunther. She wondered what it would feel like to have someone look at her with that kind of gaze.