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It's a quiet day in the palace when Liam is asked to join Queen Caramelinda for a stroll amidst the gardens and to partake in a bit of tea. Already on the grounds outside of the castle, he doesn’t see the harm in pausing his daily seed inventory, nor does he spare a thought for how the guards have managed to find him in his seclusion. Liam knows how resourceful she can be, as well as how she can get after being left waiting for just a moment too long. He’s seen the wrath his cousins have wrought enough times over to be cautious but sympathetic. The fact that Liam doesn’t care for tea is moot.
He finds her at one of the many small tables that scatter the garden; a book in one hand and tea cup in the other, reading as she waits for him. Though Liam's grown used to these summons, he still worries that one day it’ll be bad news she holds for him instead of tea.
He sets aside his worries as he stows away his pack, taking a seat across from Caramelinda. He can smell the tea she’s drinking, a mix of licorice root, orange peels, and dried strawberries. That had been a neat trick that Caramelinda had been fascinated by when she first invited him for tea. From that moment forward it had become a game of sorts for the queen to concoct a tea that Liam wasn’t able to identify.
He pours himself a small cup of the tea and gently sips it, seeing if there was anything he missed, as he looks over the book in Caramelinda’s other hand. He can’t make out any sort of title or author, only a small portion of silver script that reads ‘L.R.’ against the dark, indigo spine.
"I must admit Liam, although you are my husband's ward, I feel as though I have benefited more than anyone else from having you here." Caramelinda says from across the table, breaking the silence that had settled.
"Oh." Liam says, unsure of how to respond, still puzzling away at what could possibly be in that book.
"I find myself much more at peace in your company than with anyone else here. Though I must ask you not tell them I said that." She finally looks up at him over the tea cup, eyes shining with a glint of mischief as she finally closes the book.
"Of course, your majesty. I wouldn't tell a soul. Except Preston, but I think he already heard you." Liam jokes, managing to crack a smile as the pig in question snuffles around at his feet, scouring the ground for scraps and crumbs.
"Oh I know Preston would never betray me. He is quite the honorable fellow."
"Thank you! That's what I keep trying to tell everyone but they're always blinded by the fact that he's rooting around in their trash."
"Well, you know what they say, one person’s trash is another pig’s treasure.” She says, nodding towards Preston.
Liam nods in agreement, letting silence fall over them again, though much more comfortable this time. Now that he knows there’s no bad news to receive, he can be much more at ease. He glances back at the book Caramelinda had set on the table, trying his best to be subtle, and sees the same silver script on the front cover as well.
“Licorice root, orange peel, and dried strawberries right?” He asks, tearing his eyes away from the book and towards the teapot.
“Pardon?” She asks in return, not having expected that question to be the one Liam asked.
“That’s what’s in the tea right? Licorice root, orange peel, and dried strawberries. I wanted to double check before I gave anything to Preston.” Liam shrugs.
“Oh! Yes, quite right you are Liam. That’s all that’s in the tea today. I’ve found that the best teas tend to have the fewest components.”
She takes a shaky breath as Liam puts his cup on the ground for Preston to enjoy, “It was actually Lazuli’s favorite.”
“Ah.” Liam pauses, unsure of how to react to such a confession. “Well she had great taste.” He gestures to Caramelinda with the empty tea cup. “You’re a really good person, and while I don’t really know too much in regards to the realm of relationships, or Lazuli for that matter, from what you’ve told me it sounds like you were her favorite person.”
“Thank you, Liam. That means more to me than you know. It always helps having an outside perspective, and I appreciate you for constantly providing that for me.”
“You are so very welcome, your majesty, it’s what I’m here for. Well I mean, not literally, but… you get what I mean.” Liam says, somewhat floundering.
“Is that one of her journals?” He asks, even though he already knows the answer.
“Yes, one of the later ones. I take a small bit of comfort reading through them, seeing how she would categorize her wonderfully complex mind onto paper. The way she writes in these, it almost feels like she’s going off on one of her tangents. It makes me miss her terribly, but I can’t help myself.” She sighs, tears welling up in her eyes as she reminiscences of times long past.
“But that’s more than enough about me,” she dabs at her eyes to clear away the tears,”tell me, how’ve you been keeping?”
“I’ve been fine, but are you sure you’re ok? We don’t have to just jump-”
“I would rather prefer if we did jump away from the previous topic Liam. Please.”
“Ok, if you say so.” While he doesn’t want to just move away from something that was clearly bothering Caramelinda (his mother always taught him about the harm of bottling up your feelings) and he can understand how painful it must be for her.
“You actually caught me while I was doing my seed inventory! I have to say, you guys have such a different variety of flora here compared to back home. It’s really interesting to me to see how even in such a small country we can have such different climates that promote the growth of different plants. It makes me miss my big book of seeds that I have back home, just because I can’t remember a few of them and it’s kinda depressing.”
“Well, you know, the second you finish being a ward here, for any reason, you’re welcome to go back home. And of course you’d always be welcome to come back and visit.” Caramelinda offers.
“Yeah I know, I know. I just. I don’t feel like it’s right, you know? It kind of feels like I’m cheating my way out of it, crazy as that sounds. All of this would be so much simpler if I wasn’t me.”
“Oh my dear Liam, it isn't you that makes this complicated, it’s the politics of it all- surely you understand that? None of the blame falls to you, I assure you.”
Liam pulls the tea cup closer to him, wilting slightly. Although it is true that he does know that the majority of this isn’t his fault- no, that blame lies squarely on his father- he can’t help but feel as though he were stuck. Unable to move forward and unable to go back, time passing by helplessly around him. In times like this, he wishes he was a tree in a forest, not needing to worry about all these sorts of things. Just reaching his branches towards the sun and his roots into the soil, and simply growing. Being at peace. Being alive and enjoying it.
“You know, now that you mention it,” Caramelinda’s voice cuts through Liam’s thoughts,”Laz might have some notes somewhere about plant life in the Great Stone Candy Mountains. She always kept a list of any ingredient she ever used and where she found it. I’m sure the two of us working together can find it. How does that sound?” She offers, knowing it isn’t quite what Liam was missing, but that it was very close to it regardless. Liam’s smile proves it to be as much.
“That sounds great, your majesty. Thank you.” He says as he gets up from his seat, putting on his pack. “Shall we?” He asks, offering her his arm and gesturing for her to lead the way.
“I do think we shall.” She responds, taking his offer of escort. “And by the way, you don’t always have to try the tea you know, it’s simply more politics so that we might be able to chat in peace.”
“So I've gathered, Caramelinda,” Liam nods, laughing at the thought, "so I've gathered."