Chapter 16: Tea by the Pond

The iron headed arrow made a swooshing sound against the wind until it hit the dark circle in the middle of the round board with a thump.

Patrick lets out a misty breath, and then stretched his hand out for a servant to drop another arrow in his palm.

“My lord” greeted Donald as he bowed to the king stiffly and handed a short note to John who stood behind the king at the foyer “Report from the northern borders”

“What does it say?” Patrick asked as he lets go of another arrow which lands in the middle again.

There was a short pause in as John reads through

“There has been an attack on some villages close to the Northern borders my lord”

An arrow lands again on the board with a thump

Patrick turned to meet John’s eyes and then Donald’s

“Someone dares attack my kingdom?”

“That is what is strange indeed my lord” Donald answered with his head held up high “it has been a very recent dealing and we cannot continue paying less attention thinking it is banditry. It is more than that”

Patrick nodded and resumed his archery

“A recent dealing that had not reached me until now Donald, what do you make of that?” his voice was grave and accusing, making Donald bow a bit

“You just got married, banditry was something the council could manage, had it been just that. We never meant to keep it from you”

Patrick shot an arrow again, but as he watched it go, another arrow went through it, broke it and proceeded to the very centre of the board and went through it till the hilt.

Everyone turned back to see Larissa smile as she handed the bow to Nambi who strapped it behind her back.

She lets out a breath and picked the sides of her skirts, making Patrick furrow his brows. He expected her to cut into a sprint as she usually did, but to his and everyone’s surprise, she began taking slow and graceful steps towards the foyer where the king stood.

Her brown hair was braided and packed around her head like a crown decorated with flowery ornaments. they made her small face prominent and her green eyes well defined

She had on a light blue velvet gown laced with silver beads of pearls

“My lord” she curtsied gracefully once in front of the king “sirs” she nodded towards John and Donald “It has been seven days too long since I saw you my lord and it is a weather perfect for a cup of tea by the pond, would you not agree my lord?” her eyes formed cresent in a smile and then she turned to the other two “please do join us sirs, it is truly an amazing weather”

Donald cleared his throat not feeling the good effects of that smile reach him “I would love to but I …”

“If you insist you cannot, it is a pity but you can leave. Please hurry along now my dear sir, for you have provided relief to me in knowing you do have a happy home despite you always hanging around here” she turned to Patrick, her smile still ever present “shall we my lord?”

Her question sounded humble although Patrick could read her commanding tone behind her words.

Donald stomped away with a face red from the embarrassment he felt from being talked to like that by the queen.

“You go on ahead my lady, I still have three more arrows to shoot and then I’ll join you” Patrick said as a servant drops another arrow into his outstretched palm.

Swiftly, Larissa collected it and the other two left from the servant and snatched the bow from the king.

From a far off corner, Nicole rubbed at her temples in disappointment.

Larissa aligned the rears of the arrows on the bow’s string and without hesitation shot them off. They all landed in the bold middle circle in close horizontal lines to the astonishment of onlookers

“Now…” Larissa began as she handed the bow to the nearest servant “there are no more arrows to be shot, I would like to walk with you down to the pond”

Patrick could not say no, he wasn’t going to anyway, he was only teasing her to test her graceful change but a small smirk occupied his lips. She was never going to fully change over a week after all or maybe never, but the thought did not sound too bad to him.

After a short walk through the quiet lake down to the small CCanopy that stood at the side overlooking the pond.

Larissa with a smile, poured overtly graceful some of the steaming hot liquid into first the small cup in front of her

“What do you think of my progress Pa… my lord?” she asked softly as she raised her cup to her lips looking at Patrick from over the rim of it through her thick long lashes

A groan rips from Patrick’s throat as he covers his mouth with his palm so some of his fingers were over his nose and eyes, preventing Larissa from seeing his playful, teasing smile.

Larissa scowled and dropped the tea cup unceremoniously on the table spilling it’s content on the white table covering

“See, even you cannot stand it, can you?” her chest heaved to display the smalls of her top cleavages and when Patrick said nothing, she got up with a huff and was about to stomp away when he caught her wrist.

His shoulders were bobbing up and down making Larissa’s eyes widen in weary shock and then she frowned

“Right now are you laughing at me Patrick?”

“Sorry” Patrick said as he removed his hand from his face to reveal a genuine smile.

A gentle breeze went over everyone who saw him. He looked younger and for the first time since he became king, he shared more than just physical resemblance with their late king whom they loved with all their hearts.

“It was weird seeing you act out of your normal character my lady” he massaged her small wrist with his large hand “you look extremely beautiful today in your new regalia and make over, I forgot to say earlier even though it was at the tip of my tongue”

Pink hues spread over her cheeks and she struggled to hide a smile, then Patrick laughed again and she pouted, her brows shot up in question

“It was just too funny, seeing you try to act the part of a queen”

“You made me do it” she huffed and tried to pull her hand away

Patrick held on tighter as he got up and pulled her closer to himself

“It was cute” he whispered in her ear causing her to let out a big satisfied smile and she pulls her hand away to push them by his sides in a hug while she buries her face in his broad chest.

Surprised at her sudden boldness (not really), he lets his arms hand limp in the air for a moment before allowing them to fall one over her shoulders and the other on her slender waist.

“I missed you” she whispered, feeling the deep sound of his chuckle reverberate all over her body from his.

“I cannot say I do too when I saw you everyday, watching your tired face relax in sleep had been enough for me this past days”

Larissa pulled back just enough to stare into his flame amber eyes with a lot of emotions behind her nature green eyes

“You came? I thought you had totally abandoned me to that cruel woman Nicole, you have no idea what she did to me, she wields strong powers that countered mine and…”

Patrick grabbed both sides of her face and kissed the pout off her lips, cutting her long string of whining.

When he pulled away, Larissa hits his shoulder shyly.

She closed her eyes and puckered her lips, an invitation for another kiss to which Patrick accepted.

John sighed from the distance where he stood and shook his head at the scene

“Two tamed beast” he muttered  to himself

The moment Patrick had agreed to fight for her hand in marriage, he had already seen this coming. Only difference was that he thought it would happen later than sooner.

At another side of the pond with trees and other greens as shield, Donald and another official stood watching the two with distaste.

“A Smith should never have become king right from the beginning” Donald spits out annoyed “strong as they are, their love for women of queer nature have always been their downfall”

“Can we still use a queen such as this against the king, they seem to o in league with one another for us to try and break apart?”

“Forget being in league with each other, she shoots arrows precisely from a far distance like it’s nothing. She is a monster like they all testified Sir Bernard. We cannot get close to her, so the sooner we expel her from the palace and Evergreen at large, the sooner we avoid an upcoming disaster” Donald stared deeply at the couple “I can feel it”