Crazy Duke and Fallen Queen

The week of royal vacancy passes almost without incidents.

Alexander and I don't leave our wing of the Palace, and the Princess stays here most of the time. She spends her day in the garden or having tea with us, and she murmurs something about the court's heavy atmosphere every time she's asked to go there.

Mostly, she doesn't want to. Whenever his majesty asks for her presence, she rolls her eyes and complains, but she always goes.

Sooner than we notice, Lavinia is already one month old. She hasn't changed much since birth, except for her cuter face.

She's not as ugly as she used to be. She didn't grow, though.

Kate says it's normal, and even the royal doctor we called confirmed it. He said babies might lose weight in the first weeks, but it will be all right if she returns to grow after the first month.

She's normal, apparently. Not too big and not too small.

The royal doctor left us after hiding a smile. I'm not sure he had much experience with worrying parents, but he seemed to find our preoccupations fun.

However, he did his job professionally, just like when he first visited me, after I was hit in the garden. Differently from the midwife, he talked with patience and explained everything.

He didn't know that our baby had been sedated soon after birth.

That's why even Alexander couldn't control his thoughts.

He already lived through this with Elias, but it seems that every child is another new story.

His dreams stopped coming to me for a while. Maybe, because I wished too much to know how he took care of Elias.

I wanted to learn, yet my mind couldn't grasp any image of those times.

In exchange, I dreamt about our long nights of passion.

I'm still in no shape to fulfil my bed duties, so I could just wake up in the middle of the night, all sweaty and itchy, and wait for the torment to pass.

Now, days after the second attempt at my daughter's life, I'm having tea with the Princess. Alexander said he had some business and disappeared, leaving me alone with her highness and the other little highness.

«Oh my,» Princess Lyland says. «How cute!»

Are they all blind?

She shows her tongue to my baby and then giggles happily. Lavinia shouts back and moves her legs.

Moves her legs?

I move my head toward the two Princesses, trying to observe their interactions without being spotted by either of the two.

Princess Lyland doesn't touch my daughter, she just plays with her by talking and occasionally swinging the cradle. Lavinia is still too small to be toyed with, so I'm secretly relieved that the Princess respects her spaces.

She only touches her hand or leg when she greets us, not much more than that.

However, as smart and quick as my daughter can be, she hasn't moved her arms or legs like this before. It's amazing, by the way.

She stretched her little leg, and then she gives up at half and frowns.

Can babies even frown? Oh, mine can. She can, so much, and she does it every time something isn't the way she wants.

A little Princess right from birth. It won't be easy to bring her up without spoiling her. Especially next to her doting daddy.

The Princess continues to talk with Lavinia, not noticing that new achievement of hers.

I can't wait to tell Alexander when he comes back! She's moving her legs! Not yet her arms; they still are next to her.

Even when she clenches someone's fingers, she's not doing it on purpose. It's what the doctor said.

And she's doing it less and less often now. Is it a sign that she'll start grabbing things with her free will?

Oh, she's progressing so fast, isn't she?

«I'm sorry to interrupt, your highness,» I say when I can't hold back anymore. «May I check something?»

«Oh, sure,» the Princess says, sitting back on her chair.

«Here we are,» I say.

Lavinia has always reacted to my voice more than my sudden appearance in front of her eyes. Maybe she's having a hard time remembering my face.

«Let's try something new today,» I voice, cupping her feet and trying to stretch her leg up. I move slow, delicate, and utterly careful at any sign from the baby.

I don't want to hurt her, but she's been trying to do this alone for so long. Maybe, I ought to show her how?

«Is this what you were trying to do with so much effort?» I inquire. She smiles, and her fingers clench in a fist and then release.

Is this her new way of showing approval?

I let go of the first leg and do the same with the other. She shouts in approval, and I smile back, observing her fingers. She didn't stop moving them.

So clumsy, yet she's learning fast.

«Very soon, we'll be able to run together in the gardens!» the Princess comments, observing us with her shining eyes. «Your aunt will still be young then, right?»

She joins her hands on her chest, grinning, amused.

«Two Princesses in these gardens,» I comment with a chuckle. «It will be an expensive scene.»

Princess Lyland chuckles, still following my movements with her eyes. She's curious about what I'm doing, but she doesn't dare to ask.

«The doctor said I can help my daughter with her movements,» I explain. I didn't come up with it on a whim. «I noticed how she tried moving her leg but couldn't, so I took the chance to show her how.»

«I thought babies learn on their own how to move,» the Princess comments.

«I thought so too. But it seems it's faster if someone helps them.»

«It's a month today, right?»

«Yes, that's right.»

«I didn't want to disturb your celebrations, but I couldn't resist,» she says.

«Oh, it's no disturb. And there aren't any celebrations.»

I'm still not in the mood. First, the funeral. Then, his majesty's decision to hide for a week.

I prefer to spend the day as low-key as possible. There will already be a big event to celebrate Lavinia's birth and bestowed title. No need to make it more complicated than this.

«I'm sure my brother won't forget about it,» the Princess says. «But I've brought a present. Only if you're willing to accept.»

«How could I reject a gift from your highness?»

She nods to her servants, standing at a respectable distance from us. Two of them turn and run away, to return a few minutes later with a giant vase. In it, a young tree is trying to grow. It's not much higher than me.

«This is an apricot tree,» the Princess explains. «I'd like to plant it in the gardens in Lavinia's honour. I waited to ask you before actually doing it, though. Do you have anything against it?»

«Why would I?»

«I'm not sure if it could have some meaning in your culture,» the Princess admits.

«Oh, it doesn't. We don't plant trees for newborns, but I don't have anything against it. Polis was a merchant city, so trees and agriculture were our second sector. Not the first like in many other countries. Hence, our habits and customs are mostly related to the sea.»

«I'm relieved,» the Princess says. «The gardeners keeping this place are the best of the whole Empire. I even snatched a couple from the imperial gardens a few years ago. They'll make this tree flourish.»

«Thank you for the present, your highness. It's very appreciated.»

«We will eat the fruits of this tree someday in the future. It's also quite rare, you know? I've sent my delegates in every direction looking for this particular sort of apricot. It's a bit more sour than usual, and the fruits will be small in the first years. But it resists cold weather and difficult conditions better than the other types.»

She bows back to the cradle and smiles at the baby.

«Just like I wish Lavinia does in her life.»

«Thank you, your highness.»

«You don't have to be this polite,» she chuckles. «Now, you're the mother of a Princess. You can call me sister if you like. Or by name, if it's too forward.»

«It would be too much familiarity from my side, your highness.»

She crooks her mouth, looking at me in a way too similar to Alexander's the first days.

«I understand it's early. I hope one day you'll accept to say my name instead of calling me highness. There aren't many people that dare to use it, and I hope you'll be one of them.»

«I will do my best,» I sigh. People in Ethiro have some fixation with the first name; it's a given.

«I've heard stories of you when I was a child, so I felt familiar when we first met. That must be why I've started calling you sister without asking for permission.»

«It's fine, your highness. I'm honoured you consider me part of your family.»

«Oh, it's the other way around,» she murmurs. «And also, I don't consider. It's a matter of facts.»