“Shall we leave, my Queen?” Drayce asked, his gentle tone seemingly implying their group would leave only if she wanted to.
Seren realized they had spent a long time there and everyone must be waiting to leave as night would be falling soon.
She nodded and Drayce offered her his hand as she was about to step out of the water. Seren looked at his hand, contemplating whether she should accept it or not. Only Cian had done this for her and she was not used to it.
Seeing her puzzled, Drayce spoke, “It’s fine to accept your husband’s hand.”
‘Husband…’
Repeating that word in her mind, she accepted his hand. It wasn’t that she no longer feared him;? more like the relief, the happiness, and the freedom she felt put her mind at complete ease, to the point she didn’t mind interacting with this red-eyed man. Moreover, he was the person who brought her away from the place where everyone did nothing but despise her. Though she was planning to run away from him soon, till then, it wouldn’t harm to be an obedient girl in front of him.
Drayce helped her walk out of the water with ease. Her two servants quietly followed them.
The royal entourage was ready to leave after the servants helped Seren change into another dress inside a tent as the bottom of her earlier dress was drenched with the river water.
Seren sat inside the same carriage as Drayce again. Drayce noticed her change of mood; she looked calm and at peace, unlike how restless she was when the journey started.
“Today has been exhausting for you. We will stay at an inn in the next city,” Drayce informed her. “We will leave again tomorrow, so make sure you rest comfortably tonight.”
Serene nodded lightly and continued to look outside the window. As the carriage kept moving forward on its path, flowers could be seen blooming wherever it passed. Seren was immersed in her happy world, she didn’t know she was giving a pleasant shock to the people around her.
Every person in the royal entourage was enjoying this miraculous view.
——
The sun had just set when they reached the city. The royal entourage did not lounge at any of the manors of the local nobles but stopped at the best inn available away from the most crowded places. Since the high-class inn was not at the center of the city but close to its outskirts, ordinary people could not afford to stay inside and thus there were few people in it. The inn was huge with a double story structure and looked equally cozy and luxurious, its inside brightly lit with light coming from numerous scented oil lamps. It was a little isolated from the other inns and houses around, and the behind of the inn was connected to a well-maintained garden leading towards? the forest at a distance
The knights who arrived earlier to arrange everything before the carriage of their king and queen reached the inn had already instructed the owner of the inn. The entire inn was booked by their entourage with handsome pay to ensure that their arrangements were made suitable to the comfort of their royal guests.
Seren had been led upstairs where the entire floor was meant for the King and Queen of Megaris. Aside from theirs, all the other rooms were kept empty except for Arlan who had the privilege of being a royal and occupied one room on the second floor. The others would not dare share the same space as their king and queen. The rest of the entourage who weren’t on guard duty had to share rooms on the first floor.
The two servants accompanied Seren to help her settle down and rest while Drayce stayed with his knights on the first floor as he still had things to discuss.
As soon as she was led to the best room in the inn, Seren sat on the large bed that had a nice soft mattress covered with silk bed sheets.
“Your Majesty, would you like to have a bath while the food is being prepared? It will help Your Majesty to relax.”
“Can’t I first eat and then go for a bath? I am starving,” Seren replied. This little kitten had a big appetite and she needed nothing but the food at the moment.
“As you wish, Your Majesty. I will go down to the kitchen to help so Your Majesty will not wait long,” the servant named Eva said. She left after bowing while Marie stayed to accompany Seren.
Soon, the food was bought for her on a silver tray and Eva arranged it on the wooden table inside the room.
Seren was happy seeing the freshly-cooked food emitting an aroma that made her drool. She immediately went to the table and sat in the chair. Seren had to lift her veil up to eat the food so she said to the servant, “I would like to be alone. You two can have your meals too.”
The servants understood their queen didn’t wish them to accompany her. “We will be standing outside, Your Majesty. If you need help, please call us.”
Seren nodded and the two servants left. Seren started eating as she thought, ‘I need to have some more energy before I run away from here. Seems to be a good and quiet place and no one will come after me.’
After she had food, Seren called the two women inside to clean the table and help her with her bath. She used that time to observe the place and think about her escape. She was sure leaving by the front door would be impossible, so she might need to find an exit route away from the eyes of the people from the royal entourage. Perhaps the window?
She wanted to check, but she needed to excuse these two servants as soon as possible so she could execute her plan. What if they were to suddenly enter the room when she was trying to run away?
“Your Majesty, you should rest,” Eva said to her after helping her dry her long hair.
Seren nodded. “You two don’t have to accompany me.”
“We will take our leave. Have a pleasant night, Your Majesty. His Majesty will be here soon to accompany you,” Marie informed her as she smiled lightly at Eva. They bowed and left, not even bothering to hide those meaningful smiles on their lips.
Seren had noticed them sharing glances at each other. Once the two left, Seren stood up with a puzzled expression.
‘What’s there to smile about? And why is he coming here? Doesn’t he have his own room? This inn doesn’t look that small to not have enough rooms for everyone. Is he coming to check on me? I need to run away before he comes here. Once we reach Megaris, I am sure he will have strict security around us and I won’t be able to run away ever.’
