I'd Give Up The World For You

Daisy didn't know the first thing about being a queen in a fantasy world. She had never signed up for this and she hadn't exactly been the type of person to read fantasy novels back home so she had no idea what she was supposed to do. 

All she did know was that she wasn't nearly prim and proper enough for this based on what little she had seen of the Queen of England in the news. What was she supposed to do?

She had been so preoccupied with what Rukelion had done earlier that she hadn't thought much about the logistics of being the actual queen of this country now. She had a job! She didn't want to leave Miette in the lurch but doubted she would be allowed to set foot out of the castle without guards, especially now that she was pregnant. 

Her poor husband had already been having nightmares about her dying. His overprotectiveness was going to get so much worse; she could already tell. She didn't want him to be stressed but what about living her life?!

Daisy didn't want to be waited on hand and foot. She wasn't used to it. Yeah, there were some things it might be nice to have others do like laundry and meals but she would seriously miss baking. 

At the very least she needed to convince Tom to let her help in the gardens so she didn't lose her mind from boredom. Oh! Maybe she could talk to him about getting a message over to Miette if she couldn't leave the castle. Those two saw each other frequently so it shouldn't be too big of a deal to ask. 

After the head maid left she went off to find her husband but he was busy so she headed off in search of Tom instead. He seemed rather surprised to see her. 

"Veronica! What are you doing here? I thought you were out of town."

"I got back today," Daisy admitted. "I didn't think I would end up here either but it turns out my husband is the new king."

"What?! I thought he was one of the officers who got carted off to prison!" 

Tom seriously thought that and the first thing he said was that he thought she was out of town? Wasn't that the sort of thing someone should lead a conversation with if they thought the other person didn't know?

"…no," she replied, unsure how else to respond to that. 

"I had no idea! All of us here at the castle were rather surprised when it happened. Those who lived in the servants quarters got led away to safety during the coup then led back but the rest of us had to come to work the next morning without having any idea what happened until people started whispering about it," he said. "But I heard the new king was foreign royalty before. I thought your husband was your cousin."

"Well, that is what we tell people. He couldn't let anyone know who he was and I needed some sort of cover story for letting him stay at the farm with me." 

Tom clucked and shook his head. "I'll be! Did you know the whole time?"

"I knew he was running from something but didn't know what," Daisy said before changing the subject. She shouldn't tell this nosy man Rukelion's business. "Do you think you could do me a favor, Tom?"

"Sure! What is it?"

"Could you tell Miette I won't be coming back to work? I feel really bad about leaving her without warning but—" 

"Veronica you're the queen! Of course you can't work in a flower shop! What would people think? I'm sure she'll understand but she'll definitely be shocked. You should join us the next time she has tea here. I'm sure she'll want to see you and hear it from your own mouth but I will pass on the message first so she won't worry when you don't come into work," Tom promised. 

Daisy sighed in relief. "Thanks. I was hoping you would let me help with the gardens though. To keep me from losing my mind. Flowers and plants are my life."

He let out a hearty laugh. "The queen of Mirea working in my garden! I never would have dreamed of such a thing! But sure, do whatever you want. You do basically have the run of the place. No one is going to tell you no."

No one was going to tell her no, huh? The head maid seemed like she would. 

She would have to keep that in mind though. Maybe the head chef would allow her to use the kitchens now and then to make things personally. She did enjoy baking and would waste away if she didn't have enough to do. Especially if Rukelion was busy all the time and couldn't spend time with her. 

Daisy may not know much about ruling a country but she did know that it was busy work. At least if you were doing it correctly and it seemed like her husband cared deeply about that based on his talk about carrying on his family's legacy. 

"Good to know. Thanks."

"No problem. But uh…should I call you Your Majesty now?" Tom asked. 

She barely held back a shudder. "Please don't. I'm not a real queen. There's absolutely no need to be formal with me."

"You better get used to it, girlie! You're going to be 'Your Majesty'd for the rest of your life. Whether you like it or not you are a real queen since you're married to royalty. You have been all along, which is rather strange to think about."

That was a weird thought. She had been a queen without even realizing it! What was she supposed to think about that? So much information had been dumped on her today she wasn't even sure were to begin processing it. 

Daisy grimaced and that made the gardener laugh. "Don't you worry, Veronica. Out in the gardens everyone will know you as Miette's friend. I won't tell a soul."

She nearly cried in relief. If nothing else she would have one place within the castle walls where she could be normal and live the way she wanted to while still being near the man she loved. 

She thanked him again before heading out, telling him she would come look for him in the morning to help with whatever needed to be done. That made her feel slightly better about all of the changes that had been thrust upon her. 

One consistent thing. That was all she needed. 

Well, technically two. Rukelion's love was as constant and unyielding as a rock. Daisy got the feeling that he needed her more than ever now since he was having a hard time dealing with flashbacks. If she had to guess, he had PTSD and all this time it had been festering before pouring out of him when triggered. Poor thing. 

She really should go look for him. It was about dinner time and she wanted to eat together. 

He was in the middle of meeting with Conrad, who was looking very professional in a general's uniform. They were going over a large stack of paperwork in his office but he beamed at her when she was announced and walked in. 

Daisy would seriously need to get used to being announced too. Why couldn't she just walk where she wanted to walk without there being any fanfare?

"Do you need something?" Rukelion asked warmly. 

"I wanted to know if we could have dinner together. I assume somebody will make it for us so I don't have to," she replied. "I really don't want to be banished from the kitchen on a permanent basis though. I do love baking."

Ignoring his friend, he stood to cross the room and take her hands in his. "You can do whatever you want. If the head chef has a problem with it send him to me and I'll set him straight."

Daisy didn't want anyone to get in trouble or potentially lose their job because they weren't willing to accommodate her. She knew her husband wasn't a callous person though. He wouldn't hurt them for disobeying her wishes or anything like that. 

He could be reasoned with. If anyone did need to be 'set straight' she could warn him not to go overboard. People had to have a way to make a living. 

"Okay…so how do we order dinner?" she asked curiously. 

"Like this," Rukelion said before ringing a small bell that summoned a maid almost instantaneously. "My wife and I require dinner. Have it brought to the informal dining room and let me know when it's ready."

"Yes, Your Majesty!" the maid said before bobbing a curtsy and fleeing the room to do what he ordered. 

Daisy had never seen him speak to anyone like that before but she supposed that was the way royalty talked to servants. He must be falling back into old patterns now that he had some semblance of his life back. She wasn't sure how to feel about that. 

She did remember he had talked like that a lot back when they first met unless he was obviously trying to get on her good side. How had she not put two and two together? 

It was water under the bridge now but she thought the poor maid at least deserved a 'please.' Even if she wasn't used to it or it wasn't the sort of thing she tended to expect.. Everyone in the service industry deserved to be respected.