Chapter Twenty-Eight:

The Queen's Speech

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It seemed like everyone they passed stared at Queen Marianne and Clara as they made their way down the corridor, making Clara more than a little uncomfortable. Their stares were full of questions and for some, Clara was not so oblivious as to not see their eyes sparkling at the idea of a new piece of gossip right in front of them.

She hurried to be as close behind the Queen as possible, hoping that perhaps they wouldn't pay attention to her as much if she passed them quicker. Unfortunately, that tactic didn't seem to work all that well. She could still feel their gazes on her, and she was about to look back at them when the Queen came to an abrupt stop, almost making Clara run into her.

Queen Marianne had stopped in front of an ornate door that was covered in a carving of an intricate tree, and with a glance back at Clara she opened the door, leading the way into the room beyond it. The door opened to reveal a sunlit parlor with a table and five chairs situated in the middle of the room. On top of the table was a delicate tea set and Clara realized that the conversation she was about to have came with refreshments. She wasn't sure if that made her feel better or not.

"Please, do take a seat," Queen Marianne said, motioning for Clara to sit on the sky blue chair across from the identical one the Queen had just seated herself on. Clara hesitantly sat, already feeling immensely uncomfortable within her lavishly decorated surroundings. "Milk or sugar?"

"Just one sugar is fine, thank you," Clara answered, watching as Queen Marianne fixed her a cup of tea. When the Queen held it out for her to take, Clara did her best not to let the cup shake in the saucer, quickly setting it beside her before her trembling hands could cause the tea to spill onto her dress.

"You are probably wondering why I have requested you to speak with me," the Queen began, taking a measured sip of her own cup of tea in between her words. Clara nodded in response. "I believe I owe you a bit of an explanation."

Clara tilted her head slightly to the side before asking her question, "About what your highness?"

"How I knew your parents, how I realized who you were once you walked through the door, the reason I have asked you to stay longer, even why I have never reached out to you before. I believe I owe you a lot of different explanations for different things. I'm not sure we will address all of them today, but we will at least speak of some of them." The Queen paused, eyeing Clara's rigid form with calculative eyes. "What would you like to know first?"

"How did you know my parents?" Clara asked hesitantly, relieved to see that the Queen nodded and placed her own cup of tea down on the table in front of them, ready to begin their conversation.

"When I first came here many years ago as a young bride to the new king, I did not know anyone except for Lady Stanford, who came with me. Now, as the queen-to-be, I was not allowed much contact with the people of the country, and so I learned to greatly cherish the tea times and dinner parties that were often held at the palace. Around the time of my arrival in Ecrivenia, your parents had been married for a little over a few months, and though your mother was looked down upon for being from a low social standing and only marrying into her title, she was invited to many of the afternoon teas as she had become fast friends with Lady Stanford."

The queen stopped for a moment to take another sip of her tea and Clara followed suit, thankful for the beverage for giving her something to do other than just stare at the female monarch of her country. She wasn't entirely sure where she expected the story to go, but she had not expected to hear that the Queen had known her mother for so long. Her mother must've been only Clara's age when she met the Queen.

"Your mother was one of the few amongst the group who took the time to get to know me, for well, me. She never seemed to care that I was the future queen, and that greatly endeared her to me, and so within a small amount of time, she became one of my closest confidants. We were very close for almost twenty years until an incident occurred and my husband decided to make sure all of his family were nearby at all times."

Clara had a thought to ask what the incident was, but upon seeing the look on the Queen's face she decided not to. Mentally she added up the years in her head, finally figuring that her mother must've been very close to giving birth to Harriet around the time she stopped talking to the Queen.

"We didn't talk or see each other for years, but around five months before your younger brother's birth we reconnected." The queen shifted her gaze to focus on the windows that looked out over the gardens. "It is my greatest regret that I did not reach out to her earlier because, in the end, all I could think was that I wished that I had been strong enough to not be controlled by my own pride and secret fears. Maybe if I hadn't been, I would've gotten to be with her longer."

"However, despite it all, I did not reach out to your family upon the death of your mother." Here the queen's face shifted into a frown as she looked back at Clara. "I'm unsure of how much you know of your father's and the king's relationship, but your father was very decidedly against the king in political matters. When your mother passed, the king decided it was not in his best interests to have his wife seen in the presence of his political rival, and so, therefore, I could not be in the presence of my best friend's children."

"I never knew that my father was against the king's ideals," Clara said quietly, and Queen Marianne nodded.

"It would not surprise me if that was just one of many things Samuel did not tell you. He was always a man who kept to himself, only your mother could ever bring him out of his own thoughts long enough to truly live."

The words of the queen struck something in Clara. It suddenly made a lot more sense, her father's silence and obliviousness after the death of her mother. Her mother had been his way to connect with the world, and with her death, he had lost that. It wouldn't surprise Clara if it never occurred to him to share his thoughts with her. Maybe his motives were for obvious reasons, at least to him.

"Regardless of all this, I believe I owe you an apology," the Queen said, pulling Clara from her thoughts. "I did recognize you the moment you walked into the throne room, but I chose not to say anything. My husband is a prideful man and if he drew the connection between your late father and you and your siblings he would've probably thrown you out, even with your brother still being ill. I did not wish to cause you any more hardships when it was obvious to anyone with eyes that you had already been through so many."

"You don't have to apologize," Clara said, looking at the Queen in earnest. "I thank you for the hindsight so that James could get the medical attention he needed." The Queen just shook her head with a slight smile. "I still don't understand why you asked me to stay longer, though." At this, the Queen laughed.

"Believe me, I have a number of reasons for asking you to stay longer. Firstly, I feel I owe it to your mother. Originally I had planned to try and guide you in the ways of being a lady, but it seems to me that you have grown up rather well by yourself." Clara blushed at her words.

"I didn't really grow up by myself. My old maid, Mrs. Landon helped raise me and my siblings after my mother passed away, up until about two years ago, anyway," Clara responded, and the Queen nodded.

"Nonetheless, you may not need my guiding hand to be a lady, but, you might need my guiding hand for something else entirely." The Queen eyed Clara with a smile, the corners of her mouth curling slightly as if she was trying to somehow suppress the smile but was failing.

"I'm not sure I know what you mean."

"Sophia certainly wasn't kidding about you was she? You really have no idea do you?" Clara bristled slightly at her words but did her best to not let it show. The Queen laughed at Clara once she saw her expression. "Oh dear, I'm not laughing at you exactly, I just find it amusing that you have not noticed what has been so obvious to almost everyone else except perhaps the king, thank goodness for small mercies."

Clara wasn't sure whether or not to ask. A small part of her, a voice that was but a small whisper in the face of her own doubt, told her she knew exactly what the Queen was talking about, but she didn't want to put a real voice to that thought. What if she was wrong? Queen Marianne took a sip of her tea, before setting the cup in her saucer with a sharp clack.

"You're not going to ask, are you?" The Queen said, her eyes softening when Clara made no move to answer her. "Then let me appease your worries. I am, of course, referring to the fact that my son will never marry a princess, no matter how much my husband wishes him to, as he has already found the woman he wishes to marry. I do not think that I have to spell it out completely to you, but I will say this. My husband may not be overly pleased once he learns of Frederick's intentions, but I will stand by the two of you. The days of my bowing to my husband's pride and ignorance are over. I want my son to be happy, and I know you are probably the only person who can do that at this point, as I do not think he will accept anyone else."

Clara's cheeks burned with a blush, but she did not look away from the Queen's gaze. She did not feel meek, or as scared as she had. The Queen approved of her, and with that approval, she felt a bolstering in her own confidence. However, she didn't know what to say. What does one say after a speech like that?

"Thank you," she finally decided on.

"You are very welcome," the Queen said with a knowing smile. "Now, I believe I have to go to a meeting with one of the head stable masters, putting me in a bit of an awkward position. Would you mind telling Frederick that I will not be able to meet him for our afternoon tea?"

"Of course, your highness," Clara said after a beat, unable to stop herself from thinking that the Queen had probably planned the situation. "Do you know where he might be?"

"He should be on his way back from the training session with some of the knights," the Queen answered, getting to her feet. "You'll have to hurry to catch him. He'll probably be somewhere near the hallway that houses his room."

Clara nodded, rising to her own feet. "Thank you, your highness, have a good day."

"You as well, Lady Corden," The Queen said with a smile. Clara smiled back and then moved away towards the door that led back into the hallway. Once the door behind her closed, she let out a small sigh of relief. The conversation might have gone far better than what she had thought it would, but she still had been tense the whole time.

She started off on her way towards the corridor that held the doors to Frederick's rooms, Leopold's rooms, and another empty apartment, no doubt for if there had ever been another prince in the royal family. The sounds of laughter reached her ears, and when she turned the corner she saw Prince Leopold and Frederick ambling their way down the corridor.

"No wonder she's been glaring at you, Leopold. You took away the glory of her first chance of doing something truly heroic. I'd keep my eyes peeled if I were you. She's been known to be rather crafty in her revenge," Frederick said, still chuckling as he saw Leopold's scowl. Clara picked up her pace to get closer to them.

"And no doubt you would encourage her."

"Well, yes. I think it's good for her. She's a bright and brave girl, she deserves to have some fun in her life after everything she's been through, even if it is at your expense," Frederick was saying, causing Clara to have a puzzled frown slip onto her face, wondering who it was they were talking about, but she pushed it from her mind. She had a job to do.

"Prince Frederick!" She called, causing both of the princes to turn towards her.

"Lady Corden," Frederick said, a smile on his sweaty and slightly colored face, the color no doubt from training. "How are you this afternoon?"

"Very well, thank you," she answered, coming up to them and stopping. "I have a message from your mother. She will not be able to have afternoon tea with you as she has a meeting with one of the stable masters." Frederick and Leopold exchanged a look.

"You have been speaking with my mother?" Frederick asked cautiously.

"Yes, she asked me to have tea with her." It wasn't exactly the truth, but they did have tea, and it wasn't as if Clara could tell him his mother had almost straight out told her she thought Clara would be a good wife for him.

"How nice..." Frederick said, looking as if it was anything but. Leopold seemed to find his expression amusing but turned his smile to Clara.

"Indeed, how wonderful. If you will excuse me, Lady Corden, I have some things I need to attend to," Leopold said, excusing himself, leaving Clara and Frederick alone.

"Would you walk with me? I believe I promised your sister to come get her after the training session to take her horseback riding," Frederick said, motioning for Clara to walk beside him. Clara hesitated but went to walk by his side.

"You are taking my sister horseback riding?" Clara asked after a moment, feeling uncomfortable with the prolonged silence.

"Yes," Frederick said with a fond smile. "I offered to teach her how to ride properly a few days ago. She's a quick learner, you would be very proud."

"I- yes, I am. Is she safe doing that though? She is still quite young," Clara said voicing her worries. She could not picture her sister, who was decidedly small for her age, riding a horse without feeling twinges of fear.

"She is perfectly safe," Frederick reassured her, "I promise you that I would never let anything happen to her." Clara nodded, accepting his answer. They lapsed into silence again, but this time, it was a bit more comfortable.

"Thank you, for doing this; teaching Harriet how to horseback ride, giving her the trousers, and everything else. She's been needing someone to look up to. I don't know the first thing about knighthood or horseback riding and Harriet-"

"Still looks up to you," Frederick cut in. "Even if you think she doesn't. You are her older sister, she will always look up to you, but more than that, you are the one who has helped her grow up, and not only have you done a wonderful job so far, but you're also the person she is always the most excited to show her new skills to. She will always want your approval. I may teach her how to handle a sword, give her trousers, and encourage her to do things you never would dream of, but you are the first one she goes to when she has done something she is proud of."

They had come to a stop sometime during Frederick's speech, and Clara was now staring up at him. Frederick had drawn closer to her, so that way they were far closer than they had probably ever been before.

"I have grown rather fond of her during your family's time here, and I do not look forward to the day that you and your family leave. It is one of my greatest wishes to see her as a sister, not just in feelings and actions, but properly." Frederick's eyes looked more green than gray as they bore into Clara's own pair of gray eyes. Clara felt her breath hitch as they got even closer. Her heart was hammering against her ribcage, and her mind was whirling, her mouth unable to form words easily.

"I think I would li-" she began, but at the sudden clearing of a throat, Frederick and Clara leaped apart. Standing there with a flushed face was the king. Clara paled. Even the Queen said that they were better off with the King not knowing anything. Looking at his face now, there was no denying that he now had a pretty good idea of his son's intentions.

"Frederick, come with me. Now," he growled before turning on his heel. Frederick glanced at his father and then back to Clara, an air of regret in his eyes.

"I'm sorry," he whispered softly, "I have to go with him, but I promise you this conversation isn't over," he said in earnest. He seemed to hesitate for a moment, looking up and down the hallway, before quickly reaching for her. He held her head in between his hands carefully, before placing a soft but hurried kiss on her hairline.

In the next moment, he was gone, following his father down the hallway. However, before he turned the corner, he looked back at Clara, making her lose her breath all over again. By the time he had left her line of sight, she was quite sure her legs were noodles instead of flesh and bone.

She wasn't sure if she felt weak-kneed from the conversation with Frederick, or from the appearance of his father, but one thing was for sure. She would be having a conversation with Frederick in the future, however, the subject it would be on relied entirely on the outcome of the conversation between Frederick and his father and she wasn't entirely sure that the outcome would be in her favor.

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Do you think the King will convince Frederick to not continue his relationship with Clara? What did you think of the Queen's conversation with Clara? Make sure to tell me your thoughts in the comments!

The song is "The Queen," by Alexandre Desplat (no surprise there), from the film The Queen.