Morning picnic

NOELLE'S POV,

Maya wakes me up the next morning, ''The King has requested your presence.''

I get up from the bed and ask, ''For what?''

Maya walks to my clothing closet and picks a pink flowy dress, ''I don't know Noelle, I just know we must have you there in 20 minutes, so you have to hurry.''

She gives me the dress and says, ''Put this on and Julias will meet you at the entrance of the castle.''

I put on the dress and make a braid from my hair with some loose ends on the side of my face. I walk to the entrance to meet Julias and smile when I see him, ''Morning mister sex-machine.''

Julias laughs, ''Do you always have to remind me of that?''

We walk outside together ''Where are we going?'' I ask.

''It's a place we call a little bit off the Mortal Realm, I think you will like it.''

While we walk my mind goes back to yesterday and I wonder what happened after I went to bed.

''Did you and Roan make up?'' I ask carefully.

''Yes, we did, we still don't agree on what happened and I think I saw a side of Roan that I haven't seen before. But if anything, yesterday reminded us of our common enemy and goal. We can't fight in our own court with everything that is going on we need to be a united front.''

I brush my hand against his, ''That's a very mature way of looking at it. You are a good person you know.''

Julias gets a sad look on his face, ''I try to be, but I definitely didn't feel like one on midsummer.''

I don't know what to answer to that but fortunately, we have arrived at the destination. In front of me is a field of grass with flowers and a small forest with trees. In the field, there is a picnic blanket with a lot of food on it. Roan is sitting on the blanket and waves to me.

I look at Julias and see that he is smiling at me.

''Have fun,'' he says and walks away.

I walk to the blanket where Roan is sitting. He is just wearing some brown shorts and a green t-shirt. He looks casual and comfortable. I stand still to look around me, ''Wow this place is beautiful, how could you make this on the bottom of the Sea?''

Roan winks at me, ''Magic'' and continues, ''I thought you would be more amazed by the food though. I know how much you love food.''

I chuckle, ''Yes that's true, it looks delicious, thank you for doing this.''

Roan takes my hand, ''I thought it would be good to do something fun together just you and me. After everything that happened yesterday.''

My mood immediately drops because all the questions I had come back to me, ''Yeah about that, you said you would answer my questions today.''

Roan looks at me sincerely, ''Yes, I did, and I will. What do you want to know?''

I ask, ''I have asked you this before but what happened to the sacrificed girls before me?''

Roan clears his throat ''My answer remains the same, unfortunately. I want to tell you! believe me, but I just can't. You have to trust me on this that they are not in pain or dead.''

I feel unsatisfied by his answer, so I ask a bit grumpier this time, '' And what about the flooding of villages Gabriel was talking about?''

Roan looks sad and balls his fist, ''That is something I am not proud of for sure. In the earlier years of Hella's rule, she wanted the Kings to show her that they are loyal. My assignment was to flood villages in the Mortal Realm so that they would fear me. I tried to warn as many people as I could before without getting suspicious but still, people died. It's not an excuse for what I did but if I wouldn't have done it then Hella would have killed my people. It still haunts me every day though.''

I take his hand back, ''I think almost everyone has done things in war that they are not proud of. Thank you for being honest with me though.''

Roan picks up a strawberry and looks at me with big puppy eyes, ''Can I give you this peace offering my lady?''

I can't resist those begging eyes, ''Yes my King I accept.''

Roan pretends he is going to put the strawberry in my mouth but quickly eats it when I try to take a bite.

''Hey, that was my strawberry!'' I shout.

He laughs and takes another strawberry and does the same. With the next strawberry, I tackle him before he can eat it. I sit on top of him and hold his hands to the ground. I take the strawberry from his hand with my mouth.

''Have mercy, my lady, you win,'' Roan begs.

I look at him pretending to be angry, ''You better have another peace offering''

Roan makes a smolder, "What about a kiss?''

I look at him, ''Mmm I guess that would be an acceptable apology.''

I bend forward and kiss him on his lips. He tastes like strawberries, and I let my tongue in to taste more. I let go of his hands and he immediately puts them on my butt, squeezing my butt cheeks. I give him one last kiss and get off him, ''Easy there I still want to eat you know.''

Roan laughs, ''You sure have your priorities straight. I personally would rather eat you but alright.''

I give him a boop on his nose, ''Even a King doesn't always get what he wants.''

The rest of the morning we enjoy eating, laying in the grass, and talking. It's a few hours later when Julias comes back.

''It's time to go, Roan, I hope you guys had a good time.''

I look at Roan confused, ''Where do you have to go?''

He stands up, ''Later today is the audience with my people. 4 times a year the people can come. They tell me about their problems or about a crime that has happened and then I decide what to do about it.''

I feel a bit sad that this nice day is over, Roan must have seen it on my face.

''Would you like to sit next to me and help?'' He asks.

I would like to spend some more time with Roan, and I am curious about the audience, so I reply, ''Yes please.''

''You should go find Maya then to help you dress appropriately and meet me in the ballroom in an hour.''

I quickly walk back to the castle, and I find Maya in the kitchen.

''Maya, do you want to help me get ready for the audience?'' I ask.

Maya her face lights up, ''Most certainly I already have the perfect dress in mind.''