Ashley Stangl
A storm raged outside the diamond-paned dining room windows. Richard knelt before his daughter’s dining chair and presented her with a marble-sized green stone in a parody of court manners.
“For you, my queen. A gift from my travels.”
Queen Elaine examined the stone with regal detachment, then snatched it and burst into a grin that proved she was still only eight years old. “It’s perfect, Papa! I don’t have any olivine in my collection!”
Richard smiled. He’d planned a career in the sciences before falling in love with the previous queen of Elosia. When he wasn’t at court, he helped tutor the current queen; she’d become quite the little geologist.
Elaine placed the stone in her pocket, then asked, “Have you found me a mother yet?”
Richard’s smile faded. As the regent of Elosia—a young, good-looking widower—he was considered one of the kingdom’s most eligible bachelors, but he’d yet to find a woman willing to serve as princess beneath a child queen.
Richard sighed. “I’m afraid I haven’t found any true princesses.”
Thunder rattled the windows. Elaine examined her plate with a disappointed expression.
The dining room doors opened, admitting a pensive footman. “Sire,” he announced, “there’s a woman at the door.”
Richard rose. “We’re not expecting visitors.”
“She begs shelter from the storm.”
Richard followed him to the main doors. In the storm outside, he saw a tall, olive-skinned woman with dark curls who wore a ragged gown and a familiar carefree smile.
“Valeria?” Richard gasped.
Valeria grinned. “Richard! I never dreamed I’d invaded royal property!”
Richard brought her inside. “What are you doing here? I thought you were in the Verdant Isles.”
“I just returned. Thought I’d examine some rock formations along the coast. I was sailing when the storm hit. Wrecked just down the shore.”
“Are you hurt?”
“Not a scratch. Well, a bruise or ten. I’ll mend. Give me a cup of tea and a decent night’s sleep, and I’ll be right as rain.”
Richard grinned. Even in their university days, Valeria had been dauntless. Gallivanting around the world on scientific expeditions had only made her hardier.
Elaine scampered into the foyer. Her eyes lit up when she saw Valeria. “A princess!”
“Elaine,” Richard said, “this is Lady Valeria, a friend of mine. She’s going to stay here during the storm.”
“Here? Where is she going to sleep?”
Richard liked to encourage Elaine’s royal responsibilities. “You’ll need to prepare a chamber. You’re queen, and she’s your guest.”
Elaine raced away before Richard finished speaking. “You’ll have the best suite!”
Valeria smiled after her, then took Richard’s hand. “What an end to my final adventure.”
Richard looked at Valeria in surprise. “Final?”
“I’ve seen enough of the world. It’s time to settle down.”
Here was an option Richard hadn’t considered. He’d ruled Valeria out because of her traveling ways, but as the daughter of Elosia’s richest duke, society considered her a suitable marriage prospect. She had long been a valued friend. She was charming, amusing, intelligent. She had no political ambitions for herself, so she would never step above her role as princess.
If she truly wanted to settle down, Richard wouldn’t hesitate to pursue her—but there was Elaine. Would Valeria be a good mother to his child queen?
While the maids helped Valeria to bathe and dress, Richard consulted with the kitchen about Valeria’s supper, and Elaine’s army of servants fetched blankets and pillows.
After Valeria finished eating, Richard allowed Elaine to escort her to the prepared bedchamber. He trusted that the servants had fitted it to royal standards, even under the orders of a child.
“Your suite,” Elaine said, opening the door with a flourish.
Richard followed Valeria inside and gaped. Twenty mattresses stood piled in one monstrous bed, crowned with a mountain of blankets and pillows.
Elaine beamed. Richard hid his face in his hands. If he’d wanted to scare Valeria away from raising a child queen, he could have devised no better spectacle.
Valeria gazed open-mouthed upon this monstrosity—then grinned. “How did you know I love tall beds?”
She scrambled up the mattress tower as though it were a cliff, then burrowed into the blankets. “I think I’ll live up here.”
Elaine glowed with happiness.
After sending Elaine to bed, Richard approached the base of the mattress mountain. “Valeria,” he called softly, “you don’t have to sleep up there.”
“I will sleep nowhere else,” she cheerfully declared. “I’ve spent long enough roughing it. I am a duke’s daughter, and from now on, I will live like the delicate creature I am.”
Richard laughed. “As you wish. Sleep well.”
###
The next morning, Richard entered the breakfast room and found the queen sobbing on the floor.
“Elaine? What’s wrong?”
“The olivine!” Elaine wailed. “It’s gone!”
Richard gathered her in his arms. “It’s probably in the pocket of yesterday’s dress.”
“It’s not! It’s gone!”
Valeria entered the room wearing a purple dress of his late wife’s that perfectly suited her darker coloring. Even with the bruises from her shipwreck, she looked like a princess.
And his daughter was throwing a very unqueenly tantrum.
Richard said, “I’m sorry, Val, if you could give us—”
Valeria crouched on Elaine’s other side. “Your majesty,” she said. “I wish to make a complaint about my bed.”
Elaine’s head rose, and her tears stopped. “What was wrong?”
“Oh, the mattress was lovely,” Valeria said. “But I tossed and turned half the night—I just couldn’t get comfortable. Then I uncovered this in my blankets.”
On her palm, she presented a marble-sized green stone.
“You found it!” Elaine cried, snatching the stone. “Thank you!”
“Such lovely olivine.” Valeria pulled Elaine onto her lap. “Did you know some of those stones come from meteorites?”
Elaine nestled against her, spellbound as their guest spoke about rocks from far-off lands.
Richard watched with a full heart. He was beginning to love Valeria, and Elaine was, too.
He had found his princess.
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Spark Flash Fiction 