[IC] The Making of a New Queen

[tsubasa]

Anastasia smiled when he agreed to not only sharing a meal but also splitting the paperwork when he became King. She laughed a little and nodded, "I'm sure my hand will cramp up much less and I'll be awake through dinner," She giggled a little more before she stood and replaced the lid on her tray. She pushed her chair back in and turned to leave the room. However, she hesitated. She turned back around to face Samsul. She smiled softly at him before she bent over and kissed him again. It was longer than their two previous kisses, her hand even rested on the back of his neck for a moment before she pulled away. She blushed and bit her lip, "That is more like what we are supposed to do at our wedding," She snickered and kissed his forehead, "I'll see you around noon."

Removing his hand from his neck, she turned and left the room for her office and more paperwork.

[pyroman]

Samsul could only nod at his wife to be as she kissed him for a longer time that he had to her. He sat there for a few minutes before snapping himself out of his stupor and putting down the spoon that he was using for his cereal. The Lost Elf then got up from his seat and went to the closet to change into something else. He didn't realize until now that he had been away all this time without having a shirt on, and quickly changed into his regular attire. He needed things to do to occupy his time until noon, and he wasn't really sure what he should be doing. As he thought of things to do, the first thing that crossed his mind was Melor. He hadn't seen the dog since the day before, he he assumed that he was either in Anastasia's old room or his own, waiting for one of them to go and find him. He left the room shortly after and went back to Anastasia's old room to see if the dog was there or not.

[tsubasa]

Anastasia walked to her office with Amul, who abandoned his station at the door when Samsul did not follow. He knew well that Samsul could handle himself if anything were to happen. She spotted Gerald standing outside the door, holding a stack of papers, when they arrived. The elderly man smiled at her and opened the door. He followed her over to the desk, "I reviewed all the changes you made. Most are good, I changed a few, and they will just need to be looked over by you."

He placed the papers on top of the pile on the right side of her desk. She looked at it as he left the room, leaving her to work. She sighed, it seemed the work she had done yesterday moved from the left side of her desk to the right. She might have figured that had happened, if it weren't for the lack of signatures on them...

[pyroman]

Samsul walked over to the two trays that had their breakfast meal on them and picked them both of carefully. He didn't want for them to spill onto the ground while he was walking with them. The Lost Elf had managed to get through the door without a hitch and walked down the halls to the dining hall. He would have to thank whoever had made their breakfast. Although he was sure that Eric had made the food, Samsul knew well that he wasn't the only chef there, and it could have been any of the others that he failed the remember the names of.

As he reached the door to the dining hall, Samsul pushed the grand doors open and walked down to the door that led to the kitchens, pushing those doors open as well. As he did so, a young chef in about his teens snapped over to the door and quickly tried to help the Lost Elf by taking one of the trays from him. "I'm sorry that you had to walk all the way over here without assistance... Sir Samsul." It was obvious that the boy was new, and although he knew of the title that Samsul held, he didn't know what to call him. Samsul shook his head at the young boy and placed the tray down on a counter. "It's quite alright. I cam here not only to deliver these to you, but also to thank the man or woman who set up the breakfast." The teen scratched his head and smiled sheepishly as he looked at the older man. "That would be me. You didn't come in for breakfast like usual, so Eric assumed that you were either sleeping in or..." He drifted off as he blushed slightly at a certain thought. The Teen shook his head and looked at Samsul. "Eric has taken me in as his apprentice, since he sees that he 'should have a young man or woman learn all of the great secrets of a great chef.'"

[tsubasa]

Anastasia looked up from a paper she was reading when Gerald entered her office again. She smiled at him and placed the paper on the desk, "How can I help you, Gerald?"

He placed another sheet of paper in front of her filled with lists of things from flowers to food to colours. She looked up at him, slightly confused. He chuckled a little, "It is for your wedding. Although I am planning it for you, I assumed that you and Samsul would enjoy a say in what happens to the country."

Anastasia looked at the list again and picked it up, "Oh wonderful... I'll talk to Samsul about it when he comes and gets me for lunch," Gerald nodded and left the room as Anastasia looked over the list a little more. After sometime, she placed it back down on her desk and returned to the work at hand.

[pyroman]

Samsul had to admit that the teen had done a pretty good impression of Eric, and nodded with a small smile as would have agreed with the old man. His smile faltered however, as he had yet to ask the name of the young man. Samsul hated having to call people 'you' and had always gotten to know the names of the people that he met. "That would seem like something Eric would say." Samsul said just before bowing to the young man, receiving a look of surprise in response. If anything, and young man felt that he should be bowing to Samsul, but he said nothing and allowed for his expression to do the talking. "I'm sorry, but I don't think that I learned your name. Anastasia and I enjoyed the breakfast, and it wouldn't seem right if I didn't know the name of the man that cooked for us."

The teen was at a loss for words. A man as great as Samsul was asking to know him on a somewhat personal level? Ever since the man's coronation as Head Of the Lost Elves, word spread quickly of who was now leading the secluded and near-extinct race. People knew of their power, and if the regular Lost Elves were like perfectly trained soldiers at the start of their careers, then the head should be multiple time more powerful than that, It didn't help the boy at all that Samsul was speaking so casually to him, so whenever he attempted to talk, he stuttered. "M-my name i-i-is.. Alex!" He used all of the willpower that he had to keep himself together and stutter on his name. The boy now named Alex breathed heavily and calmed himself down quickly. "I'm Alex." He said calmly as he looked at the Lost Elf.

[tsubasa]

Anastasia had to stop after sometime. From the work that morning and the previous day, her hand was starting to cramp. She grimaced and started to rub the sore joint of her thumb. She stood up from behind her desk and looked around the office. She had been buried in papers the day before and had paid little attention to the room around her. It was filled with books, almost all the walls being bookcases that started at her waist and nearly reached the ceiling. She picked up a book and dropped it quickly as her hand seized. She looked at the door and sighed with relief that Amul didn't come rushing in, that would have been embarrassing. She picked the book up with her other hand and looked at it. It was a pregnancy book. After reading the title Anastasia quickly stuffed it back on the shelf, not wanting to look at it. Her mother must have had it from when she was having her... She didn't understand why it was in the office and not the bedroom.... Maybe it was better off in the office, she didn't want to be staring at pregnancy books in the bedroom.

She took a deep breath and kept looking through the books. She smiled softly when she saw a well worn spine reading, 'The Secret Garden'. She pulled it off the shelf and walked over to her chair with her favorite book and began to read.

[pyroman]

After the introductions and a short chat with the teen, Samsul left Alex to his devices as he went to go find something to do until lunch. Alex seemed like an alright boy. A little shy, awkward, and occasionally clumsy, but from what he was telling Samsul, the boy knew a lot more about cooking than he did socializing.

Samsulw as currently taking a light stroll through the gardens as he looked up to the sky. His eyes traveled downwards to the ground and looked at one of the nearest shadows. He was taught time by using the shadows, and from the position of the sun and the shadows, he believed that it was about noon. The shadows were very small, and hardly left the object that it belonged to. He remembered that he was supposed to go and pick up Anastasia around this time, so he left the gardens at a quicker pace and arrived at his wive's office. He opened the door slowly and peered in to see what Anastasia was doing. "Hello? It's just about noon, Anastasia." He announced his presence to her as he walked further in.

[tsubasa]

Anastasia jumped at Samsul's voice and quickly slammed her book shut, not wanting to be caught not working. She winced as she closed the book on her thumb and blushed as she looked at Samsul. She laughed a little and put the book on the desk, "I only meant to read for a short time... to take a break because my hand was cramping up..."

She giggled a little more as she stood and started to walk over to him. At the last moment, she remembered what Gerald had given her. She turned and grabbed the list of choices for their wedding and walked back over to Samsul, "Gerald has given us some choices to make about our wedding," She took his hand and walked with him out of her office, "I figured that we could start during lunch, it should be easy enough... Then we can also discuss the menu and cake that Gerald wants us to figure out with Eric while we eat."

She rested her head against him, "I just hope that it all doesn't take forever... I just want to get married and be done with it," She chuckled slightly, "There is just so much to do.."

[pyroman]

Samsul only saw Anastasia with the book opened for a second before she quickly shut it. He was about to question her, but she provided an explanation for him before he could do so. He followed his wife to be out of her office and listened to her telling him about what Gerald had told her. He was happy to hear that the old man was going to go along with this, even if it seemed that he didn't want for Samsul and Anastasia to be wed. His gaze followed her as she rested against him and laughed a little as he nodded. "It's true. Arranging a wedding seems to be a lot of trouble what what I've heard and seen. I think it would simply be easier to simply follow the human rituals for weddings, instead of having to go through everything that it takes to have a wedding that my kind would have had long ago. There was a ceremony that lasted throughout the day, and was filled with rituals for the man, the woman, and the two of them together. It's much less complicated in Human's wedding, and I think that it is better."

[tsubasa]

Anastasia looked up at him when he said he didn't wish to incorporate the wedding rituals of his tribe. She shook her head, "We can't do that! You are the Head of The Lost Elves... You've got to at least incorporate some part of your kind's rituals into our wedding. How else will all the Lost Elves accept our marriage?" She held his hand tightly. She knew the Lost Elves were terribly close but other than Amul she hadn't had much contact with any of them. The only other Lost Elf she knew the name of was Kala and she had only met her once. She didn't know if any of them would be too accepting of her marrying Samsul... Even if he did love her. She gave him a soft smile, "Besides, I know so little about the Lost Elves... and it would be nice to involve some of it into our ceremony."

She looked up at him and batted her eyelashes, like she had seen women do in court when they tried to flirt with a man. Of course, she more so did it in jest, "Pweeeeaaaaaaasssse?"

[pyroman]

Samsul sighed in defeat. He knew that she had good reasoning for wanting to incorporate Lost Elf rituals into the wedding, but when she blinked and asked him in a similar fashion of a child, he couldn't help but laugh and nod as he hung his head in defeat. "Okay, Anastasia. You've won. Although, if you'd like to know more about my kind, then you need only ask. I'd be glad to tell you about my race. You can even ask some of the others if I'm not available." He assured her with a smile. As the walked down the halls, he was reminded of the teen that had gotten them breakfast, and smiled a little more. "There is a newcomer in the kitchens. Despite his age, he seems to know a lot about cooking, and he was the one who made us the breakfast as well." He informed her as the two neared the doors to the dining hall.

[tsubasa]

Anastasia grinned as Samsul laughed and hung his head, giving in to allowing Lost Elf traditions at their ceremony, "Wonderful," She said as she replaced her head on his arm. She pursed her lips when he said that she was free to ask any of the Lost Elves if she wanted to know more about their race, "I only really know Amul and... he doesn't seem to be too talkative. I've never really gotten more than a few words out of him.... And I would feel bad asking anyone I didn't know... Luckily, I'm sure you will always be available for me to ask... Even if it is in the middle of the night," she teased.

She looked at the him as he spoke of the boy who was new to the kitchens. She perked up a little, she felt bad about not knowing many of the kitchen staff... However, there were so many, it would be awfully difficult to remember each and everyone of their names. She assumed though, that this boy peaked Samsul's interest for some reason, "Really? Well, then I must meet him."

[pyroman]

Samsul's grin only widened at Anastasia's teasing. He knew that he probably would tell her all she wanted to know even if she just suddenly woke up in the middle of the night and woke him up. The chances of that were impossibly low, but he was only thinking of that as an example for himself. As the two of them reached the doors to the dining hall, Simon opened up the door like he usually did and waited until Anastasia was inside until shutting the door behind him and walking in. As he took his usual seat, Samsul wondered if Alex would be cooking them lunch as well to get used to how the to of them ate, what times, and all of that. It didn't take very long for said teen to slowly walk out of the door to the kitchen and greet the Queen and himself. "Hello, Queen Anastasia, Sir Samsul..." He said somewhat nervously as he stood there. "What would the two of you like for lunch?"

[tsubasa]

Anastasia walked into the dining hall, thanking Samsul for holding the door open, and made her way to her seat. She smiled at him as he walked over and sat down in his own seat. She was about to say something when she heard the sound of the door from the kitchen opening and closing. She looked over at the young boy who walked over to them and greeted them quite nervously, asking them what it was they wished to have for lunch. She thought about it, she didn't wish to overwhelm the boy or leave it up to him to figure out. Eric was a fine chef and confident that Anastasia and Samsul enjoyed his food. This boy would not be as confident, "Why not, some chicken and vegetables... Um... Sorry, Samsul never did get around to telling me your name."

[pyroman]

Alex had no idea what to do. He barely survived telling Samsul his name, and now the queen herself was asking as well! Quickly, his breath began to speed up and the air around him became thin. Samsul had noticed this and leaned over to place a hand on the teen, trying to snap him out of his trance. Alex could remember that Anastasia wanted chicken and vegetables, but only barely. With being contacted by Samsul, the teen's breathing began to slow down, and he slowly calmed down to a stable state. He didn't know what was keeping him from talking to the queen, so Samsul spoke for him. "This is Alex." Samsul spoke in a calming voice. He looked over at Alex, and only nodded at the queen as he stood there. "Alex, I'll have some chicken and vegetables as well." Alex nodded and quickly went back to the kitchen.

[tsubasa]

Anastasia looked at Samsul when he spoke the kid as he seemed to calm down. She wanted reach out to calm him in the same way that Samsul did, however, she felt as though it would not make it any better. In fact it may only make it worse. She smiled at him as he turned and left then looked to Samsul, taking his hand her own, "You seem to have a Gift Samsul... A calming touch," She laughed, "And here I thought it was just me that it worked on."

She looked to the door and sighed, "I don't particularly enjoy that response," She said softly, "I understand it... It just makes me miss times where I could have asked anyone their name and they wouldn't have even batted an eye... Or even refuse to answer..." She leaned across the arms of their chairs and rested her head yet again on Samsul shoulder. She smirked, "Very calming indeed."

[pyroman]

It did seem that Samsul had a calming touch, but he shook his head at his wife to be with a small smile on his face. "No, the boy just needed the be taken from his thoughts. The same thing happened to me earlier this morning with him, just on a smaller scale." His eyes traveled over to the door as well and listened to what she had to say. Maybe it was because the teen felt so low compared to Anastasia and himself that he could barely speak to them or in their presence, but Samsul wasn't at all sure. He smiled at Anastasia as she leaned on his shoulder. He didn't have any problems with it, and he actually, liked having her there. "I'm glad I can help you by having a calming touch, Anastasia."

[tsubasa]

Anastasia smiled when he said that he was glad to be capable of helping her in the way that he did. She looked up at him, "You help me in a lot of ways, Samsul, and it isn't just calming down," She relaxed against him again, "Like helping teaching me how to write... or making me write all those letters to you to make sure my writing was queenly when I got home... or making me realize how much I like having you with me by making me write all those letters.... or staying behind even thought every fibre of your being didn't want to do that... or making me promise not to return engaged to King George, possibly avoiding the worst mistake I would ever make... or being there when I lost my mother... or taking me out of the palace when you really didn't want to be protecting the peasant girl."

She wrapped an arm around his upper arm, hugging it slightly, "I appreciate all of that... That is part of the reason I said yes... who doesn't want a husband who helps her in so many ways," She looked up at him, resting her chin on his shoulder, "And I couldn't go losing you to some Lady, now could I?"

[pyroman]

Samsul listened to his wife to be carefully as she listed off the ways that he had helped her over the time that she had arrived at the castle. He agreed with all of them, and even the last one as well. He remembered how in the beginning he couldn't have cared less if she went out and endangered herself, and that was the sad truth. He didn't want to admit that there was a time that he didn't want to be there for her, but the past would always be there to say otherwise. He smiled at her as she hugged his arm and rester her chin on his shoulder. He smiled back at her in the same way that she did to him, and smiled a little more when she spoke about losing him to another lady. He was with Anastasia now, but that didn't mean that he wasn't allow to think that women like Sara of Eigas, or lady Elisif looked good. "I'm glad that I could help you in all the ways that I did, and I see that you understand how I felt when you were with King George." He said with a small smirk forming on the edge of his lips. "I'm glad that we're together now, Anastasia."