Creeeeaaaaak.

The wooden lid creaks as Sera slowly lowers it shut, shutting out the brilliant light reflected by the delicate silver sword. Leo was still only a 5-year old child! If he started waving the sword around without proper supervision, who knows what could happen. He might trip and cut himself, or worse yet, take out an eyeball.

She would ask Lucien if there was some sort of safer way for Leo to play with the sword.

"Ehh where swoerd, Mama?" Leo pats her on her shoulders, his head craning over her neck to look at the rectangular box.

Tucking Leo into her arms, she breathes in the sweet baby scent on the crown of Leo's auburn head. Leo returns the hug, although he squirming and turning back to the box, trying to see the sword again.

"I have to talk to your father about the sword first, Honey. It's too dangerous."

"No swoerd, Mama?" Little Leo's shoulders sag, deflating like a balloon at the news. Looking up at his Mama, two big, baby eyes shined into hers, making Sera suck in her lips. She knew her expression was weird. But she would rather not smile dumbly like a fool. This was not the time to go 'Awwwwww~!' no matter how badly she wanted to.

"Only for a little while, baby. I want to make sure there's someone that can teach you how to use a sword properly. It's safer that way."

Leo holds that adorable puppy dog look on her for a few more second, giving Sera an even more dramatic puppy dog look as he sticks his lower lip out, making it quiver.

Covering her mouth with one hand, Sera blinks, hard. This child was just too cute!! How could she say no!! It should be okay to let him play with the sword as long as there was someone watching, for now at least, right??

Cough! Cough!

'Be strong, My Queen!!' Above Leo's head, Sera looks up to see Bea giving her a bright and earnest look, both hands fisted and bent at the elbow in the classic 'You can do it!' pose. Wordlessly, Bea does a perfect mimicry of Leo's puppy dog face, and then shakes her head, making a big x with her arms.

Sera nods.

No matter how cute Leo was, safety had to come first.

Sifting through the silky strands of his head, and patting down the cowlick, Sera adds on. "Just wait a little while longer, okay Honey? I'm so excited to see the flowers you wanted to show me!"

"Okay, Mama...."

Silently, Sera blows out a deep breath through puffed cheeks the moment Leo turns away.

Phew. That was a close one!

Clap clap clap!

Nodding, Bea silently claps. The bottom of her palms were pressed together as she clapped the tips of her fingers together. It was difficult, but her Queen hadn't lost to the power of cuteness.

That was good. It wouldn't do to let the young Prince have his way every time he wielded the devastating puppy dog look.

--------

Sera grows lost in her thoughts while Leo pulls her hand, leading her about the cottage gardens to show her all the colorful flowers he'd planted together with Bea.

'Was Lucien passing judgement on the Houses now?' she wondered. She didn't even know what one would do with nobles that had been stealing from the royal coffers, the ones that had attempted to take their life. Shaking her head, she focuses on the purple flower that Leo pulls on her hand to have her smell.

But then another maid runs up the flower path, curtseying to Sera and then whispering in Bea's ear. Sera's eyebrows rise in surprise. This was the first time one of the maids from the castle had curtseyed to her.

"What is it?"

"M'lady, Lady Damar and ladies of the court are requesting an audience with you."

They must be the guests Lucien had been talking about. But Sera didn't know any Lady Demar.

Sera was not close with any of the nobles. They'd been standoffish, unlike the commoners who'd welcomed the Summoned One as the cure-all for the issues that plagued them. As part of her duties as Queen, it had been Sera's job to lead the ladies of the Court with discussions over tea. But no one had told her that tea parties were a battlefield of their own. In the Great War, your enemies attacked you directly with sword and shield, bow and arrow.

But in a tea party, or any other noble function for that matter, instead of blows, a more hidden battle took place. False pleasantries and maneuvers behind the scenes, alliances formed to discredit and destroy each others prestige. The nobles considered prestige and honor more important than their lives. To Sera, most of it seemed like unnecessary drama that she wanted no part of.

So she didn't take part. Though it wasn't like the nobles had welcomed her as their Queen with open arms in the first place.

Choosing the right side in this exchange was vital. There was the neutral Houses, the fewest in number. These Houses were newer compared to the old blood, established by the King to reward men who'd fought well. The nobles of this group compromised of Houses whose achievements were too small to consider important, and Houses that had lost their glory and wealth. Some of them, the 'nouveau riche', had even bought themselves a title, bargaining their way up from wealthy merchants. Another was the group loyal to Lucien. This group compromised of military men, the knight families that had supported Lucien into the Great War.

Then lastly, there was group that considered themselves the Old Guard (also known as the Anti-Summoned Faction), those loyal to the previous King and the traditional ways. That group insisted that it was wrong to mix royal blood with that of an unknown, prophecy or not. After her arrival, they'd grown noisy after Sera had rejected their advances to be groomed under their wing.

But they were not to be underestimated. Even the women were a brood of vipers, on the look out for the slightest missteps to take a person out. One debutante had even hung herself, unable to take the prolonged silent treatment after she'd offended Lady Amelia by stealing one of the young noblemen that surrounded Lady Amelia for a dance.

Sera did not belong to any of them. The tea parties and dances she'd hosted had been a mix of members of all three factions, but none of them had approached her.

And through these social events, Sera had learned not to share too much about her old world with these women during their talks. It was better to keep your head down and nod as they discussed the latest trends in fashion, who was going to marry whom, and scandals like whose wife had eloped with the butler.

But now that powerful Old Guard had been obliterated last night, the Heads of each House taken in by Lucien and his men to who-knows-where. That left only the poorer neutral Houses, and Houses of those loyal to Lucien.

Sera wondered which group Lady Damar belonged to.