I swallowed and stared out the window to my left, taking in the rolling green hills. “Magic has its troubles too.”
The carriage came to a stop in front of a charming little market. A dozen or so tables were set up, with canvas coverings lifted high above each to block the sunlight. I stepped out of the carriage and saw that each table was occupied by men, women, and some children, all selling or trading different wares. Many had booths full of colorful produce. Red tomatoes, enormous carrots and other root vegetables, buckets of bright fruit. Others sold knives and tools. Behind them stretched a massive piece of land that went as far as I could see, with countless straw-hatted workers roaming among the rows of crops.
“This is Gold Row,” Vespera said next to me. “A community sector of farmland managed by several of the families around here. It provides jobs for a third of the Mid Territory’s citizens and is the kingdom’s largest agricultural producer. They have wagons going weekly to all the other territories, dropping off orders of produce and other things like eggs or milk.” She raised a hand to shield her eyes and looked off into the distant fields, a smile forming on her face. She looked soproudof her territory. It sparked something warm in my chest.
“Come on,” she said brightly, grabbing my hand and motioning to my mother. “Let’s go see what booths are up today.”
We ventured to the little market, where every single person waved and smiled fondly at Vespera as she passed. When their attention fell to me, however, their faces turned into hesitation. Confusion. And for some, recognition. They pursed their lips and cast their gazes downward.
“Hello there, Aiman. How are things going today?” Vespera asked a tall man behind a table of potatoes.
His light eyes flitted from me and back to Vespera. “Going well, my lady. We’ve had lots of customers so far.”
“You know, the empress here wasjusttelling me how she was craving some of our leek and potato soup tonight, weren’t you, Your Majesty?” Vespera turned to me, raising an eyebrow.
“Oh, yes,” I said, catching on. “And these potatoes look wonderful. Do you grow them yourself?”
Biting his bottom lip, the farmer paused before saying, “Well, my partner and son do a lot of the work too. It’s a family effort, you know.”
“You’re very kind to share all of this with us. I’d love to try some with dinner tonight. I’ll purchase a bag,” I said, pointing to the nearest sack of potatoes.
His mouth fell open. “A-A whole bag?”
I smiled. “We have many mouths to feed.” I wasn’t sure if that was true, but this man looked like I’d made his entire week. I’d eat potatoes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner if I had to.
“Of course, Your Majesty.” His lips split into a grin as he hauled the bag off the table and I counted out my payment.
“Oh, Lord Reaux can take care of that,” I said when he held the bag out to me. I caught Thorne lingering with my plethora of guards a few feet behind us and gave him a grin. He shook his head, but the corner of his lips tugged upward.
“Thank you, Your Majesty. Come back anytime,” the farmer said, taking my coins. He was no longer cautious, but sunny and welcoming.
From then on, the vendors were much less guarded. They greeted Vespera and me as we came around, and I had to admit that Lady Silenus was an absolute master at making others feel comfortable.
I found myself intrigued by the lives and stories of the people, and we spent hours—and far too much money—with them. One woman selling eggs had a chicken pecking around her tent that she swore once laid a golden egg that she sold to buy her patch of farmland farther south. Another man and his son sold beautiful handmade jewelry made of dried flowers pressed between pieces of glass. Each one was engraved on the back withthe initials of the man’s wife, who had passed away three years previously.
With every smile, every tale, my heart opened to this kingdom. And I could see their wariness leaving them as well. Whatever misconceptions they had about the Veridian Empire didn’t seem to matter as much when one could see that we were all justpeople.
We approached a booth with a mother and two little girls, who both stood at opposite ends of the table. A huge carton of berries sat between them: strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and several I didn’t recognize. The girl on the right held the biggest strawberry I’d ever seen in my life—it was half the size of her head, at least.
I laughed and said, “My, I’m surprised you can lift that!”
Their mother smiled and wiped her hands on her apron. “It’s her prized possession. She hasn’t let go of it since we picked it. Won’t stop calling it ‘His Majesty.’”
“Because its spots look just like a big letter ‘G!’” the girl called out, shoving the berry in my face. “For King Grimaldi!”
The spots didn’t take any particular shape that I could make out, but I smiled along with her. “I’m sure His Majesty would be thrilled to see that.”
“I wanted to show him today,” she pouted. “He’s never come here before.”
Taken aback, I blinked and looked over at Vespera, whose lips fell into a thin line. I faced the little girl again. “Well, I’ll tell him all about it. He’ll be honored.”
He hadn’t been here before? Did Galen never visit his territories? I didn’t see how one could hope to rule well if they didn’t take the time to get to know their own people. That was one of the first things I’d done when I became interim empress—traveled across all six provinces, even the ones who hated me. I would never claim to know everything about being a good leader, but having some sort of relationship with those who followed you was high on my list.
Vespera must have seen the irritation on my face as we turnedaway from the booth, for she rushed out, “His Majesty is a very busy man. He must not?—”
She was cut off by the sight of a man hurtling toward the potato booth, sweat rolling from his stricken face. He exchanged a few words with the other farmer, and they both began frantically packing up their produce.
Vespera and I made our way to them. “What’s going on, Aiman?” she asked.
