The head cook had laid out the sampling dishes for her. He placed the last one. "For you, Your Royal Highness." He flashed her a smile, revealing his fangs.

Bianca looked at the ten dishes that were served in front of her. Half of them were non-vegetarian and the other half was vegetarian. Before she sampled the first one, Tymir remarked, "We usually have twenty dishes for the festival. This time if we have only ten, it would show that the palace has become poor." He sighed. "But then what can I do? If they are the orders from Your Royal Highness, there's not much we can do."

​​

Bianca was getting irritated by his snide remarks from the past two days. "Well we will be circulating these dishes with other combinations. So if you have salmon with honey-roasted potatoes today, we will offer salmon in spicy pepper sauce the next day. As far as I see, there shouldn't be any harm."

"When I had last organized it, not a dish was repeated, let alone the ingredients."

Bianca clenched her jaws and didn't say anything. She ignored his comment and went on to sample the dishes. At the end of it, she said with a grin, "These are superb. You must go ahead with all of them. Remember to mix and match the grains for bread."

Cook's eyes became wide with excitement. "Thank you so much for your approval, Your Highness! Is there anything else you would like to change?"

"No, there's nothing that I want to change. I have enjoyed all your dishes and have full faith in you and am extremely sure that guests would love all of them." Satisfied that she had sampled and happy to not have to listen to Tymir's horrible remarks, Bianca walked out of the kitchen.

The head cook preened in the praise. She gave Tymir a deadpan look and then started giving orders to the small army of cooks under her.

Tymir scowled at her and stomped out of the kitchen. "This is a big mistake!" he mumbled.

The next day an even more shocking thing happened. Tymir was pacing the main throne hall since the time of the announcement. Shock was an understatement. He was appalled by the new queen. It was the first time this kind of an announcement was made in Aztec. He had to meet the king and get it revoked.

As soon as Brantley arrived in the main hall and sat on his throne, he approached him with concern etched on his face. "Your Highness!"

Brantley raised his eyebrow as he addressed him.

Impatient as he was, he blurted, "You must stop this contest. It is ridiculous. This is not the human realm. We don't do these kinds of things in a kingdom. The queen is just a small girl who still doesn't know what to do. It will take her at least a year to understand how the palace works. It is only four days from the festivities and this new contest is going to present us, present you, in a poor light."

Brantley narrowed his eyes and gripped the armrest of the throne, as fury rose in his eyes. Tymir had been his head housekeeper from the times of his father and he had an important position. Brantley depended on him to decide some part of the taxes. Even though the man held importance, it didn't mean he could say anything to his wife. "This discussion has no value," he growled. "And you may leave!"

Tymir shuddered. He knew that if he stayed even for a second more, the king might just kill him. Although he left in a huff, he was furious on the inside. The queen needed to be taught a good lesson.

Bianca was standing on the door when Tymir left. She watched him glare at her when he passed her. She knew that he hated her modern ways, but this was the need of time. She had suggested Brantley to roll out a contest for the people to participate in a cooking competition. They would bring dishes made from home, which she would sample along with Darius and Brantley and pick up the winners. Although Brantley had gone right ahead and announced the competition in the kingdom, she wasn't sure how would people take it?

She took in a deep breath and walked up to Brantley. "It's time."

The doors and windows of the throne hall closed around them and they were surrounded by the dim torchlights of the throne room.

He nodded with a smile and stretched his hand out to her. She held it, nervousness taking over her again. Brantley sat on the redwood throne and she sat in his lap. "Ready?" he whispered.

She bit her bottom lip and said, "Yes!"

He placed his hands in the groove of the armrest and she placed hers over his. In a matter of seconds the roots grew all around them and caged them tightly. Bianca heard his balmy voice, "I am right here for you, Bia." Soon she felt as if air whooshed out of her lungs and she was pulled into blackness. She felt like screaming, feeling so anxious that she felt she would die. All at once a green light shimmered in front of her. As she sunk deep into the ground, into the core of the floor of the kingdom's soil, she felt the roots grabbing her, seizing her, trying to get under her skin.

"Don't let them take over you Bia. You have to command them. You are their queen."

Her jaws clenched at the soul crushing grip of the roots, but hearing his words, seeing the green light bouncing and traveling around her, she controlled herself. When she opened her eyes again, she found herself surrounded in a green cage somewhere very deep inside the earth. Tentacles grew out of the cage. Slowly they reached the top of earth and she could feel vegetation sprouting.

Take from me.

Take as much as you can.

She gave herself to the earth of Aztec. She surrendered and closed her eyes and the green light covered her from all the sides.

For what seemed like eternity, when she woke up, she found herself in her bedchamber with Brantley sitting on a chair just beside her, watching her without blinking his eyes. It was raining heavily on the outside. She could hear water gushing strongly beneath the floor of her chamber.

"Bia!" he rasped and reached her side immediately. He knelt on the floor beside her. "How are you my love?" he asked. There was so much worry in his voice that she thought he was on the verge of crying.

She gave him a faint smile and replied weakly, "I would like to think I am fine."

He chuckled through his worry and shook his head. "Next time you better control yourself. You just can't give in completely to the throne, okay?"

"Hmm… I will."

That day Brantley didn't leave her side even for a minute. It took two days for her to fully recover, and in those two days, she managed the preparation of the festivities from her room. Tymir was nowhere to be seen and when she asked about him, she was told that he had fallen sick. She didn't bother much about him because she knew that the man was only trying to make her job difficult, and she was in no mood to tattletale to Brantley.