Chapter 2

2

“ A

re you serious, Mother ?!” I scream as I throw my notebooks across the room. Loose papers fly out as the notebooks thump onto the floor.

Four years. Four years of studying and learning as much as possible about the kingdoms and their people; all of it for nothing. The advisors have given up, and so has my mother. My mother, the Queen of Arcelia , has decided to bend to the wishes of the King of Wylan .

“ Eira ! Settle yourself,” my mother commands.

“ Settle myself?” I yell back at her. “ Settle myself! You decided to hand our kingdom over to the biggest tyrant known to man, and you want me to settle?!”

Her eyes narrow on me as she says with conviction, “ I am doing what is necessary!”

I scoff. “ You are doing what is easy, not what is right. You have chosen not to fight for our kingdom and her people to protect them from that man.”

She turns away, huffing out a sigh. “ You are too young to understand the matters of adults.”

“ It is not hard to understand that you are handing over our kingdom to the man who invaded Cybele because we did not aid them! He has Islwyn in a choke hold, and still, you do nothing.” I throw another notebook across the room. The thump of it hitting the wall echoes around the room. “ Suddenly , you agree with the advisors and have come to blame my age. You refuse to take my advice seriously. Father would have taken me seriously.”

Her eyes blaze, and her tone changes. As if dealing with a petulant child, she replies, “ Your father is not here!”

I point a finger at her as I scream, “ Exactly !”

Her eyes widen. “ Eira ?”

My eyes burn as my anger begins to overflow. “ Father is not here but you are. You are here! You are supposed to protect this kingdom, but you have done nothing. You have allowed the advisors to cloud your thoughts! You allow them to rule the kingdom instead of you. Father would be ashamed of you for giving up on our kingdom and its people.”

She sighs heavily in exhaustion. “ I am trying, Little Snowflake .”

I suck in a breath as the tears begin to fall. “ Do not call me that.”

She winces at the venom in my voice. “ I am trying to rule this kingdom the best I can. I can only do so much.”

I turn away, shaking my head. “ You caved to the power of Wylan just like everyone else.”

She sighs before I hear her retreating footsteps. Her heels click across the hardwood floor with each step. “ I hope one day you will understand. The wedding will be held tomorrow evening. He will be here only for the wedding before returning to Wylan . He has allowed us to keep the castle.”

I let out a bitter laugh. “ How gracious of him.” I listen for the click of the door closing before I look back. She doesn’t understand, and how could she? The loss of Dad was as hard on her as it was on me, but that doesn’t mean she should allow those men to tell her what to do.

They hate that she is in charge instead of a man, and they use every opportunity to throw it in her face. My anger wasn’t directed toward her; it was toward them. The men who constantly remind her that she could never lead this kingdom as well as a man could. They finally convinced her to cave and marry the very man we have been fighting against to save our kingdom.

I snort out a laugh as I look around the room, now covered in notebooks, journals, and loose papers. My mother shouldn’t bow to those men. She’s the damn queen. They should be listening to my mother and me, not the other way around.

Huffing out a sigh, I kneel down to pick up each notebook with care. All this work and research for nothing. Years of drawing up plans to fight the King of Wylan , all wasted.

There’s a knock at the door before it opens. I look up to find Charlotte , her eyes wide when she sees me on the floor picking up my things. “ Princess .” She rushes over to help me with the rest. “ I see it did not go well.”

I let out a humorless laugh. “ I feel as if most of my conversations with my mother do not go well, Charlotte .”

She hums as she says, “ She shoulders many burdens.”

Gripping the notebooks tightly, I murmur, “ She would not have to shoulder so many alone if she would allow me to help.”

Charlotte gives me a sad smile. “ She wishes to protect you. She loves you very much.” Her voice quiets when she says, “ Those men are quite distasteful.”

I laugh. “ She should have removed them the moment Father died. They have done nothing to help. Only stating again and again that she cannot rule as well as a king could.”

She holds out a stack of my papers. “ Do you think the King of Wylan will keep his promise?”

I arch a brow in question. “ To allow us to keep our castle?”

She nods. “ And allow us to live?”

Huffing out a sigh, I shrug. “ I’m not sure. From what I have learned over the years, he does not keep many people around who could challenge his power.”

Her eyes widen. “ Do you think he will kill us?”

I set the notebooks aside and grip her hands in mine. My voice is determined as I reply, “ I will protect you all as best I can.”

She gives me a soft smile. “ I believe that is something we should be saying to you, Princess .”

I shake my head. “ It is my duty as princess to protect all my subjects. No matter their station.”

Her grip on my hands tightens. “ Then we shall protect each other.” She gives my hands another squeeze before releasing them. “ Well , I suppose we should get this mess cleaned up.”

I take another look around the room and groan. “ I did not realize how many I had thrown. So many loose papers to pick up as well.”

She chuckles as she stands and holds a hand out for me. “ It will be quite the distraction until morning comes. You will have to sort what papers go to which notebook.”

I roll my eyes but smile as I take her hand. “ Then it will be a welcome distraction. That man is the last person I wish to think about this eve.”

Pulling me to my feet, she mirrors my smile. “ Then I shall supervise. That way it will take longer.”

I laugh, shaking my head, as I move around the room, picking them all up. “ You can pick out my dress for the wedding, if you wish.”

She claps her hands in delight, then rushes off to my closet. “ I will make sure you do not upstage the queen.”

Chuckling , I continue the long task of gathering my things. Even if my mother marries that man, it does not mean I have to stop fighting. I will do everything I can to ensure my kingdom does not fall like all the rest.