The Queen

Chapter 6

As we walk through the halls, I notice that people are beginning to wake up. Some of the staff are already working, preparing things for the day. They all bow and some even say "Good morning, Queen." I respond with a firm nod as I walk with my "Queen strut", as I call it.

Straight back, shoulders back, chin high, and a fierce look.

We quickly get to the big meeting room, which has a large glass table and a larger chair at the end of it. I see that every Royal Council member is present, immediately standing up as they see us arriving. They bow down as I walk down to my seat, Levi following me to sit next to me.

"You may sit," I say once I am seated, and they do as I say.

The Royal Council is composed of 11 members, including Louis. Some of them are the representatives of a department; for example, Communications, Crime and Legal System, etcétera. But at the end of the day, I am the one revising every single one of the departments so that things flow easily.

A man clears his throat, catching my attention. The room is dead silent as he stands in front of the large plasma, fidgeting with his pointer as if he were nervous or even worried about the topic. Mr. Banks was a family man, he adored his daughter and wife and worked very hard as the head of Security Control.

I try to light up the room and say, "Good Morning Mr. Banks, how's your family doing?" catching everyone, even Levi, by surprise.

I don't want people to see me as the depressed or traumatized Queen anymore, even though I am but I am really trying my best here.

"G-Good morning to you too, Your Majesty," he quickly said while bowing. "My family is doing great; my wife's cafe is doing well and my daughter is an excellent student, thanks to your scholarships, Your Majesty." he proudly said.

"I'm glad, but don't thank me, Mr. Banks, your daughter has a brilliant mind."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

I respond with a slight smile and announce "We may commence."

Taking a deep breath, he began, "Recently, the guards have been finding numerous dead animals around the border. At first we thought it was due to natural reasons, so we did not report the situation but lately," he passed the slide, "they have a burned mark we do not recognize."

The animal looks severely hurt and abused and clearly dead. But what caught my attention was the design of the mark. It has a skull with a snake creeping up from the left eye. I had no idea from where this could be but one thing I know is that was really disturbing.

"We took one of the dead animals to the lab for investigation purposes and found out that it was injected with a rare substance. It appeared to be a mixture of silver, wolfsbane, and an element we couldn't decipher."

"Can I have a look at the substance composition?" asked Louis with a frown on his face

"Of course," said Mr. Banks and gave it to him. He continued talking but my attention was on Louis. He looked like he knew something but decided not to say it.

Looking back at the presentation, I saw multiple pictures of the animals. Some had the burned marks on their hips, others on the neck, but one that caught my attention was a deer who had where their heart would be.

"The majority of these animals are found on the side of the border next to the separation land between our Kingdom and the Ravaryn Kingdom, which is not that big of a space." Mr. Banks explains.

"We wanted to request permission from Your Majesty to contact the neighboring Kingdom to see if they know any information of this current situation," says Ms. Yang from the upper part of the table.

"No need for that. Since the alliance celebration is going to take place in a couple of days, we can request a longer stay and present the situation to the King himself," I state, my voice coming clear so that everyone understands.

"In the meantime, increase the security of that area and also the rotation of the guards so that they have the energy needed to be alert at all times," I say, immediately seeing Mr. Banks scribbling something on his paper.

"Will do, Your Majesty," he says

We continue discussing other topics, some regarding the dead animals and the alliance. I look at the clock when the meeting is coming to an end and see the handles signaling 8:45 AM.

"Anything else?" I ask,

"No, Your Majesty," says Mr. Banks. 

"Perfect, you're all dismissed," I finally announced.

Once they all exit the room, I turn to a very quiet and tense Levi.

I smacked the back of his head, making him hiss and say, "Knew it."

"If you knew, why didn't you tell me?!" I say back, exasperated. "And don't tell me 'Because I wanted to protect you', protect me from what? From not sleeping?" I added, mocking his voice.

Levi just looked at me like a grounded puppy, making me groan. "Oh stop that!" I say to him, standing up and walking towards the big window that is behind me.

"God, dame paciencia que no la tengo," I say under my breath. (Give me patience, that I don't have it.)

"Look, I'm sorry, okay? I know you are the Queen and should know everything, but Alex, see yourself through my eyes. You overwork yourself until the last drop of energy and that's not healthy for you." he is now standing beside me, looking at me. He reaches for something in his pocket but I ignore him.

Through the window, I could see the gardeners tending the flowers and some cleaning staff arranging the patio tables.

"Here," Levi motions his hand to be in front of my eyes.

"Seriously, do you still think I'm five?" Still taking the small chocolate from his hands. "Nope, but it always works, see?" he smiled while opening his own chocolate.

"You know you're annoying." turning back to gather my things.

"Yeah sure, but you still love me," he said, gathering his own stuff.

We exit the room and walk-in silence towards our offices since they are close to each other.

Once I get to my office door, Levi says that he is coming back to work with me, something he usually does. My stomach rumbles for food but I ignore it, walking towards my mini-fridge and serving myself a glass of water.

Once I'm seated in my chair, a sigh comes out of me. Today is going to be a long day.

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- love, lulu.