Little Princess

Preparations

*Nymeria's P.O.V*

I pulled the curtain to the carriage door window to the side. Sunlight filtered into the carriage and I blinked at the brightness of it all. I had put off reading because I was exhausted and had fallen asleep while sitting up. I had only woken up when Castien made the carriage stop and offered me some food he had packed. I had accepted the sandwich and a couple sips of water from his canteen with quiet thanks.

We had decided to not stop at any town once we left the walls of the kingdom. We didn't know how much currency had changed within the other kingdoms. It had been 500 year since the last book that detailed things such as that had been written. After that book had been written, my five times great grandfather had ordered that no information leave or enter the kingdom walls. He was upset because the etiquette book that had been written by the same author called his actions into question and he hated that.

Truthfully, my family had been foolish to cut off the alliance when they had. Someone's feelings had gotten hurt on my ancestor's end so they had ended a couple thousand years worth of alliances to sulk over it. They had done it nearly a thousand years ago and now our kingdom was suffering for it. The kingdom had always been suffering to be honest but the last couple of droughts had nearly killed us completely. I had tried every solution possible until I had to write to the Royal Alliance.

I had written to them at the beginning of my term to rule, when I was just 18 years old. I had written to them and asked for advice, crossing a boundary I didn't know of at the time by doing so. They had never replied so I had accepted the fact that they didn't wish to speak and move on. However after the last drought I had resolved to do whatever it took to re-establish the old trade agreements. Food was plentiful enough right now and we had wells for water but within a couple months food would be scarce and the wells would run dry.

I had written ten letters, two for each kingdom, one per ruler to be exact. Each letter was different but they all boiled down to one thing. They stated that I wished to re-establish the old trade routes and one day in the future, I would like to form an alliance with all of them. I received a letter about a week later, one from all of them. I had nearly wept when the letter stated that they wished to speak with me further about the trade agreements. It wasn't a yes but I had been worried that they would outright say no.

I looked down at the book in my lap, knowing that it was probably still right on one thing. The book had stated that when it came to alliances, which I was still hoping to get one day in the future, the queens had to like you. If I could get the queens to like me enough that they considered me worthy of a future alliance then I had a definite chance of getting the trade agreement settled.

I let out a soft sigh as the carriage came to a halt. The carriage door opened after a couple of minutes and Castein offered me a soft smile as he held his hand out. I put the book back in the book bag before accepting his hand, letting him pull me out of the carriage. My bones protested from the sudden movement. I hated long carriage rides for the most part since I had to sit still for so long.

"Seems we have a welcome committee princess," Castien murmured in my ear as his gaze flickered to the group of three standing at the castle entrance. I nodded my head as he grabbed my arm, linking his through it as he guided me to the entrance.

"Hello," the first man in the group greeted as he bowed. He wore an outfit similar to a butler's so I assumed that was what he was. The other man and woman didn't offer any sort of greeting nor did they bow or curtsy. That told me that they were the head guards of a royal family since they were the only ones who didn't have to do such things.

I figured it was a great chance to practice my curtsy so I curtsied to them even though etiquette dictated I didn't have to. I saw the surprise in their eyes when I straightened back up but it quickly disappeared.

"I am Sylvar and this is Xentha, we are the head guards of two of the royal families," Sylvar said as if that wasn't fairly obvious to me.

"Werewolf and Elven families respectively," Xentha informed me, a soft smile on her lips. "We have been tasked with making sure that you do not bring any weapons near the royal families so we'll have to search both of you," she stated. I shared a look with Castien who gave me a reassuring smile.

"Okay," I said after a moment as they led us inside. They separated us, Xentha accompanying me and Sylvar going with Castien, into two seperate rooms. I allowed Xentha to search me with no complaint although I hated it so much. I hated being touched by strangers, I absolutely despised it and Xentha seemed to sense that. She was quick but thorough and offered an apology at the end.

"I am sorry, it's protocol," she said. I nodded as I smiled slightly, my smile watery and it was clear I was on edge.

"It's okay, can I see my head guard now?" I questioned, letting out a sigh of relief when the door opened shortly after and Castien joined me. He squeezed my hand reassuringly as Xentha gave us a moment before clearing her throat.

"Now we'll move to the throne room if you are ready," she said to which I nodded. "Your guard may accompany you to the doors but once you enter the throne room, it would be best to leave him outside the doors," Xentha said.

"Because it shows that I don't trust them to be honorable if I bring him in the room with me, I know," I stated as I nodded my head. Castien squeezed my hand as he handed me the notes that I had asked him to carry the other day. I was scared I would lose them and then be left with no preparations. I could only hope that I had prepared enough I thought as I followed Xentha with Castien standing slightly behind me.