Little Princess

Discussion

*Nymeria's P.O.V*

I looked at Castien for reassurance as he squeezed my hand. He stepped closer, ignoring the looks from the two head guards around us. "You got this princess," he said softly as he kissed the top of my forehead before stepping back. I smiled softly as I turned to the two guards and nodded my head slightly. Xentha and Sylvar stepped away from us and pulled the doors open, the doors creaking slightly.

I stepped into the room carefully, taking a few careful steps as I looked around discreetly. I dropped into a deep curtsy as I kept my head bowed, my heart hammering in my chest. I heard soft murmuring as I stayed in the curtsy for a moment longer than I probably should have and straightened up.

"You may look up, we won't cast you out of the room for looking at us," a man's voice said, sounding slightly amused. I lifted my head up slightly as I looked around, studying the people in the room with slight interest. I had only seen drawings before and the people were much more stunning than their sketches had suggested. "See, I told you that you wouldn't be cast out for looking at us," a man who I assumed was King Thorne of the merpeople said. He had the same features as the sketch of King Thorne did anyways.

"Tell me child, what is your name?" a woman who I recognized as Queen Ordelia asked. Normally I would be offended by anyone who called me child but I assumed she would call anyone child since she was much older than most people alive.

"It's Nymeria," I said after a moment, my cheeks flushed when I realized I had been too busy staring to answer her question.

"How old are you Nymeria?" King Thorne asked. Why were they asking these questions? Shouldn't we be discussing the trade agreements?

"I'm 20, I just turned 20 two months ago," I said quietly as I clutched my notes tighter to my chest.

"A bit young to be ruling a kingdom? Shouldn't your mother be ruling?" the King of witches asked, Zolhar was his name if I remembered correctly. I hated talking about my mother but it was a question I was used to getting at this point.

"My grandmother named me as her successor and my mother was disowned from the line for the throne shortly before my grandmother passed," I said honestly.

"Normally we get a letter when someone succeeds the throne," Elvira, Zolhar's wife and queen of witches, stated. Her tone held a slight accusation in it although I wasn't sure what she was accusing me of.

"I wasn't aware that I was going to be succeeding the throne until well after she passed and was left woefully unprepared for taking the throne. If I knew I was supposed to then I would have sent a letter as soon as I took the throne," I said simply, barely keeping my attitude from seeping into my voice.

"I thought we were here to discuss the possibility of trade agreements, not of Princess Nymeria's claim to the throne," Queen Belladonna of the werewolves stated.

"I agree with Queen Belladonna, we should stay on topic," Queen Riniya of the Elves agreed. I let out a breath of relief at the fact that we were moving onto a slightly more comfortable topic.

"Fine, why should we trade with you after your ancestors broke their alliances and shut off the trades in the first place?" King Ariston, the werewolf king, asked. Okay so maybe the questions wouldn't be as comfortable as I thought they would have been.

"My ancestors were foolish and prideful. Once they shut off the alliances and trade agreements, the kingdom went into decline however they were too prideful to admit that. I am less prideful and willing to admit that my kingdom is hurting by their foolish actions. I only wish to restore the kingdom to what it once was before my ancestors were foolish and actually got along with those outside the kingdom walls," I stated simply. My words were short and to the point, something I hoped they would appreciate.

"You speak of how the trades will make your kingdom prosper, how will they help ours?" King Lazarus of the vampires spoke. I noticed that the seemed to alternate speaking, probably having agreed on them each asking a question before someone else jumped into the conversation again based on the look of King Ariston's face.

"More resources and money circulating through your economies," I said, it was obvious to me and I hoped it would be obvious to them as well.

"I recall your kingdom has quite a few mines in them, do you still use them?" Queen Morticia, the queen of vampires and Lazarus's husband, questioned.

"They haven't been used in hundreds of years, not since the trade agreements ended. They've been searched as of late and I plan on putting them back into operation once the support beams have been reinforced," I said honestly. A loose strand of my braid came loose and brushed against my face as I looked down at my notes.

"Do you have any pictures of the mines?" King Folmar of the elves asked. I tilted my head slightly as I stared at him, a curious look on my face.

"What are pictures?" I questioned, a feeling of shame washing over me at their incredulous looks.

"You haven't heard of pictures?" Queen Belladonna asked as she stared at me. I shrunk under her gaze as I shook my head. "Darling girl, have you heard of cameras?" she questioned. I shook my head in the negative as I held my notes close to my chest.

"Wasn't mentioned in any of the books I read," I murmured as the loose strand of hair fell in front of my face from the movement.

"How old are the books you've read?" King Thorne asked. I bit my bottom lip as I looked down at the notes as if they were the most interesting thing in the world.

"They were written over 500 years ago. After that any information was banned from entering or leaving the kingdom," I said honestly. That sent them into a shocked silence as they shared a look of sadness.

"Thank you for telling us this, a camera is something that can take an instant sketch with color of the things in front of it within a certain distance. That sketch is called a picture," King Folmar said, which made me nod my head in understanding. I didn't really grasp what he meant but I wasn't going to tell him that.

"We have much to discuss, please give me your notes and we'll look over them," Queen Morticia said as she held her hand out. I carefully approached her throne and handed her the notes, her fingers brushing over mine slightly. I retreated quickly, my heart hammering in my chest. Were the books so outdated that I was ignorant to them? I hoped not, I really didn't want them to think of me that way.