Little Princess

Mentor

Characters in this Chapter-

Witch Rulers- Zohar and Elvira
Merpeople Queen- Ordelia
Elven Rulers- Riniya and Folmar

*Nymeria's P.O.V*

I made sure to wash my hands thoroughly, taking special care to scrub under my nails. I needed to clip my nails soon, they were getting too long. I liked having long nails but Castien always told me to cut them because I accidentally scratched people with them far too often. I wished I could keep them long but I also felt bad when I accidentally scratched someone.

I also spent the time contemplating what had happened for the last day and a half. I was so confused on why I had felt so little and why I had looked to the Kings and Queens as people that I could trust with that. They made me feel safe and very little, so I decided I would do more investigation into why I felt little later.

I took down my hair and redid it in a loose braid. I let my loose flyway hairs frame my face. I left the bathroom and headed down to the dining room. I pouted slightly when I realized that the Kings and Queens were already seated. It wasn't like I was late, they were just always early.

I sat down in my seat, mulling over my thoughts. I was snapped out of my thoughts when a hand gently touched my arm. I looked up to see Queen Ordelia looking at me with some concern in her eyes.

"Are you alright darling? You've been out of it for the past fifteen minutes," she said softly. I nodded my head mutely as I looked down at the soup that had been placed in front of me while I was lost in my thoughts.

"I was just lost in my thoughts," I answered simply. Queen Ordelia nodded in understanding and removed her hand from my arm. I picked up my spoon, dipping it into my soup. I wasn't really all that hungry if I was being honest.

"Nymeria," Queen Riniya's gentle voice caught my attention and I looked towards her curiously. "We would like to discuss something with you," she said.

"The last time someone said that I was in trouble," I said simply as I sighed softly. I rested my elbows on the table, placing one hand over another as I rested my chin on them.

"I promise you that you're not in trouble," Queen Riniya said as she smiled softly. Her smile was very pretty I noticed as I studied her face.

"We want to talk to you about a mentorship contract," King Folmar cut in smoothly. My eyes flicked over to look at him curiously. "Do you know what that is?" he questioned.

"I've heard of one," I said slowly as I tried to remember what I had read. "It was a long time ago though," I shrugged my shoulders slightly.

"It's not surprising, one would not have been done in the years after your kingdom left the alliance," King Zohar answered. I glanced at him, my attention flickering slightly towards Queen Elvira. She had a small frown on her lips and I noticed that she was staring at my elbows that were resting on the table.

"Since you do not know what one is, I will explain it to you," Queen Riniya said, taking my full attention. "A mentorship contract was traditionally used for when young rulers came into the throne either before they were ready or if they were not the one trained for the throne. For example them being the second born child. It was typically used between allied kingdoms to ensure that the person that took the throne knew how to properly run their kingdom," she said simply. "Does that make sense?" She questioned.

"Yes, it does," I nodded my head. It sounded familiar so I assumed that I had read something like that. However, as she said, it was typically used between allied kingdoms and our kingdoms weren't allied so I wasn't sure why she had brought it up.

"In certain circumstances, a mentorship contract can be used between kingdoms that aren't allied. Your circumstances for taking the throne aren't the typical ones so what Riniya was trying, and miserably failing at hinting, was that we would like for you to take one of us as a mentor," Queen Elvira cut in smoothly.

"What would it all entail?" I questioned as I bit my bottom lip slightly. I didn't remember much about mentorship contracts but I did know that it was an honor to be offered a mentor and I did need one. All that I knew about ruling was what I had learned from the few times I had watched my grandmother and from what I had taught myself.

"Far too much to go into detail about but some of things would be a deep dive into politics, the different kingdoms and their customs, all the types of paperwork, and of course manners," Queen Elvira said, glancing from my face to my elbows. I flushed and pulled my elbows off the table, refusing to look her in the eyes.

"So would that be something that would interest you?" King Zohar asked.

"It does interest me but I would have to look it over first and I want to know who would be my mentor," I said simply as I ate some of my soup.

"Smart girl," King Zohar muttered and I blushed slightly from the praise.

"My husband and I would be your mentors seeing as we have been ruling the longest," Queen Elvira said.

"I would argue that Folmar and I have been ruling just as long," Queen Riniya muttered.

"We've still been ruling longer than you," King Zohar stated.

"By a day," Queen Riniya objected with a huff. King Folmar rubbed her back slightly as she leaned against him. She pressed a chaste kiss to his lips before pulling away.

I pulled my attention away from them when one of the guards pushed open the dining room door. I turned my attention to guard, one of my brother's old friends named Skyler.

He walked to me, leaning down to whisper in my ear. I tensed slightly as I knew he wouldn't bother to whisper most of the time unless it was really important.

"Your mother has stopped by for a visit," he whispered and I bit my bottom lip before nodding my head. He left the room just as quickly as he entered it.

"Something has just come up, can we talk about the contract in depth later?" I questioned.

"Of course," Queen Elvira said as she nodded her head. I hurriedly pushed myself back from the table and left the room, a frown on my lips as I tried to prepare for what was coming.