Castles That Crumble

twelve

"Just those two right there." I said, pointing to my luggage.

Once my luggage was all packed up in the carriage I said goodbye to my father and stepped in the carriage.

I'm going to Scotland for a week to try and find my mothers assassin. We heard rumors that the assassin fled to Scotland.

"Ready?" Nicolas asks. "It's a long carriage ride." He says, getting in the carriage. "I know." I say, stepping in the carriage.

I take the seat across from him. Nicolas tells the driver we're ready to go and we start our long journey.

"Are you ready to meet my parents?" Nicolas asks. "No, I'm terrified. What if they don't like me?"

Nicolas chuckles. "They'll love you. And besides, if they don't, I have a sister who will."

I smile at the thought. I was always good with getting along with my siblings, so my future husband's sister will be easy.

I wrote in my journal for hours, and took naps a lot. "What do you write about?" Nicolas asks, looking down at my journal."

"Personal stuff." I say flatly. "Just trying to make conversation." He huffs. "Well stop, and let me worry in peace." I snap.

Nicolas huffs and rolls his eyes dramatically.

                                    ♡

We step out of the carriage and I take in everything. "Your castle is beautiful." Nicolas smiles. "When we are wed we will take as many vacations here as you want."

I suddenly remember that we are engaged. "Shall we?" He says, offering his arm. When I take it, we walk inside.

As we are walking to the throne room, I take in all the decorations and pretty colors. "Gorgeous." I whisper.

"I'll meet you in a while, I'm going to go say hello to my sister." Nicolas says quickly. I nod and start exploring. I've always loved exploring. It's one of my favorite things to do.

I find myself in the throne room. The king and queen are sitting on their thrones and the sound of nobles talking to eachother fills my ears.

I walk forward to the king and queen and curtesy. "Your majesties. Nicolas tells me you will help me find who killed Queen Elizabeth."

Queen Luise looks at me with a puzzled look. "We do not help commoners." The queen scoffed. "I'm sorry?" I ask, confused.

King Andrew quickly said, "My queen did not stutter."

I start to lose my temper but remember that this is my future husbands parents. "Pardon me, but Nicolas said-"

Queen Luise stopped me. "My son is wrong. Who are you anyway, little girl?"

I smirk. "I am Princess Mary, of England."

The King's face dropped. The Queen just stared. "Dear God, we've just offended the princess of England.

I look down, satisfied of who has the higher position here. When Nicolas comes into the room, I hold onto his arm. The nerves I had earlier are now gone.

"Nicolas we didn't mean any harm." The queen starts, but stops when she realizes Nicolas knows nothing about this.

"They called me a commoner and offended me, the princess of England." I repeat, mocking them.

Nicolas's posture changes and he steps towards his parents. "Offend my fiancé again, and I will have your head."

My face drops, he stood up for me? I couldn't believe what I was hearing. The king and queen seemed stunned. I didn't have any time to process it when Nicolas led me out of the throne room and away from the staring nobles and the whispering ladies.

"You just threatened the king and queen of Scotland." I stated. Nicolas nods. "I suppose I did. Ready to meet my sister?" He asks.