The Queen and The Guard

An Unexpected Guest

After I had excused myself and went to my room, I sit down on my beautiful bed.

"What a day...", I mumble to myself. It does not happen every day that we hold a duel in the throne room. I kick off my shoes (heels, can you imagine walking on them all day every day?) and lay down. Is it time to close my eyes for a little bit? Yep it is.

I close my eyes slowly and let out a deep breath. I think I will just take a na-

"Majesty?" My peaceful state gets interrupted by a knock on the door. Swiftly I get up and straighten my dress.

"Come in.", I say on a calm tone, trying to hide my disappointment. The door opens and my head-maid appears in front of me. "Rizza, what was so urgent that you had to come in for?", I ask her sweetly. Actually, it is impossible to be mad at her. Rizza is the best maid you can ever wish for, she can do anything with a huge smile on her face.

"My Queen, I have heard that Princess Vanessa is not our only visitor today. Her brother Prince Trey and her sister Queen Katherine will join us in the castle today." I swallow. A Prince? I guess I know what this means...

"They want to marry me off to that guy?", I look at her hoping she will deny this fact. I want to choose my own husband, I am a Queen!

"Your advisors think it is a good idea. Because Katherine is the Queen of the vampire realm, a realm which does not have the best connections with ours, a marriage between you and her brother would soothe things and connect the two realms. You should really consider it, Majesty."

Consider marrying a vampire Prince? No thank you. But I guess I do not really have a choice. I should meet him before I judge him at least. "Fine then, organize a ball. I will dance with him and give him a fair chance. However, if he turns out to be unworthy he will not be the next King of Helaria. Oh and by the way, you do not need to call me 'Majesty' or 'Queen' Rizza, you know that you can just say Irene."

She smiles at me and nods. "Sorry, I forgot about that my Qu-, Irene." I smile back at her and give her a wink.

"Anyways, we need to get to the important stuff Rizza, what dress should I wear?", I ask her with true curiosity.

"I know exactly which one..."

I admire myself in the mirror, I do not really like the way I look, but in this dress I look great! It is a beautiful brown gown, the bottom designed so it looks like it is covered with leaves. I twirl and giggle a bit to myself. "Okay Irene, you are just going down to the ball and meet the Prince. Just give him a chance okay?" I nod to myself in the mirror. I can do this!

Slowly I walk down the stairs in the ballroom, all eyes are focused on me. I can see a few jaws drop, which makes me blush. I stop walking just before I reach the end of the stairs and clear my throat.

"Hello everyone! Welcome to this special hosted ball, we are all here together in honor of our friends from Valklonya; Queen Katherine, Princess Vanessa and Prince Trey. Tonight will be night to never forget, I hope you will all enjoy your time.", I smile at all the people in the room and give them a little nod. Then I continue my way down the stairs. Everyone cheers and continue with what they're doing. My eyes fall on my guard, Tim. He is standing at the end of the stairs, ready to escort me to my throne. He lends me his arm and I take it.

"You look lovely this evening, Majesty." His comment makes me blush again, I quickly try to hide it by putting my free hand in front of my cheek.

"Thank you, Sir. You don't look that bad yourself either." I give him a wink and we both start to laugh. "Have you met the Prince yet?", I ask him.

"I have actually. He is... Well... You will see." I give him a death stare.

"That is not helping Tim!" He smiles, he is obviously enjoying teasing me. Dammit! He always does this to me...