My Kingdom

Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Lady-In-Waiting Maddie's P.O.V.

"Maddie?" I hear a voice say. "Maddie, wake up."

I open my eyes to see Bridget peering down at me. "Wake up, you over slept."

I sit up and look outside. It's way past dawn. "Oh, sorry. I'm up." I rush to my bathroom and brush my hair. I leave it down and throw on a light purple dress with white heels. I top it off with my flower crown.

I walk back in my room to see Bridget sitting on my bed looking out the window. "Did you enjoy last night?" I ask Bridget.

"Yes, it was very fun." Bridget says looking over and smiling. "I enjoyed it, what about you?"

"I had a great time!" I exclaim. "But that's not important right now, we need to be getting ready for this war."

"Yes, we do." Bridget says. "How are we going to contribute to the war?"

"Can you fight?" I ask.

"Not extremely well..." Bridget laughs. "But I can, if I have to."

"Same with me." I say. "We can help Christine in the library and if need be we can fight."

"Sounds good." Bridget says getting off the bed.

We leave my room and start walking to the library.

"Are you nervous?" I ask Bridget.

"About the war?" She asks looking at me. I nod. "A little bit, but I have complete trust in our kingdom. They will protect us."

"Yes, they will." I say. Once we enter the library, we see Christine in her normal spot surrounded by books.

"Hey, Christine!" I say walking over to her.

"Hello Maddie. Hello Bridget." Christine says not looking up from her current book.

"Is there anything we can do to help you prepare?" Bridget asks.

"Actually there is." Christine says looking up and walking to the book shelf. "You two can look through these last two books on the Kingdom of Almost Here." She hands us the books. "Look for their fighting styles and warriors. Write down anything important."

"Okay," I say. "Anything that will help." I look over at the table she was sitting at. I just realize all the papers with notes scrabbled on it.

I look through my book labeled The Kingdom of Almost Here Volume 3. It's very thick. I open it and see records of people and events. I see pictures of people and then one of Taylor. In the background I can just make out Princess Emily. From what I can see it looks like she's looking at something. Something in the distance, and I can just make out the smallest smile on her face. Whatever she was looking at must have made her happy.

I smile to myself and keep looking through the book.

"Christine?" I hear Emily say in the distance. "Do you have the papers for the queen ready?"

"Yes," Christine gets a large pile of papers, and takes mine and Bridget's also. Then she hands them to Emily.

"Thank you, Christine." Emily says. "We really appreciate it."

"Any time Princess." Christine says. "Is the Queen ready for our meeting?"

"Yes, that was the other thing I was going to tell you." Emily says. "We are ready for the meeting."

"Okay." Christine says. "Bye Maddie, bye Bridget."

"Bye!" Bridget and I say in unison.

"Girls," Emily says before she leaves. "They are having a training session on how to sword fight. If you two want to go."

"Lets go!" Bridget says. "Thanks mom!" Bridget gets up and starts out the door.

I follow her and we make it to the front lawn. They are a lot of people training out here. We walk around the people looking for someone to help us.

"Princess?" I hear a voice from behind us say. Bridget and I both turn around to see Ryan, the head guard, looking at us. "Do you need help?" He asks Bridget.

"Yes, please." Bridget smiles. "See you later Maddie!" She pulls out her sword and they immediately start training.

I walk around still looking for anyone's help. All the guards are already training. I am about to walk away when someone stops me.

"Would you like some instruction, Lady-In-Waiting?" A very familiar and friendly voice says. I turn around to see Holden grinning at me.

"Yes," I reply. "That would be very much appreciated."

I pull my sword out and point it at him. "Let's begin!"

He grabs his sword and holds it to mine. He strikes first. I block it. He try's again and I block it, again. Then I try for his chest and he blocks it with ease.

We keep fighting and he gives me pointers. "So, what did you think of last night?" Holden asks striking at me again.

I block it. "It was very fun. The dancing was fun and food was great."

"Yes it was." He replies. "Thank you again for letting me escort you."

"Oh, you're very welcome!" I joke.

He laughs. "I'm just going to say it." He pauses. "Will you let me take you on a date?" He drops his sword. "I think that I might... I would like to get to know you better. I think that I might like you a lot."

I blush. "I would love to go on a date." I smile.

He smiles. "I'll meet you in the garden after dinner."

"I'm looking forward to it." I lift my sword again. "Ready to start again?" I ask.

"I'm always ready." He smirks.