The New Queen

Chapter One ~ Hi I'm Hedwig

Once upon a time there was a beautiful princess with the name Hedwig. Her hair was dark blonde and her eyes was blue like the ocean on a sunny day. Everyone in her country adored her with all their hearts. Both her beauty and intelligence seemed to make all the people of the continent admire her. She was living a princess' dream, or easier said; everyone's dream. She lived with her mother and father who were both still healthy and breathing. They were the wisest people Hedwig had ever met. They seemed be over a hundred years old judging by all their knowledge. They were the happiest family in the entire universe.

Just kidding. Hi I'm Hedwig, born to the king of Norway and his lover seventeen years ago. Yes, his lover not the queen. He had an affair with one of the maids working in the castle. Since my mother didn't have the strength to abort me, my father decided to send me away to Scotland making sure that no one knew about my identity. My foster family consisting of just an old lady named Mary Louise told me about this when I was only eight years old. And I have kept quiet about my true identity all my life until now.

The queen of Norway stabbed the king and their only son to death when she found out about the affair the king had a few years ago. She had been admitted to a mental hospital because she had gone insane. The Norwegian people was hoping that she would become better so she could continue to rule the country, but it never happened. After a few months in the hospital she fell ill and died. Now the country was without their Royal family with no clue what to do.

Many started panicking while others tried to find any distant family members of the king and queen that were still alive. This was the way a journalist named Fridtjof Jensen found out about my existence against all odds. He quickly wrote an article about these scandalous, but incredible news and sent it in to a popular newspaper. Everyone around the world was astonished about what they had learned. Fridtjof had even gone as far as interviewing my birthmother. There was even an article about it in the newspaper Mary Louise usually reads.

"I was heartbroken when the Frederik decided to send our daughter away. I even begged him to let me raise her, but he insisted on sending her away. I couldn't change his mind." Miss Pedersen (53) said trying to hold back her tears. "All I know about my little girl is that she's seventeen and living in Scotland. I have no idea about the exact location." The pain of thinking about her daughter was too high and she cancelled the rest of the interview.

I shook my head in disbelief when I first read it. It seemed like the whole country was frantically searching for me to make me their queen. "You should go." Said Mary Louise as she saw me looking at the paper. "Absolutely not. I'm not close to what a queen should be like. They're a hundred times better off without me." I stared back at her intensely. Did she really believe that I could ever rule a country?  "Close to a queen or not, the people desperately needs someone to lead them. If not they could end up in a crisis or even war. Do you want your own people to suffer like that?" Her tone was more serious than I had ever heard her. I didn't say anything back to her. Of course she was right, but why me of all people? "Will you write to me?" I asked her looking at the floor. "I promise, my dear." And with that my journey to Norway started.