The Little Queen

The Little Tag Along

The dinner was turning out to be quite the spectacle. Well, in the sense that there really wasn't a whole lot going on. It was so quiet I could hear my dad who was next to me loudly slurping at his appetizer.

I could feel the frustration coming off of Theo who was on my other side. He was about two seconds away from either causing a scene and storming out of the place, or causing an even bigger scene and blowing up on someone for not saying anything this entire time.

It was a small gathering, consisting of the King and Queen, Theo's sisters and my parents. We usually had dinner together, and there was always some sort of conversation going on, but with the addition to the late Princess, the King's little sister, everything seemed to die down.

Theo shifted in his chair, undoubtedly getting ready to excuse himself, so I made a brave move and placed my hand on his upper thigh, and turned to side-eye him. He stopped everything he was doing and slid back into place surprisingly.

I turned back to everyone else to see that they were all staring.

The King cleared his throat and gently set his spoon in the bowl in front of him, "Theodore, when's your meeting?"

We all knew that he very well knew the answer to this question, he knew everything. Talking about something was a whole lot better than talking about nothing.

"Right now actually. I'm late," he lifted his legs a tad just to stomp them back on the ground and push himself away from the table.

Judging by the look on Indulf's face, he knew that was a complete lie. I didn't know what time he was actually supposed to be there but I knew he wasn't ever late to anything important.

"Take Starlie with you," Anne suggested. "I know the Faxton's like seeing you two together."

I didn't want to go with him. I usually have a whole month to prepare for things like this and I always have someone to fall back on when I slip up. I was almost 100 percent positive that Theodore would leave me to drown if I couldn't hold a conversation with them.

I couldn't tell the Queen no though.

I shot my mom a pleading look from across the table. She usually knew what to say without offending either the King or Queen.

"Was she invited though," my mom asked, "I mean, would they think it rude of her to show up unannounced? This is a negotiation, isn't it? Business. Starlie hasn't been prepped for something like this."

"It's supposed to be informal. Cousin to cousin," Indulf answered, clearly the thought of me tagging along was intriguing him as well. "Theodore is going to do all of the talking."

Theo stood up, his arms crossing over his chest. "I don't want to look stupid when she has no idea what we're talking about. I didn't tell Clarence that I was bringing anybody."

The King and Queen said nothing, rather they just gave the two of us looks I could easily decipher.

I was going with Theo and I would be happy about it.

________________

The Faxton's were taking up residence at the Grand Hotel in east Brooksdale, just an hour or so away from the castle.

The whole car ride there was completely silent, Theodore not even bothering to brief me in the slightest. I wasn't worried though, sure I'd look like a complete idiot for not knowing what was going on, but it would reflect more on Theo than it did on me.

"How long do you think we'll be here?" I asked as the driver stopped the car right outside the hotel. All I could see were the flashes from the sea of paparazzi waiting right outside.

"Probably awhile."

I nodded just as one of our body guards opened Theo's door. He buttoned his navy blue suit coat closed before stepping out and turning to face me, his hand outstretched.

I didn't think anything of his little gesture. He knew somewhere, somehow his mother was watching and knew that if he just left me in the dust, he never would have heard the end of it.

I didn't want to take his hand, but knew I had to, so I did and I slowly got out of the car one foot at a time, my black suede pumps sinking into the snow. I almost wrapped my arms around myself for warmth, but noticed Theo's arm waiting to be linked with mine - another one of his mother's requests.

I hooked my arm around his, and then we both started walking into the hotel, our heads down as the paparazzi snapped their pictures.

It was a beautiful hotel, there was no doubt about that. The Augustburn's hosted many a gatherings here, I was even here for the grand opening back when I was just a small child.

Theo let me go of me as soon as we were far enough away from the paparazzis intruding cameras, and continued to walk on a couple steps ahead of me at all times.

I glanced over my shoulder to see who all was here with us in terms of body guards. I didn't recognize a whole lot of them, but then again Theodore and I had different guards and this event was for him.

I turned back around, picking up my pace to catch back up with Theodore.

"Its snowing pretty hard," I said while directing all of my attention towards the window. It had been snowing all day, but it was really coming down now.

"I see that," he said with a hint of concern in his voice. "I hope we don't get stuck here," we both came to a stop right outside a set of two glass double doors leading into the dining hall. Two Royal Promisian Guards stood in front, crossing their staffs to make an X.

They took one look at Theodore and moved aside without saying anything.

I sucked in a deep breath as I followed Theodore into the room.