Snow White Queen [NaNoWriMo 2018]

Chapter Two

Neva sat in the chair her mother had sat her in, impatiently waiting for her lesson to be over so she could do what she wanted.

"I know you think this is boring, but you need to know this stuff," her mother said, trying to get her to sit still.

"But why?"

"You need to know how to lead. You're going to end up leading this country one day, and you need to know how to do it properly."

Neva couldn't think of anything else to say, so she just pouted.

"A good leader is one that isn't feared. The best ones have been well loved by their people. Fear may get people to listen in the moment, but over time that fear will eventually lead people to want to get you out of power, and history will remember you as a monster. On the contrary, if you love your people, and they love you, your people will fight to the death to defend you. History will remember you with fondness."

Cassandra knew that Neva probably didn't understand at least half of what she was saying, but she wanted to at least have her hear it. Especially with her being a vampire, the temptation for her to lead with fear would be strong, and she wanted to protect her daughter at all costs. If she learned to reign in her instincts, she would be a wonderful leader despite her being a vampire. The first step was for her to understand that fear wasn't something that she should use.

"If using fear is so bad, then why do people use it?"

She was asking questions. Good. "People don't think about the future. They think about what they want, and how to get it as soon as possible and with as little effort as possible. Fear is easy."

"How?"

"People are cruel. It's easy for people to intimidate if they think it will get them what they want faster."

Neva nodded to herself. Fear is bad. Making people afraid is bad.

She didn't understand half of what she was taught, but she felt like she could remember that.

~~~

"Dorian's coming tomorrow."

Neva perked up at those words. "Really?"

"Yeah. His family's going to be staying here for a week."

"What for?"

"Business reasons."

"Like?"

"Things you don't need to know about."

Neva was slightly frustrated with that answer. They wanted her to become a leader and were telling her all sorts of things that she didn't care about, yet they still kept information from her for no apparent reason. She may have been a child, but she was still more mature than most children her age, as she was often told and praised for.

Whatever. She had long since learned to not pester for information if they didn't want to give it to her. Pestering annoyed them, and when they got annoyed they got angry with her. So she kept her questions to herself.

She was mostly excited about seeing Dorian again. The two hadn't seen each other since the ball where they'd met, but they'd exchanged a few letters. She was looking forward to see him again in person.

~~~

"When do we tell him?"

Aldaren and Cassandra were talking in private. They knew they were eventually going to have to tell Dorian that Neva was a vampire, and they were trying to figure out when was the right time to do it. Too soon, and they'd scare him away before he could form an attachment to Neva. Too late, and he'd feel betrayed that they'd keep something so important from him for so long.