Beneath The Mask Is His Queen

Chapter One

"Lucas!" A voice cried, making King Lucas wake up instantly.

He rubbed his eyes groggily and said, "Joshua, what do you want?!"

"Man, you don't remember the past few weeks?"

Lucas shook his head in confusion. "I'm too tired to even try to remember, honestly." He stretched out his arms, yawning, then fell back to bed.

"Lucas!" Joshua screamed into his ear. "Think: Planning. Ball. Maidens. Search. Queen. Any of those ring a bell?"

In response, Lucas sat up and frowned. "That's today?"

"Yup! And as your fellow personal advisor-"

"Manservant," Lucas interrupted and Joshua rolled his eyes.

"Hey! I'm your best friend too! So excuse me for wanting to change my title!"

Chuckling, Lucas said, "okay fine, personal advisor."

"Yes, as I was saying, as your fellow personal advisor, I prepared this ball so that you have time to speak with each maiden invited, and Farkle will be nearby, writing down the list of girls in the order of whom you speak with, so that afterwards, you'll be able to review which girl you find most suiting," Joshua explained.

Lucas nodded. "And what will you be doing?"

"I'll be dancing with some girls also. You know, get to know them better. Maybe I'll give you some suggestions on who I think would be great."

They both chortled.

"I think I'll be sticking to my best interest," Lucas smiled at him. "So remind me, why do I have to do this again?"

"Since your mother died," Lucas winced at the reminder of his mother's death. "Sorry, I forgot how sensitive this topic was still like for you." Lucas waved his hand, simply gesturing a 'nonsense.' "...after that incident, your father decided that since he is growing very old now, and you're 18 years old, he's passing the crown onto you. He allowed you to take the position as leader of the kingdom on one condition: find a Queen and she shall rule with you."

"Right, right, okay. So how many girls were invited?"

Joshua shrugged. "A lot? I made sure to send out invitations to the households that had a girl who was 15 to 18 years old."

"Great," Lucas sarcastically said and Joshua gave him a little smirk.

"I also sent an invitation to Princess Smackle, of Deblaite kingdom and Princess Maya of the Hart Kingdom."

"Princess Smackle?! And Princess Maya?! Are you serious?"

"Yup! Hope they're girls that are qualified well enough."

Lucas glared at Joshua, who was still smirking.

"I hate you Josh," he informed him.

"Nah, ya don't. You can't hate me, I'm too lovable!" He gave a sly grin and Lucas laughed at that.

"You sure are weird."

"I wish I could own that title! Have you tried speaking with Farkle? I can't out-weird him! No matter how hard I try!"

Lucas snickered and rolled out of bed, making his way to his wardrobe, finding suitable clothing to wear for breakfast.

...

Princess Maya sat in her carriage, bored out of her mind as she was being transported from Hart Kingdom to the Quincy kingdom. She wasn't too keen on going; in fact, she would've rejected the invitation if it weren't for her persistent grandmother. It's not that she didn't enjoy balls, balls were quite enjoyable to her. It wasn't dancing either. Dancing was one of her favourite things to do. The only issue she has is having to go to a ball hosted by King Lucas. He wasn't a horrible person, but his intentions at his ball made her roll her eyes at the thought of it.