LiTtLe TyPeWrItEr

Chapter 2

To every beginning there is an end.

They were running through a corridor. Something had happened, something horrible. Serein always had a feeling about these things but this time she wished that she was wrong. She had to be wrong, her Mother was running with her and her Father was in a meeting with the council members. Everything was fine.

They ran past a statue, an old statue that Serein had sworn broke a finger on its own. A statue sculpted hundreds of years prior just as a decoration. If it could speak a hundred secrets would unfold, the misfortunes of thousands placed into the world once again. All the things it must've seen; fights, joy and Serein crying about her lost teddy.

Dana stopped dead, her hand over her mouth and whispered, "No. No, it can't be." The child looked back at her mother and slowly faced forward to see a messenger carrying a red piece of paper. Dana placed her hand on her daughter's shoulder, "Darling, I think it would be best if you go play in the courtyard for now."

"But-" The look on her mother's face silenced her.

She walked back the way she came, faintly hearing her mother yelling at the messenger.

"Not even the decency to come in person! THEY SENT A NOTE! No, I refuse to accept this. My husband is alive and breathing and this is all a nightmare."

Silence and tranquillity sprinkled with death were just what the council ordered. The challenges were the future Queen's problem, not theirs. The oblivion of it all was the council's doing, did they really think it would go unnoticed? A strong and healthy King 'trips' on a tile? The stupidity these men possess is astounding.

....

"She can't be crowned, Orberyn. She's too young, we cannot afford to lose another heir. I can manage as queen, for now. She'll be crowned at sixteen like all the other monarchs before her." Dana protested, she had his sympathy but that was it. She couldn't lose Serein, she was all she had left.

"My lady, I wish we could but the law dictates what happens from now and till she is crowned. The people of Neanch need a ruler, we need a ruler. The council have already told me that they will not accept you as Queen." He says the last part in a whisper. They will not accept her as Queen. After all the things she has done for Neanch, they will not accept her. All the connections with other lands and gatherings she has organized.

"Serein, you can stop listening from behind the door and come in, now," Dana said impatiently. She was tired of being pushed aside, they wanted Serein as Queen then they would have to go through her first. The child slipped in and sat on her mother's lap.

"The council would like you to be crowned next week but," She glares at Orberyn. "Mummy would like you to wait till you're sixteen."

"Will I be like Daddy? Going to meetings and never seeing you?" Dana nods, "Then I want to be Queen when I'm sixteen."

"You heard the Princess. No crown till she's sixteen." The mother stared at the council member. What a fair game she liked to play, always winning.

....

The streets were silent for months. Every brick was cold and solemn. No children played outside or walked to school. Everyone knew that it was murder, not an accident like Macros publicly announced. The fear could be smelt from miles away, for at the funeral only two paid their respects; a loving mother and child.

Pink gladioli were placed near the gravestone as the priest said the blessing. Everything that happened in the past week started at a sense from an innocent child. Serein proceeded to mourn in her own way; blaming herself and doing all the good that her father had never done.

All the walks outside turned into planting and placing fresh flowers in the many rooms of the castle. All the etiquette lessons poured down the drain and replaced with going out to meet the people. Ten years were well spent doing community service and annoying Macros and Orberyn.

The people loved her and her sixteenth year quickly came. Preparations were made, dresses sewn and food cooked. A great scandal was developed for gossiping after the coronation. All was well.

Princess Serein walked down the stairs in a white gown, this was her marriage to the country and she was going to do it right.

"The carriage is waiting, your highness." A servant said.

"Thank you, Marie." As she walked through the corridor, she remembers how much she ran the day her father died. She could faintly hear the echos of their running and the wall where there once stood a statue, now bare and grim.

The feeling she had that fine day, now returning. She promised herself that she wouldn't turn herself away from this. This is your chance to prove yourself, the first Queen of Neanch will be remembered for her worthiness.This is her chance to show what she had promised her people, a country of love and joy and not one of greed and suffering.

"The carriage, your highness." the other servant said as he opened the door.

"I'll be walking, thank you very much." Serein was going to be doing it her way from now on.

"Nonsense, a queen doesn't walk to her own coronation!" Her mother said from inside the carriage.

"I am a princess, not a queen. Enjoy the ride, Mother." And the carriage rode off.

The first step is always the hardest, she knew this. I will be a great queen, I will be the country's voice and I will be written in history as one of the greatest monarchs.

One step was all it took for a tear to fall down her face. A tear for her loss of freedom.