Road of the Heavenly Light

1-3: Adelina's Courage

When she woke up the next day, Elizabeth felt more determined than ever to make sure she'd be chosen as student council president. Today she would have to hold a speech to convince the students and staff to choose her, and she had already written down what she wanted to say. She took it with her on her way to breakfast to show the others.
"Have you heard that Elizabeth is running for student council president?" she suddenly heard someone say.
"No way! How is she even allowed to do that after what her father did?!" a second person responded.
"Like father like daughter... she's probably just trying to seize power for some kind of political gain."
"Or trying to please her dead father." The two people laughed, and went out of Elizabeth's hearing range. With her confidence shattered once again, she entered the cafeteria, where she spotted Laura and Felix sitting alone together, Glen sitting with a group of girls, and Astrid, Anna, and Levi all sitting together. She sat down with her friends and fiancé with a sigh.
"Elizabeth? You seem down..." Astrid said, putting her hand on Elizabeth's shoulder.
"What happened?" Levi asked.
"Nothing, I'm fine."
"Lizzy, please, we want to help you. Is it about the speech today?" Anna asked.
"No. Well, yes. I..." Elizabeth sighed, "I just overheard some people talking about me. They said I was probably running for power and to please my father..." Elizabeth saw her other friends turn around and sit with them too.
"That's despicable..." Laura said.
"You mean perfect! This is your chance to deliver a speech so powerful it will shatter all of the prejudice those people have about you!" Felix grinned.
"Felix, I think you're the only person on the continent who could off something like that," Glen laughed.
"He does have a point, though. Liz, have you started on your speech yet?" Levi asked.
"Yes, this is what I have written down so far," Elizabeth answered, grabbing the paper from her bag. Everyone looked at it and started reading over the speech.
"Hm... it looks good so far, but it could use a bit more passion. It feels pretty stiff," Glen suggested.
"Are you crazy?! This is a speech for a school position, not a love declaration! It could use some more formality," Laura suggested.
"I think it could use more power rather than formality. It needs to blow everyone away!" Felix said.
Astrid shook her head, "it's powerful enough as is. You should talk more about how you'll support the students."
"I think that part is covered, Lizzie should probably elaborate more on how she'll support the staff," Anna suggested.
"It's more important that it feels sincere and touches everyone's hearts," Levi argued.
Elizabeth started laughing, "how about a bit of everything?" She was truly blessed to have these wonderful friends in her life. They were all so very different, yet so similar at the same time. She'd learned much from them. They all spent the rest of their breakfast time perfecting Elizabeth's speech, making sure every word would be remembered and was powerful enough to convince students and staff alike that Elizabeth was the perfect person for the position of student council president. Once lunch came around, everyone went to the library to help Elizabeth practice her speech, making sure she would not forget a word and she would look convincing and confident enough. The remaining time after school was spent perfecting the last few things, which included finding the perfect clothes to wear for the extra effect. And soon enough, it was time.

Once everyone had wished her good luck, Elizabeth went behind the auditorium of the school, and waited on a chair. Besides Principal Abigail, there were only two other people. One of them was Prince Drake of Wyvernston, and the other one was Prince Howard of Belmont. They would likely be fierce opponents. Principal Abigail stood up and went onto the stage. Elizabeth would be first once the principal had finished.
"Good luck, both of you," Elizabeth said.
"Likewise," Howard answered.
"Hmph. Don't expect me to get all sentimental, I'm going to crush you both," Drake laughed. Elizabeth looked at Howard, who raised his shoulders, looking just as confused as she did. She didn't want to make assumptions, but perhaps Amaya was right about Drake.
"And first up is Elizabeth!" she heard Abigail say. This was her chance to set things right. She took a deep breath, stood up, and walked onto the stage. She saw her friends clap, but they were the only ones. She would have to convince all of them here and now.
"Greetings, my fellow students, and staff members of Royale High. As you know, I am Elizabeth, princess of Theros. I imagine that there are many that are surprised to see me stand here, and I cannot blame you. I am aware of both my father's and my own actions. I stand here today to run for student council president to atone for these actions by helping guide others, so they may never go down the same path I did. But more importantly, I, as the oldest student at Royale High, believe myself more capable than anyone else of guiding the students as they go through some of the most complicated years of their life. I also believe myself capable of maintaining close contact with the staff working at this school and ensuring that everyone here, student and staff alike, will remember this year as a beautiful, enjoyable year. I am no longer the person I was a few weeks ago, I now have the school's best interest at heart, and I pray that all of you will share that same viewpoint and choose me for this position." Once Elizabeth was finished, it was quiet at first, but soon enough, everyone started clapping. Elizabeth started to smile, bowed, and went off-stage.

The next day, everyone got together in the auditorium again to wait for the results. Elizabeth was nervous, but she knew she did all she could.
"I'm sure you're going to win this, Lizzie!" Anna said.
"Are you sure? The other speeches were quite fierce too," Elizabeth answered.
"Are you kidding? Drake's was just an informal request for power, and Howard's felt more like he was running for gaining personal knowledge than anything else," Glen laughed.
"As is to be expected of someone studying dark magic..." Astrid sighed.
"Astrid, you shouldn't think like that... But considering how hard people were clapping yesterday, I think Elizabeth won," Laura said. Principal Abigail walked onto the stage.
"It's beginning," Felix whispered. Levi grabbed Elizabeth's hands and held them in his own, smiling at her.
"Greetings, dear students. As you all know, I will be announcing the results of the student council president voting. But before that, I wish to express my gratefulness towards all three who applied, it takes a lot of confidence to do that. Now... After looking at the votes and discussing it among the staff, we felt that there was only one person right for the position, and they also got the majority of votes. This person is none other than... Elizabeth!" Elizabeth immediately stood up, hugged Levi, and walked towards the stage.
"Thank you everyone. I swear that, in the name of my ancestor, Empress Adelina, I will not disappoint you."