Chapter Two: The Guest

The afterparty was a blast. Crowds of noble families filled the halls and rooms of the palace and it made me feel uncomfortable. Never did we have guests as much as this ever since mother passed away. She was known for being the life of the palace. She hosted social parties for noble families, for the poor, and even charity events that focused on raising the economic status of the poor. With that, she was renowned as the Queen of Hearts. She had a big heart and that she always made it a goal to be closer to erasing "Poor" as a classification of economic status.

She was loved by her people. Her legacy remains and hopefully, it will.

I am sick of hearing all the congratulations and responding my thanks in return forcing out a smile. To be queen was never what I wanted to be. The crown I wear on my head is not deserving to be on me. I don't want to be this way as I want my freedom of not having to think of royal duties or responsibilities to put up with my reputation. I want to run freely in the wild and be tasked to assassinate the most vicious creature and even slaughter anything that comes in my way.

Now that I am queen, I will have to think twice about slaughtering as I have a reputation to put up with. They may easily recognize me and a killer queen is not happily announced in the kingdom. It is not something to be proud of. It is a disgrace and a way to tarnish the royal reputation.

A typical queen heir must find a prince to be crowned king in the kingdom. She will then marry and stay by his side as he rules. She will bear her heirs to the throne and teach them etiquette. She will teach the heir royal duties and responsibilities which he will embrace wholeheartedly until the time has come that he will take over the crown and rule the kingdom.

That is what a typical queen is. I am not typical. I am different. I am not helpless and I never want to abide by the tradition and the ways that everyone believes are right.

"My Queen, your father has summoned you in the banquet hall," General Silverstone approaches me with a bright aura. Seldom do I see this from him as he is always wearing a smug serious face.

I take a croquette from the bowl held by a maid and turn to him saying, "I will be there shortly. Thank you for letting me know."

He bows and I raise my right hand to signal that he has been dismissed. He leaves as soon as my hand goes down and I take a bit on the croquette I picked. The salty and creamy cheese in it melts in my mouth and I savored its flavor up to the last bite. I wipe my mouth off its crumbs and start walking towards the banquet hall.

More eyes meet mine and smile. They congratulate me and I thank them with the fake smile plastered on my face. It has been the same routine ever since I stepped down the altar steps in the afternoon and I do admit, it is getting more and more displeasing. Displeasing until a pretty girl in a floral pink dress walks up to me with three red roses walks up to me handing roses and says, "Please accept my warmest congratulations and support, My Queen."

I gladly accept them with a smile-- a real one this time. I say, "By far, you are the first to genuinely congratulate and show support to me. To whom do I owe my thanks?"

"Verona, Your Highness," she bows.

"Verona--?"

"Silverstone, Your Highness. Daughter of General Silverstone," she quickly replies scrambling herself to meet my eyes.

I raise an eyebrow, "It feels you are not proud to be the daughter of my father's most trusted guard. Why is that?"

She smiles, "I want to keep a low profile, Your Highness. I do not want any privilege or any praises for having a father with such trust coming from His Highness."

What a humble and clever reply from a guard's daughter. And this is why my mother is loved. She believes in equality among social classes when it comes to intellects and personality. This is one reason why I did look up to her. I hated the loud and long parties, but the goal behind them is what I admire.

"Very much understood and I appreciate your humility. I hope to get to know you more soon, Verona!"

"So do I!" she smiles.

I wave, "I'm afraid I will have to keep going as my father awaits me on the table. Farewell, Verona."

"Farewell, Your Highness" She curtsies, and I start walking for the table.

My father sits on the edge and a seat on his right is occupied by my brother, Kael. They both eye me and give out sweet smiles. I smile back and find my seat across my brother's.

"Good evening, Your Highness, and congratulations! I'm sorry I never got to be the first to say it as you were too busy of course!" Kael extends his right arm and I shake it.

I laugh, "Stop with the formality, Kael. You do know I hate that when it comes to you!"

"Whatever, Aurora!" He rolls his eyes.

Father clears his throat and shoots shards of ice with his glare, "I do expect proper manners and etiquette from the Crown Prince and the Queen on the Banquet Table as we are having guests."

Kael looks down on his empty plate in dismay, and I look straight in front without saying anything. I do not even apologize. Instead, I ask, "Who should I be expecting to join us in the Banquet Table tonight, Your Highness?"

"Some guests from the kingdom of Aether," he says firmly. What? None of that was making sense as Aether is the biggest and most powerful kingdom. They never visit such events nor would they care about a coronation from any of the other kingdoms. Not even a kingdom as established as Evergreen.

No one from the other kingdoms has ever been to the kingdom of Aether, nor have they met with most of its citizens. They do the trades by sending highly-trained couriers which are evolved or even robotic creatures. They send emails and send voice messages that use voice changers to change their real voice and their kingdom feels like being in a different world from the rest of us.

I scoff, "What good use of their time would it be for them to come and witness my--"

I stop as gasps from the rest of the people echo and overpower the room. I follow all their gazes towards the door. Four people emerge from the door wearing the finest and richest silk I have seen all my life. They have light platinum blonde hair, the lightest ocean blue eyes, and the lightest porcelain skin. Do Aetherians have these features adapting to their climate?

Aether is a kingdom on the most elevated region on the entire continent. They only have winter as a climate in there. It is the coldest place and this should explain why they have these features.

They do not face the crowd nor do they look around. They lock their eyes to the three of us on the table and simply walk their way towards us. A shiver runs up and down my spine at their presence. I suddenly felt the urge to run and wish I never was in here. They give me a killing vibe and I am growing even more uncomfortable as they near the table.

When they reach the table, my father stands up and says, "Kael, Aurora, please welcome King Marcus, Queen Amanda, and the two princes from Aether, Alec, and Ezekiel Kondstadt."

Kael and I stand up together and bow down saying, "A pleasure to meet the family running the kingdom of Aether."

An exchange of greetings takes place before my father says, "Let us please take a seat."

We take our seats gently and observing the family, they are poised and very synchronized. I suddenly felt that these were AI Robots made by their technology to represent the royal family of Aether.

"Congratulations on wearing the crown of Everdeen, Aurora," Marcus says.

"Thank you, Your Majesty," I do not forget the honorifics of addressing higher kingdoms than Evergreen.

"You are even prettier in person than those tabloids all over! I can't wait to get started with The Introductory!" Amanda exclaims. She is the lighter character among them. The princes were serious and felt like they were mannequins poised on the chairs. The queen reminds me of my mother, who was always cheerful and always brought the life during conversations.

"Introductory?" I shoot up a look at my father.

Amanda smiles, "Dear, Your Highness, Introductory means that you will start a meet and greet with possible suitors for the place of King for this kingdom as you obviously know that a queen like you will need a king in her kingdom."

The Introductory is a phase in which a kingdom whose heir is a queen will face. She will be introduced to prospective candidates to be taking the position of king in her kingdom. Thus, this means that The Introductory phase is where you will funnel candidates up until you are left with the perfect match that you will choose and of course, marriage.

Of course, I know what it means, but I kept my manners by not talking back with her. I shot a look at father because he never mentioned this before and this caught me off guard. We never agreed to this and this is uncalled for!

I vowed to reign this land on my own without a king and to independently live among my own rules and beliefs. I do not want everyone to be outsmarted or controlled like a puppet on a string with no choice but to do what is commanded.

"She does know what The Introductory is, Your Majesty. Perhaps, she was just not ready to be hearing that tonight," my father chuckles as the waiters start entering the Banquet Hall with trays of food to serve. I suddenly don't feel like eating and I wish that I was someplace else slaughtering monsters.

"Of course, she does. In fact, she is looking to be a very intelligent person that I am looking forward to getting to know you much better in the coming weeks," her voice sounded more of a challenge than a sincere statement.

"Me too," I forced out a smile at her as she did return a smile that seemed more genuine than the first.

The waiters started service at our table. A bowl of fresh fruits, beef steak mignon, mashed potatoes, and a slice of cake greets me. The plating and the juicy steak were not enough to wake my appetite at all. I couldn't raise my appetite as I wanted answers to some questions going in my head.

It was all about the coming introductory which I do not favor one bit. Father has never mentioned this to me. This is something we never agreed on.

I blankly ate dinner and do not even listen to the adults conversing. Right after dinner, I excused myself and head out of the Banquet Hall. I find my way towards one of the many balconies in the castle. The castle is still filled with guests.

I rest my arms on the cold railings of the balcony. The evening breeze caresses my cheeks and I enjoy the coolness. Everyone else blurs in the background. Their voices slur and I feel like I am the only one left in the world.

I come to my senses as I hear someone clearing his throat from behind me. I twirl and see Ezekiel. He flashes a smile saying, "How is the luckiest queen out here alone and sulking?"

"I am not sulking," I roll my eyes.

"Well, then why are you alone?"

I reply, "I just wanted some fresh air, that's all."

"You don't seem to enjoy a lot of people very much, don't you?" He raises an eyebrow.

I shrug, "Well, I've stopped getting used to them ever since my mother passed away."

"Sorry about that. Well, this must be a huge leap for you. What do you say about visiting Aether sometime?" He cracks a broken smile.

I reply idly, "I'd see about that. I might have so much to do now that I am queen."

"Right, but you'd be the first to receive an invitation from me to visit Aether."

"Gladly appreciated. Is that all you came to tell me, Prince Ezekiel?"

He laughs, "Stop with the formality and call me Zeke. Besides, I can go if you're kicking me out."

"Well, kicking you out was never my intention, but if you'd leave now, I don't mind," I blankly say.

"You seem so snob and serious. Have you ever laughed in your life?" He meets my eyes. His eyes were bluest and I felt like I was looking at the sea.

I shrug, "Well, I am not the type to keep blabbing to people all night. Now, if you'll excuse me, I will get going. It was nice meeting you, Zeke."

"Wow, you don't seem happy about my presence. You know, a lot of girls would fight to grab my attention and be in a conversation with me."

I cross my arms, "Well, I am not the type to enthuse grabbing the attention of boys nor do I enjoy a long conversation with boys."

"Wow, that makes you even harder to get. You have really set your standards, huh."

"It's not really a standard. It's just what I am used to."

"Well, I guess I will have to work harder to get your attention during The Introductory. It will be a challenge I will gladly accept as I have never tried chasing after a girl," he chuckles.

Is he out of his mind? His eyes gleam and my mouth drop, "You're joking, right?"

"Hey, I'm serious!" He eases his posture and smiles teasingly.

"Whatever. I will get going now," I roll my eyes and start marching my way back in the castle.

He grabs my arm and asks, "But you will take me seriously, right?"

"Oh, whatever. I need to go. It's past my bedtime."

"Good night, Your Highness," the dismay in his voice is clearer than I expected. Is he serious? A prince from Aether is getting caught off guard by a princess who just turned queen from a lower kingdom than he is.

I do not reply. I find my way back to my room without even telling father or Kael.

I summon Anna to help me for bedtime. She shows up and smiles, "Your Highness, you were so marvelous during the entire ceremony."

"Thank you, Anna." She starts removing my dress and has my nightgown hugging me in no time. Her actions were swift but gentle. She arranges my jewelry back to its designated cases. She carefully removes my crown and places it on its cushion case. I stare at the intricate gold carving adorned with the best diamonds.

She bows, "I will get going, Your Highness. Good night!"

"Thank you so much for today, Anna. Have a good rest." She shuffles out of my room and I am left in my solace. The peaceful silence. It was everything I wanted it to be. Quiet and mine. A private moment to be with my own self as I scan through my thoughts.

I lie in bed silently and stare at the blankness of my ceiling. I hear only my heartbeat as my vision blurs, and I find myself to sleep sooner.