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Ziva
30 Days to Coronation

"Your meeting with Princess Marilyn has been moved to next week. She sends her apologies for the inconvenience. She has some important things going on at home."

I lift my head and look at Sarah, my Head Secretary. She's going over my never ending schedule for the week as we sit in my office. I draw my lips into a thin line, feeling annoyed.

"This is the second time Marilyn has rescheduled with me. Do you think she could make it any more clear that she has no interest in actually having this meeting? She didn't even bother to call me directly," I respond, trying to swallow down my irritation.

Sarah bites her lip nervously and her gaze moves momentarily to her Assistant Secretary, Katherine. Katherine shakes her head. "I spoke to Princess Marilyn directly Ma'am, and she has a sick child that she's taking care of. She really did sound regretful," she insists.

I nod my head, keeping my emotions in check and resisting the urge to roll my eyes.

The truth is that Marylin is hiding something from me. She is my mothers niece, but came to live in our home when her own mother ran away from her responsibilities. So instead of being my cousin, she felt more like a sister to me.

We grew up together until she was swept off of her feet by one of King Warrens sons and got married at just 18 years old. She moved to live in our neighboring country, Poshire with him. She's a Princess now, which has always been her dream. And we've stayed close over the years until the past few months.

Even at my father, King Heralds funeral, I barely saw her. She came in draped in a huge peacoat, ushering her two kids in and sitting two rows away from me. It's all so odd. She knows how stressed I've been losing my father, and now being just 30 days away from officially ruling over a group of countries.
The Alliance.

It is the Alliances desire to add Poshire as the final piece to our group, and I could use her help to make it happen. She's married to King Warrens son, Dalvin, who is second in line to the throne and very close to his father.

If I can't get her to help me with a final attempt at negotiations, I'll end up having to choose a marriage I don't want, just to align our countries.
And that's the last thing I want to do.

My country, Bellington, is strong and powerful thanks to my Fathers 35 years of ruling it with an iron fist. He took over many other countries and built ours into the powerhouse it is now. But Poshire is the last one he wanted, but never obtained.

After a virus swept through our groups of countries killing thousands, our economies were all crumbling in the aftermath, once a vaccine was invented. That's when my father stepped in and thought of the idea of the Alliance to start building back our economies stronger. Our group includes Zefry, Canyon, and Bellington at the head of the Alliance and made my father even more powerful than he was before. We all work together to keep our countries strong and our citizens happy.

Poshire refused to join, and their country has suffered for it. Rebuilding back slower and gaining criticism from the other leaders of the Alliance. But King Warren has been headstrong and has not wanted to give up any of his families power or decision making.

"Fine, so we reschedule with Marilyn then. Is that all?" I ask, already getting up from the long meeting room table. My guards stand at attention in their black uniforms as I get up, ready to follow me.

"There's actually just one more thing Princess Ziva. Your head Guardsman, Vincent, will be coming back tonight to introduce you to his next in line. He brought him back with him from Zefry. The new man will be starting with him tomorrow on Guard duty," Sarah says, reading over the notes on her screen.

I rub my temples, taking a deep breath. "He's acquired a Head Guard in training? I guess I didn't realize he was thinking of retiring so soon," I say thoughtfully.

Vincent has been with us since I was born, and was by my fathers side guarding him for years. He took a bullet trying to protect him when he was killed.

Sarah nods at me, "Yes your Highness, it was something he apparently discussed with King Herald...before his passing," she says giving me a sympathetic look.

I nod, swallowing hard before asking my next question. "Is there any update from the police force on my fathers killer?" I ask lifting my chin. She shakes her head solemnly, giving me another pitying look that I'm so tired of seeing. "No your Highness. No new developments so far."

"Thank you Sarah. Katherine," I say walking towards the door. "I'm going out to the stables."

My guards walk in front of me, and Sarah and Katherine walk quickly to catch up. "No lunch today your Highness?" Sarah asks worriedly.

I shake my head. "I'll just grab fruit, I need a ride before my afternoon duties start," I respond, turning the corner and passing by another line of guards lining the hallway.

"We will meet you in your office this afternoon then your Highness," Sarah says, and I nod, ready to change in to my riding clothes and get far away from everyone.



I bring my horse, Raven, to a slow trot as I reach the top of the hill at the end of a long trail on the castle property. My guards stay back at a respectful distance watching around us, Phoenix giving them orders on where to spread out to.

This is as close as I can ever get to privacy in my life. When you are born into a royal family, the family of Herald especially, security is something you are literally born with.

My father was a respected man, but also a very controversial one, which is ultimately what I believe got him killed. His methods for solving problems and bringing the Alliance together were not taken well by some people and he earned some enemies for it.

He never cared what people thought about him, but he did care about safety, especially mine. He was extremely protective of me, and my guards are some of the most well trained soldiers in the world.

It takes years of training to even be considered to be a standing guard on the outside of our families castle, much less to make it inside, or guarding me personally like the men and women that are with me today.

Security here is even tighter since my father was murdered. Fear has been swirling around our country that his only heir could be next. 

I look down at the trees below us. The view never fails to calm me down, my anxiety dissolves slightly, and my thoughts begin to get quieter. I wish I could make it up here every day like I did when I was younger, when not as much was expected of me. Now I'm lucky to get up here once a week.

I dismount from Raven and sit in the grass, lost in my thoughts for about 30 minutes, facing away from my guards, letting tears fall where no one can see them. It's so hard to properly mourn when everyone around you needs your strength.

The alarm on my watch goes off and I sit for another moment, wiping my face and calming down. I stand up and stretch my arms seeing my guards in their same positions faced away from me. Phoenix turns slightly to look at me and I nod to her to let her know I'm ready to return.

Back to my duties.
Back to the life I've come more and more to dread.

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