Not My Fairytale

Chapter 47

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Big announcement at the end!**

A New Beginning

    After the meeting adjourned, the lords of the council lingered to chat while I was ushered out– the royal family was expected to give a speech in little more than an hour's time. I should have been relieved, the meeting certainly could have gone a lot worse, but the threat of my birthright being stripped from me in the future still loomed, foreboding, in the back of my mind.

More pressing, I wished for a moment alone with Angelo. So much had changed in such a short time. I needed to know what he thought of it all.

    He walked a few steps behind, eyeing everyone who passed with obvious wariness– as if he feared that it was all some sort of trick and guards would come pouring out from behind each door or curtain along the corridor to send him to the gallows.

    Those guards never appeared.

    Ava was waiting in my rooms, like a tiger ready to pounce. The moment I crossed the threshold, she was there, shooing me to the bathroom and the lavender scented bath she had already drawn for me. I looked back at Angelo as I passed through the doorway, saw his hesitation as he remained standing just inside the room. I wanted to speak with him, to tell him so many things, but there was no time for that. Not yet.

Ava helped me to bathe. After, just as she lifted up the frilly violet gown she had chosen for me to wear, there was a knock on the door. I pulled my robe tighter around my body as she went to answer it, speaking for a moment with the servant on the other side. She returned with a bundle of clothes, setting them on the bed I stood beside. There was a note on top. I flipped it open to find my fathers elegant scrawl:

The time for gowns and jewels has long passed. It is time for the people to meet their future queen. The defender of the castle and champion of the people.

I stared at the paper, the smile spreading across my lips. They were just a handful of words, easy encouragement, but did he have any idea how much they meant to me? That I had needed to hear something like that for nearly a year? Underneath the note was a uniform, neatly folded and nearly identical to the one I had received months ago. Upon closer inspection, I found that this new version was sleeveless– better suited to the hot weather– and had the Lupian flag insignia embroidered to the chest, the silver wolf snarling before a violet background . I ran my fingers along the fabric and was met with the same whisper of magic as before.

I looked up to find Ava watching me with a small smile of her own. She shrugged, "If it is what the King wishes."

She helped me into the uniform, then wove my hair into a simple braid down my back. For once, I wasn't draped in heavy jewelry, a symbol of my family's wealth and influence. Today I would be a reminder of a different sort of power, the kind that had won my grandfather a crown– one I intended to protect with everything I had.

Ava rested a thin, silver circlet atop my head, my only adornment.

I returned to the foyer to find that Angelo had moved from his place beside the door. He looked up from his seat adjacent to the fire, his eyes locking onto mine, holding them hostage. I opened my mouth to speak, but no words came. What could I say? There was so much I wanted to tell him, but nothing that could be said in the scarce seconds we had to talk now. The corners of his mouth lifted in a soft smile and he nodded in understanding. There would be time for us to speak later.

Ava cleared her throat gently, "Your Highness, your family will be waiti–"

I lifted a hand, "I understand, thank you Ava." To Angelo I said, "I'll be back soon, make yourself at home." It would have to be enough, though the idea of leaving him alone with his thoughts after all that had transpired left a sour taste in my mouth.