The King's Queen

Chapter 13

Micah Preston
Age: 18

*°*

Elizabeth's POV

Lunch with Garrett and Violet ended uneventfully. Even while they ate, their sharp eyes vigilantly scanned the place for any suspicious activity or sign of danger. When lunch ended, I called my parents. I wouldn't be going back home for another few days because there was a conference I had to attend. I would be officially presented to the world as Ashton's betrothed and the announcement of our engagement would happen a few months after that.

Garrett went to map out the layout of the palace grounds while Violet and I practiced my ancient Crysauralian. At first, I thought I'd just have to learn to speak it, but apparently, I had to learn how to read and write it too. After we were finished, I still had an hour before the meeting with the royals. I was considering heading back to the library to read another one of the books when a message alert chimed on my phone.

I was pleased to see that it was from Micah, who was in the middle of college applications. It was hard to believe that he was old enough to be thinking about college already. Before his brother's passing, he'd wanted to be a lawyer. After witnessing all the corruption from the higher-ups, he insisted that he wasn't sure about that career path anymore but I could tell from the tiny gleam in his eyes that it was still his heart's passion.

Melissa was still in the Caribbean with Trey but she regularly talked with Micah about her lectures and exams and she explained to me that she was sure Micah was still interested in Law but his fears were holding him back. Esmeralda tried to help him as much as possible, but having never had formal education herself, she wasn't quite sure what to do. I decided to meet up with him and help him fill out a few more application forms.

Garrett returned when I was leaving and so he ended up coming with me for extra security since I would be going outside in a public space. While I was here, I couldn't leave the palace grounds without permission from the emperor and I wasn't keen on telling him where I wanted to go. He was prejudiced towards the Omegas and even more so towards Micah. I decided to have Micah meet me at the South pavilion. That pavilion was my private space, a mini haven constructed for me by the royal family for whenever I wanted to lounge or meet guests outside. Micah definitely fell on under the category of guest and I intended to treat him as such.

I texted Micah the location where we'd be meeting. Naturally, he was apprehensive and concerned about coming anywhere near the palace. After all, it was filled with people who hated those of his rank. It was hardly the kind of place he could waltz into so casually. However, I assured him that it would be fine and that he would be under my protection. I would never allow anyone to harm him.

Micah arrived in a few minutes and his eyes furtively scanned the environment around him.

"Hi Micah," I greeted him with a smile. "How's your day been going?"

"It's been okay..." He trailed off as my bodyguards' wary eyes fell on him. "Are you sure about this... I mean about me being here?"

"It's fine," I assured him. "You're with me. You're my very important guest after all."

A minuscule smile appeared on his face which made me so happy. It had been so long since Micah smiled. Who would have thought that Jun would have been the one to bring back his smile?

"I printed these at work," he said, waving an envelope in the air. "They're application forms for Crescent University."

"Crescent is good." I agreed as we walked over to the pavilion. "The campus is quite lovely and they offer so many courses."