The Rightful Queen

Twelve

The rainy weather prevented me from taking my morning walk in the gardens, but it did not prevent me from standing on the balcony of my chambers. I had always loved the rain ever since I was young. My favourite memory of me and my mother was the two of us dancing together in the rain in those gardens.

Although she was a queen, my mother did not mind doing some not-so-queenly activities just to make her daughter happy.

I hadn't seen the king for two days. He had been on a trip and he was supposed to return today. I spent most of my days with Mayan, learning more about her. The girl was kind-hearted and sweet, but I still wasn't sure if she was truly innocent like that or if she was just faking everything.

"Are you keeping an eye on that Mayan girl?" Laith asked me, pulling me away from my thoughts.

"You have nothing to worry about. I'm studying everything she does," I assured him as I walked inside, closing the shutters of the balcony behind me.

"I heard the king is coming today. If this is true, make sure to wear something that would attract his attention," Laith said, his tone indicating an order, not a suggestion.

"I will make sure to keep that in mind." I nodded, sitting down on the couch. I was not in the mood to argue about anything or hold a discussion, so I kept my answers short, hoping that he would leave me alone.

I didn't need him to give me any instructions or orders. I knew what I was doing, but I was aware that he needed to do that. He needed to bark orders here and there to please his narcissism. I learned to live with it. It's not like I had another option. I had to live with whatever I could get. I had to make a life in the surrounding circumstances.

"Have you thought about what you would first do once you get to sit on the throne?" he asked me, making me frown. "The look on your face answers my question."

"Isn't it early to think about that?" I wondered.

"Not really. Being prepared isn't bad."

I stayed silent for a few moments before saying, "I guess what I will do first is look for what my people need the most, and if it's possible, I will make their lives easier."

A chuckle came out of Laith's mouth, making me look at him in confusion. "This isn't what you should consider first," he told me.

"Then what do I need to first consider?"

"How to strengthen your throne," he replied.

"Being a good ruler to my people would make my throne strong," I said.

"This was your parents' vision," he told her.

"Nothing was wrong with the way they ruled their people!" My defensiveness rose as I jumped up in anger.

"Calm yourself down," he said in a stern tone. "What was wrong with the way your parents ruled their people is that they didn't give enough attention to their enemies. They took great care of their people and they favoured them over the counsellors; however, those counsellors handed them on a silver platter to their enemies. At the end of the day, their people couldn't save them."

I slowly sat back down and took in his words. Was he saying the truth?

"I understand your pain, Nuriya, but you need to be careful. You should never repeat their mistakes," he told me, before leaving the entire suite. I didn't know where he was going in that rainy weather, but I didn't care at that moment. I needed to be left alone. I found out I favoured his absence a lot in Vinadra.

I stayed in my position for a while, weighing his words in my head. Could he be right? Did I really need to give great attention to the counsellors so they wouldn't turn against me?