Bound by Duty

[22] Peeved by Publicity

Official Statement from the Royal Palace -

"The Office of Werewolf Royalty is proud to announce the meeting of HRM King Alexander and Danielle Ward as true mates on the 23rd of August in the 150th year of the Reign of Alexander. The coronation ceremony for the new queen will be held on the 25th of September. May the goddess bless the royal couple. May their reign together be long and prosperous."

TV News -

"In the headlines today, the spokesperson of the Imperial Palace of the vampires says that investigations have not been successful regarding the wiping out of two minor vampire clans three months ago. The Magus Tower, which accepts mages once in three years, has opened its doors again to the Magus Domain.

"And the final news, as she has been for more than two weeks now, is our new queen, Danielle Ward. A mere three months ago, Ms Ward was in the news for being expelled and exiled from the Jade Pack in which she was heir-apparent. Three months later, in a dramatic turn of events, she has turned out to be the queen our king has been looking for in his long reign of a hundred fifty years. If this is not a fairytale, then nothing is.

"An inside source who wishes not to be identified has said that Ms Ward was a 'diligent and upstanding member' of the Jade Pack and 'had done more good than the alpha ever could.' When asked for a statement from the Jade Pack, the official spokesperson, Karen Horn said that the 'pack is delighted for their king' and 'hope that he may find happiness at the right time with the right person'.

"With the Jade Pack not specifically mentioning Ms Ward, it is clear that the animosity between the two parties is nowhere close to being resolved. But with broader issues of the kingdom and its smooth functioning coming in the way, it is yet to be seen about who will first wave the white flag. Will the father bend his knee to our queen? Or will the queen treasure werewolf ideals of respecting pack, family and parents?"

Tweets -

"Oh my goddess! My mother had to bring the smelling salts! Someone has stolen my king away from me! #thief #queendanielle #newqueen #daniward @DanielleWard @AlexRemington"

"Am I the last one to know about our queen being an ex-fugitive? :P #daniward #newqueen @DanielleWard @RoyalPalaceOfficial @AlexRemington"

"There go my Alexandrian fantasies! Danielle! What have you done? #daniward #newqueen #imsosad @DanielleWard @AlexRemington"

"I think we should show some respect to the new queen, don't we? Your Majesty the Queen, congratulations on meeting your mate! @DanielleWard @AlexRemington"

"At least we still have a hot prince left to bag. @AndrewRemington please don't tell me that you have a mate like your brother. Where are you?!"

*_🐺_*

Goddess. She was everywhere. Her face was plastered on every known website and every TV channel. The royal telephone was constantly buzzing asking for interviews and sound bites from her. The press was camped outside the royal palace within allowed limits. Everyone wanted a piece of her. People in the royal pack were a hot commodity for them. Anyone could have seen the queen at some point. Any small tidbit about her was sensationalised and made into a huge deal.

It was completely overwhelming and surreal. She couldn't believe that people were so interested in knowing things about her.

She could understand that people were excited about getting a queen after a hundred and fifty years. It was also true that it was rare for the press to get such a high-profile kingdom-level news item to talk about for more than a month. They would get so much material eventually that it would take quite a while before the issue would die down.

But that didn't mean that she was comfortable with the details of her life being exposed everywhere. Some clever man had waited until Danielle and Alex had arrived at the palace a week ago and managed to get decent shots of her. The same pictures were being used everywhere across the media.

And Danielle didn't even know that she had a twitter handle! And people were mentioning her too, left, right and centre!

The first thing she did was to approach McCall. He would let her know how to deal with this. "I'm a private person, McCall, and I understand I can't be private anymore. But this is too much."

"You're absolutely right, Your Majesty. On His Majesty's order, I have already asked the palace's PR team to deal with this immediately. It wouldn't be good for the issue to go out of control."

Danielle was taken aback. Alex had already noticed the situation outside? She now understood how vast his responsibilities were and how much attention he gave to each one of them. 'I guess I'm a responsibility too, now,' she thought.

McCall continued, "His Majesty also commanded that you be allowed to choose whether to interact with the media in any manner."

"No," she firmly shook her head. "No contact. Decline anyone who gets in touch for any interview or phone call. I'd like to retain my privacy for at least some time."

"So famous. At least tell them my name, Dani. Don't be evil and keep me hidden." Lupa spoke in her mind. Danielle rolled her eyes but later thought about it. She wanted people to know about her not as the exiled heir but as the new queen, now. So some changes should be made when it came to the information the public was privy to. She voiced her thoughts to McCall.

"Your Majesty, I would advise against interviews before the coronation. At least then you will have legitimacy in their eyes." McCall said pointedly. She winced. It was true that right now, she was just a twenty-one-year-old girl who didn't have any standing or power in their eyes. And the truth hurt. "Might I suggest, Your Majesty, that we put up a profile of yours on the website of the crown?"