Re: Who needs a prince when you're a queen?

Chapter Five: The schemer lives for another day

Apparently, hitting the crown prince with a footwear was a serious crime. 

That was my realization as I stood in front of the his majesty, king Thereon, who stared at me with immense curiosity. A royal knight saw us and brought us to the king to resolve the issue. The king sat regally in his massive golden throne which was on a dais that elevated him, making him look more powerful and absolute, and he gently stroked the bottom of his clean-shaven chin. He did not even look that old, considering the fact that he had been ruling for quite some time now. 

"So, you mean to say that you have catapulted a shoe that, in your words, accidentally hit the face of the crown prince?" He inched his face closer and regarded me with great interest as if I was some specimen to be dissected. 

I stepped back in reflex and gulped before talking. God, this was so unnerving. "Y-yes, your highness- er, I mean, your majesty," I looked down and tried to stop fidgeting.

The throne room was a massive place and knowing that there were only five people in there- me, Jamie, Prince Cedric, the king and my father- made it look even more overwhelming. I stared back up to look at the bottom of the dais where the crown prince was smiling so smugly and beside him was Jamie with an expression that spelled absolute victory.  Seriously, did they really think that I was an actual vampire? God, what were they, eight? Oh right. They were actually eight and I was the only old soul living in a young body here. Right, right. How could I forget?

Right! I was and old soul. That means that I should be mature enough to deal with this. 

I stood up straight and tried to regain my composure. And then I started crying. 

"M-my dear-" my father started to say but I cut him off as I cried even more. I bawled my eyes out as if my whole life depended on it, which was quite literal as of this moment.

"Father! T-they bullied m-me . . . " I sobbed and covered my face. "T-they chased me a-around while I w-was j-just . . . hic . . . admiring t-the f-flowers."

I peeked out from my hands and sure enough, the prince and Jamie were indignant. 

"LIAR!"

"That's absolute nonsense!"

Oh dear. I had to cry even more. 

The king started to rub his temple as if he could not stand the noise anymore- me crying out so loud and the two boys yelling about how preposterous was I- so he stood up and said, "Silence." He glared at the two boys and then looked back at me. "Now, child, tell me your story again."

I rubbed at the corners of my eyes. "Well, y-your majesty, I was just looking at the flowers and all of a sudden, they appeared and started accusing me of being a vampire. I told them that that was not true and that vampires do not exist. However, they would not believe my words and started chasing me. Of course, your majesty, I had to run because I was scared and then I got tired of running and then," I paused for a moment to catch my breath. "And then, I threw my shoe at them. Well, in my case, it was really self-defense. After all, I was just a helpless little girl and they were two athletic boys."

"B-but-" Prince Cedric started to say something but the king shushed him. Slowly pacing down the steps, King Thereon looked quite amused as he stood in front of me. 

"Self-defense, you say?" He mused.

I nodded. "Yes, your majesty. I thought that they were so athletic since young boys receive knight training at a young age. A mere shoe should have been easily dodged, that is what I have thought but it turns out, I was wrong. Their reflexes were still way off," I reported and then I sighed deeply. "I am terribly sorry, your majesty."