The Queen's Necessity

Chapter 01

On the day of August 1, a princess proposed to me.

At the time, I thought it was a joke. Who ever heard of a princess running up to a random stranger in a street while wearing a wedding dress, introducing herself as a crowned royalty of some country I didn't even know existed but sounded vaguely European, then asking said stranger to "please marry me now!"?

Admittedly, I was creeped out. That so-called princess already had my hand in a steel-like grip, and I stepped back to pull myself away from her. Dangerously captivating and beautiful she may be with her emerald eyes and angular face, that made me want to pull away more. My eyes went wide, looking around frantically for help, only to see obvious cameras placed around the whole area. All of them aimed at us.

I froze, feeling very much like a deer who unwittingly jumped in front of a speeding car.

'Cameras!' The word echoed in my panicked brain. 'A prank!' My mind added. 'America's Funniest Videos?' It tried, then fell short because I was in Canada, and this was not happening in America.

My face flushed red in embarrassment in being caught in an obvious prank video, and I blamed the wireless earphones jabbed in my ears, the song muted due to this stressful situation.

The so-called princess gripped my hand again, a convincing desperation reflected in her eyes. "Please, will you marry me?"

A nervous laugh escaped me. My voice rose an octave higher as the words spilled out. "This isn't very romantic!"

There was a commotion to our left. The double doors of a church opened, revealing people in expensive suits, my attention locking in on the man wearing all white. The groom, most likely. He had a flabbergasted look on his handsome face, jaw dropped and eyes blown wide. "What is this!"

The bride pressed closer to me, reaching in the folds of her gown and somehow producing a small box. She opened it, took a simple ring out, and presented it to me. Her emerald eyes burned in determination, and I couldn't back away any longer.

"I will give you everything you wish for!" She declared, her voice trembling but sure. "If you wish it, I will give you the world. I will give you all of me, and more! I swear by you!"

I felt dizzy. Was that a wedding vow? Did someone just say all that with a straight face? What the heck was happening—!

"Crown Princess, what are you doing!" It was the man who shouted, the apparent groom. The surprise on his face changed into unconcealed rage. He was fuming, stomping his feet as he neared us.

The expression on his face made it more real. I snapped my attention to the woman in front of me, the fear in her eyes flashing before it was replaced with grim resolution. She shoved the ring close to my face and it made me see double when I focused on it.

"Alright!" I shrieked in panic, snatching my hand from her iron grip. Panic also crossed her face as she stumbled. I snagged the ring from her hand and slipped it in my left ring finger. "There! Happy?"

The bride did look happy, a grin splitting her face. Her tense shoulders sagged in relief. "Thank you."

"You!" The groom snarled. His hand shot out, his fingers snaking around the woman's arm and pulling her to him.

She winced.

He was taller than the both of us, but that didn't matter. My hand chopped at his throat with speed even I was surprised by. He choked, of course, the hand he gripped the woman now wrapped around his neck. I pushed him away and kicked his groin, a strangled yelp escaping his (literal) breathless lips.

His knees weakened but did not fall.

I tackled him to the ground.

And that was when the country called Yerenika not only had its crown princess—now Queen—marry a commoner into its line but also had its Queen welcome a woman as her wife to lead their nation.