Chapter 6: The New Queen

The day of the coronation comes. I'm in my chambers on a dress platform as Silvia and a maids team are busing around me getting ready for the event. When they finish, I'm in a turquoise blue ball gown with white flowers that go down the dress at an angle from the top of one side and end at the bottom of the opposite side. They get my shoes on me, then I step down from the platform. They fix my hair up in a bun, putting a crown of flowers on the top of my head. Once they finish with my hair, they grab my cloak that is black as a midnight sky with no moon or stars in the sky and has white fur trim around the edges. Then they leave me alone in the room to wait for the royal guard to come to escort me to the throne room.

After a while, there is a knock at the door, then Danny walks through it. When he looks at me, he freezes. I look at him, saying, "Is it too much? I feel like it's too fancy for me…" he walks over, saying, "No, I think it suits you nicely." He takes my hand, smiling. "but I need to talk to you about something…" the door opens, interrupting him. Then jack walks in, saying, "It's time, let's go" I walk out into the hallway. Flahera and Ravensha and the whole royal guard are all outside my door. I take a corner of my dress in one hand and back held straight. We walk through the winding halls once we reach the throne room doors. My retainers walk in first. Trumpets blare, the doors open, soldiers are lined up in two lines, and other kingdoms' leaders fill the room along with all the villagers.

I saunter into the room through the guards. I see my retainers at the other end of the room, and when I get there, I kneel down. Jack is the one who stands in front of me. He then speaks, " do you promise to uphold the laws of your people to rule them justly and kindly?" I answer, "Indeed." Jack continues, "And do you swear to protect the land of your people from any enemy and lay down your life if necessary." I respond, "for my people, I would cross the stars above and destroy the moon its self." Then Flahera takes the crown of flowers off my head, and Ravensha puts a crown on my head that is made to look like gold flowers. Then Danny comes over with a gold staff with a turquoise gem on the top. He hands it to me. I hesitate to take it. I look to my retainers, knowing everything will work out because I have them to help me no matter the challenge or struggle were in this together. I take the staff. I stand up, looking at them. Then jack says, "long live queen Lutilia Fletia Respiria of Moonhaven" everyone responds, "Long Live the Queen," they all bow in unison. Today is the day of a new era, the day my world changes forever. There is no going back, and I don't want to.

When night comes, we have a ball in the ballroom. I'm standing at the front of the room people are dancing all around. People happy laughing if you didn't know it, you wouldn't be able to tell that we are still at war with the Dark Warlock. Then, Danny says, "Can I have a dance" he holds out a hand. I look at him, smiling, taking his hand. We walk out to the dance floor. We dance together for a while. Once the song is finished, we leave the party to Danny leads the way to the garden. Once we get there, he turns to look at me starting to speak. "I'm sorry about your mother. I hadn't had the chance to talk to you. Everyone was trying to give you your space when it happened." I look at him. Saying, "I understand that, but I hope that you know that I plan on ending this war no matter the cost. We have lost too much in this, and it's not my plan to get vengeance. But it's my way to protect my people." Danny looks at me smiling, then kneels down, speaking true, "I will stand by you no matter the cost I have to pay. I will protect your dreams of this kingdom being at peace once again. Even if the world is against you and won't help, I will still be by your side till the end." I look at him and say, "stand up." he looks at me, confused, so say again, "Stand up…and kiss me already." He stands to look at me, saying, "lu…your majesty…" I interrupt him, "don't treat me any differently than you did before please, I may be the new queen. However, I still want my closest friends to treat me like they always did." then he looks away. I take his hand in mine. He still won't look at me, so I speak again, "What happened. What changed the way you talk to me the way you look at me." He's still not looking at me as I continued. "I jumped off a rooftop balcony to save my people, to save you, from me, and now you won't even look at me, so please talk to me." He still won't look at me, but he speaks, "Your mother said that I shouldn't ask you. In fact, she ordered me to never talk to you like I used to. That was her last request." I look at him, then I say, "well, then I order you to ignore her order. I am you, queen, now." That makes him look at me. He says, "I wanted to ask you to marry me. But the more I think about it, the more I believe that I'm not right for y…" I cut him off, saying, "I'm the only one who can decide that. Not you, not my dead mother or father, or a single person in the village. So put faith in yourself, then you will see what I see. A kind, caring man who jumped in front of a magical blast to save my life and the kind man who I learned to split my soul to save. The one I jumped off a balcony for. I fell for that and nothing else." When he looks at me again, he looks at me with uncertainty in his eyes and something else. Then he starts to speak. "I don't know what to do because I know that your people would never accept me by your side, and I don't want to hurt you. So just leave it be, please." He starts to walk off, so I grab his wrist. It causes us to both fall to the ground. He looks at me. I speak, " if you're worried about if my people will accept you, then don't. If you're concerned about the knowledge needed to be at my side, I will teach you what is needed or find someone to show you the way. I can do anything to help you. I am the queen now. If you stay with me, I can make sure that no one ever doubts you…doubts….us" he looks at me. Then looks away, saying, "I don't want to be in your way. People will go against you all the time and even more so if we are to be together. I couldn't live with myself if something happened…" I slap him lightly on the chest, and that quiets him. I say, "If you are afraid that something is going to happen, the more you try to prevent it, the more likely it's going to happen. You cant live a life of what-ifs you will end up living in fear for the rest of your life if you live like that, so make a choice, and if you don't make it, then I will. I'll…I'll send…you….home. To...to your world, because you can't live in fear all the time here, you have to be able to have courage because there will always be a danger around the corner. Conspiracy will always be around me since I am the queen. There is always going to be someone trying to take my place as ruler. Just because I wasn't the previous queen's daughter by blood. So make your choice and make it now." He looks away, so I get up and head back to the party. I speak. Still, I don't look at him, "make your choice by the end of the night, or I will make it myself." I head back to the party.

Once I get there, I sit in the moonlight silver throne with dark purple cushions, and there next to my throne is the one for the future king for if I choose one or not. The music rings throughout the place and fills my ears as I sit there thinking to find a solution for everything because that is my new job as queen. Everyone comes by one by one to congratulate me on becoming queen. Then some random villager comes up to me, and when it's almost too late, I realize that they have a small dagger hidden in their hand as they approach. When they get there in front of me, they take a single swipe, and at the same time, I speak my spell "torpelet," and I appear behind them with my staff in hand, and I knock them out with it. Jack runs up and takes the trespasser away to the dungeons until I can make my judgment. The party continues as if nothing happened, so I sit back down, and when I do, Danny walks up and kneels in front of me, saying, "I have made my decision." I nod, waiting for a response, so he continues. "I'm going to stay," the room goes silent as he speaks, "I'm going to stay here with you through the challenges and hardships." This makes me smile, so I hold out a hand, and he takes it as I speak, "Then take your place by my side and rule with me as my equal because together we can accomplish anything. Once the Dark Warlock is done forever, a new era will begin. It will cause the sky to rejoice, for the Darkness that haunts this land will forever be vanquished." he looks to me than the seat still holding my hand. He moves to the seat and sits down. Everyone cheers, and he just looks at me smiling, and I know that what is to come will be the fight of our lives that many of us will not survive, but we will all win for sure.

The next day I wake up and head to the dining hall. When I get there, I grab some food and sit with my retainers and Danny. I look to them and say, "The Dark Warlock is still a threat to this land. We need to develop a plan as quickly as possible to defeat him and free our land from his grip. The only problem is that he has the sunstone, which is one of the most powerful stones he created, along with the soul stone, which is the most powerful due to how much he sacrificed to create it." I look at everyone in the room and saying, " I know this is a grim topic for us to discuss first thing in the morning, but we need to start coming up with ideas on how to defeat him once and for all for a better future for everyone. I will be taking ideas from everyone starting after this meal, so everyone be thinking and enjoy this meal." I start eating, and through the chatter, once everyone is finished eating, we all head out ways except Danny, who comes with me to my study. When we get to my research, I go over to my desk, and Danny looks at me with questioning eyes, so I speak to him. "Do you need any help? I can show you how to fill out the paperwork. If you need help, I understand if you don't understand it completely, the work can be very confusing." I look down at my papers, scanning the writing quickly. It says that the village to the north has been under attack by the Dark Warlock's soldiers, and they need help. then I look to Danny, and he says, "Well, that's some of it, yes." I write a note on the paper to remind myself to send supplies and soldiers. I look to him, saying. "Do you have the papers?" he pulls them out and says, "I don't understand what I'm supposed to do" I smile as I take the small stack of papers saying, "Don't worry, I'll show you. Come over and grab a seat." He walks to the same side of the desk and sits down, looking at the papers with me, and I start to read the form aloud.

"Leaders of MoonHaven, our villages are being taken over by the generals of the Dark Warlock. The children have been taken from our homes along with all the men capable of fighting. We need help to rescue them and free our village." I look to him and say, "we have a couple of options. We can either send supplies, soldiers, go in person or send scouts to survey the issue." He looks at me and says, "What would you do?" I look over the document rereading it to myself, then speak. "Honestly, I would send a scout ahead while we pack to leave ourselves. The generals aren't people you mess with." he nods, then he says, "ok, what would do I next?" I smile, saying, "You write the order right here," I point to the bottom of the paper continue. "then you sign your name here. This means that you approve of your decision." He does as I say, and once he's done, I sign my name next to his and say, " there now we just give this to Richards, and he will give this to Ravensha, and she will choose a scout to send." Then Richards and Silvia both walk-in with a tea tray and an empty one. I pick up the finished documents and set them on the empty tray. Richards leaves to send out Danny and my orders. I take the cup Silvia is handing me full of tea and take a sip. Danny also takes a cup, unsure of what he should do with his new role here.

When we finished our snacks and work, we leave our study and head to the library. We walk through the halls hand in hand through the winding corridors to the other side of the castle. When we reach the doors, the others are in there, and I can hear them talking to each other about the oncoming battle. I open the door with a creak, and they all turn to look at who was coming in, and once they see, it's me, their queen. Danny, their future king, they stand at attention, and I wave my hand, and they all relax and say, "Ravensha sent her best man to scout. When would you like to leave for the village?" I look at them and saying, " We leave tonight by the cover of the stars. This will hide our attack, and we will hit hard. Fast Jack will lead a frontal assault to distract the enemy.

In contrast, I will lead everyone else to save the hostages and hope they are still alive and unharmed." They all nod and leave to prepare for the battle to come. Danny says, "What should we do to help them" I smile, saying, "Follow me" We leave together through the winding halls down to the kitchens. I look to Silvia, saying, "Prepare some food to take with us for our journey. The captive people from that village will need it when we rescue them." Then I walk off. Danny walks with me to the next destination to ensure the plans are running as smoothly as possible.

When the preparations are complete, we mount our horses, me on midnight and Danny on another horse. Everyone is in their armor except me because I'm going to sneak around the village to save the captive villagers. When we get to the forest, we ride towards the village. I dismount midnight and tie the reins to a tree. I take my cloak and pull my hood over my head. Danny looks at me, saying, "Are you sure you want to go in alone to save those people" I smile, saying, "yes, I need you to lead my distraction. I will be able to move much quicker alone. Besides, I won't get caught if I'm alone. We can't risk the villager's lives, which is why I need you to trust me; please, I can handle myself. I did it long before we were a team." Then I run off into the woods until I reach the edge of the forest. I kneel there to better blend in with the forest's darkness. I see the village up ahead then my men walking up to the gates. I work my way towards the village up and over the newly built gate. I find the house of one of my followers and go in. The villager inside is a veteran soldier that left when my mother died. He smiles, then his smile falls when there is a knock on the door; he rushes to hide me from sight, then answers the door. They talk for a bit. When they are finally done, I hear the door click shut. I sit for a minute to analyze my surroundings. Then come out from my hiding spot. When I see a familiar face. I look at the man saying, "I need your help one last time, my old friend" he stops for a second, speaking carefully, "what can I do for you, milady" I smile. Saying, "I need to know where they are keeping the villagers they took. Would you happen to know where they are?" He just nods his head and points to the village town hall. I nod, then head out the same way I came in, speaking my spell "Reggad," a small dagger appears in my hand. I walk up to the first guard. I take him out with careful precision, then the next, and the next, I take out all the guards around the town hall. I hear my distraction team coming then say, "You're late. You were supposed to be here a while ago" I smile, then Danny says, "how did you…?" he looks so confused. My dagger disappears, then I say, " did you guys handle the stragglers?" they just nod.

When we make sure everything is cleaned up and the villagers are well, I give them orders to aid us in our quest to vanquish the Dark Warlock. Once they agree, I leave 50 soldiers behind to train the villagers on protecting themselves and their village. These are trying times. I don't want to force anyone to fight, but I will encourage them to protect themselves. I don't want them waiting for help to come every time because one day, help may not arrive on time. Once we know everything is situated, we get ready to leave and head back to the castle. When we see the castle start to come into view, the sun is starting to rise. I hear Ravensha say, "maybe we should stop for a moment's rest before heading to the castle?" I sit there on my horse thinking about the distance, then say, " yes, that is a wonderful idea."

We are all on edge right now because we all can feel it. The Dark Warlock is planning to end this war and soon with or without the stones.