The Queen's First Team Meeting

When morning finally came, Jasper brought Katherine a full breakfast of French toast, fruit, sausage, and milk.

She had not eaten in days, and it was apparent in the way her cheek bones protruded from her face, so he wanted to make sure that she ate and put on some healthy weight again.

With all of the emotions she had swirling around her body, she was not hungry, but she forced everything down so that she and Jasper did not get into yet another argument.

Katherine decided that after the heartbreak she felt last night from their conversation that she couldn't spend any more time focusing on their relationship.

Instead she would throw herself into finding and rescuing her mother, and she wasted no time.

After she ate, she quickly showered and dressed so that she could go meet with the Royal Advisor. She was the Queen now and needed guidance on how to address the public because she had no idea what the next steps were.

An attack on the royal family had left the King dead and the Queen kidnapped, and the princess who was not ready to rule was thrown in head first.

Katherine was not above admitting that she needed help, and she was grateful that there was a team to help her navigate through this difficult time.

As she walked down the hall to the meeting room, Jasper stayed three steps behind her the whole way. Usually they walked together, but after last night they had barely said a word or looked at each other, so Katherine wasn't surprised that he was acting more professional now and less like a companion.

When she reached the room, two guards threw open the double doors to reveal the Royal Advisor named Eric, as well as the heads of the Royal Guard. She wasn't surprised to see them, but she was surprised to see the King of Eos conversing with them from across the table along with his son, Prince Charles Lux, the man to whom Katherine was betrothed.

They all stopped talking upon her arrival, and they all, apart from the King of Eos, stood up and bowed to her.

"Your Majesty," Eric started as he returned to a straightened position, "we've been expecting you."

"But I was not expecting guests. Marcus, Charles, to what do I owe the pleasure?" Katherine said with a hint of annoyance in her voice. She turned to look at them and noticed that the prince looked embarrassed.

The King made a face at her, obviously irritated with her familiarity towards him, and replied, "We came to pay our respects and condolences to the new Queen, and to see if we can offer our assistance."

"Let's cut to the point shall we? You think that now because my father is dead, Charles can marry me and become King so that your family rules two lands in Titanus at once, correct?" she asked as she glared at him.

The King of Eos huffed and put his hand to his chest in a surprise that was so fake that Katherine had to stop herself from rolling her eyes. The man had no shame.

"Like I said, we came to pay our respects, but if you're suggesting that my family can help by acknowledging our contract sooner and having you marry Charles, then I certainly won't object. Charles has been trained and well versed on how to run a country, so he could be of much help to you during this difficult time. It would give you more time to grieve your parents and recover," the King of Eos said.

"My mother is not dead," she spat at him. "In fact, that's the first order of business. I need to discuss with my advisors on how to get her back. Marcus, Charles, thank you for your visit but I'm afraid I have too much to do today to entertain the both of you."

She turned away from them and towards Eric and the guards, hoping that they would take the hint and leave on their own since she had very obviously dismissed them.

The King had started to protest, but his son placed a hand on his arm and shook his head firmly. The King looked like he had a lot to say, and was clearly displeased, but something Charles whispered to him was able to convince him to leave without further bothering Katherine.

Katherine had no idea what Charles said, and she didn't care. She was just happy that those particular thorns were now out of her side.

Once they left and the doors were firmly shut behind them, Jasper approached the table everyone was huddled around and shook his head as he said, "That King really has no shame."

"That's exactly what I was thinking," Katherine replied without looking away from the notes that Eric had sprawled across the table. "What is all of this?" she asked Eric.

"Possible locations of the rebels who took the Queen Mother. We've had soldiers deployed and searching night and day since the attack," Eric replied. "I'm glad you're awake, by the way. If you need us to do more on our own, we can handle it while you recover."

"I'm fine," she said firmly. She sighed and loosened her shoulders as she said in a calmer tone, "I'm sorry. Thank you for the offer, but I need to do this."

"I understand. Well apart from showing you where we are searching, there's not much else we can discuss as far as she is concerned, I'm afraid. We're doing everything we can," Eric said.

Katherine pinched the bridge of her nose. She was so worried about her mom that it was causing her migraines to come back full force. She hadn't had one in a couple of years, but when she used to get them, they would have her in bed all day.

Today was not a day she could rest, so she had to push through.

"What's next on the agenda then? How do we tell our citizens what transpired here the other day? Do they even know that the King is dead?"

"The people don't know. We've managed to keep his death under wraps, and surprisingly the rebels have not broadcast their disgusting victory. We don't know why yet, but I'm sure they have a good reason as to why they aren't gloating," one of the guards said.

"Do you think we can cover this up? Or should we tell the people the truth?" she asked them.

"Of course you need to tell them the truth! Do you really want your first act as the Queen to be lying to them? How will they ever trust you?" Jasper interjected.

Eric gave Jasper a dirty look. If any other person had interrupted them like that, they would have been imprisoned, and Eric did not like how informal Jasper was with them. Eric thought the guard too often forgot his place.

Katherine looked up at him and seemed to consider what he said, which only made Eric's face twist with more disgust.

"Your Majesty, if I may," Eric started with the calmest voice he could muster, "the last thing we want to do is give the people the impression that they have more power than we do. If they start to think that the royal families are easy to overthrow, it will end up not only being a problem for Helios, but for Eos and Selene as well. All of Titanus could be in danger if the rebels get more traction. We can't be seen as weak."

Jasper scoffed and shook his head, which caused Eric to look at him again and say, "Do you want them to kill her as well? Because she would be next. A young woman who has no idea how to rule? Who is vulnerable?" He turned his attention back to Katherine. "I know you are the Queen now, but you are in over your head and you need to listen to what the Royal Guard and I say, not this bumbling idiot."

Katherine felt her face turn hot in embarrassment. She hated to admit it, but Eric was right-- she had no idea how to rule. She had not expected to become a ruler for at least another ten to twenty years, so she had never taken an interest in attending meetings with her parents.

Not only that, but no one apart from her parents had ever scolded her the way Eric just had and she could tell that it would be difficult to earn his respect; and, she didn't care too much for what he said about Jasper either.

Jasper studied the rebels just as much, if not more than Eric and the Royal Guard did, so Katherine trusted his opinion as well.

"How much danger am I in? Be honest with me. Do we know if the rebels have planned another attack? What are we doing to prevent one from happening?" she asked Eric and the guards.

"We have not been able to find any reason to think that they would attack again. They probably need time to recover and gather more resources, which is why it's important that we work hard now to find them while they are the weak ones," one of the guards answered.

"But don't think that means that you aren't in danger. Until we find out how they were able to get in the castle, you aren't safe. Especially if we do have a traitor in our mix," Eric chimed in.

Katherine sucked in a deep breath. This was going to be a long day.