The castle glowed in the morning sun. An orange shine glisten the grey silver bricks. The castle casts a large shadow on the town of Rante behind it. The town is bordered by a tall wall with guards patrolling in shifts. The wall has four watch towers on the four corners of the wall. On the east side there is a long forest with a river connecting to the west continent. Rante is situated in the north of the continent connecting to Amanecer to the east, Argenti to the south and Vai in the East. In the middle stands the Empire which is created by the alliance of the surrounding kingdoms. The Empire has a strange tradition. A successor from the other three kingdoms can challenge the heir to the High throne and become the next successor. Due to this the Princes of different countries travel out of their countries comfort to fulfill the requirements of challenging the High Prince of the Empire. It has been a long time but none of the other princes of the three castles are able to defeat the high princes born from the empire since the second ruler. The Princes from the empire on the other hand are labeled as the strongest and the most cunning opponents they are rumored to even stare down their opponent in the ring.

They are made to train hard at a very young age.

The Empire hardly seen war due to the strong bond in-between the kingdoms under it. The kingdom of Rante makes the least contribution for the war in the Empire; rather it contributes in agriculture and commerce. As a prince Louis Leopold was once a well known leader of his squad one of the strongest warriors in the batch. However he lost to the current Ruler of the Empire in the challenge and settled on ruling Rante instead. He married his first wife Queen Arrosa he only daughter of the Duke Pritelli of the house Monique. They were blessed with a son Nicholas Leopold. The Queen unfortunately was of weak health, the birth of the prince was full of complications. She got weaker and weaker in the following years. When the Prince was only three years old the Queen left their world. Heartbroken King Louis hugged his son tight as he bid farewell to his beloved Queen in the middle of the night.

The king married again this time to another daughter of the house of Monique. He grudgingly accepted the proposal at the continuous nagging of his ministers. “The kingdom needs a Queen your majesty.” They shouted in the throne room.” This time the Queen was a distant niece of the Duke from the house of Monique Regina. At the age of five Prince Nicholas left Rante with a small group of his own soldiers. The prince grew up to be silent and calculative. He bowed to his father and left for his journey. The young child had a hidden sorrow look in his eyes. He felt abandoned by his father. The new Queen was not a loving mother but she took care of her duties as a Queen but she still failed to get close to the King and the Prince. She is avoided till it is necessary for her to be present in their presence. To her the King felt like someone who is cold and made of stone. She found it hard to believe that her cousin was happily married to this person. “Maybe her death made him as such.” She thought starring at the large portrait of the previous Queen on the wall. The previous Queen had a smile on her face with tenderness in her eyes. Regina sighed and walked away from the long of Portraits. This wall has the portraits of Queens of the past of Rante on the opposite side was the portrait of the kings. The walls are draped with golden color drapes around each portrait. The floor had golden carpet till the end of the large hallway. She motioned to her ladies in waiting to follow her. She went through the list of the daily agenda in her mind while heading to her office. There will be a convoys coming from one of the neighboring continent for a proposal for a trading pass in the Empire.

The next few days the castle was really busy from the Queen side to the King. People run with papers and flowers, new decorations are added around the castle to new menus being created. The kitchen became a place of chaos. The head chef was used to one type of recipe he had to change it another. He was getting pissed with all the changes around him. “This is going to make a lot of work for my workers.” He thought being irritated while whisking the dough in his mixing bowl. All around him were bulks of ingredients to be stored and some early prepared, sauces needed to be created and stored. His temper went worse bit by bit a frown built up on his face and roughly put down the bowl on the table with a bang sound. “How can one person handle all this pressure by himself?” He put two hands on his hips and looked around his chaotic kitchen. “But we still cannot give up now can we head chef?” came a voice behind him. He turned back, his body shook he quickly bend down and bowed for the Queen. Everyone else in the kitchen followed his example. “Your highness, please forgive my words I was just ….” Regina did not look pissed or troubled by the recent outburst of the chef. “I know you are having trouble and it is a very small time for us to prepare everything. But we need to manage the situation somehow.”

The Chef stood up and kept his head down somehow it did not completely satisfy him. Regina surveyed the whole kitchen. ‘It is a mess and at this rate nothing will be done properly we need someone to guide it.’ She thought looking at her ladies in waiting. She thought of using Maria standing at the end but it also bothered her that she might hurt the Chefs pride. She took a seat in the table, ‘It might be hard but I need to make truce.’ “Maria, please take notes.” Maria quickly moved forward taking out her pen she stood beside Regina. The kitchen workers all stood at the side looking at the queen. They whispered hiding their mouth. “What will she do now?” Regina ignored the whispers behind her and asked the Chef to take a seat on the other side of the table. His assistants came to stand behind him. “I am sorry this is hard for you but if we assess the situation we might get a solution to this. Please tell me all the problems and requirements one by one. The mood in the kitchen came down a bit. Some smiled with relief others looked a bit shocked as if not expecting this from the Royals.

The next hour the Regina listened to the complaints of the kitchen staff. She asked Maria to note down some of the points and suggested some of her own solutions. Some were agreed but others took a long time, she took a long time and finally they were able to come up with a system. She breathed out a bit. “I will shift some of the hands from the main hall to you temporarily I hope that will help for now. The rest please wait for a bit. I will ask for the extra ingredients they will get delivered by tomorrow.” Maria took this chance to point out, “My lady this might hamper the budget a bit.” Regina nodded her head, “Let us try to get as much as possible we will find a solution to that in the office.” The dismissal and her eyes gave a sign not to discuss about it in the present company. Maria quickly stepped back, “Yes, My Queen.” The Queen left the kitchen with her ladies and walked back to her room. She settled down on the big sofa. “Please make us all tea and some refreshments.” She looked at one of her ladies who bowed and walked out of the room. She motioned others to settle down in front of her. Maria still looked troubled and reviewed the notes, ‘she must be looking at how to decrease the budget.” Regina smiled at her, “Maria as I said for now let us use all that is given. If required we will take some from the personal account.” Her ladies were shocked to hear her words, “My Lady but you will need that for the rest of the year.” Regina closed her eyes and leaned back, “Let us not think about it now. I want to count on the plan first. We might be able to avoid the crisis.” The ladies were unaware of the fact that the butler of the palace was close to the open window beside them.

He listened to their conversation and walked away without making a sound. He made his way to a room. It was a library; the King was standing in front of a bookshelf and looking at a scroll in his hand. He announced his presence, “You highness I have the report for today.” He bowed low and waited for the King to give his permission. Louis continued to look at the scroll in his hand. “What new news you have for me?” The butler tried not to look at the Kings face. He kept his head and stood up still keeping his head a little bowed down.” Nothing is out of place Sir. Only there was a chaos handled by the Queen today.” Louis looked directly at his Butler his gaze could make anyone weak in their feet. This time it was the same it made his butler weak to his knees. “Nothing unusual you say. She did not try to contact anyone outside the castle?” He shook his head still keeping his head down. “No your Majesty, the Queen just performs her daily duties and walks back to her quarters.” Louis looked at him with a sharp eye one more time and dismissed him. “Continue with your surveillance if there is anything that seems out of place report to me.”

He quickly left the room. It is as if that is the only way to survive with his life. “You became a really cold hearted one Louis.” A figure came out of the secret passage way from the corner shelf grinning. Louis put his chin on his right hand, “The rebels are increasing day by day why I do not have any news about the place from where it starts, Svero?” Svero is one of the special knights of Rante; their job is to survey the town for hidden crimes around the country. “You have to give me some time your majesty it is getting hard to find the inkling. However the house of Monique did have some connections.” “The Queen does not seem to do anything suspicious no external exchange has been done.” Louis looked at the scroll again. It was found with one of the maids serving the Queen. He walked towards the table and stood close, “Are you sure this was a good idea to survey the Queen she might be innocent after all.” Louis stood up from his desk and stood in front of the window behind his desk the view of the Queens garden was totally visible. He frowned while looking towards it. “Keep observing their movements if the Queen is innocent there will be clues.” “Understood” Svero quickly bowed and left using the same passage way he took to enter the office.

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The envoy arrived early in the morning they were adorned in white attire. They were escorted by the general Lupin and his soldiers. They are accompanying the envoy from the border. The town’s people came out to see the foreigners walk past like a parade. They cheered and welcomed the guests with flowers. They slowly rode their horses to the castle gates. In front of the gate King Louis stood beside Queen Regina to welcome them. They were escorted to their temporary abode. When the guests left to their rooms it gave the Queen chance to leave the place and check if the food is in order. Regina rushed to the dining hall after excusing herself. She walked elegantly till she was out of sight and broke into a run. Maria ran behind her lifting her skirt. Even though they were wearing heels the Queen ran really fast it made her maids struggle to keep up with her. This was a talent Regina had she could run as if her body is light as feather. She called out to Maria panting and a bit far away from her. “Everything is on schedule right? We will not be having any delays I hope.” “Everything… is as scheduled….. Your Highness.” Maria almost screamed panting behind her. ‘Why does she break into a run like this out of nowhere?’ she thought desperately sweating. The rest of the day went very hectic for the Queen and her ladies; however they somehow managed to end the day without any mistake.

Regina leaned back on the sofa all exhausted. She dismissed all her ladies in waiting. ‘Day one done I hope the week goes by well this time.’ She thought closing her eyes. A knock came on her door. One of the maids entered. “Your Highness I came to help you change. Would you like me to draw a warm bath? You look really exhausted. She looked at the maid and sat up straight. “Yes please that would be helpful.” She sighed and took off her shoes. Her feet throbbing with all the running she did. She rubbed her feet as the maids bought in the tub for washing and draws the screen for privacy. Regina let the maids change her to a light chemise. She walked to the tub and settled down on the tub. The warm water made her close her eyes. Stress built up on her shoulders making her feel stiff. She starred at the ceiling, ‘Should I go for a walk tonight?’

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A week later

The envoy left the castle with a proposal which made the King more stressed. There were attacks in the mid road of the traders. They wished to get more security from the Empire. Rante is not a war active country. Louis was thinking of getting more help from the alliance. He felt exhausted with the ongoing meetings in the last few days. The sky is dark with the full moon in the sky. It is bright enough to have a dim view around the castle. His country is getting attacked from various areas. Some of the nobles are not happy with his decisions. Louis walked towards the window with a sigh holding his right shoulder it is getting stiff. He noticed a figure waking in the Queens garden. It was not clear enough to see who it is but he can see that it is a female slowly walking towards the fountain area. His curiosity made him turn around and quickly made his way to the garden. She looked very familiar from the behind.

Louis quickly made his way to the fountain. There she was Regina sitting on the marble corner of the fountain. She quickly stood up and bowed in greetings to the King. He walked a few steps closer to her. “Do you often come here this late?” his eyes looked at her unfocused. Regina looked towards his eyes, “Yes, Your Majesty.” The formality in her voice made him feel uncomfortable. He walked away from her and went close to the fountain. He took a glance at Regina she is looking a bit cold in the night wind. “It is late why there is no escort with you?” Regina panicked looking at his face. ‘Will he get angry and punish anyone?’ she quickly thought of an excuse. “I wanted a little time on my own thus I left without informing anyone. Please do not punish anyone for me mistake.”

He looked at her for sometime the night wind made her shiver while she held her shawl tight around her shoulder. “It is not safe for a Queen to roam around without an escort even around here it can be dangerous.” Louis came closer to her, “Let me walk you back.” This made Regina feel shy. She quickly threw away her dazed face replacing it with a smile and followed him. She walked a few steps back in fear of making any mistakes. The walk back to her chambers went away too fast making her disappointed she wanted to spend more time with him. She sighed in front of the double door and bowed to him, “Thank you for escorting me back your highness.” Her maid quickly came out of the room and bowed towards both of them. Louis nodded back he walked away without a word. Regina somehow bought courage in her and asked out loud. “I know it is late but would his highness like to come in for a cup of tea?” He stopped walking and turned around. “It is late My Queen.” She felt disappointed and looked down at the floor. “Perhaps tomorrow we can arrange for an afternoon tea.” He quickly walked away without giving her any chance to reply. Regina looked at the place where he walked away for a long time. His words kept replaying in her ears she was too shocked to even hear her maid calling her twice. “My lady, are you alright?” she waved her hand in front of the Queen looking worried.

Regina smiled at her, “I am Fine, I was just distracted for a while.” She looked back again at the place where he was standing. “Let us retire for today; it was a nice night to walk in the garden.”