Forced Royal

Castle?

Chapter 3- Castle?

I sit in the backseat of a luxurious car. White crisp leather seats. Windows so shiny and clear that you have to squint just to look out them. The soldiers just shoved me in here and left me alone with whoever is driving this thing. I look up front to the driver. A lady in a black vest and long black pants with shiny black heels. She seems about twenty and she has auburn hair wrapped up in a bun. There are several buttons near the drivers seat. She has her LivingSquare in her hand and programs it to the vehicle. Several buttons pop up on her LivingSquare that I've never noticed when I've driven Miles's truck. How you drive with vehicles now, you tilt your LivingSquare the way ancient people would use a "steering wheel". They always have to program their LivingSquare, though, before starting the car.

The driver presses a button with a sun on it, "What's that?" I ask.

"Flying," she says. Suddenly, the car jerks and I see that we are off the ground going at full speed. I squint and look out the windows. Trees and buildings zoom past us. I've seen flying cars, but even the high-class citizens of England could barely properly afford this.

My eyes widen, "How high are we going?!"

"Oh, not too high, Ms. Touris! Just above the buildings, not to the clouds," she assures me.

I nod; I tap my foot against the floorboard anxiously. Where are they taking me? Is Jasper safe? I hope Miles and Dylan will be okay. Will I be okay? I hope so, but I rarely get in trouble at school, then how am I getting in trouble with the government? I stare down at my sparkly flats. Tip. Tap. Tip. Tap. Tip. Tap.

The driver tilts her LivingSquare sharply to the right, and I get slammed into the door. [We don't wear seat belts anymore. A decade ago they made cars wreck proof. They made it if you started to drive recklessly the car would immediately do auto-pilot and register everything for you. If you needed to eat in the car for a while, you would just put it on auto-pilot or it would automatically do it for you for that amount of time! If your car was being difficult and wouldn't do auto-pilot, you press a "Help" button on your LivingSquare and there are people in an office that will pretty much take over your program on your LivingSquare and drive it for you as long as you needed.]

I rub my arm that got slammed into the door, a small bruise is already starting to come up.

"Prepare for landing, Ms. Touris!"

I sit back up in my seat, bracing myself. We dip down fiercely, and I shut my eyes tight, clenching my fists. My stomach feels like it is doing summersaults and flips. Then we slow down, easing onto the ground.

I slowly open my eyes and relax my hands, "...wow."

"I know, right? I always love it when Queen Chelsea tells me to drive the car! It brings me a huge adrenaline rush!" She says with her eyes wide and bright.

"Um, did you just say... Queen Chelsea?!" I ask, shocked.

She nods, "Yes, she's the one who sent the soldiers and I to come and retrieve you."

"Why does she-"

The driver chick interrupts, "They will explain everything..." She nods to a plump woman who seems to be in her fifties out the window. The woman has red hair with a hint of gray in it. The driver exits and opens my door.

"Thanks..." I look at the plump woman. She's in a black pencil skirt and a white blouse. Her hands folded in front her and she smiles at me like she's known me forever. I look around and where we are, blows me away.

"Welcome to the royal families' castle!" She says.

I look around at the elegant stone that makes up towers and entrances. We seem to be in a courtyard, in the middle of the property. I take a deep breath, and I smell sweet honeysuckle. Beautiful flowers surround us. Daisies, Hydrangeas, Begonias, Roses, and more I don't even recognize, engulf the courtyard. I gasp. The garden is one of the most beautiful sights I think I've ever seen. There are apple trees, pear trees, and plum trees. Fountains and birdbaths trickle with water.

The plump woman comes over to me and sets her hand on my back, leading me to a lavish entrance into the castle. Everything you'd ever dreamed of was in there, possibly even more. It was so overwhelming, I think I started trembling.

The woman leads me through several corridors. Her posture is so proper, whereas mine... Not so much. Her heels make clicking sounds through the halls.

"Now, darling, my name is Bethany, and I will be helping you through the castle! Now this is the most extravagant castle that England has, and it's the main castle! There are several castles throughout England that the royals travel to when their doing certain duties throughout their country, but this is the one they live in when they aren't traveling," she says to me, smiling.

"Well... Nice to meet you," I say timidly, "I'm Ari, or Arizona to be exact but most call me Ari."

"Pleasant to meet you, and everyone here calls each other by their real name. No nicknames, so you will be called Arizona," she explains.

I nod slightly, and she leads me to these huge doors with a painting of books on it.

"Go on in, darling! I will wait out here for you," she says kindly.

"Why do I have to go in there?" I ask.

"You just do, and you will find out about this situation. Now, please go."

"But-"

She opens the door for me, "Go. Queen's orders."

I decide to shut up, and I walk in shyly. I find myself in a huge library that looks like it contains every book imaginable. It is shaped in circle, and there's a dome above me with gorgeous stained-glass windows of royal designs of crowns, scepters, dresses, throwns, and much more. I stare at it for a good bit, and then on the other side of the room sits a woman in her early forties in a big desk. She has light brown hair, hazel eyes, and a crown on her head. She wears a huge dull pink dress that has grey swirls on it. She was typing on a LivingSquare.

She looks up at me and immediately, a smile crosses her face. This woman, is no ordinary woman. She's Queen Chelsea.

I stand before the Queen of England.

A/N: Thank you to ML_Brooks for making this lovely fan art at the top :)