The Queen's Empire|Story of Luzhiah

1. The beginning

They say every princess needs to smile, wave, and look their best for the people. Strict rules and etiquette are taught for them to follow. It's not all fancy tea parties, extravagant balls, and beautiful dresses. It's a battle, a battle to survive the dark secrets of royalty while serving the people.

|17 years ago: Avilandrah Kingdom; THE EMERALDS' household|

"Hurry! Madam Emeralds is going into labor!" one maid shouted, as the others ran back and forth preparing for the birth of the second heir of the household.

"It hurts! Ahh! Help me!" Athena cried, clutching her stomach in pain. She was brought into a big spacious room as the midwives came to help her give birth.

"Madam, I need you to take a deep breath, and push as hard as you can ok?" The midwife asked as she prepare to Catch the baby.

"Ahhh!" Athena shouted as she held the hand of her lady in waiting, nervously standing beside her bed.

Madam Emeralds breathed heavily due to exhaustion, her sweat all over her face and body, she saw the midwife approaching with a baby in her hands. Madam Emeralds smiled and took a breath of relief, then her vision got blurry and she passed out.

|An hour later|

Athena woke up and saw the sight of her husband, General Andrei,  sitting beside her, when he saw that she was awake, there was a hint of relief in his eyes.

"Your Grace...I gave birth to your child.." she softly said, as she reached out to touch his cheek, the general patted his wife's head.

"You did a good job!" he praised. He then took the baby into his arms and said, "My little girl is born! we shall celebrate!"

At that, they named their daughter Luzhiah Emeralds.

The very next day, nobles from different parts of the country were invited to witness the celebration of the Emeralds household. Upon the triumphant return of the General and the successful birth of his daughter.

"Lady Luzhiah of the Emeralds Household, such a graceful name don't you think?" the general said as he tucks the baby into her crib.

Athena and her older son Benjamin are getting ready for the ball. "Your Grace, Luzhiah should make an appearance later, isn't it too early to put her to sleep?" Athena asked.

"Yes, but my sweet child is sleepy so she must be put to sleep. She could just sleep at the entire ball and everyone would still find her cute." General Andrei laughed.

And he's right, although all she did was sleep, the visitors all found her adorable and she gained a lot of gifts from the noble families across the country.

"We are very grateful for your support. Together, we must do our best to protect our Kingdom and our country from the threats of our enemies!" He announced garnering cheers from the people.

But not all are happy for the Emeralds Family, At a palace, in the northern part of the country, Sits a young boy, 7 years of age, dressed in an extravagant outfit, a suit made with gold fabric and gems sewn into it. He sat on the throne giving a deadly aura. A man in black entered the throne and bowed to him.

"Greetings, Your Majesty, crown prince Lufian,"

"News?" Lufian coldly asked.

"The General has returned, he held a ball for the celebration of his return and the successful birth of his daughter," Leon reported.

Lufian smirked, "The nerve of him to celebrate when he's nothing but a failure! I believe I should give him a gift!" Leon frowned upon seeing the smug look on the young prince's face.

"Your Majesty, the general has done a great deed for reclaiming our land in the east, the king is happy because of his work right now...I don't think it's wise to-"

Before the man can continue, Lufian cut him off. "Don't worry, I'm not gonna harm them, I'm just gonna scare them."

Lufian stood up and turned to leave. A few steps forward then he stopped. "Make sure to do your job correctly, if you don't want to be the next dinner of my pet."

"Maids! read me a bedtime story!" Lufian said excitedly as he went to his bedroom.

The man looked at the side of the hall and saw a fierce tiger looking at him, at that, he shook his head and muttered, "The King brought a young monster to Avilandrah, I wonder what future this kingdom awaits..." he then took his leave to cause trouble in the glorious celebration of the Emeralds.

|The Emerald Household|

The people are busy celebrating, music is played and nobles are dancing, The Emeralds Family are sitting in their chairs, "Benjamin, don't you want to join the other kids in the garden?" Athena asked her son, but Benjamin shook his head.

"No thank you mother, I'd rather stay here and read a book to my little sister." Benjamin went back to reading the book.

"I'm sure Luzhiah would be happy if she learned that her big brother chose to read her a book instead of playing with the other children," Athena said joyfully.

General Andrei smiled and said, "Of course, but I hope you could read well...the music is quite loud."

"It's fine father, it's not as-"

Suddenly there was screaming, the windows of the ballroom were shattered as men in black suits broke in and had their swords out, and the people ran in panic. The General drew his sword and readily fought some of the men. One of them sprinted in the direction of little Luzhiah. Benjamin immediately closed his book and went in front of his mother and sister, Although he is just 10 years old at that time, Benjamin knew that he was the only guy around to protect them because his father is busy fighting off the others.  But Athena put her arms around him and asked the man.

"What do you want? If you want our treasures I could give you that, but please don't hurt my children, " Athena said as she signaled the maids to take Benjamin and Luzhiah away. The man drew his sword and stabbed Athena in her side. He dropped a box before he signaled the others and the remaining ones and they ran away.

"My Wife? Are you ok? Where are the kids?" Andrei asked as he ran towards Athena, She held into her husband as the blood coming out from within her makes her weak. Andrei dropped his sword, he wrapped his arms around his wife when he saw that she was seriously injured.

"Quick! Go and find a doctor!" He commanded his guards. He then asked the others to go after the assassins.

Andrei helped Athena to go to their room, as the doctors came to check her injuries. He stood outside the door with a thought in his mind, "Who could have done try this? More importantly, Why?"

He decided to go and investigate the matter himself. He then went back to the ballroom and examined the place. He saw a box laying on the floor.

The General opened the box cautiously, and it was just a piece of paper inside. He opened it and there was just one sentence in the paper,

"Did you like my gift?"

-L

Andrei furiously gripped his sword and left the room, he went to the room where Athena is confined. "Look after her, and tell the guards to keep their guards up!" He asked the maids to take care of his wife. After doing that, he went outside, mounted his horse, and rode his way to the palace.