One Wild Ride

Chapter 2

"David!" I call as I walk into the dining room.

He looks up from the newsletter he's reading and smiles at me. "Well, someone is rather chipper this morning. What is it, sir?"

"I have a plan."

David cocks his head and his smile slips from his face. "For what?"

"I'll discuss it with you after breakfast. It pertains to the heir," I tell him as I take my seat at the table next to him.

He nods and picks up his cup of tea. "I assume this is very important?"

"Extremely."

***

After breakfast, David and I make our way to my chambers. Once we're inside, I shut the door behind us and lean against it. I can hardly contain my excitement. "David, you're never going to believe what ideas you sparked last night."

"What are they, sir?" he asks with curiosity in his eyes.

Before speaking, I take a deep breath in to regain my composure. "Prior to telling you, I'd like you to stop calling me "sir". Call me by my name, David. Come on now, we're friends!"

"But-"

"No buts, squire! Speaking of which, I will no longer call you squire. Unless in a formal setting, of course. But now that Mother and Father are gone, I no longer have to respect that wish of theirs," I explain and make the sign of the cross. "But onto the plan!"

"Go ahead, James, tell me already," David says giddily.

I laugh and say, "I think you mean Jamie."

"Excuse me?"

With a grin, I walk over to David. "From here on out, I'll be known as Jamie. And from now until I die, I will be reigning as your queen."

David scratches his head and looks at me, his face full of confusion. "I'm not sure I'm following."

"The civilians don't know of my existence. I can be queen if I want to be. All I need to do is put on a gown and some fake breasts and bam! There you have it, your new queen," I explain.

"James, I think you're missing something in your plan," David says.

My mouth droops into a frown. "And what would that be?"

"You can't take the throne until you're eighteen, unless you marry someone," David replies, fidgeting with his vest.

"What? That can't be right. I reviewed the royal rules–"

He shakes his head and says, "I'm afraid you didn't look close enough. You must marry if you're under eighteen. And unfortunately, you just turned seventeen. This means.. You will have to marry a man."

My eyes widen in shock. "I have to what?"

"You're going to have to marry a man from preferably a neighboring kingdom—that's easiest. And then you'll be able to become queen. It might be slightly hard to hide from your relatives, although most of them don't know about you as well, correct?" David says.

"Precisely. This can work. This will work. None of my relatives will be alerted. The council has been disbanded as of last month. The only people that will know about this are those within the castle walls," I say, thinking out loud. Pacing the room, I start to snap my fingers.

David walks up to me and places his hands on my shoulders, stopping me. "You're stressing yourself out. Calm down."

"I cannot calm down! If I don't do this, the kingdom will continue to decline and it'll be all my fault," I say. "David, find me some eligible suitors now, please."

He opens his mouth to speak but then clamps it shut. He nods and opens the door and walks down the long hallway. I watch as he turns into the study and I close the door after he disappears within the room.

"Shit!" I yell, kicking my desk chair.

With no exposure to romance—with females or males—I don't know how to feel about marrying a man. Unfortunately, though, this is the only way I can keep my dim-witted female relatives away from the throne. What the fuck do I do?

The only thing I can do is wait for David to come back with potential people I can marry. This is the only way. David needs to hurry his shit up, though.

No, no. It's okay, I can wait. I can wait.

Fuck this, I'm going to go insane. How the hell am I going to hide my gender from a guy that I'm going to marry? Maybe this isn't the best idea.

No!

I must stand my ground. This afternoon, I will make my debut as the new queen of Fraldain. Once David gets back, I'll have him alert everyone within the castle, and then I'll get ready.

Feeling rather ambitious now, I head to my mother's chambers and go through her wardrobe. What do women wear anyway? I find a high-cut dress and hold it up to my chest in front of the mirror. "This could work," I say to myself.

I take the dress back to my chambers and lay it down on my bed. Upon further inspection, I realize that my shoulders might be too wide for it. Oh well, it will have to do.