Princess Trials

Chapter 8

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As we walked into the room, it fell silent. My father stood, and gestured to the seat beside him. The men in the room slowly sat down after seeing my enterance. They knew their behavior was not acceptable in the presence of a princess, and I hated that response more than anything. William released my arm as he came to a stop at his father's side.

His father was King Phillip, King of the closest neighboring Kindgom, in the East. He was a very strong man, with unusually soft features. He was the only man in the room that held me with the regard that I deserved. He had caught me fighting when he came to visit one year, and told me to always defend and protect my Kingdom, for that is what great rulers do. I never forgot that.

I came to a stop beside my father, and sat down in my seat. Brayden followed closely behind me, much like the shadow he was trained to be. He pushed my seat in slightly so that I could gently rest my arms against the table. The men down the table, the Kings of the 3 neighboring Kingdoms had been planning this meeting for months, and were anxious to start.

King Phillip stood up slowly and bowed slightly to me, "Dashing as ever Princessa" He said politely, Breaking the uncomfortable silence. One by one the King's greeted me with a slight bow and a polite smile.

"King Larkson, are you sure we should have your daughter in this conversation? It is not a kind conversation for a lady" Prince Merrick from the southern point commented. He looked slightly at me like a child and went back to talking to my father.

"Princessa Riveara is to be Queen one day, address her as one Merrick" father growled at him. He was fed up with the surrounding Kingdoms. After my brother's mishap, the people treated our Kingdom with slightly less respect. A kingdom lead by a Queen would not be a very reliable Kingdom. Most of the Queens married into their positions and were not considered a part of the politics. It was rather sad actually.

"Enough! We are not here to discuss the Princessa. We are here to discuss the recent uprise. These masked heathens are creating a havoc amongst our people that must be stopped. I don't know about you but I am beyond irritated. Many of my common people have been harmed, and my daughter killed" King George grumbled. He was an old man of much reveere in the Kingdoms, still in charge of the southern edge, and Merrick's father. He lead many great battles and came out victorious in almost every conquest.

"I am tired of these heathens, why aren't our armies hunting them down?!?" yelled the King Thomas of the western edge. "My men have been waiting for months to be sent out. Why has there been no response from the North Larkson"

"This is barbaric, calm down!" William called to the men surrounding our table. It seemed to hold the oppposite effect.

"There is absolutely no need to wait any longer!" King George yelled and slammed his fist on the table.

"It would create full chaos" yelled King Phillip. " You have to think of the good of all of our Kingdoms!"

Prince Merrick stood, "This is just plain cowardess coming from the north. You have been idle for too long!"

I stood and the full strength of my powers flowed across the room, shutting the men up. "Sit down!" I growled between clenched teeth.

Slowly the men sat down and grabbed their glasses angrily. I slowly took a deep breath and walked around the table, taking in the taste of each soul I touched. Their wards easily crumbling in my outburst. I stopped again at the end of the table next to my father. He looked up at me from his seat and nodded in encouragement.

"The North is not being cowards. Do you not remember who it is that called this meeting? Whose home you are currently trodding through? Whose chairs you are currently sitting in, and whose wine is staining your lips? We are a mighty Kingdom, but we have our own strains as you all do. We will speak in a civilized manner or we will not speak at all. Do you understand?" I said as level headedly as possible.

"Spoken like a true Queen" my father said as he stood next to me. "Now we will discuss this matter, not yell like heathens. We are Kings."

"This has gone too far" King George said as he slammed his glass down, breaking it. "My daughter died. You know the love for a daughter Larkson, do not undermind this."

"I understand, but we cannot have just random warriors tromping around the kingdoms. You know that just causes unrest amongst all of our people. We do no twant to freak them out more than they are" King Phillip said levely.

"Most of the attacks have been on the royal families. This should cause alarm, but not the kind we rip the kingdoms apart for. We need to handle this as royalty." William said gesturing to us.

"We are not like them and we should not bow down to their level." My father responded. "We will train new men, make them into the best guardians we know. They will be the Marked ones, and they will go after these masked heathens."

"We have the best of the best all here. Why not start training tonight?" King George asked, expecting a dumbstruck look from my father.

"Our best and brightest will be training here tonight, and will take the top 10 men in every kingdom to create this force. They will travel to each Kingdom in part to chose them." My father responded.

"We have already brought our best 50 men" King Thomas replied. "We need this problem resolved immediatly. We can not spend time traveling over the whole Kingdoms searching."

"Then we will begin tonight" My father said standing up. "Kendrick."

Kendrick then emerged form the shadows. "Sir?"

"The training begins tonight. I want you to take all of these men and pick the 50 best of them all and take them out to end this matter. They have attacked all foud Kingdoms and must be ended for this."

"Of course Sir." Kendrick replied and stepped back.

"Meeting adjourned." My father said and slipped back into his chair.

I stood, and walked out of the room in a poised manner, Brayden and William closely following behind.

"This will be nothing but a game" I grumbled under my breath once I was in the hallway, out of ear shot from the Kings.

"What? Are you afraid that your warriors will not stand up to the challenge?" Merrick laughed as he walked up to me, stepping into my personal space. His soul tasted of wine and misguided bravery.

"I suggest you take three steps back if you wish to keep your life" Brayden growled and stepped in front of me.

"Just like always little Princessa, having the common boy protecting you." He laughed again, directing his hatred toward Brayden.

"I suggest you leave son" Kendrick said as he appeared seemingly out of no where, "you are speaking to one of MY guardians. He is my right hand. He is no common boy. If you are truly interested in finding out, then I suggest you show up tonight and offer your sword as a Prince should to protect his name."

"You can bet on it" Merrick said as he turned and left.

"I guess it will be a heat filled night tonight" Kendrick said as he turned to us.

"Without a doubt" I said as I planned my next move.