AN: I KNOW THIS IS LIKE SUPER LATE AND ALL but in my defense, I had some important things I had to do. I'll try to spoil you with another chapter in a few days.

In the beginning, there is something I wanted to write down about the year that has passed. Not really that important but I didn't really want to erase it.

Hope you like this chapter. Leave a comment if you have something to say :)


Chapter 1

*year later*

During the past year, Sara had been placed in very uncomfortable situations. Attending social events with a fiancé, giving interviews to the press about the engagement and the wedding of course. Not to forget all the family dinners where she had to listen to her mother's plans and thoughts about the wedding. If Sara had any say in this thing the wedding wouldn't be in a very long time. But because she didn't, they had the next 7 months to plan everything. And she had seven months to find a way to stop all this.

After Laurel and Mick had returned from their honeymoon, Sara had quickly informed both of them about how her parents wanted to ruin her life. For Sara's surprise, Laurel had defended their parents. "They are doing what is best for our kingdom. And in their own way, they are doing what they think is best for you." Laurel had told her. Sara knew that her sister was telling her the truth or at least some part of it.

Sara knew her parents and they would never do anything that would harm Starryash in any way. And they would never want to see her or Laurel unhappy. But sometimes being the rulers of a kingdom demands to make some hard choices and at this scenario, the hard choice her parents had to make was to see their baby girl unhappy.

The first months had been the hardest for Sara. She had hardly slept and that made her even more cranky than she usually would have been. Most of her free time was spent by fooling around in the sheets, with nearly anyone who was up for it.

One of Sara's oldest friends, the prince Ray Palmer of Fayfall had gotten married with Nora Darhk. Whose father happened to be one of the few men at Starryash who had almost as much money as the crown. Damien Darhk, for as long as Sara could remember he had tried to seize the crown from her family. Unfortunately for him, he had never succeeded.

So because of Ray and Nora got married that meant that Sara had to attend that wedding. With Oliver. As fiancés. That was their first big social event that they participated together after announcing the engagement for the whole world. And Sara didn't take it well. All the questions and everything made her feel anxious. So when she had a chance to escape and leave the party she did.

And not long after she left, she had found the company of John Constantine. A man who smoked too much -at least that was Sara's opinion- and was a little bit too forward with things. But at least he helped her to forget why she was there and what was happening in her life. Three hours later she had returned to the party feeling a little more relaxed. Oliver had given her a few questioning looks which she only answered with a shrug.

Next day she had spent a little more time with Ray and Nora. Mostly discussing their honeymoon and what plans they had for later. "When you get back from your honeymoon, it would be nice to have you visiting at Starryash," Sara had told them as she had hugged them both goodbye just before she and Oliver got into the plane that would fly them back home. Ray and Nora had promised to think about it.

Soon after they had flown home, Laurel and Mick had informed the whole family that they were going to have a baby. For Sara that was one of the best news in a while. She truly was happy for her sister and Mick, and she was going to be an aunt. The news had made it a little easier for her, she had something good to wait for.

"I won't do it Laurel and you know it," Sara told her sister as they were walking in the garden. They had been talking about how Sara should stop sleeping around the kingdom. 'If you stop, you might realize that it isn't such a bad thing to be engaged to Ollie.' Laurel had told her.

"Laurel 'sleeping around the kingdom' is the only way I'm able to tolerate this shit," Sara said and stopped walking. Laurel gave her little sister a sad look and shook her head. "No Sara it isn't and you know it. You are still young and you think that you aren't ready to settle down and get married. But we both have known it since we were born that as princesses we don't have a choice. Some choices are made for us, you need to grow up and realize it!" Laurel told Sara, her tone changing from understanding to one that was more hot-tempered.

Sara turned around to face her sister with annoyance painted all over her face. "I really hope that those are the hormones talking Laurel. Because I'm not going to be responsible if you get hurt." Sara said a small grin playing on her lips now. Laurel's pregnancy was at the last meters and the baby could be born any day now. That was one of the reasons why the sisters were walking in the garden, to speed up things so that the delivery would start.

"It's super frustrating how well you know me, Sara. But really you should stop playing some martyr and accept that this is your life now," Laurel said wrapping her arms around her sister so she could hug her. "I know it won't be easy as mom and dad have allowed you much freer life but that is in the past now... Ollie is a good man and he won't hurt you. Isn't that a good enough reason for you to stop finding a way for you to walk out of this?" Laurel asked and looked Sara in the eye.

Sara turned her gaze away from her sisters piercing eyes and looked back at the castle where she could just barely see Oliver standing on the balcony. "I won't ever stop finding a way to end this. But you're right. I should start appreciating Oliver more, he hasn't done anything wrong," Sara answered as she glanced back at her sister. Laurel gave her sister an approving smile with a nod.

"You don't need to be in love with him. But being friends would make things a lot easier for you both," Laurel said as they turned to head back to the castle. Sara just hummed and wrapped her other arm around her sister's shoulders. "I'm on your side, Sara. It might not seem like it but I really am," Laurel told her stopping them once again. "Yeah, I know that Laurel. And I hope that you know that I've got your back as well," Sara answered looking at her sister.

Laurel smiled and kissed Sara's forehead. "I know that baby sis," She said smiling honestly. "Could you stop calling me that, it won't be long before there is an actual baby here," Sara said annoyedly. Laurel laughed ruffling Sara's hair. "I'll never stop calling you a baby Sara. Because to me, you'll always be one," Laurel said laughing which made Sara grunt. "Come on Laurel, the dinner will start soon and I don't want to hear any complaints from mom and dad if we're late," Sara said pulling her sister towards the castle.

Ever since the king had told Rip Hunter that they were going to need more guards at the castle and most importantly a personal one for Sara, the man had barely slept. Finding all-new well-trained guards was hard and the process to hire someone was long and many valid appliers had gotten bored and walked away from the offered job.

Then there, of course, were the ones that only applied for the job because that would allow them to meet actual royals. And of course, the complete imposters who had no actual training for the profession.

So, the task given for the head manager of security was one hard nut to crack. 7 months he had been looking for young and healthy people who would actually be so committed for the job that their interest would last through the background checks and all other required checks.

And finally, he had been able to hire ten new security guards. They all had previous experience of this kind of work, although none of them had ever actually worked as a security guard for royals. Some other important people like senators and prime ministers but never royals.

All of them were very eager to learn how things worked in the castle and before they could officially start working they needed to be briefed. Rip, fortunately, didn't have to do all the briefing by himself as the current guards wanted to make things easier for themselves by helping the new ones to digest the customs.

"You really need to learn the codenames for everyone. Every time there is a chance that someone who has no reason to hear who you're talking about is present you use the codenames. For example princess, Sara's codename is White Canary and her sister princess Laurel is the Black Canary. If they're being moved together then you will use the codename Canaries." Nate Heywood told while he walked in front of the new guards.

"Is this really important, like come on no one cares if I call them by their name in the coms..." Han Lawson whispered to the others standing in line with him. Nate threw him an unimpressed look and continued talking about the importance of the codenames.

During his first week on the job, he had almost costed the life of Laurel when he had used her actual name instead of the codename. After that day he had been sure he would get fired but the king had given him another chance, he had nevertheless saved his daughter's life in the end.

So you could say that Nate was one of the few guards who actually know how important the codenames really were. Sometimes when he is alone with one of the royals usually Laurel or Sara he uses the codenames while talking to them.

"Okay Heywood, I think that you've told them everything about the codenames and I really mean everything," Rip said gently clapping Nate's back. Nate just nodded and moved away to allow Rip to be in the spotlight.

"There's ten of you but only nine of you will be in the common use of the needs of the royals." Rip announced as he examined the young trainees. "One of you will be chosen to be the personal security guard of princess Sara. Now that her engagement with the prince of Dorburn there is more chances for her to be a target for attacks. You'll all learn that she is more of a wild soul and usually wants to break the rules, so her surveillance is needed to be the most competent." He continued.

The line of new guards all looked at Rip like he was crazy, except for two women standing at both ends of the line. Both of them were determined to get to work as princess Sara's personal security guard. Nyssa al Ghul, the brunette of the two, had heard all about Sara Lance and she was sure she would be the perfect choice as her guard. The blonde one, Ava Sharpe, had no actual reason why she wanted to be looking after a reckless princess, but she wanted to do something that mattered and this seemed like that kind of job for that.

"The king himself will be doing the choice which one of you will have that honorable job." Rip informed and right after that the doors to the training room opened and Quentin Lance walked through them closely followed by two guards. "And here he is," Rip said to the trainees and turned to bow at his king "My grace," he said showing his respect for the ruler.

"At ease Hunter," Quentin said with a smile on his face, he placed a friendly hand on Rip's shoulder and turned to face the young trainees. They all bowed at him in unison. That brought even a bigger smile on his face, "You have trained them well," he stated at Rip.

Quentin viewed the line

closely and cleared his throat before he started talking. "So I'm going to choose from one of you capable looking newbies, one to take care of my little girl," he started and walked closer to the line so he could be eye to eye with each and every one of them at a time, "I've read your files and I know everything about you. Even the things you think no one else except you only knows," Quentin continued and moved from Nyssa to the man next to her, Timothy Parkins, the young man gulped as he tried to keep his nerves under control.

"Sara can really be a handful sometimes and she likes to leave the safety of the castle behind and go hang around the town. So whoever I'm going to choose has to be able to deal with that," Quentin moved from a newbie to another one strictly monitoring their nerves under a situation that might be a little stressful. "She doesn't like needless situations and most of all hates it when someone thinks that she isn't capable to take care of herself." Finally, he had gotten to the end of the line and was now face to face with Ava. She gave him a sharp nod and straightened her pose.

Quentin had another glance of her and then moved back to stand next to Rip. "So, I really have to be honest with you. This is not an easy job for anyone, even I have problems with handling her sometimes and I'm her father after all. So I do hope that I choose the right person, who I think will be capable to keep my daughter safe." He turned to glance at Rip who gave him a nod in agreement.

"So which one of you is Ava Sharpe?"

Mick was standing in front of the doors to the dining room. He was waiting for his wife and sister-in-law. Mostly because he knew that Quentin hadn't yet arrived and Mick wasn't really in the mood for listening to his mother-in-law discuss the wedding. Without Laurel, Sara or Quentin Mick would have to take part in the conversation that usually was only between Dinah and Oliver.

After Oliver had chosen to temporarily move into the castle so that this all would be easier for Sara, he and Mick had become some kind of friends. Usually spending time together by going hunting or discussing of the Lance sisters.

In some way, it had been Laurel's idea for Mick to spend time with Oliver. Some of the days he did feel a little lonely at the castle. Growing up with four brothers meant that not once did he have time all for himself. And after Leonard and Lisa had been adopted to the family, Mick was never alone.

Lenny was his best friend and for a long time, he was the only one who really understood him. He never grew tired of Mick talking and praising how amazing Laurel was. And even when Lenny and Lisa were only adopted and for some people that meant that they weren't family, for Mick his adoptive siblings were more of siblings to him than his biological brothers had ever been.

So yeah now that Lenny had gone back to Wayshore, he did enjoy spending some time with Oliver. He was a nice guy and he would be a great husband. Though he would never admit that to Sara nor Laurel, both of the Lance girls could be vicious if someone they cared for turned on them. And he really didn't want to offend Laurel now that she was so close to giving birth.

He decided to wait for five more minutes before going in. Shifting weight between his legs and monitoring the art in the hallway. He let out a deep sigh as he checked his wristwatch. With a grunt, he opened the door to the dining room. Before he could walk through he heard fast footsteps from behind him and turned around to see his wife nearly running towards him while holding Sara's hand for support.

"God are we late?" Sara asked panting. For Mick seeing Laurel and Sara running down the corridor in their dresses and his wife heavily pregnant was a sight that made him chuckle lightly.

"No, you're not, Quentin isn't here yet so there is really no need for you to run. Especially you shouldn't be running," He said gesturing to Laurel as he said the last bit. Laurel just smiled apologetically and moved closer to him so she could kiss his cheek.

"Aww you guys I'm hungry and I really don't want to lose my appetite," Sara groaned walking through the door to the dining room Laurel and Mick following closely behind.

Even though Sara had had a difficult relationship with her parents after the engagement announcement she still greeted them with a small kiss on the cheek.

So, as they walked by the table and Dinah stood up to greet them, Sara quickly pecked her mother on the cheek and then walked to sit on her place opposite from Oliver, greeting him with a graceful nod and a professional smile.

"Your father will join us soon, but he gave us permission to start without him," Dinah announced and gestured for the kitchen staff to start serving.

"Where is he anyway?" Sara asked as she started to cut his steak. "He uhm had some errands with Rip," Dinah answered clearly leaving something untold. Sara just shrugged as okay and thanked Tomaz as she poured water in her class.

Much to her parent's disliking, she enjoyed spending time in the kitchen with the staff, usually slowing things but sometimes she did help them. The head chef, Gideon Rider had grown to like the young princess and was happy to see her whenever she made an appearance in there.

Zari Tomaz and Kendra Saunders were usually the ones Sara liked spending time the most. Amaya sometimes joined them as they discussed everything that was happening around the castle.

Usually, their conversations were interrupted by a younger staff member called Mona Wu. She had started a few months ago and was eager to have new friends. At first, Sara and her friends had thought Mona to be annoying but after some time they had grown to like her. Well sometimes at least.

Zari smirked at Sara in reply and went to pour Laurel a glass of water as well. Zari and Sara had become close friends in the short time that they had hanged out. Making Zari the fifth person to know about her bisexuality.

Eventually, after Laurel had pleaded her to do so, Sara had told Mick as well. So there were now six - probably seven (Ray most likely had told Nora about it too) - human beings which knew her secret. Six, no seven human beings whose opinions mattered to her.

Of course, there were the lucky gals who had had the chance to sleep with her who knew about her sexuality but most of them were just some random girls around the world who didn't care too much about who she was.

And then there were the girls that were able to enjoy Sara's company more often. Three of her favorite girls were Guinevere, Anne, and Lindsay. She had met Lindsay first and later she had introduced Sara to the others. Most times Sara enjoyed having all three at the same time. She had grown to like the young women and would sometimes ask them for advice.

A huge smirk grew on Sara's face when she started to think about the lastest time she had spent with the girls. Before she could really start to reminisce the doors were opened her father rushing through them, interrupting her.

"Good you have started already. The meeting with Rip took a little longer than first thought but I'm finally here," Quentin said as he sat down at by the table.

Everyone smiled at him and continued their eating. Sara, on the other hand, couldn't eat anymore and just sat silently observing the others. For some reason, she was sure that the meeting Quentin had with Rip had something to do with her.

"What was the meeting about, dad?" She asked after a few minutes. Quentin looked up from his plate and quickly changed looks with Dinah before sighing.

"He hired new guards I went to check them out -" He said simply taking a sip of water, Sara monitored him closely, looking down at her plate moving the vegetables on it with her fork.

Quentin's answer was satisfying enough for her as she started to eat again. "- and I chose one of them to be your personal guard." Quentin finished keeping his eyes locked on his younger daughter.

For the second time, Sara was choking in the same seat. She took a sip of water which helped a little with the coughing. "You what?" She asked with tears in her eyes that were caused by the coughing.

"Chose you a personal security guard." He repeated and put a piece of meat into his mouth starting to chew on it quietly.

"Why? I don't need a personal security guard dad. Laurel doesn't have one, none of you have one, so why do I need one?" Sara pointed out staring at Quentin.

"You've got that wrong darling. Each and every one of us has a personal guard." Quentin stated. Sara's jaw dropped and she turned to look at Laurel with a questioning look.

"Yeah Sara, dad is right. You mustn't have just noticed it..." Laurel said quietly looking a little quilty. "Oh okay and why do I get one only now?" Sara asked turning her eyes back to her father.

"I suggested it," Oliver stated joining the conversation. "I want my fiancé to be safe at every moment," He answered to Sara's questioning impression.

"Oh my god. Like anyone would be interested in me. I'm the second daughter so no chances for the throne unless something happens to Laurel and the baby. And I don't actually have any authority at Dorburn so..." Sara stated her voice full of frustration.

"There are people who want bad things for us. And they do not care who you are or what kind of authority you have. You being a royal, is a big enough reason for them to hurt you," Oliver said looking Sara straight in the eyes.

"Exactly. Sara, you are my daughter and I love you with all my heart and there is nothing more than I want except to keep you safe and alive," Quentin pointed out.

"Whatever... So when do I meet him?" Sara asked, again playing with the food on her plate feeling a little defeated.

"You will meet her tomorrow," Quentin said and continued eating.

"Her? My security guard is a woman?" Sara asked lifting her gaze back

up from the plate.

Quentin slowly nodded "Is it a problem?" he asked. "No, not at all," She answered shaking her head. Perhaps this personal security guard thing wasn't an as bad thing as Sara first thought.


AN: I had some difficulties with writing this chapter and I'm not as happy about it but I wanted to post this because it's super late already. But, Ava is finally here yay, and so is Nyssa, hmm this should become interesting.

Hope you liked it and I'll see you in the next chapter. Thanks for the read.