Chapter 2

Queen? Why Me?

After she said this, the noblemen that had been standing around the room rushed to the queen's side, questions flying from their mouths.

I had my own set, that was for sure, but at that moment, all I could think of was the fact that the queen had just said that I was queen. That was impossible of course, but to my dismay, all at once everyone in the room turned on me, looking toward the source of the gold light that had flickered to life. I rolled my eyes and closed them, thinking, Why, in the name of all things good, did this have to happen to me. Haven't I already done enough?

But, as it seemed, the forest wasn't done with me just yet. Not in the least.

Glancing down, I looked at myself and saw my arms shimmering and bare; my clothes replaced by a smooth gown of petals. My hair fell into my eyes, my hair tie disappearing to God knows where.

"Aw, man!" I groaned.

The people all knelt in unison and the queen smiled at me, all her magic leaving her and going to me.

"But, I don't want this." I whimpered to her.

"You do not have a choice. The pod picked you and there isn't anything I can do about it." She reached up and touched my arm. "You're here for a reason. I'm not sure what it is, but you're here and you are our queen. For the record…" She leaned in close. "I think you'll be an awesome one."

"But that doesn't mean- I'm not meant to- " I stuttered, but the queen just shook her head and said, "It is out of my hands. I'm sorry that you did not want this." And with that, she found her mother's eyes and held out her childish hand. Together, with one last look at me, they left.

I just stood there gaping at the door, waiting for the alarm to go off and for me to wake in my bed, my dad telling me I have a call. But that didn't happen. No. Instead, I was grabbed by several people and rushed out of the room.

"Nod!" I yelled, turning to gaze at him as the people tugged me through the door. Stunned at first, he hurriedly tried to push through the crowd, but had to give up and trail behind me due to the amount of people.

"Your Highness, what is your first order of business?"

"What do you wish to do for your coronation ceremony?"

"What do you think about the mouse problem on the eastern border?"

The questions bombarded me and I stumbled over my words, unsure on what to say. We made it to a room that I'd never seen before and I was rushed inside, the people following me in. I needed a break, some air and silence for two seconds and I was about to explode when, thank goodness, Ronin and Nod appeared, backed up by Mub and Grub.

"Everyone, just back up and give the new queen some space." Ronin managed to get everyone to give me a good three (would you say inches or feet if in proportion to size, they gave you three feet, but in actuality they gave three inches? I'm gonna go with feet.) feet of space.

"Thanks." I sighed.

"No problamo, baby girl." Mub said.

I would've laughed if I hadn't been so overwhelmed, but, sadly, that was an understatement.

"Could you all give me a little bit to, um, process everything?" I asked the crowd quietly. And to my surprise, they all consented and with swift bows, exited the room.

"Oh. My. God." I said as I sat on the nearest object. Which just so happened to be a sofa made of soft cotton and good smelling wood.

"That was… unexpected." Nod said as he sat next to me, an awkward distance between us.

"What?" I questioned, eyeing it. Anxiety set in as I wondered if maybe I was the only one who felt we were something… special. That would explain the awkwardness.

"Well, you, um, first off, look really nice." He shot me a sideways look and a small smile. "Second, you the queen. I can't just be, you know, relaxed, around you like before."

"And why not? I'm still M.K. and you're still Nod." I slid closer, earning a bigger smile from him.

"Yeah, but there's a protocol thing that if my commanding officer sees," he jabbed his thumb at Ronin, "I can get in big trouble and I really won't be able to see you again. Plus you're a queen and I'm just a soldier."

Ronin shrugged his shoulders. "You are probably more than a soldier, considering your relationship."

"So, sorta like you and Tara?" asked Nod, averting his gaze, a slight blush creeping to his cheeks.

"Yeah. Just like that." Ronin's voice was sad as he answered Nod's question.

"So, it's alright for me to do this?" He wrapped an arm around my shoulders, for which I was grateful. He felt so safe.

Ronin nodded.

"Okay, well, what about this?" Nod pulled me even closer and squeezed tight.

"Nod!" I laughed. Funny how just being like this with him made all my tension disappear.

"Pushing it, but yes." Ronin said.

"And how about-"

Before Nod could continue, Ronin cut him off, saying, "Just assume that you can do anything you want. But I suggest you keep the more intimatestuff behind closed doors." He shook his head as if trying to rid himself of disgusting images.

Nod and I both flushed at his choice of words and stuttered rejections of his implications. After a lot of spluttering, I finally took a breath. Our insistence wasn't doing anything other than make Ronin laugh.

"Ronin, what am I going to do? And shouldn't I tell my father? Oh, what is he going to think?!" I spewed questions at him, some of them more me thinking out loud than real questions.

"Calm down. I'll walk you through everything later, since you obviously need food and time to think. And about your father, we can contact him and have him brought here so you can speak with him." He said gently.

"Why can't I go talk to him myself?" I asked. Mandrake was dead and there shouldn't be any more danger.

"Boggins are still roaming, and many of them still want to kill you and raise Mandrake."

Great. Add that to my plate. I put my head in my hands and closed my eyes.

"Don't worry, we'll protect you from that and anything else. I won't leave your side either." Nod said, his hand absently rubbing my back.

I nodded gratefully and just let myself melt into Nod's side.

"Why did this have to happen to me? What was wrong with the other one?" I looked up.

Ronin shrugged his shoulders in a nonverbal response.

I looked around and examined the room I was in. it was quite spacious and the walls were made of living plants. They overlapped and between the leaves, little bits of sunlight streamed in.

Mub was in the corner, giving Nod a glare that warned a fight was going to ensue quickly.

I glanced at Ronin and tried to tell him with my eyes that he might want to intervene.

"Ah. Mub, Grub. Why don't we give the queen some privacy and contact her father." He looked at Grub and added, "I need a skilled flier to deliver the message."

Overcome with excitement, Grub grabbed Mub's arm and drug him out the door, jabbering the whole way about being a "skilled and important flier".

"I'll leave you alone for a bit as well. Nod, you're in charge of protection of the queen." Ronin said and he began backing out of the room. He paused and stuck his head back in, saying, "Nod, don't push your luck too much, alright?"

"Yeah, yeah." Nod waved him off nonchalantly. I laughed and said my thanks and Ronin finally left, the door clicking shut into silence.

As soon as Ronin had left, Nod turned to me and scooped me up, hugging me tight. I gasped in surprise.

"You have no idea how long I've wanted to do this." He muttered into my hair.

"Haha, I know. Me, too." I wrapped my arms around his waist and breathed in his smell. He smelled like dew and early morning air.

"Is it bad to say that I'm really happy you shrunk again?" Nod asked. "It's just not the same with you being big."

I knew how he felt. It was so much nicer talking to Nod and actually being able to sit next to him.

"Though, I'm not sure which is cooler. Having a Stomper as a friend or the queen."

My heart sank at the word friend. So I had been the only one.

I laughed it off, trying to not let my disappointment show on my face.

"Well, both are pretty cool right?" I asked as I pull away from him, no longer seeking the warmth he had.

"Yeah. You're pretty cool in general." Nod asked, an eyebrow raised at my sudden absence.

"Thanks." I smiled and looked away.

"M.K.?" Nod's voice was hesitant.

"Yeah?"

"Would you like to go somewhere for lunch?" he glanced at me, "You know, just the two of us?"

I stared at him before breaking into grin. "Yeah. Just the two of us would be great."