Maybe if I lie and say I have some sort of dress fitting with Eloise, I can sleep for a half hour in here and no one will even notice, I thought, rubbing my eyes. No, Eadlyn, you're the queen. They always know where you are. Eikko and I had barely slept on the plane the night before, choosing instead to spend the night talking and keeping his mind off of things. We landed in Angeles around two in the morning and snuck into my bedroom together. He finally crashed though but I was wide-awake. Suddenly I couldn't blame Dad for looking tired all the time; it was almost impossible to stop thinking about all that I needed to do.

Lady Brice walked in then with a newspaper tucked under her arm. "Good morning, Your Majesty," she said, smiling at me. I didn't miss the stress around her eyes though as she fixed herself a cup of coffee. "How was your visit to Kent?"

"You mean you haven't read all about it yet?" I asked, nodding to the paper in her arms. I recognized it as the national paper, the one distributed everywhere to the whole country.

"Well I thought I would hear about it straight from you," she said to me. "So tell me, niece." She winked, sharing a warm smile with me.

I sighed and ran my hands down my face, pinching my nose. "It was nice seeing where he grew up but his parents…" I shook my head. "I don't know how I could have won them over. They were impossible. They're wonderful people and clearly care about their community, they raised Eikko to be a gentleman. They just didn't seem impressed by the royal life."

Lady Brice pressed her lips together. "Some people don't like the spotlight. You know Erik doesn't. His parents are probably just worried."

"And I get that, I do." I paused, chewing on my lip. "They're moving back to Swendway. They're just leaving him here."

"Parents don't always do what's best for your their kids. You're lucky. Your mother and father have given their whole lives to this country but they've always saved their hearts for the four of you and more. They've always been ready to lay down their lives for everyone, even people who don't deserve it."

"I hope I can be like that too."

"You already are, ma'am." She sighed then and unfolded her paper. "Now, today you have a meeting with your mother's advisers to start discussing wedding plans and that is in ten minutes, immediately followed by your weekly meeting with advisers to check in on things. After that is lunch and a meeting with your advisers concerning the constitution. Just an easy meeting discussing the key points you want to include. At four you'll be recording an interview with Gavril with Sir Erik."

"Mayor Goldsworth gave me a verbal commitment last night to be part of the team for the constitution. I'd like to schedule a visit with him where we can iron out some new tax agreements," I informed her. "Will you be drafting the statement about my trip to Kent?"

"Gavril is, actually."

"Perfect." I fished out a fresh legal pad from my filing cabinet and followed her across the hall to the conference room where some of Mom's advisers were already gathered. As a queen consort, one of her primary responsibilities was to host foreign guests and attend to all major matters of housekeeping. She had her own panel of advisers and event planners to assist her in that work. Naturally they were now under my command but Neena had been attending to the majority of housekeeping on my behalf since becoming queen. They were crucial in planning my wedding, just like these women had been when Mom was planning her wedding. I honestly just wanted to tell them what flowers and cake flavor I wanted and leave it to them but I was only going to have one wedding and it was going to be the best damn party Illéa had ever seen.

Mom and Eikko were right behind me, both of them kissing me as they took their seats on either side of me. Mom squeezed my hand. I met her eyes, seeing just how happy she was to be here. The reality of how close we had come to losing her and her missing out on my wedding was too real in that moment. Because even though these meetings for planning were the last thing I wanted to take time out of my day for, I wouldn't want to do it without her.

In the end we settled on our wedding day being September 16, just four months away. I felt confident though that if the palace could throw together a coronation in less than a week, they could handle a wedding in four months. The ceremony would be in the cathedral that hosted every other royal wedding and coronation before me. The main reception would follow in the Great Room of the palace, the day ending with a smaller reception in the western conservatory. There was a bit of an argument over flowers (which I didn't even think we would be talking about for that meeting) but I convinced the girls to go with the Swendish national flowers, lily of the valley and purple heather.

With a light clear of her throat Mom said, "Finally, we need to discus the bridal party. Unfortunately, decorum prevents you from having bridesmaids and a full bridal party because you are queen. There are small jobs though, like spreading flower petals and keeping your train straight during the ceremony that you can designate a couple girls for."

All eyes turned to me, waiting for an answer. The truth was that I didn't have many female friends. Astra was my cousin and even she didn't really talk to me. Being an heiress was always so isolating though and there were so few women in the world in my position. The only reason Camille and I were friendly was because of Ahren. There were, however, two women without whom I wouldn't be able to function as queen. Two women that had been behind me through it all and deserved recognition for that. "Neena and Lady Brice," I said confidently. "I wouldn't want anyone else."

"Perfect," Raelynn said, writing it down. "So those involved in the procession will include Neena, Lady Brice, and King Maxon."

"And my mom," I added quickly. "I want her and Dad to walk me down the aisle."

Mom was definitely in danger of crying now. She pressed a hand to her mouth as she stared me in surprise. "Eadlyn, don't worry about it. That's your time with your father. Not to mention, it's rather unconventional."

"Mom, nothing about these past few weeks has been conventional and I want you both there. Just like it always has been." She nodded and Raelynn wrote her name down as well. By the time I left the conference room with Eikko, my head was spinning and I was in desperate need of another coffee.

"Would you like to come to my next meeting? It's going to be a real thrill, discussing money we don't have for initiatives we haven't started yet. Maybe for some added excitement you'll get to see me try to convince the advisers not to go to war with anyone," I said, feigning enthusiasm.

Eikko laughed. "It sounds tempting but your father actually offered to give me some lessons and catch me up to speed. I'll be there for your big constitution meeting." He winked. "By the way, thanks for defending my flowers."

"I really just can't stand lilies and there was no way I was going to let them be in my bouquet," I admitted. Our eyes met and we both knew instantly that we were thinking the same thing. "I have a few minutes to spare before my next meeting."

He took me by the hand and we dashed down the hall to an empty study that was available to foreign guests to use for their own work. Since we had no visitors in the palace, the study was vacant. We shut the door and were immediately in each other's arms, pulling at anything to get us closer. Eventually we fell into one of the armchairs, allowing me to stay in his lap and get as close as physically possible with clothes on. Finally he pulled away from my mouth and started kissing across my collarbone, making me shiver despite the heat coursing through my body.

Just as his lips started traveling lower I sighed and put my hands on his shoulders, pushing him back. "Sorry. I'm afraid our time is up."

"Do you have to go be queen?" he asked petulantly.

"Someone has to do it." I tugged him back up to his feet. "C'mon, you don't want to be late for my father either." Mom and Dad were down the hallway when we exited the room. Luckily she was too engrossed in whatever he was saying for either of them to notice that we were emerging from a vacant room that we had no reason to visit.

Mom laughed and cupped her hand around his elbow, both of them moving closer. I coughed, seeing that they were just seconds away from getting lost in each other's presence. They both look at us but didn't move away from each other. "You two are disgusting," I said, approaching them.

Mom rolled her eyes and focused back on Dad. "I believe that's our cue." She kissed his cheek and then ducked her head, walking down the hallway to the staircase.

"Come to my study for lunch, okay?" I asked Eikko. "I won't have long but we'll at least get to see each other then."

"Sounds like a plan."

Dad smiled knowingly and waved to Eikko. "Shall we head over to my study? We can work in there without really being disturbed."

"Yes, Sir." Dad gave him a sharp look. "Mr. Schreave."

I made my way down to the conference room and was pleased to find my folder on the table already at my seat, pleasantly light of the day's duties. Lady Brice was two to my right with General Leger beside her. "How did your wedding meeting go?" she asked me.

"Well, thank you. Can't wait to not have to plan it anymore, though."

General Leger smiled sympathetically. "Planning the wedding is what really prepares you for married life."

I laughed humorlessly. "Great."

The advisers were civil that day, keeping yelling to a minimum and for the most part listening to everything I was saying. I was really just looking forward to my meeting later that day for the constitution. A half hour into the meeting, in the middle of scribbling out a list of reminders for things I wanted to talk about at that meeting, a gunshot cracked outside the window. Guards flooded the room as General Leger grabbed me from my chair, practically carrying me to the corner of the room, his body shielding me. Advisers dove under the table, using their folders as shields. I noticed that Lady Brice had her own guard protecting her, also using his body as a shield with her against the bookshelf.

General Leger pressed a hand to his earpiece to hear better. "Oh for Christ's sake," he mumbled. "It's okay everyone. It's just the queen" All of the advisers looked at me as if they expected me to be holding an automatic weapon. "No, you fools, Queen America."

"What the hell…?" I mumbled, walking to the window that overlooked the gardens. There stood my mother, holding a large gun and having target practice amongst the blooming rose bushes. Without considering that the meeting was still going on, I left the conference room and went to my dad's study where some guards were still lingering inside, looking uneasy. "Mom has taken up shooting?" Poor Eikko looked utterly bewildered. This was quite the introduction into my family.

"I told her to find something relaxing to do," Dad said, making himself sound blameless in all of this. He said it as if her shooting clay pigeons was adorable.

"So she decides to pick up a gun? Yeah, that's so soothing. Especially to those of us in here who are on constant assassination-watch."

"I'll tell her to make sure Aspen knows that she's shooting so she doesn't terrify everyone in the palace," he said, trying to placate me.

"Fine." I went back to my meeting and commanded everyone to take their seats once again. We all jumped every time we heard the gun go off and General Leger looked increasingly uneasy as the meeting went on.

Finally I was able to go across the hall to my study where the gun couldn't be heard and thoughts of assassination attempts could be sent far away. Eikko came in for lunch, excitedly chatting about everything Dad had taught him. This morning they had only covered things as simple as provincial taxes and budgeting but he was more enthusiastic than I had ever really seen him.

Our constitution meeting was just with the advisers, Dad, Kaden and Eikko. With it being in such early stages of planning, it was best for us to minimize the people involved. Once we had a more concrete idea of what we wanted to include and the formatting we could bring in more opinions but if we had a hundred different people contributing from the beginning, it would be a disorganized disaster.

"Your Majesty, perhaps you could enlighten us as to what you're looking for with this constitution?" Sir Andrews inquired.

"Well, I would like to make everyone in Illéa equal," I told him seriously. There was a beat of silence before all of the advisers started laughing. When I say all of them, I mean all of them. Every single adviser was laughing in some way, shape or form. Dad frowned and motioned for me to regain control. "I'm sorry, gentlemen, but did I say something amusing?"

Mr. Rasmus was the first to collect himself enough to answer me. "Your Majesty, it's simply that everyone is already equal."

I pointed at him. "Let's talk about that." I stood and walked to the white board, retrieving a marker. I was grateful for asking Eloise to dress me in a dress with a blazer, making me look more authoritative than if I had just been wearing a frilly dress. "Tell me, men, how are our people equal? In what areas of society are they equal?"

"Education," Mr. Rasmus offered. "The abolishment of the castes means that everyone can now get education if they can afford it."

Some of the advisers mumbled in agreement. "Jobs as well."

I kept writing down their answers as they shouted them out. Education, jobs, housing, marriage, travel, medicine…they were all true. "All of these have been made equal and accessible among Illéan citizens due to the dissolution of the castes. However, there is one glaring area of society missing. Gender." There were some grumbles in response to that. "A man and a woman from different socioeconomic backgrounds can attend the same university but the woman will not be hired by the same employers following graduation. Why is that?"

Again, the advisers mumbled their answers but only Sir Andrews was brave enough to answer me directly. "Because women are more likely to stay at home to care for the children?"

"What? Because we just happen to have breasts that can then feed those children? Some women don't have the luxury of staying at home. Some women have to work because they need the money, whether due to the need for another income or because they lost their husband," I snapped. From the corner of my eye I saw Dad straighten his shoulders with pride for me. "Maybe, before you throw around such sexist statements as that, you can examine why men aren't more honorable and willing to sacrifice their careers for their children." I raised my eyebrows, challenging him to argue with me.

"Of course, Your Majesty. My apologies," he said quietly.

I flipped my hair over my shoulder and calmed myself. "Now, this glaring difference between the expectations of genders is due to the restrictions the law places on women. Since Gregory Illéa, there have been laws placed on women while men are excused from those rules without even a second thought. Consider the law that women who are pregnant without being married must be imprisoned. Why can't the men be imprisoned? Why shouldn't they be punished as well? It takes two to make a baby."

"That's just one rule though, Your Majesty," Mr. Rasmus said. "Is it really enough to justify reforming the government?"

"Is ensuring that women of Illéa aren't looked at as property reason enough to justify a reformation? Yes, I'd say that constitutes a societal revolution," I told him. "You all remember Lady Marlee Tames, correct?"

There was a long pause before some of the men nodded their heads slowly. "Eadlyn," Dad said in a warning tone. I wasn't sure how much the advisers knew about her time being hidden in the palace and Dad couldn't get in trouble for it now but he was clearly uncomfortable with discussing it openly. That's not where I was going though.

"Lady Marlee was punished because Carter 'stole' her. She was seen as property of the crown. That is unacceptable and it still is an issue. You all are guilty of seeing me as a commodity more than a person. So my first priority in this constitution is to make genders equal. Equal pay, equal rights, equal treatment, and equal opportunity. I want my people to all be equal in as many ways possible and to not be ruled by a bunch of small-minded supremacists."

Mr. Rasmus shrank down in his seat, clearly not used to being publicly humiliated by his sovereign. General Leger was the first to be brave enough to respond. "So if the ultimate goal of this constitution is equality, what are you planning on doing about the monarchy?"

"Shared, equal power between the prime minister and monarch," I answered. "I'll have to do more research and speak with my executive advisers more but I don't want a single person to have the largest share of power. Obviously the monarch will have certain responsibilities that only they can attend to. Declarations of war, peace treaty negotiations…international policy will remain mostly in the hands of the monarch. National policy will be seen to by the prime minister."

Again, silence. I knew that the advisers were uneasy about this change in government – because they were scared it would mean the end of their jobs – but I had expected them to fight me more on this. So far they were simply rolling over and letting me call all the shots.

"I like it," Dad finally said, breaking the silence. "Sharing the power to help prevent having a tyrant in power while also splitting the workload. This is a good idea, Eadlyn."

Pride bloomed within me but I kept my face straight. I knew Dad could see that I appreciated the compliment. "Sir Hebb, I would like you and Lady Brice to work together with Kaden to start drafting a preamble. The United States Constitution has an excellent preamble and I would like to see us use that as an outline for ours. Kaden can help supply that research," I said, nodding to my little brother. He grinned but stayed poised even though I knew that on the inside he was doing cartwheels. "We will have another meeting in a few days once everyone has had a chance to think more about what they would like this document to look like. For now you all are dismissed."

The advisers slowly trickled out until it was just myself, Dad, Eikko, Kaden and Lady Brice in the room. General Leger would have typically stayed but he excused himself early, saying that there was something that needed to be sorted out with security. Dad approached me first, kissing my cheek.

"I'm proud of you, love. They're a formidable bunch if you don't know how to control them but you handled yourself very well today," he told me, pride pouring out of every word he spoke.

"Thanks Daddy," I said, embracing him.

Eikko smiled at me as well. "You were amazing. I was a little scared of you, honestly."

"Eikko, would you like to continue with your lessons? I can teach you what little I know about war strategizing," Dad offered.

"Yes, Mr. Schreave, that'd be great. And you know more than I do, that's for sure."

They exited with Kaden on their heels, listening with rapt attention to pick up on anything he could possibly learn from them. Lady Brice and I walked over to my office where Neena was inside organizing my mail for the day.

"These letters just came in for you, ma'am," she told me, setting them in a neat stack on my desk.

"Thank you Neena. Could you please call for some of that chocolate cake from last night? If there are any leftovers, that is. I could really use a pick-me-up." I sat behind my desk and thumbed through my mail, tearing the seal on a letter from Italy. Inside sat a personally written note from Queen Nicoletta, congratulating me on my engagement and then screaming at me about the constitutional monarchy. As a PS she said she'd be willing to help me if I needed it since Italy was run under a constitution.

"Lady Brice?"

"Yes, Your Majesty?"

"We need to schedule a summit for all of these leaders to come and discuss the constitution. Be sure to have Queen Nicoletta and my sister-in-law on the list. I'd like to have it at some point in July since we will have my bridal shower and father's birthday in August." I rubbed my temple, feeling a migraine coming on and knowing that my mood was on a dangerous precipice. One wrong word and I would snap.

She nodded and wrote it down on her clipboard. "I can arrange that. Once we have all of our contributors on board for this constitution we can decide on a week to host a summit with everyone." As she wrote she commented, "You didn't eat breakfast with your family this morning."

"No, Eikko and I slept in and ate in my room," I told her. "Yesterday was a long day for both of us."

"Unfortunately, some of the papers are telling a different story."

"They're already out there?" I asked, my head spinning at how fast the magazines and papers managed to circulate the details of my personal life.

She shrugged and began reading a newspaper on my desk. "'Her Majesty Queen Eadlyn played the part of a woman in love well but underneath the smile was an ambivalence expressed toward her wedding and the idea of marrying her new fiancé. Meanwhile, Sir Erik showed very little knowledge or familiarity with the current projects Queen Eadlyn is dedicating her reign to. They appear to be a couple in love but what we are seeing is a couple that was rushed into an engagement that neither of them seem to want to really take part in.' That's just the front page blurb."

I snapped. "This is exactly what I was scared of," I vented to Lady Brice as I paced around my desk. "Suddenly I'm engaged and am no longer able to discuss matters of diplomacy or how my country is being run. Now I have to sit back and talk about weddings and love and flower arrangements while my fiancé – who isn't even officially the prince consort yet – answers all of those questions for me!"

She pursed her lips and clicked a pen against my desk. "It was one interview, ma'am. Naturally, with this being the latest news in your life and in the country, that is the nature of the questions that will be asked of you for the next few weeks. Stories always get skewed, no matter how hard we try to keep them straight."

"But one interview leads to a second interview and suddenly, the country has forgotten that despite having ovaries, I am a confident ruler!" General Leger walked in then, his frown unwavering despite walking in on my last proclamation. Dad and Eikko also came in, Dad raising his eyebrows at me. He was explaining something to Eikko that, from what I could pick up on, concerned military strategies. The general put an envelope down on my desk with a loud thump. "What now?" I asked, taking a moment to sound like a brat.

Other advisers and guards followed him in, all of them wearing various grim expressions. "Security received a package for you this morning, Your Majesty. Thought you might want to have a listen," General Leger explained. He passed what looked like a small tape to me. Another guard placed a tape player on my desk and slid the tape inside, pressing Play.

The advisers that had entered with General Leger were near the entrance to the study, discussing something seriously in hushed voices. I could barely make out my voice being played. "Can everyone please just shut up?" I shouted, wrapping my arms around myself as an icy block slowly settled in my stomach. Lady Brice chewed on her thumbnail nervously as we listened to the tape play.

"...the only one who knows this Selection was planned as a distraction," Dad's voice said on the tape player. "Are you sure?"

"Yes," my voice said. I cringed, hearing the lie in my voice as clearly now as I did when I actually said it. I could remember this conversation, occurring late the night before my engagement.

"We cannot let this get out," Lady Brice said firmly. "If you let this get out, you'll lose any control you have left with the people."

"Sir, if you're still looking for a solution to the Marid issue, I could pay him a visit," General Leger offered. My eyes met his over my desk, a thousand fears passing between us in that one moment. If I had just said yes, if I had just agreed to it. My people would still be on my side and I wouldn't have to be discussing wedding gowns and cake flavors with the press. I could just be queen and focus on more important issues that came along with being queen, like maintaining world peace.

"No, that won't solve anything now," Dad said. "As long as he doesn't know about the Selection." Dad cursed and paced away from me, stopping to put his hands on his hips and bow his head.

"Well, Your Majesty, we must let you get your sleep. You have a big day tomorrow," Lady Brice said, followed by the sound of the door opening and closing.

"Eadlyn?" Dad asked.

"Yeah, Daddy?"

There was a long pause and I remember the way he chewed over his words for a while before saying, "I'm proud of you, you know? You didn't have to do this. We know that. And it was unfair of us to pressure you into it. I know it isn't turning out how you like but whatever you decide…your mother and I will be there to support you." He left then, leaving me alone with General Leger.

"Yes, General?" I asked.

"Marry for love, Eadlyn," he said simply.

I remember shaking my head. "I know what I have to do. I have to do this for my family and for my kingdom. All great queens make sacrifices for their people. This will be mine."

"Your chance at love should be the last thing you sacrifice," he urged. "Please, Eadlyn, don't marry him."

"General Leger, I'm afraid you are overstepping your boundaries by advising me in this. Now please, allow me to turn in. I do have a long day tomorrow."

"Someone turn that damn thing off!" I exclaimed, my hands starting to shake with anger. The guard seemed unable to turn it off faster, practically lunging at my desk to press the Stop button.

Lady Brice and Dad both looked furious as they studied me, waiting for my next move. General Leger's eyes swept the room like he was looking for a traitor among us. "Who was it from?" Lady Brice asked him.

"A Mr. Marid Illéa," General Leger spat out.

"How the hell did he get that?" Dad exploded, starting to pace.

The advisers were suddenly in an uproar, all of them yelling and accusing each other of being a traitor to the throne. My eyes met Eikko's and he grounded me, giving me a subtle nod to tell me that he was behind me in whatever decision I made. "The flowers," I growled. "Every conversation in this office that has taken place in the last six days was recorded and is now in possession of Marid. We need to make sure none of this ever gets out to the public."

Lady Brice nodded. "We need to start doing damage control right away. You may not want to kill him, Your Majesty, but he has now committed treason. We have no choice but to send guards to his house to apprehend him."

"That'd be great," a guard said flatly. "Except he's gone."

"What do you mean he's gone?" Dad demanded.

"We've already dispatched men to this apartment. He's gone. And no trace of more recordings."

Lady Brice huffed and slapped her hands on my desk. "We need to find him. He can easily blackmail the throne with anything he's heard. This one is bad enough and there have been dozens other things said in this office. We need to find him and dispose of him before he can do even more damage to this monarchy."

I shook my head slowly, sitting down in my chair. "We can't kill him," I realized.

"Of course we can kill him!" Neena said. "He's a traitor!"

"No, Marid is untouchable. This has been his plan all along. To get in here, get this intel, and then make himself a societal hero. Any move made against Marid at this point makes us look like the bad guys," I explained. "So we need to find a way for him to not hate us."

"Easier said than done," Neena mumbled.

"I'll kill him for you," General Leger offered quietly.

I clapped my hands to get his attention back on me. "Nobody in this room kills Marid Illéa, understand? Whether by their own two hands or by hiring someone to do it; no one kills him." I looked to Dad because he was really the only one who could help me with this. "We need to do it," I said to him.

He shook his head, running an aggravated hand through his hair. Of course he knew what we were talking about. "We can't, Eadlyn. It will only usher in more threats to our security."

"We have no choice," I told him. "He's already a threat enough. He could expose all of us. Just because you're not king anymore doesn't mean you won't ever have to answer for your actions again."

"I said no," he said darkly.

That was normally when I would stop arguing with him, but not that time. "I am sitting behind this desk now. I am paying for an argument you had, a fight you started. Now you need to fix it." Some of the advisers mumbled as they took in the sight of their queen commanding the former king to obey. When he still didn't answer me I turned to Lady Brice and ordered, "Call on Mr. and Mrs. August Illéa. It's time we had a reunion."