My desk was swamped with work from the five days I had been gone from work. If this was just from five days, what would it look like when I went away for weeks at a time? The times that Dad left for three weeks were few and far between, only once every two years or so, but those trips still happened and I was starting to question the necessity of hiring Kaden as a royal secretary just to minimize the work I missed. Even with Mom picking up some of Dad's work, he must have come home to mountains since she could only do so much with taking care of four kids herself.

That was the benefit of Eikko and I though. I only imagined us having a couple of kids and it was definitely down the road. Neither of us felt ready to start having kids right away. I loved having a big family and being closer to my parents in age but I didn't feel ready to be a mother and I wanted the palace to be a home, not a madhouse with dozens of kids running around and me trying to keep up with them and run a country.

Brice came in, all business as usual, coffee cup in one hand and a pile of folders in the other. "For your security briefing later, Your Majesty," she said, sitting down in her chair across from me. "It has updated security measures for the palace, new procedures for guards, and changes for travel security."

"Why all the extra measures?" I asked, lifting a corner slightly to peek inside but the stack of folders was as tall as a small dog. There was no way I was going to even make a dent in all of this work before bed.

"A monarch was just assassinated and France – a major ally to Illéa – is now at war. That puts everyone at risk. We're not going all out quite yet but this is where General Leger would like to start."

I nodded and wrote a note for Brice. "Deliver this to my mother's desk. Get Miss Marlee to meet with her while I'm with General Leger in this security meeting."

Brice looked puzzled by my command. "Are we hiding something from General Leger?"

"I don't know, are we?" I said, winking conspiratorially.

She matched my smile and bobbed quickly as a curtsy. "My lips are sealed, Your Majesty."

I waited for Brice to return before walking with her to the conference room where the security meeting was taking place. With Brice largely handling the domestic affairs in our new government, she attended security meetings but with the threats to security looming from both inside and outside our borders, we both needed to be present.

"How was Panama? I never got the opportunity to ask you. You got home and right away you were taken to do Report clips and go to pressing meetings. Have you had a chance to breathe yet?"

I laughed. "No, actually. But Panama was great. France was wonderful too until…yeah. It was a good trip."

"Have you talked to Ahren in the last few days?" There was more to that question. I could hear it. I wasn't sure to be unnerved by how many people were suddenly doubting the solidity of my relationship with my twin or to be touched that they obviously cared.

"Ahren and I have nothing to talk about right now," I told her vaguely, slightly aggravated.

"Eadlyn—"

"What?" I snapped. She stopped abruptly outside the door to the security conference room. "What? Ahren and I are married, we have our own spouses, our own countries to run. We're now living two separate lives. It doesn't matter how often I talk to my brother."

"He's not just your brother, Eadlyn. He's your twin."

"I know he's my twin!" I exclaimed. Some guards passed us to go inside, bowing as they went. I waited for them to be inside before continuing in a hushed voice. "He's been my twin my whole life. But if I start using that as a reason to be nice to him as an ally, I'll never be able to stop. I need to separate him from diplomacy."

Brice held her hands up in surrender, affronted by my attitude. "Understood." She waved her arm at the door. "Shall we go in?"

I walked in ahead of her and sat down right away so that the guards didn't have to wait any longer to take their seats. I was desperate for a cup of coffee to help curb my fatigue but I knew better than to drink coffee. In my mind, I was careful to justify not having coffee by telling myself that it was because I didn't want to use the bathroom in the middle of the meeting.

General Leger opened the meeting by delivering an updated report on the status of the war between France and North Africa. It had been relatively quiet in the last few days as both countries gathered their supplies and soldiers. The only incident he had to report was the sinking of a military vessel in the Mediterranean.

"Now, Your Majesty, we must discuss our plans moving forward," General Leger said as he paced at one end of the table.

"I agree," I said.

"We cannot aid France in their fight," General Leger told me. "I'm sorry Eadlyn, I know that Prince Ahren is your brother and you've known Queen Camille your whole life but we can't afford to go to war."

Brice nodded and focused on me as well. "Absolutely. Going forward, we need to keep our relations with France amicable but we can't be too friendly. Otherwise, it'll only be harder to say no when they ask for help."

"Which they will," Sir Andrews threw in. "As will North Africa. We're all allies in this war and things are about to get messy. With the changes to the government and our own upheaval currently, it's wiser to remain neutral. We have our own wars to fight."

"Not fight – end," General Leger amended. Sir Andrews nodded as some of the other security advisers started mumbling about their own ideas and concerns about the current state of the northern hemisphere. Lady Brice chimed in every few moments or so as she saw fit but for all intents and purposes, I was invisible to them. I was a child sitting in on some meeting that I didn't belong in and they could care less about my input. It felt like I was back in training with my dad, not speaking unless he asked for my opinion and just watching him to learn. Dad wasn't there though and this room was in my command.

I cleared my throat and pushed my shoulders back, sitting taller and prouder in my seat. "Excuse me," I said loudly. The room quieted and everyone looked to me as if they had just remembered that I was there.

"Queen Eadlyn, we're just trying to remind you of the risks you're facing—" General Leger began.

I quickly interrupted him. "General Leger, have a seat."

His eyes widened, stunned that I was ordering him to sit down. After he took his seat, a chair he very rarely sat in because he was always moving and pacing during meetings, I began. "Listen to me ladies and gentlemen – I know I haven't been in this position of your active queen for a long time. However, I have been the heir for my entire life. When I was seven and my father made the final deal of peace with New Asia, affectively ending all fights we had with them, I was there. When Dominica decided that they wanted to secede, I listened in on the phone conference he had with their mayor where they struck the deal to be remain. I have been trained for this for my entire life and I'll be damned if I let you all dictate my moves now, when I am finally in full control. I know that we must remain neutral, I know that we are entering a challenging time. And it's a good thing that I know that because unlike you all who are only just now grasping that and are only speaking about the problems we're going to encounter, I've come prepared to discuss solutions."

Sir Andrews shifted uncomfortably in his chair. The other guards stared down at the table in shame for being scolded. General Leger was doing everything he could to not make eye contact with me.

"And for heaven's sake, if any one of you try to tell me one more time how to handle things with my brother, you will be fired," I threatened. "And if you didn't understand any of that, feel free to take your leave now." Silence fell over the room and I nodded, sensing that they'd gotten the message. "Great. Now, Brice will distribute my itinerary for the next month or so. We added a couple things after my trip to Panama; I've been moved by the stories from the village we visited and I hope to be able to give back to some of those people with the added charity events."

General Leger was frowning deeply as he read through my schedule. "Your Majesty, if I may just interject before we get too far in this discussion but right now is not the best time for public appearances."

I frowned. "And why is that?"

"Queen Daphne was just assassinated and two of our allies are at war. There's a protocol we must follow."

"What protocol?" I demanded, flattening my hands against the table in front of me in an effort to keep them still.

"In order to protect the monarchy, you must remain inside the palace for the immediate future and limit the guests permitted inside. We are, for all intents and purposes, on lockdown."

"Lockdown? You have to be kidding!"

"It's for your protection," General Leger emphasized.

I slapped my hand down with a loud thump. "To hell with my protection! How am I supposed to rule my people if I'm held under a lock and key? How am I going to know what they want or need if I can't even talk to them?"

Brice cut in. "Queen Eadlyn, we have solutions for these concerns. Your parents did this for the months following King Maxon's coronation—"

"Well that's great for them but I'm not content to just sit around twiddling my thumbs while my people are starving or fighting each other or demanding free apples or something else preposterous," I ranted.

"We can try out those town halls," Brice said quickly, trying to talk me down from my ledge.

"Because those worked so well five months ago?"

"We can't compromise with the lockdown but we can work with your somewhat limited options within the palace," she explained. "Have representatives from each province come and visit, voice their concerns with you…like I said, this worked well for your parents when they were still adjusting to their new roles here."

I shook my head, still seething. "I don't like it. The people are already complaining about how distant I am; how is this going to help that?"

Sir Andrews spoke up. "Bottom line, the monarchy is in a precarious state right now."

All heads turned in his direction. "What do you mean, Sir Andrews?" I asked in a tone that made it clear to not mess with me.

"Well, it is written that if Queen Eadlyn and her consort are unfit to rule, King Ahren would succeed but he is…preoccupied. His sudden marriage was unplanned. If we'd had any say in it, he would have married Camille several years down the line. Because right now, Prince Kaden is next in line but he's not of age so it would then fall back to Queen America and King Maxon to be regents. All of this would be resolved by an heir."

I froze as advisers started whispering their agreement around the table. General Leger half-rose from his seat, ready to defend me but he seemed to be speechless. Brice jumped to her feet. "She's been married for no more than two weeks and you're already talking about an heir?" she exclaimed.

"With the state of the world, we cannot be too safe," Sir Andrews said. "We need to reinforce her claim on the throne."

"Even if she were to give you an heir in the next year, it would be another eighteen years until that heir is of age and can rule," Brice argued.

"But Prince Kaden could take over," he said.

Brice snorted. "Then we're back to this initial problem. Kaden isn't old enough so it would fall to Maxon and America and they cannot be burdened with that stress."

"But if she just had an heir, it would resolve any confusion over who would rule next," Sir Andrews. "She needs a child for the people to know and build a connection with as their future monarch."

"She's eighteen!" Brice yelled, losing all control. "Just let her be a girl and be married and stop trying to force her to grow up so soon!"

"She's the queen of Illéa!" Sir Andrews shouted back, matching her ferocity. "She is not just any other newlywed. She has responsibilities not just as a wife but as a queen and as a married queen. Those responsibilities primarily lie in the provision of an heir."

"Enough!" General Leger said, rising to his feet. "Eadlyn is not giving you an heir anytime soon, understood? No matter what you say, that's a decision for her to make with her husband. And beside that, you could never convince her parents of a good enough reason for her to give you an heir so quickly. Look at Queen Elizabeth I of England: she never had an heir and she is one of the most famous queens to have ever ruled. This decision is Eadlyn and Eikko's and I better not see family planning on any meeting agenda moving forward."

Sir Andrews focused his gaze on me. "Queen Eadlyn, you must understand this duty you have to your country—"

"This meeting is over for me," I said decisively. "Whatever you all want to do with the security here in the palace, you have my approval. Any questions can be delivered to me through Brice." I stormed out of the room, fighting to catch my breath.

No part of me wanted to go back to my study and keep working. I just needed a moment to myself where I could think and process everything. There were only so many places for a queen to hide though. Even the queens who were long gone were preserved with the simple stroke of a brush and hung where they could watch over their descendants.

Grandma Amberly was looking as tranquil as ever in her portrait hanging upstairs. I sat on the bench I would always sit on, a small red velvet cushion adjacent to her portrait. When I was younger, I would find Dad up here a lot, sometimes talking aloud to the portrait as he sat cross-legged on the plush carpet beneath her. I would hide around the corner and listen to him purge himself of worries for his country, his children, and his wife. Every once in a while Mom would be there, standing right at the foot of the portrait, chewing on a thumb nail anxiously as she studied the portrait. From what they told us, Grandma Amberly was revered by the Illéan people and the country mourned for months following her death, their grief only curbed by Mom and Dad's wedding and coronation celebrations. Over the years, as my parents either became more confident as rulers or simply outgrew their need for direction, their visits had become more infrequent.

Now it seemed like I was the only one to gaze upon my late grandmother. I used to judge Dad for talking out loud to her but for me, it seemed like the only thing I could do.

"Hi Grandma," I whispered tentatively. "This feels weird." I paused because that was the natural pause in conversation and it was her turn to respond but after a few moments I remembered that no response would be coming. "Right, this is all one-sided. Well, I mean, I don't really know why I'm here."

Her eyes – my eyes – gazed down at me, warm in the golden light of the windows behind me. They were so open and expressive, a mother's gaze. I could see understanding there. Dad certainly inherited her wisdom and comprehension.

"I guess I just…you were probably scared too, right? I mean, I think any queen who was fearless in her job was either lying to herself or a bad queen because I can't seem to stop worrying about things. Mom and Dad seem to look up to you a lot and I like to think that in me, they can see you. I guess I'm just scared of becoming my own queen. I've always wanted to be as smart as Dad, as calm as you, and as passionate as Mom but it's scary to think about what people will have to say about me years down the line.

"It's especially scary to think about that – the future. There are so many things that are unknown yet it seems like it has all been decided for me already. I just want to lay a good foundation for my child to take over. That's probably all you wanted with Dad, right? I think that we get better with each generation but maybe it's not actually getting better. Maybe it's simply being different. Maybe by easing the burden of responsibility on the monarch, it will finally get better. That's all I can hope for, really." I took a deep breath. I thought about the most immediate future and smiled slightly. "I'm scared but I'm also excited for what this year will hold. I just hope that I can manage everything as gracefully as you."

I heard the click of heels from around the corner and abruptly stopped talking, shrinking back slightly to hopefully look more casual in my seat. It was just a maid passing though. Grandma Amberly's portrait wasn't a strange place for maids and butlers to find us so I didn't bat an eye at being discovered there.

A much quieter set of footsteps followed the maid and my middle brother rounded the corner, not at all surprised to find me sitting there. "How…?" I asked, wondering how he knew where I was.

"General Leger," he said, pointing to the ceiling. I followed his finger and saw a tiny, miniscule camera in the ceiling directly above me. These cameras were courtesy of August Illéa, who insisted that the palace would be safer with cameras. They were really only used to cheat during games of hide-and-go-seek though. Kaden sat down next to me and leaned his head against the windowsill behind us. "Lot of people looking for you."

"I bet."

"You stormed out of a meeting?" he asked in disbelief.

"Are you really that surprised?"

He was quiet for a moment. "I guess not." We were quiet as we both stared up at Grandma Amberly. Kaden bore hardly any resemblance to her whatsoever. His eyes were the only things that he had in common with her. I wondered what he saw when he saw her. "So what happened?"

I sighed, just wanting to go back to bed and sleep for the next eight months or so. "It's not important. Nothing really urgent was discussed except for our impending World War and my reproductive plans."

Kaden chuckled. "That's…amazing." He started laughing in earnest and hearing him laugh, I couldn't keep the smile off my face. "Does that mean your gynecologist is going to be invited to your meetings from now on?"

I gasped. "Kaden!"

"What? Dad gave me the talk years ago…and more recently."

"Why?" I asked, scrunching up my nose.

"Josie."

"Josie? Josie Woodwork? Are things serious?"

Kaden stood up and pointed a finger at me. "You know what? Don't try to change the subject to my love life. I was really interested in hearing about your family planning," he said sarcastically.

"Yeah, right," I said, following him as he left.

"No, really. I find it all just so fascinating. Tell me, Queen Eadlyn, when will you give us an heir? The people deserve it you know."

I rolled my eyes. "Shut up."

We walked down to the third floor, laughing loudly enough that Raelynn would have dropped dead if she heard us, and found the third floor in utter chaos. Media analysts and members of Gavril's team were running to and fro, in and out of Dad's private study and downstairs to their offices. Brice's voice could be heard from my office. Mixed in were guards and General Leger issuing orders.

"How did this get out?" Brice demanded into a cell phone.

Our smiles vanished as we slowly approached the whole scene. Gavril was standing beside Brice and said placidly, "There are far worse things to be leaked."

"Not right now, there aren't!" Brice snapped, hanging up the phone with a flick of her hair. "Eadlyn! Eadlyn, good, we need you to make a statement."

"What?" I asked. "Why do I need to make a statement?"

"Somehow the media got word of your mother's surgery. It's all a mess. There are rumors saying that she's dying, that she's sick, that she's both sick and dying. We need you in hair and makeup now," Brice said, grabbing my elbow and pulling me in the direction of the studio.

"Wait, wait, wait," I said.

"Don't have time!"

"Brice!" I snapped, wrenching my elbow out of her grip. "Why is this so terrible?"

Her eyes widened. "Why is this so terrible? The people think their queen is dying or ill. We need to set the record straight."

"I'm still not seeing why this is so bad."

"Eadlyn, which members of the royal family are here in the palace right now?"

Confused by her questioned, I quickly listed, "Me, Eikko, Kaden, Osten and Mom."

"And your father?"

"In France."

"Right. Your mother is about undergo open heart surgery and your father just took an extended vacation to France. How do you think that looks to the public?"

"I guess it looks bad. But who could question Mom and Dad's relationship? They all watched them fall in love."

Brice shrugged. "Except the polls are saying that morale surrounding the public's opinion of your parents has fallen since her heart attack."

"How? Dad has barely left her side."

"They don't know that. For all they know, America has suddenly been diagnosed with a heart disease and your father is ashamed and has gone running off to France. Do you remember those rumors about him having an affair with Queen Daphne?"

"They're preposterous," I said through gritted teeth.

"Yet your father travels to France alone to mourn her," Brice said. "Look, it all is ridiculous and nonsensical but this is what the public needs to hear. They need to know that your family is united and being supportive of your mother and that you all love her very much." She called for General Leger. "How fast can we get Ahren back here in Illéa?"

General Leger looked at her like she had lost her mind. Now that I had the time to look around and collect my bearings, it was obvious that Brice was the one stirring up all of this chaos. "Um, not for another month probably. His wife just started a war, remember?"

"Well we need him here," Brice insisted. "We need all Schreave children here with their parents right now." Tears were brimming in her eyes, making her look more like a child throwing a temper tantrum than an adult doing her job.

I held up a hand to General Leger, stopping whatever response he had prepared for her. "Brice, let's go get my hair and makeup touched up, okay?" This time, I was pulling her in the direction of the studio as she started crying in earnest. When we were alone in the makeup room, I forced her to face me. "Brice, what is going on?"

"I'm sorry," she apologized. "I'm sorry, I can control myself, I promise. I'm fine. I'm fine."

"Brice." Her eyes scrunched up again as she sobbed more, shaking her head. "Brice, tell me what's going on."

Her watery eyes met mine. "I've spent most of my life protecting your family from the public. I just want you all to have easy, boring lives. I've dedicated myself to ensuring that the public doesn't tear you apart. Now I have failed at keeping your mother's deepest secret."

"Something is telling me that her impending heart surgery isn't her deepest secret," I reminded her. "Perhaps it's her half-sister-in-law?"

Brice smiled ruefully. "I'm worried, Eadlyn. She's become the closest thing to a mother for me. A weird, maternal sister, I guess. And him…he's my brother. I don't want to see him hurt."

"I know," I said, understanding what she was feeling.

"He loves you all but America…I've never seen a man love a woman as much as he loves her. Except for maybe Eikko," she added with a gratuitous grin. "I just want them to live happily ever after. They deserve it."

"I agree. But don't you think that they already kind of have? I mean, they have a family, they've seen their country prosper, they've been surrounded by friends and loved ones for the better part of the last twenty years…I think they've lived pretty happily already."

Brice nodded and wiped her eyes. "I think you're right."

"And I think they'll make it through this."

"Okay. Yeah. They will. Sorry, I'm a mess and I really ought to be doing my job now."

"I'm sure the queen can excuse you just this once for not being totally on top of things." I paused before saying, "You know, I think this statement would be much more effective if my father spoke. Maybe, for now, we can have Gavril release a very generic statement about the health of my mother and then when my father gets home, he can give more details."

Brice chewed on her lip nervously and the nodded. "You know, Your Majesty, I'm starting to think that you're in the wrong vocation." We shared another smile and we walked outside, ready to sort out our latest mess together.