Merete looked at herself in the mirror, inspecting her reflection in it. She looked perfect. The flowy red dress, her curled blonde hair, the right amount of makeup, everything. The problem was the Dane did not feel perfect. Maybe it was the place where she was trying to look so perfect for. Reaching over to her desk to get her earrings, the dreaded piece of paper caught her eye. She knew he would be there, of course, he would. It was his sister's wedding of course. Yet, she could not refuse to go. No matter how much they fought before, his sister still was the only one that held onto her, the only one that searched for her after she left. Taking the invitation in her hands, the blonde sighed before reading.

Together with their families

Gilbert Müller

and

Elise Höffer

request the honour of your presence on their wedding

On Saturday, the 20th of July

At two o'clock in the afternoon

And on the back, she could see the loopy, yet perfect with every stroke of the pen over the paper, handwriting of Elise.

Merete, I know how you feel, how hard it is for you fo come here. I know you do not desire to see Roderich ever again, but please, it would mean a lot for me if you are here on this important day. Anniken too.

Thinking about the wedding, it made her shiver with anxiety. Roderich, she had not seen him in four years, not since the divorce. She had not seen anyone since then, to be honest. Moving to a small town, far away from Copenhagen and living with the only thing that was left from Roderich, her daughter Anniken. Her wonderful daughter. Yet, Roderich was not the only thing she was scared from. Her siblings, her neighbours, she had left them all, without an explanation. She had left the country in the hands of her brothers and sister. She had left her beloved queen and the royal family. Merete knew not many people would understand why she did it, and that was what she was scared of. She was going to be a traitor for them, the one who left her loved ones.

''Mama, why are you crying?'' A little voice asked from the door frame, before running to cling to Merete's legs. Looking down, the Danish woman smiled and picked the smaller blonde up in her arms. She gently wiped the tears from her cheeks, shaking her head.

''No, darling, mama poked her eye with the eyeliner.'' The blonde lied to her daughter, holding her tightly against her chest, trying not to think about anything else. ''And did you dress up? Good. Do you want mama to braid your hair?''

Merete held the small girl close to her chest as she walked through the backyard of Hans Müller's house, Gilbert's brother. There were so many people there. Kings, queens, prime ministers, presidents. People she had not seen for years. She could see Erzsebet and her brother, Daniel, Synnöve along with Aleksey, who looked quite happy together. It was funny that they ended up together after Merete and Mikkel had sold her off to the Russian in one of the wars they had against each other, just for a bit of land. Greedy, that's what she was back then, greedy for power and land. Ah, fun times. The blonde could feel her daughter leaning her head on her shoulder and whispering in her ear.

''Mama, who are those people? Do you know them?'' She asked, a bit of concern in her voice. Her daughter was not from the most open people and felt shy around people she did not know.

''Just old friends of mama, Anniken. Do not worry about it, they won't do anything to you. Let's go and find aunt Elise.'' Merete murmured back. Old friends, yes, she probably could use this term. However, ex-friends would sound more fitting for the situation. She just hoped no one would recognize her and ask questions. Looking around, she could see more familiar faces than other. Helene and Álmar, who were holding hands. Ah, so their marriage had lasted for that long. Sigurd was standing there, accompanying Mette-Marit, a glass of champagne in his hand and in what seemed a very heated conversation with his princess. What Merete noticed, was how happy her former friends seemed. To be honest, it was not what she had imagined. They seemed so careless, so untouched by her long absence. Too deep in thought, the Danish woman didn't notice where she was going until she bumped into someone.

''Oh my gods, I am so terribly sorry- ..'' Looking up at the stranger, her words got lost in her throat, blue eyes widening. ''Østrig?" She breathed.

''Merete..''

Hello, hello. I am back. This chapter had been updated, mainly fixing some names and mistakes. This fic is back to updating (hopefully). Read and Review!

~DiAngeloFan