CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

Sunday, January 8th

King Altiyan was still in the Hospital Wing when Sunday came and I was reluctant to go to the Parliment meeting on my own. The Doctor said the King wasn't getting any better, he was getting worse. I bit my lip and sat back in the shadows as the hall filled with important people. Usually the King was the adjudicator of the sessions, he'd sit in the big chair and introduce the people and their plights and say when to call the votes and other important things. Since he wasn't here and I'm the Crown Princess... I had to do it.

"Princess?" Shane asked softly, his dark hazel eyes concerned and caring. "Are-... I know you're not okay." He sighed, reaching for me before he sighed again and dropped his hand. "You're gonna do good today."

"I hope so." I whispered, stepping forward and hugging him, cuddling against his warm body for comfort and love. Shane relaxed a little and wrapped his arms around me gently.

"I know so." He replied and I half-smiled sadly. Someone cleared their throat and I lifted my head off Shane's chest to see Alyssa glaring at us. No, not at us, at Shane. I glared at her and turned back to Shane who now looked uncomfortable and nervous. "I have to get back." He muttered, looking away and frowned, reaching up to cup his cheek, and he put his hand over mine.

"You don't have to go." I shook my head and he trailed his hand down my arm, up my shoulder and gently held my neck.

"Kick Parliments ass, Princess." Shane half smiled before he leaned down and kissed my forehead gently and stepped away, turning my hand as he did and kissing my palm as well.

"What?" I turned back to Alyssa.

"Every Sunday for the last thirty-four years Parliment has started at exactly nine o'clock in the morning." Alyssa stated and I rolled my eyes.

"Even Christmas and Easter?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Every Sunday." Alyssa repeated.

"Just so you know, I don't work on holidays." I told her and she was about to protest when I walked away. We'd had a late Christmas breakfast last year, if Parliment was at nine every Sunday it meant the King had to be here and all these people, all these people with kids, on Christmas. I looked at the big seat, that's where the King sat. That's where I had to sit. I sighed and screwed up all my courage and walked up to the big chair and sat down. The chair felt even bigger than it looked and I felt really small sitting in it. I looked around the room from the head chair, almost everyone was here and several of them were looking at me. I glanced at the little digital clock on the desk behind the big barrier between me and the people; 9:00 AM. "Thank-you all for being here." I leaned forward and spoke into the little microphone. The hall fell silent and they all turned to me. "I'm sorry to tell you that-... That the King couldn't make it today due to extinuating health conditions." A fancy way of saying that he's dieing. I swollowed thickly and took a slow breath. "I-I will be presiding over todays proceedings instead." I looked down at the papers on the desk, everything that had to be talked about and voted on was on the top paper with a number listing the paper that explained what everything was about. "First, um... First order of business is-..." My eyes widened as I read and flipped to the correct page. "Sentancing for the terrorists who acted against the Crown on the date of November twenty-third, two-thousand and eleven." I forced myself to say, my voice shaking slightly. The kids from school who tried to kill me. I subconsciously glanced over to Shane, he was staring straight ahead, his jaw set and a slight glare in his eye.

Bring in the accused.

The paper in front of me read. This would be the first time I'd actually see any of these people since they tried to kill me. They tried to kill me just because of what family I was born into, because my bloodline wrote my Destiny for me. "Um... P-please bring in the accused." I spoke softly into the microphone and I saw a guard at the opposite end of the hall knock on a door before it opened and each of the accused was brought in with their hands cuffed behind their backs and a guard on each side of them. 13 people in total; six boys from older grades, three older girls, two girls and a boy from my grade and a boy from the grade under me. Plus Ecklestein who was suffering from a slight case of death and couldn't make it.

I looked at all of them, the oldest had to be around eighteen, the same age as Shane. The youngest boy was thirteen; a thirteen-year-old boy; he was the son of one of the elite and had been at all the stuck-up people parties. He was one of the boys who was on the list for me to marry. This 13-year-old boy had tried to kill me. I licked my lips nervously and looked down. I had to do this? I had to be the one to tell all these people who had tried to kill me what their punishment was in front of a couple of hundred people? I felt sick at the thought. "You-you are all here b-because you were found guilty by a jury of this esteemed Parliment of treason, terrorism against the Crown, attempted murder, attempted murder of the Crown, and conspiracy to commit acts against the Crown." I could feel the scar on my forehead tingling slightly as I thought about that night. "This-this court has found that-that Mister Ronald Jones is-" I paused as two guards stepped forward with the oldest boy. His eyes were hard, his jaw set, his shoulders proud. He didn't regret it. "-is sentanced to..." I gasped slightly when I read the paper. The people of Parliment had really voted on this? What did the King say? Did he aprove of this? "To fifteen years imprisonment for treason, and four consectutive life sentances of twenty-five years for all other charges equating to a total of one-hundred and fifteen years imprisonment before you are elligabble for parole." He'd have to live to over a 133 before he could get out of prison. Ronald Jones squared his shoulders and glared at me, making me wince back as the guards led him away and the next trio of guards and accused stepped forward, a girl thiss time.

"Miss Haley Swan," she was the Head Girl at school; chosen by the headmaster as the most esteemed student of her grade. "This court has found you to be sentanced to fifteen years imprisonment for the charge of treason, and four consecutive life sentances of twenty-five years for all other charges equating to one-hundred and fifteen years imprisonment before you are elligable for parole."

The next ten readings were all the same, I felt like I could hardly breathe by the time I got to the last one, the 13-year-old boy. He looked scared and nervous and like he was about to cry. I felt like I was about to cry as well, I'd just told twelve people that they would be in jail until they died, I'd had just told twelve people that the rest of their lives was going to be spent in an eight by twelve stone cell. This boy was only two years older than Trevor, than Shane's little brother, and he'd tried to kill me, and now I had to tell him what his punishment for that was. He'd only just turned thirteen as well, according to the papers on the desk, between Christmas and New Year.

"Matthew Alexander." The boy was forced to step forward, he was the younger brother of one of the older girls, Madison. "You-you have been found guilty by this court and-and have been sentanced to..." I gulped as my eyes flittered from the paper to the boy. I felt like I was going to pass out. "Five years in a correctional facility for troubled youths followed by four consecutive sentances of ten years for all other charges totalling forty-five years." Not as bad as the others, he'd still be 58 before he was elligable for release, but he'd be alive. He probably got less because he was under thirteen at the time. 13-years-old and I'd just told him the next 45 would be spent behind bars. As the boy was led out I sat back and squeezed my eyes shut, tyring to block everything out. I couldn't do this, I wasn't cut out for this. I may have been born into the Royal family, but I was raised in Crowley Corners, Tennessee and I wasn't cut out to sentance kids to death in prison.

I put my hands on my head and covered my closed eyes, trying to block everything out. I knew everyone could see, but I didn't care. I could feel Shane's eyes on me, concerned and loving, but I couldn't bring myself to pull away. Someone cleared thier throat and I didn't acknowledge them. Whispered started, but I ignored them

"Miley." I heard Shane's soft whisper behind me and that brought me back. He called me Miley, not Princess. He very rarely did that, only about three times since I'd met him, even when we were alone. I pulled my hands away and scrubbed my eyes one last time before I opened them and looked back at Shane. My Shane. He was concerned and nervous and I knew he was itching to come to me. I smiled weakly at him. He let out a breath and returned a weak smile before I turned back around.

"Sorry." I whispered into the microphone and the whispers immeditately stopped. Is this what happened all the time? Would I have to tell more people the rest of their lives would be in a cell? I took a couple of breaths before I looked back down at the itinerary. That was it. The sentancing and then open floor for anyone who wanted to make a motion. "Um... That-that's the end of todays business, the floor is now open for any new motions to be made." I sighed and waited for someone to say something, dow something, anything. At least one motion before I had to speak again? "Anyone?" I asked, looking around and they all stared back at me. "Is-is this thing on?" I joked weakly, tapping the microphone and there were a couple of scattered, half-hearted laughs. "Jeez." I muttered to myself before I sat up straighter and looked down at the notes I'd scribbled and scattered. "Okay, uh, I guess it's up to me." I let out a breath and tried to figure out what to say. "Uh, kinda new at this, so, uh, I-I would like to make a motion... S-start a petition to-to change to constitution of Cyrus." There were murmurs from the people I hadn't talked to or arranged meetings with already. I gulped and looked back at my notes.

"I-I'd like to petition to change the constitution to allow a Princess to marry a man for love, without stipulation of social status, Parlimentary status, or creed." I bit my lip and thought of Shane. I was doing this for us, for me and Shane to be together, for us to be able to be in love and let me marry him when the time came. That time was coming closer and closer, the Kings Doctor said the tests weren't good. "Uh... I don't really know how to do this so... I love someone, someone really amazing, and the only reason I'm not allowed to be with him and show the world how much I love him is because of a five-hundred-year-old law against Princess'." I glanced back to Shane and his eyes were trained on me, soft and caring. "I know I have to get married, I know that, and I'm willing to. I don't want it to be to someone I don't love just because they're from the right sort of family, I want to marry the most sweetest, most amazing man in the whole world." I heard a couple of awes and I smiled. "I can't do that, I can't do that right now, I can't marry Shane because he's not a Lord or a Viscount or something like that. And neither can any Princess' in the future, not right now, as of right now I have to marry someone in this room or one of their sons. And the Princess' in the future generations will fall to the same fate." I licked my lips nervously. "You-you all, everyone in this room, all of you can change that; you can change the constitution to let me marry Shane, you can change the constitution and give women equall rights that a Prince has to marry the person they love, not just someone with a title." I looked out at everyone.

The Parliment errupted in whispers and murmurs, like a high school cafeteria. I leant back and watched. What was I supposed to do now? I looked over at Shane, his eyes were shining and he looked nervous. I looked over to Alyssa, she was urging me to continue.

"I put forth a motion to petition for you all to change the constitution of Cyrus." I leaned forward and bit my lip as someone brought out a box that held a meticulously written petition - the King had talked to someone for me and had it written by the top laywers in the country - and placed it on a podium in the middle of the room. "Please?" I whispered beggingly, flickering my eyes out, from the box to the people to the box. I gulped and watched, no-one was moving, no-one was moving to sign. "Please?" I begged again after a couple of minutes and the person moved, Lady Lochnell. She stood up and confidently walked down the steps from her seat to the middle of the room where the box was. The room was so dead quiet that everyone could hear the echo of her footsteps, the creak of the box, the rustle as she picked out one of the papers to sign, initial and date, I could even hear the scribble of the pen as it moved to help my not-so-distant future become something not entirely a nightmare. When Lady Lochnell was back sitting in her seat Lord Lewis stood up and I let out a slow breath, it was actually happening. Lord Lewis signed the second paper and before he turned around to go back to his seat someone else stood up, someone I didn't know, I hadn't talked to yet.

In a span of half an hour I got a total of eight votes, eight people willing to change the constitution of Cyrus that had been upheld for hundreds of years, for me. For me and Shane.

Okay, this is probably going to be the last update until after the New Year, so can I get lots and lots of reviews?

IT'S CHRISTMAS EVE!

I hope everyone has a happy holiday no matter what your religion. And this chapter is my present to you guys so reviews can be your presents to me :D

XOXO
Peace, Love, HAPPY HOLIDAYS!