Chapter 1: Gianna

Gianna sighed as she sat through another meeting that her cousin Keres, excuse me, King Keres was holding. Ever since Keres took his father, King Victor’s, place last month after his very unexpected death, Keres had been forcing her to come to these meetings where he was basically trying to undo everything that her parents and uncle had worked so hard to put in place. 

After being at war on and off with different kingdoms for the past one hundred plus years, they were finally at peace and most everyone in the kingdom was content. Gianna’s step father and her mother, the former king and queen, had worked very hard brokering peace treaties with many of the other kingdoms. After the accident that took their lives a little over two years ago, her step father’s brother, Victor, had continued on in their place with trying to garner additional peace treaties. Listening to Keres and hearing his greed underlined in everything that he is doing, Giannna knew that it was only a matter of time before they would be at war again. 

Staring at the new proposed plan that Keres was trying to sell them on, Gianna got lost in past thoughts and memories. She remembered the first time that she ever came to the castle. She had been eight years old and her mom had said that she wanted her to meet someone special. Gianna had not known that the special person that her mother had wanted her to meet was the king. Her mom had met him by chance one day while helping out her friend at the bakery. The king had stopped by on a whim to pick up something sweet. As soon as he walked in and saw her mother, he knew that he had finally found the love of his life. 

Gianna remembered her mom saying that she felt an instant connection with him as soon as their eyes met that she never thought that she would feel again after Gianna’s father was killed in battle four years earlier. She always said that Gianna’s father was her soulmate, and that Gianna was the only thing that had kept her going when she had felt his death. 

Before meeting the king, Gianna had noticed a few changes in her mother, but she had not known what was causing the changes. Her mother had smiled more, looked younger, and just seemed happier. Gianna remembered seeing the way that the king looked at her mom the first time that she saw them together. It was the same way that her parents had looked at each other. There was just a look of such complete love and affection, that even at eight years old Gianna knew she wanted to have someone look at her like that one day. 

The king had been very warm and welcoming to her as well. Not everyone would want to have another man’s child living with them, but the king had never made her feel like she was just a stepchild. From the beginning he had taken an active role and found ways to bond with his mate’s child. Gianna had even eventually called him dad. She smiled thinking about how happy he had been the first time that she had called him dad. It had accidentally slipped out, but she had thought about him that way for a while. Gianna had held back about calling him dad because she wasn’t sure how he would react. She…

“Gianna, can you please explain to the rest of us what you find so amusing,” Keres sneered. 

Crap. She must have zoned out longer than she realized. Gianna had not been paying attention, but she had read enough of the proposal to know that it would only benefit the elite at least for a short while. 

Thinking quickly Gianna replied, “My apologies King Keres. There is nothing funny about you or your plan. I guess I am just a little confused. I can see where you, I mean we, will benefit from all of these proposals, but I do not see how they will benefit the majority of the kingdom. I am just worried that many will not understand the potential long term benefits that can come with these changes,” she said while trying to put a somewhat positive spin on her lie. 

Keres knows that Gianna does not care for him or his greedy ideas, but she also knows that she needs to play nice for fourteen more years. Thankfully, in fourteen years her younger sister, Sophia, will be able to take the throne when she turns eighteen. Sophia is the rightful heir to the throne, but due to her age she was not able to take the throne when their parents died. Since Gianna was not biologically the king’s child she was also not allowed to take the throne even in her sister’s place till she comes of age. 

“I am not surprised,” Keres said, patronizingly bringing Gianna’s thoughts once again back to the matter at hand. He then spoke slowly as if he were speaking to a stubborn child. “If the elite are secure then we can make sure that the rest of the kingdom is secure. If the elite are not secure, how in the world could we be expected to help others before ourselves?” 

“Of course,” Gianna said while trying to contain her sarcasm. Why would she ever expect him to worry about anyone else? “I am just worried that some of these plans could make other kingdoms think that we are trying to illegally expand our borders or take resources that are not ours,” Gianna said sweetly when in reality she was going her best not to grit her teeth. He really was crazy if he thought that he would be able to hide his plans for long. “We are finally at peace. I do not think that anyone wants to go back to war.”

“Of course no one is going to go to war, my dear cousin,” Keres said through gritted teeth. “I am merely proposing that we use land and resources that are not currently being used and would likely never be noticed. The areas that we are looking at, if you were paying attention, are all but forgotten. No one goes there, no one lives there, and they are right past our borders. We could easily say that we did not realize that we had crossed over our borders if needed. It might be best if you just go back to sitting there prettily,” he said condescendingly. “Do not worry yourself about matters that you do not understand.”

Gianna opened her mouth to say something back, but then quickly closed it. Bite your tongue for Sophia. Bite your tongue for Sophia. She repeated to herself. “I’m sorry,” she said softly. “Please continue.” With one last scathing look toward Gianna, Keres turned and continued on like nothing had happened. Why in the world is no one else questioning these ideas? Gianna couldn’t help but wonder what he had used to bribe or threaten them.