My life had never been of any meaning before. I gave all credit for that to the Queen, who had been able to live through the same tragedy as me but still be better off.  

When my parents were killed, I got nothing but sympathy from my neighbours and some of the citizens, along with the run-down house that was left behind by my parents. When the Queen’s parents were killed, she was handed the throne, and everybody mourned for her parents. So how could I ever feel anything other than hatred for her? The person who had done nothing to ease me of my worries or to find out who had murdered the only two people in my life.  

Geraldia was a fairly peaceful kingdom, and the late King saw through it that nothing befell the peace held on for ages. My parents always raved on about how just and kind the King was, but where was the King when two of his loyal subjects were brutally murdered. The head of his royal guards and the head chef at the castle. 

Their bodies rotting in front of the castle gates as if they were a cruel message for the King. I still believe that their lives were stolen because of him. I blamed him for everything and used all of my energy to cultivate my hatred for him. But then somehow, the King and Queen were both killed as well.  

No one had been privy to the details, but the announcement was made in the town square, and the princess ascended the throne immediately.  

She was only 15 then. That was 3 years ago. 

She was to turn 18 next month.  

“Attention, all citizens!” My eyes took in the men who all wore a deep maroon. It was the uniform for Geraldia’s knights, tasked to protect the Queen as well as to keep the kingdom safe.  

But my attention was quickly diverted from them as I felt an elbow in my side. “Fuck, Felix!” I managed to keep my voice down since the messenger had begun to narrate from the scroll in his hands while the knights surrounded him protectively.  

Felix was my best mate, and he was the only one who helped me out when I needed it the most. Being a few years older than me, he was also able to earn more money than I ever could. Geraldia wasn’t so keen on handing out laborious work to individuals who had were still near the age of eighteen. But I could get proper work for a year now.  

“I’m certain the Queen wants to announce a large feast for the day she turns eighteen.” He relayed to me with a snicker as I rolled my eyes. He was not great at guessing any of the announcements that were ever made. Our attention was brought back to the messenger as the crowd began to whisper around us. 

We had missed most of what he had spoken but managed to hear the other half of his message.  

“...law of Geraldia states that the Queen is to marry an appropriate suitor by the time she reaches of age. For the selection of such a suitor, she has arranged for a battle in the arena for the eligible bachelors of the kingdom. The battle will be fought on her birthday, and the winner will be crowned King immediately!”  

The messenger looked up at the crowd before he closed the scroll and rolled it calmly. But his calmness could do nothing to pacify the audience the Queen’s decree had gathered. Everyone in the square had been filled with vigour and confidence.  

Even Felix looked excited as he looked around at the other people. But everything felt strange to me. This decree sounded nothing like the Queen. If I remembered her correctly from the only time, I had met her back when we were children – she was a confident child who never liked fights.  

It was odd that she would choose to watch all the single men in the kingdom just to grasp onto the chance to be her betrothed.  

“I’m going to marry the Queen, Bran!”  

Scoffing at Felix’s words, I shook my head. “I don’t think you’ve got a chance against all of the fighters here.” His skinny figure was enough to testify to his imminent loss. He was not going to win against burly men who had been sparring in the arena all of their lives.  

“You just watch me!” Felix laughed with confidence, while I groaned at that exact confidence. He wasn’t going to last even a second inside of that arena with anyone. But who was I to spoil his dream, even when I disliked the idea of him marrying the self-serving Queen.  

I had no good words for her anyway, and my hatred for her knew no bounds.  

It was just a shame that I wouldn’t be able to avenge my own parents’ death by making her miserable. She was going to find herself a husband to do that for her.  

We watched the messenger get down from the square fountain, and then get back on the horse he had arrived on. A few of the knights got onto their own horses while the rest walked.  

The people in the square also began to disperse with wide smiles on their faces. Single men were happy that they could stand a chance to be King, while older people were happy that the Queen was finally going to be married.  

“I’m going to start training immediately!” Felix exclaimed and I just nodded my head. I couldn’t break his heart or his dream, so I chose to nod and smile. If I couldn’t be positive about his desire, I shouldn’t be negative either. So, I chose to be neutral.  

The boy smiled widely at me before he was on his merry way to the arena, I believe.  

Well, there were going to be a lot of new visitors to the arena this month anyway. Where else would everyone go to train, for the fight of their lives? 

Seeing Felix’s retreating back, I chose to go back to my house as well. There was nothing left for me to do at the square anyway. Even Felix had gone off to train and I had no work for the day left. It only meant I could just go home and relax for the evening.  

I began walking with my eyes straying to the houses which lined each street.  

Everything had changed ever since the princess had ascended the throne. She had gotten all of the houses in the town either renovated or completely changed. Now, most of them looked the same, with the same colours and the same structure. Some of the houses had been torn down and built right up from the ground. But that was only something that could be done if the inhabitants had enough money.  

You see, nothing was done on the Queen’s expenses. She just provided the masons and the architects. Everything else – all the money related issues – were for the citizens to handle for themselves.  

This was also one of the reasons why I disliked her reign. She just swooped in and had everything changed into something that would fit her likes and dislikes. But there was definitely something she could not get her hands on.  

I sighed in frustration as my eyes fell on the royal guards who were standing right outside of my house. I had just turned into my street and that was the first thing I laid eyes on. What a horrific start to my evening? 

Walking over to the two men, I inspected their aloof behaviour as they kept looking at my house with disdain. I disliked how their eyes were taking in the structure of my old house, as if they could just tear it apart and build it right up again. It wasn’t my fault or my parents’ that the house had been left in such a state. I used to live in the castle with my parents before they died because of their work, which was why the house had to be left in such a dire state. But I knew that the house’s condition wasn’t reason enough for the Queen’s men to remain coming over and offering to renovate the place. Of course, for a steep price that is.  

“Can I help you?” I called out to them as I approached them. They turned towards me immediately, turning bright and interested immediately. I scoffed openly at their transparency. Did they think I wouldn’t be able to realize what they really wanted? 

“This is your house?” One of the guards asked as he pointed to my house. 

“Yes.” It was futile to ignore them, so I just went with whatever they had to say this time. I knew that they couldn’t force me to pay for the renovations for my own house, or to tear it down. I owned the land deed and even the building’s deed. It was right there in the house, in a safe place.  

“We were sent by the Majesty to check the remaining houses that aren’t renovated yet.”  

Of course, someone came around every month to check up on that. It was a real hassle because every time, I would have to explain being piss poor and not having the revenue to do things that way the Royal Highness wanted.  

I waited for them to continue and one of them did with a friendly smile which I could tell was plastered onto his face so I would be reasonable. “Your house is the only one left in the entire neighbourhood that hasn’t been fixed.” He stated cautiously and I folded my arms. “I don’t have the money.”  

My answer was short and clear enough for them to understand. But understanding was surely their weakest trait. “The Queen has offered to buy the house from you and arrange you a permanent housing at one of the shared houses.”  

My left eye twitched as I heard the absurd idea. “I’m not selling my house.”  

One of the guards sighed as he looked at me sharply. Their friendly smiles were surely gone now. “It’s a good offer and you’ll be able to live...properly.”  

I scoffed at how the man looked at my clothes with disdain. “My answer is no!” I pushed past them as I walked to the front door.  

“You’re displeasing her royal highness!”  

Their voices had been so loud that we had attracted a crowd. I frowned at the unnecessary attention. That was by far the last thing I wanted in my day, right after the news of her highness getting married. I didn’t need this shit.  

“The answer is still no.” I unlocked the front door, not wanting to stay around to witness the reactions from the guards or the crowd. Stepping inside of the house, I was sure to slam the door shut loudly so that it would give them enough reason not to knock on my door again. 

My answer would always be no. It had always been a negative since I didn’t want to do things like the Queen wanted. I didn’t want to do anything that the Queen wanted.  

Where did that lead me to stand?  

Not in a favourable place, that was for certain.