In Year 2027, I became queen.  Five months later, I became a mother.  Now, in

my twenty-fifth year as both, I will spread the truth about my life, and pray forgiveness for my lies. 

I was born in Watauga, an arid, dry wasteland with a penchant for beginning wars it could not finish alone.  My father had been a great general for the king and upon his death, I was welcomed into the palace.  Though I did not know it, I would be treated as a daughter, and a pawn.  In my twentieth year, I was betrothed to King Ulrik of Tanasi and was sent away from the only home I had ever clearly remembered to marry a man I had never met.  Accompanying my party to the capital city was a scout named Simeon Fane.

Simeon Fane ran.  He carried a stock pulse laser across his chest, the shape of the gun similar to the old-time shotguns now seen only in museums.  Its technology rivaled that of no other gun in Tanasi, specifically crafted for the king’s scouts, of which Simeon was a proud member.  His hands held the gun at the ready in the event he were taken by surprise while he ran.  His shoulders swished back and forth as his feet hit the earth, his breath coming in even pants, his eyes scanning the wooded terrain around him.  He could see the royal traveling party from his perch on the ridge.  They were traveling in an old creek bed, he and the other scouts of King Ulrik flanking them.  The pink hues most of the royal party wore did nothing to camouflage the foreigners from the rebels known to inhabit this section of woods, and Simeon’s eyes were open for any kind of disturbance. 

King Ulrik had chosen Simeon for this mission strictly because of his knowledge of the region.  Simeon had grown up in this stretch of woods, had played together with his brother Sinjon, his childhood home less than two miles from the former hunting cabin of King Ulrik’s father Manin.  The men King Ulrik now considered rebels against his throne were the same boys that Simeon and his brother Sinjon had played with during their childhood before their mother sent them to the capital city.  But Tanasi had been different under King Manin’s reign, and Simeon could understand the peasants’ reactions to a man like King Ulrik, a man so different from his beloved father.

A broken twig echoed through the seemingly dead forest and Simeon stopped his forward progression, his eyes trained on the royal party he was assigned to protect.  His mission was a simple one:  meet the party and escort them through the woods to the capital city.  Simeon had not known when he agreed to the mission that the royal party consisted of Raina of Watauga, King Ulrik’s betrothed, six of her handmaidens and four Tocquian guards.   He considered it an honor that his king felt him worthy to protect the future mother of his heirs.  The party trudged toward the capital city, oblivious of the peril their lives could be in.  He shot a glance at the opposite ridge to his scouting partner and after a series of hand signals were exchanged, the eight scouts converged on the royal party.

“Forgive me, Highness,” Simeon said to the tiny woman in the middle of the Tocquian guards, her body fully covered by a pale pink sheath, almost the color of her skin.  With a curt nod as he dropped the gun across his shoulders, its barrel pointed away from the royal party, he stepped toward King Ulrik’s betrothed, Raina, and the guards sandwiched him immediately.  Anger rose within him.  He would have fought against them if not for the feminine hand on his left shoulder. 

“Is there a problem, Scout?” the woman questioned, spinning Simeon away from Raina and the guards.  Simeon turned to the voice, a spiteful retort building in his mind, but when he looked at the woman, all anger and spite left him.  She was dressed in a sheath similar to Raina’s but hers was a darker hue of pink, almost magenta.  Her skin was pale, making the emerald color of her eyes stand out, and Simeon stared at her open-mouthed, struck by her beauty.  “Is there a problem,” she asked again, several of the handmaidens giggling behind Simeon.  He glared at them over his shoulder and they stopped at once.

“I must speak with Raina of Tocqua.”

“I speak for her,” the emerald-eyed woman responded.  “What is the problem?  This is delaying our arrival at the capital city.”

“These woods are full of rebels, those that oppose King Ulrik’s rule,” Simeon began.

“Why would they oppose the king?  Hasn’t he been on the throne many years?”

“He has,” Simeon acknowledged with a nod, signaling to the other scouts to return to their posts in the woods.  He directed the royal party to continue, and he took a place beside the emerald-eyed woman.  “Rebellions do not stop simply because another king is on the throne.”

“The new king should make a better effort to discover the true heart of the rebellion.  Perhaps then, he could quash it.”     

Simeon laughed, regaining his composure quickly.  “An interesting notion, my lady, and one I am certain King Ulrik has considered many times.  Still, we must be on watch for those rebels who could harm the future queen.”  He nodded at Raina in the midst of her towering guards. 

“Indeed, Scout,” she agreed.  “We should speed our progress to the capital city.  The less time spent in these woods, the better.”