35!

BRIANNA

It has been weeks since I have confided to the walls of this castle within the vicinity of the palace.

Anytime I try to go out, Akire will remind me that it's for my safety and the dignity and stability of the Kingdom. I scoffed anytime she says that. It's about the dignity of the king.

What will happen when the world finds out he can't keep his future daughter-in-law safe? Everyone will think of him as weak and not the ruthless and strong king he sees himself.

I walked out of my chambers to see Lady Gyde talking with Trisha. “Your grace,” she quickly bowed as she spotted me.

I walked towards her and saw other women, “your grace,” they all stood immediately they saw me.

“What's going on, Trish?” I asked as I walked towards them.

“It's probably nothing, don't stress,” she said and I rolled my eyes.

“Even if it's nothing, tell me. I'm going crazy by not doing anything,” I said to her and she nodded.

“Okay, take a lot,” she said and I quickly walked towards the table. There was a map.

“Tell her Lady Gyde,” Trisha said to her.

“Of course, my Lady. Your grace, this part of our park is losing water which is causing plants not to grow,” she pointed at some of the places on the map.

“What do you mean by losing water, what about rain?” I asked.

“Rain hasn't been seen in the kingdom for years,” she said and I scoffed.

“That's not possible, when was the last rain?” I asked her.

“Probably twenty something years ago,” she said , not entirely sure.

If it's really about twenty years ago, that must be probably around the time the King tried to kill me and killed my parents instead.

I'm guessing this is his price to pay. But the weather is usually cool and sometimes cold, something powerful must be holding down the rain.

“Is it possible the streams are dry?” I asked, trailing the lines on the map.

“No, your grace. Streams are full, we have the best stream in the kingdom. Something is not allowing the water to pass through into the land,” she said and I sighed.

“And the women, what are they doing here?” I asked.

“They are here to persuade you to come with us, we need your grace,” Lady Gyde said.

“What you did, saving the burning plantation, everyone hasn't stopped talking about. We need you to save us again,” she said and I felt my heart bleed.

I have been confined to this castle while my people starve. There must be something I can do and will do.

“Take the women back,” I said to Lady Gyde and she looked at me shocked.

“You haven't heard their stories, your grace,” she said and I shook my head.

“I don't need to hear their stories and I have heard yours,” I said to her, “can I trust you with my life, Lady Gyde?” I asked her and she bowed down.

“I will gladly give my life for yours, just like I will do for anyone in your position,” she said and I nodded.

“Rise, Lady Gyde,” I said to her, “take the women back and expect me and Lady Trisha in the next two days,” Trisha who hasn't said a word for a while, suddenly looked at me with surprise.

The women followed Lady Gyde out and Akire walked in.

“Akire prepare, we are going to see the King,” I said to her and she didn't move. “Did you hear me?” I asked her.

“Yes, I did, your grace but you are not on the King's schedule today,” she said and I scoffed.

“She is right Brianna, we can't just go to the palace demanding to see the King,” she said and my anger rose.

I turned my back to her and Akire, “I have stayed in this place for weeks without doing anything,” I said then turned, “I haven't even trained in a long time,” I looked at Trish.

“You are right and I know you are not used to being stuck in a place but this is for your own protection,” she said to me and I shook my head.

“I don't need protection Trisha, I need to help my people,” I said to her and walked towards Akire.

“I'm going to make myself clear. I want to see the King about an urgent matter and I'm going to. It's not a request. So you either do your Job and protect me or get the hell out of my way,” I said to her, looking directly at her. She looks at Trish then back at me.

“Very well, your grace. We will leave in the next twenty minutes,” she said and I nodded.

I turned to see Trish smiling at me, “what?” I asked her.

“Nothing,” she muttered, “I'm just feeling very proud of you,” she said and I sighed.

“I have to get into something else,” I said to her and headed to my chambers.

There was already a dress laid out for me. I quickly put it on and applied a bit of makeup on my face.

I walked out to see Trish talking to Akire. “It's everything okay?” I asked as I got close to them.

“We are hearing a report of violence around the palace,” Akire said and I scoffed.

“Let's go, Akire and keep your excuses to yourself,” I said as I walked towards the door.

“She isn't lying Bri, Ethan just texted it to me,” she said and I sighed.

“A bit of violence isn't going to stop from seeing the King. I need his permission to get back to our people. So let's go,” I didn't allow them to discourage me. I quickly walked outside the castle.

“There is just one car,” I said to Akire.

“Yes, your grace. It's better to hide in plain sight,” she said and I scoffed, shaking my head.

“Let's get to it then,” I got inside the car to see a woman on the steering wheel. She was dressed in the same uniform as Akire.

“Your grace, my lady,” she greeted both I and Trish.

“Let's go,” I said as we were all settled inside the car.

As we got to the road to the palace, the violence Trish was talking about just increased, there were a lot of soldiers beating people.

“What's going on?” I whispered.

“We need to go back, your grace,” Akire said but I'm not ready to give up.

All of a sudden there was loud noise all over, “that's the curfew sound. The soldiers must not see us,” Akire said and I nodded.

“Fine, but take us to the airfield,” I said to her.

“What?!” Both her and Trisha yelled at the same time.

“That's dangerous, Brianna,” Trisha said to me.

“No, it's not Trisha but going back to that castle is. It will take less time to go to the airfield than back to the castle,” I said to her.

“Your grace is right,” Akire said, “but we still need direct approval from the King to leave,” she said.

“No, we don't. As long as there is a dignitary from our park we have every right to leave with them,” I said to her.

“Lady Gyde,” she said and I nodded.

“Hit it Soldier,” I said to the driver who raced us to the airfield. Hopefully we are not too late.