11. Special Seven.

The dance went well and everyone present in the hall was happy, enjoying the celebration. George had already ordered the cook to make some special cake for Niya's mother's birthday.

"Your Majesty? The cake is ready. Please proceed." George said with a smile as so e servers enter the hall, rolling a table with a beautiful cake on top. Once up close, Niya could see that it was a beautiful five-layered black forest with lots of cherries. Black forest cake was Niya's all-time favorite.
Taking the knife that was placed neatly beside the cake, she took a breath as a tear slipped down from her left eye.

"Happy Birthday, Mumma." She whispered, swallowing the lump in her throat as she cut the cake. Everybody clapped and raised their glass, letting out a few cheers.

“Now, it’s time to open the presents. You need to choose seven people, most likely your favorites, that are present in the room." Mrs. Everette said with a wide grin on her face. Niya was confused and it was clearly seen on her face as Archie approached them.

"Oh, it’s a custom. Every time a new monarch is sworn in, on the day of their coronation, they have to open seven gifts from their seven most favorite people that are present there. Now, as you are our new monarch, you have to do the same." Archie explained with a small smile.

"Oh, wow… Okay. Let’s see who has the honors to go first…" Niya said amusingly looking around the room. Making eye contact with one person she said, "Let's start with William!" Niya said while smiling excitedly.

"Oh yes! Why not?" Will said and put his hand on his left pocket. He took out a beautiful navy blue jewelry box and got closer to Niya, offering it for her to take.

"Jewelry, Will? Seriously?" Niya pouted jokingly.

"Hey, it’s a special one. I designed by myself.” He said. Niya opened the box and it was a beautiful rose gold bracelet with a lock. On it, the word Best was written and a half heart with Stick written on it.

William opened his palm and in it held another rose gold bracelet, "Here! It's the other half which I am gonna keep for myself." He smiled. Instead of a lock, this one had a key with the word *Friends* written on it and the other half had a heart with *Together Forever* written on it. Niya took both of the bracelets and joined them. *Best Friends, Stick Together Forever*, it said. Everybody was in awe of the uniqueness of the gift, softly clapping over Will’s thoughtfulness.

"My goodness! William, this is just gorgeous! Thank you so much!” She hugged him tightly. They both put the bracelets on each other's hands and Niya continuing to admire them.

"Niya, before you move on to the next person, I have to tell you that had no friends at all. After meeting you, I got protective of you automatically. I really adore you and on this special occasion of your life, I promise you to always be there for you. You and I will stick together till the end." William kissed her forehead.

"I needed a friend Will but you gave me the best friend. Thank you." Niya smiled.

Both were in awe of each other. Neither did William thought of Niya being more than a friend nor did Niya thought of William as something more. Their relationship was above all the feelings and love crap. They truly cared for each other like best friends. And that's what they both needed at the time. But as Archie watch their interaction, somewhere in his mind a seed of doubt began to sprout. He was not liking Niya's friendship with William. And Niya, unaware of its future consequences, was enjoying her moment. Not knowing that this friendship was going to be the bone of contention between Archie and Will very soon.

"Oh, wow, Prime Minister Nicholson, your gift is purely gorgeous." Elena, who was standing near Mrs. Everette, said with a cocky smirk on her lips.

"Thank you, Miss Cooper." William faked a smile. William knew the real side of Elena so he was not so much fond of her.

"It’s beautiful William." Archie smiled with a tinge of jealousy on his face. Niya looked around the room and decided on the next person she was going to choose.

"George, you should go next.” Niya turned towards George on her left and like expected, George did not imagine that Niya would include his gift in the tradition. The shock was written all over his face.

"Me? I..." George was trying hard to find words to speak.

"Yes, you! Come on, show me your gift." Niya smiled and George hesitantly left for a minute and came back with big a gift in his hand.

"It’s huge. What is it?" Niya asked excitedly.

"Just a small present I made myself, Your Majesty." George smiled, still shocked that she had chosen him. She opened it and revealed a beautiful painting of her sitting on the throne.

"Wow. George, your imagination is out of this world. It’s beautiful, thank you!" Niya smiled and side hugged him. Hugging for her was normal as she did a lot with her friends in her world but everybody was shocked in the court by seeing the Queen affectionately hug a lower rank holder. Everybody was so proud of her as she was above all the discriminations, unlike the former rulers.

"What a kind-hearted and generous Queen she is. Now everybody will be happy under her rule." A court man whispered in another's ear.

"Edward? Please do not tell me that you forgot my present?" Niya turned towards her head of security and asked mischievously.

"Your Majesty, I am not in the mood to be beheaded on your first day as a Queen."Edward chuckled and gave her a beautiful vase with glowing blue flowers in it. "These are a rare kind of flowers from Hephaestus Planet, they do not die at all, known as *forever glowing ladies*." Edward smiled proudly.

"Oh, my dearest friend. Thank you." She hugged Edward too with a smile. "Hmm, Emily and girls? show me my present." Niya giggled and walked towards them.

"Your Majesty, our team is presenting you this with lots of love." Emily opened a golden box in front of Niya. It was a beautiful golden tiara with glowing gems inside it.

"Wow." Niya gasped in awe.

"Gems are rare and specially collected by us from the Ares Hills of Demter Planet." Ana explained.

"Come here, give me a bear hug." Niya hugged them all tightly. “Thank you all.” Turning around, she found the next person. "Arthur? Wanna give me something?" She asked with a twinkle in her eye.

Arthur, the cook, was standing alone and smiling as he did not expect in his wildest dreams that the Queen would choose his gift in the special seven. Listening to Niya's voice shocked Arthur. He gifted her a gown made by his wife Rumaya.

"Arthur, this is beautiful! I’m going to wear it tomorrow on my first day as a Queen." Niya side hugged Arthur proudly.

"Thank you, my Queen, this was made by my wife." Arthur proudly stated.

"Oh dear, I would like to meet her as soon as possible to thank her personally." Niya smiled and Arthur nodded.

"Now, Mrs. Everette, what is in your box? Show me, I am excited to see your present!" Niya said, walking towards Mrs. Irene Everette who was standing silently as she was so sure that Niya would have never chosen her gift. But by this sudden gesture of Niya, she felt enormous happiness inside her body.

"Your Majesty, here." She opened the box she was holding and it was a beautiful rose gold watch. "This is no normal watch, it is specially designed concerning your security. It has a GPS which you can turn on whenever you need and you can send voice notes through this too. It is connected with your Chief of Security cell phone." Irene explained her unique gift.

"That is so thoughtful of you Mrs. Everette. This is just amazing!" Niya hugged her. "Archie? Would you like to show me the one you brought for me?" Niya suddenly turned towards Archie.

"Me? O-Oh I thought you wouldn-" Archie was about to complete his words but Niya cut him off.

"Oh, it would be so unfair If I wouldn’t have included your gift in my special seven. Although we are not fond of each other, I really wanted to see how creative you can be in case of bringing a gift. Now, show me." Niya smirked.

"Here, Your Majesty." He handed over a long thin blue velvet box to her. She immediately opened it.

"Wow. A flute? I- How? It’s-" Niya couldn't find the words to explain her happiness. It was a beautiful platinum silver flute with diamonds around it. The flute was the only musical instrument closed to her heart because of her mother. Her mother used to play it, although Niya never learned to, she enjoyed every tune of her mother's flute as her mother was a great devotee to the god of love known as Lord Krishna.

"I just noticed that you always wear that necklace with the cute little flute pendant so I thought flute must be your favorite instrument." Archie cleared his throat while explaining.

"This pendant was gifted by my mother on my birthday." Niya touched her pendant and smiled. "It's a symbol of love, a dearest instrument to Lord Krishna, the god of love in my world." A tear rolled down her cheeks with a genuine smile on her face. "It is the best gift I have received today Archie. I do not have words to thank you enough." Niya hugged him for the first time and it felt so wrong to Niya like she was doing something sinful. His strong cologne was very familiar. She felt like she had smelled that scent before but her mind wasn't responding right now. She broke the hug and whispered a small ‘thank you’ again under her breath.

She even forgot about the gift given by Archie. The only thing her mind was thinking about was Archie's perfume. *This perfume feels so similar… Like I have smelled it throughout my whole life*, she thought. A strange affinity towards this fragrance could not be explained but it was so strong that Niya's mind could not ignore it.

"Niya? You ok?" William asks, noticing the distant look in her eyes. He held her shoulders, trying to snap her back to reality. Everybody in the room was worried, noticing their distraught Queen. She tried hard to keep her eyes open but failed as in the very next second, she fainted. William lurched forward, saving her from hitting the cold ground beneath her body.

Archie was silently observing the situation with tension all over his face. Something was wrong and he knew it. "Mom, she knew. She recognized the perfume. I told you this was a bad idea." Archie whispered while gritting his teeth in Irene's ear.
"Stop overreacting Arch. How can she recognize it? She would feel more attracted towards you as she will think that this fragrance belongs to you." Her mother glared at him furiously.

Something very fishy was going on under the walls of this castle but one thing that was clear is, that in the incoming days as Queen, Niyanica would be no more than a horrible adventure.

*****