31. Life goes on.

Life goes on.

Niya's life turned upside down after knowing about her mother. It's been ten months now but every night before going to sleep she tried to call her dad to question him, to get those answers from him but he never came. He disappeared like a thin air from her life. As usual, Niya was lying down on her bed again, moonlit was making its way into her room through the balcony door. She was blankly staring at the ceiling.

*Dad! Where are you? Are you running from my questions?*, she thought, turning her side towards the balcony, looking at the full pink moon in that light purple sky. Thinking about her dad every night became her new routine now. She closed her eyes and a tear rolled down to her cheek. A cute little white-colored creature with wide blue eyes jumped on her bed and started to lick her face. She smiled without opening her eyes for a second and then looked at it. A small white-colored dragon was smiling at her and she noticed how today he had grown a bit but still was hardly one foot. She caressed him with affection.

Around two months ago the egg the little girl had gifted her had hatched and Niya was instantly attached to the adorable creature as he was to her.

"Neo, my love, what are you doing? You should sleep buddy," she said while caressing its back. In response, Neo just flickered his small wings with a smile on his face. Neo became the most important part of her life in these two months as she was broken, alone and confused, then suddenly Neo came into her life and it diverted her mind from those unnecessary thoughts. Archie became her best friend, William became her partner in crime, Edward and George took care of her like big brothers. Basically, they all became her family in these ten months and she was happy to have them in her life.

Slowly, Niya slipped into a deep slumber and Neo went back to his small house that was placed in the corner of Niya's room.

The next morning, Niya was sleeping peacefully when suddenly someone grabbed her right ankle and gave her a strong jolt to wake her up. She frowned without opening her eyes as she knew exactly who he was. "Arch! Stop!" She groaned, sinking deeper into her bed.

"Yah! Wake up, you idiot, or I'm gonna throw you out of your bed. You are late for the ceremony," he said in his thick accent, looking at her sleepy figure.
"Oh my God. I almost forgot." Niya woke up with a jolt when she listened to the word ceremony.

"Yes, Your Majesty, it's the day when you will finally become a commander-in-chief of the army of this planet," he said sarcastically, pulling off her blanket. She pulled it back and covered her face.

"Five minutes. Just five minutes more, Eve," she said, covering her face with the blanket.

"Stop calling me that," he said, rolling his eyes at her. "Neo! Make sure she is in the bath after five minutes or else you are going to inform me," Archie said, looking at Neo who was wide awake playing in his designated corner of the room. Neo turned his head towards Archie as soon as he heard his name and nodded. Archie left the room immediately and after five minutes Niya finally decided to get out of her bed. It was a big and long day for her so she wanted to be comfortable and the gown was anything but so she went for a white pantsuit with a white top underneath.

Emily and Rose got to work on her hair and makeup. Her face already glowed due to her powers so Rose decided to put a bit of light golden eyeshadow on Niya’s eyelids and opted for mauve lipstick with gloss. Meanwhile, Emily started on her hair, fixing her side bangs and letting her hair cascade down her back, only adding soft curls to some of the ends that needed them. Niya opened her eyes when she felt her crown on top of her head, smiling at the two ladies and praising their work.

"You are looking absolutely beautiful, Your Highness." She smiled at them through the mirror and whispered a quick thank you. They quickly helped her put on her nude heels and after they were both satisfied with how she looked, they nodded and curtsied. Niya made her way out of the room and wasn’t surprised when she found Archie standing right outside her doors and talking to her bodyguards. She stood stunned looking at him as he was in his Navy Blue Army blazer with medals and stars and white formal pants. His rosy lips sport a smile and his hair perfectly styled.

"Hey, Eve. I'm here." Niya smiled at Archie. He looked at her and frowned.

"What the hell are you wearing? You were supposed to wear the gown," he said, checking her out from head to toe.

"Wow, no: Niya, you look *beautiful, stunning, you take my breath away*." He rolled her eyes at her antics, "And have you forgotten, it's not the eighteenth century anymore. I am the queen and I will wear anything that I want to wear." She shrugged, rolling her eyes at him.

"You never gonna listen to me, are you?" He shook his head out of frustration. "Okay, let's go. We are already late," he said.

"Wait. First, let me take a picture of us," she said, taking a selfie with Archie. "Ah! You’re so cute."

"We are getting late. Let's go," he said, pulling her right ear a little like a child. "And I’m anything but cute." He tugged a bit more on her ear for emphasis.

"Oi! It hurts. Show some respect. I'm the Creator Queen." She frowned, swatting his arm and making him chuckle, and letting go of her ear. Instead of keeping his arm to his side, he moved his hand to her lower back and quickly guided her through the corridors.

"Yeah, whatever," he said, hiding his smile by pressing his lips and giving her a slight squeeze on her hip. "And if it wasn’t obvious, you look gorgeous, Niya." She smiled at him as a thank you.

They soon saw the exit doors but Archie directed them to Zirconia Hall where William and the others were waiting for them. Niya quickly went to hug William, admiring his ceremonial attire which was similar to Archie’s. His hair was slicked back perfectly giving him an intimidating look.

"Big day, huh? Excited?" William said, after returning the hug.

"Nervous," she whispered, looking into his bright blue eyes and he chuckled at her.

"You are gonna nail it for sure," George said, turning Niya towards him. He was wearing his usual black suit with a golden tie, wearing dark brown shades of goggled gave him a perfect PA look.

Niya hugged him and smiled. "I know. What to fear when you guys are here," she said, hugging him. She quickly hugged Edward as well.

"We are getting late, Your Majesty," Elena said, looking at them with annoyance. Niya looked at her from head to toe. She was looking drop-dead gorgeous in that dark green skin-tight gown. Her face was glowing like an angel, her hair was tied in a high bun which was giving her a perfect classy look. Sparkling green eyeshadow on her eyelids was just the cherry on top.

"Miss Cooper! You are looking so good. Every man will be enchanted by your beauty today." She smiled at her. Niya realized that Elena wasn't bad at all, she is just overprotective of Archie so nowadays Niya doesn't mind her harsh words.

"Thank you, Your Majesty," Elena said, smiling brightly.

"Mrs. Irene Everette won't join us?" Niya asked as she noticed Archie's mother wasn't present there with them.

"She is not here. She is in the South Province," Archie said, trying his best to sound discreet but Niya’s curiosity couldn’t be persuaded.

"South Province? Why? What was so important that she couldn’t be here for the ceremony?" Niya asked with a stern voice as she knew Archie was lying.

"Actually... it's nothing important. It's just, she wanted to meet her friend," Archie again lied, trying to avoid eye contact.

"Stop lying, Eve. Tell me the real reason behind her sudden visit to South Province and that too without informing me," Niya said, raising her voice a bit in anger.

"Niya, we didn't want to ruin today’s celebration… " William paused for a second, only continuing when Niya raised an eyebrow, waiting for the truth. "King Aries of Darra Planet attacked Eden city of our South Province."

"Not again. Darra? Seriously? It's way too small to attack us directly. Who the hell is funding them? That’s been the sixth attack during the last 10 months." Niya gritted her teeth in anger, trying to suppress her emotions.

"It's Samael again. But we don't have any proof against him, again," Archie said, looking down at the floor in frustration.

"Enough of this Samael. I don't need any proof to punish him. I can punish him because I want to. I am not going to take this shit anymore," Niya said, walking towards the exit door of the palace where the cars were ready to leave the venue for the ceremony. All of them followed her.

"Look just calm down. I am not saying that you shouldn't act against him but challenging him directly can reveal your identity. He will do his best to show the world who you really are," George whispered in her ear, walking beside her.

"I don't fucking care. I can't let my people die just to keep my secret safe. This is getting out of hand now. I know how to handle him exactly," she said while lowering her head and getting into the car. For the first time in these ten months, she was passing through the main market road of the capital city. Because the Royal palace is placed in a very protected area outside the chaos of the city so she never had a chance to visit the central business district area of the city. Huge buildings were touching the sky, full of colorful lights, some security vehicles were flying in the sky lanes to check the security near them.

People were looking at her from all the sides as roads were protectively circled by the policemen in order to maintain the security code and no vehicle other than Royal's was allowed on the lane of the road at that time. She looked outside through the window of the car and noticed that every billboard had pictures of her with statements like *All hail, Queen Niyanica Hemsworth, or Welcome to the CBD, Your Majesty*. The picture was one of her in a golden gown with her crown on top of her head. She remembered doing that photoshoot and was glad she looked as regal as she had felt.

"Wow! Looking at my pictures on these huge billboards, I'm feeling like a celebrity." She chuckled, looking at those billboards with her big brown eyes.

"You are more famous than a celebrity, Nini," Archie said and chuckled at her excitement, teasing her by her pet name. It was his way of teasing her after she decided to call him Eve.

"Don't you dare to call me that or else I'll start calling you Eve again," she said, shrinking her nose in resentment. He rolled his eyes playfully at her. Suddenly their cars stopped in front of the huge palace.

"Here we go," Archie said, smiling at the building. "Excited?" he asked Niya, looking at her, smiling proudly.

"Nervous. Cameras, people. I don't like to be a center of attention," she said, looking at the paparazzi outside, waiting for her to step out of that car.

"You gotta be kidding me. Nervous? You walk like a model every time you face the cameras. You’ve got this," Archie said, smiling at her. Before she could argue more on that point, Edward came and opened the door for her to step out. She walked towards the entrance gate with her shoulders back and head held high, along with Archie and the others, without facing the flashes of the cameras.

As soon as she entered the hall, General Marcus greeted them.

"Welcome, Your Excellency!" he said, kissing her hand gently. She smiled in response.

After meeting some ministers, they all entered the main hall where the ceremony was supposed to be held.
***