Page 1 of The Princess and Her Grand King

Chapter one

AS TIME PASSES…

TWO YEARS LATER.

"Are we going to keep ignoring the elephant in this court, Your Highness?"

The court had been busy all day with talk of negotiations and upcoming festivities. You would think after such a long deliberation, the ministers would want nothing more than to leave, go home, and have a hot bath.

But no. Court was never truly complete until‘the elephant in the room’was addressed. The last time, King Orestus’s fury had been so frightening the ministers scurried away, like rats fleeing a sinking ship.

Six months since it was last brought up, but now here it was, rearing its head again.

All eyes turned to Minister Jacques, who was glaring at Aekeira. Who met that glare with one of her own.

King Orestus, about to leave his seat, paused. With a sigh, he settled back down. "What do you mean, Jacques?"

The overseer of military affairs broke his glare at Aekeira long enough to stand. "I meanthose girls, Your Highness. At this point, our people are distraught. We once discussed sending them to the breeding houses, which—"

"Iadamantlyrefused," King Orestus added.

"Indeed you did, Your Highness. We suggested the brothel—"

"I refused that too."

Minister Jacques nodded. "It’s… quite baffling at this point. We have not one, buttwofemales in this kingdom who refuse to serve the land. They will not fulfill their roles in society, and you, sire, are enabling them. Look at them, they are getting old, approaching the end of their ripe years. Aekeira is—"

"You will address them properly," the king snapped.

"I-I apologize, Your Highness. I was not thinking straight." Minister Jacques jumped, clearing his throat nervously. "PrincessAekeira is twenty-seven, her sister twenty-four. Most girls their age have four or five children by now. Yet here they are, where they have no right to be… in the court of men. Listening, even contributing verbally to court proceedings. It is beyond appalling."

A murmur of agreement swept through the court. Some ministers glanced at Jacques with pure admiration. He had voiced what they were too much of a coward to.

Aekeira almost laughed.Here we go again.

"I… umm… I would like to second what Jacques has said, Your Highness." Minister Murphy stood stiffly. "We do not have many females. We cannot afford to let those we have go to waste.PrincessEmeriel deceived this court for over twenty years, and in the two years since, you have said nothing of her punishment. If she is to be spared for the sin of deceit, the least she could do is fulfill her duties to the kingdom."

"You mean she should let you between her legs," King Orestus said crudely.

Minister Murphy flushed a deep red, his eyes darting around the room. "I mean… it would be for the betterment of the kingd—"

"What would be for the betterment of the kingdom is to have the likes of you strung up and hung in the square!" Emeriel shot up from her seat, furious.

The room exploded into disorder. Aekeira winced as Emeriel glared daggers at the high-ranking ministers.

"Men like you,” Emeriel seethed, cutting through the noise, "who roam the kingdom violating everyone you come across, sticking your organ in both young and old, all in the name of‘the betterment of society.’You should be hung, and your organs cut off!" She pinned each minister with a frosty glare. "Thatwould be for the betterment of the kingdom!"

Roars of outrage surrounded them.

"How dare she!?"

"Such disrespect!"

"What an insolent little brat!"

King Orestus grabbed his gavel and struck it hard, roaring above the mayhem. "SILENCE!"

The murmurs faded to a low hum but didn’t entirely stop.

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