Page 9 of The Lost Nation

Aldur was a mess. My father and mother werebothdead—one killed by the other—which left me to be queen with no preparation. That reason was easy to see; my father had never intended for me to take the throne. Rather, I’d been raised to be sold off to another kingdom since I was five, taught how to be the perfect wife or mother.

It was mostly the reason I’d been so rebelliousas a daughter—to make myself as unattractive as possible to any suitor. It had always ribbed me that my father never thought me good enough to be his heir. Now we knew why—he’d likely promised the kingdom (and me) to the Overlordor one of his lackeys.

Dick.

Well, now he was adeaddick.

And I had a massive headache. My nobles bickered constantly among themselves, and my people wereafraidafter learning how close we’d come to being enslaved like Cantrada. I wanted to immediately secure our kingdom, but finding out that my father had made a backdoor deal with Severn hadn’t exactly created goodwill from the common folk.Not that I blamed them.

The moment my parents were buried, I promoted Spike—Lord Harrow—to be my closest advisor, and Zara as well. Or I tried to. My nobles were infuriated that I'd tried to honor a pirate from Cantrada with such a high honor, ignoring the fact she’d saved my life by keeping me safe during the attack at the ball.

In the end I told them all to shut up, sit down, and get to work.

The louder, more annoying ones I immediately sent to Cantrada to assist in setting up a formal government—I refused to send funds or aid until I had someone tosend it to. Hopefully this would force the recovering kingdom to finally pick a leader, even if it was only temporarily.There were rumors of some distant cousin to Thad trying to claim the throne, but nothing was official.

I squinted at the parchment in front of me, the dying light making it harder to read. I paused in my work to light a candle, and tried to gather my thoughts. I was attempting to draft a new slew of taxes on the people of Aldur to help raise funds for Cantrada, and inevitably war. If we were to stay free of the demons and their allies, we would needed to beorganized and well-funded.

“There you are.”

Lord Harrow strode into my chambers in front of my servant, not giving him any time toannouncemy advisor's arrival. I waved the servant away, and Lord Harrow sat down on the other side of my desk. He frowned after reading what lay in front of me.

“You don’t approve,” I said succinctly, noticing how his lips pursed tightly the further he read.

I pressed forward, defensive.“Aldur is drunk on its own wealth according to Zara, and these funds will—”

He sighed.“You know I agree with you.”

I sputtered, my argument dead on my lips. “Then why do you continue to fight with me on this? And in front of the other nobles?”

Lord Harrow sighed, leaning back in his chair. All at once, he looked every bit of his sixty years. He ran a hand through his greying hair. “If you try to do too much too quickly, you won’t have any support. All the people see is a foreigner whispering into your ear and bed while you steal their money to give toher people.”

I saw red, and struggled to control my emotions. “That’snot—”

Harrow threw his hands in the air.“Iknow that, but it’s not a good look. Your people are wary of any outside influence. Especially after Severn.”

My shoulders drooped, knowing he was right. My crown teetered on my head, my legitimacy hanging by a thread. I couldn’t afford to publically make my feelings about the spit-fire sea captain known. I had to create stability.

I pinched my brow.“What do you suggest?”I asked, resigned.

Lord Harrow didn’t look any happier, so I knew I wasn’t going to like what he said next. “Find whoever is in charge in Cantrada, and marryhim.”

I didn’t react. Mostly because I had alreadyknowndeep down that’s what he was going to say. That wasalwaysthe easy solution, wasn’t it? Just give away your life andmarry.It solved everyone's problems, didn't it?

“And how would that work precisely?” I bit back, my anger childish but nevertheless real. “Would I rule from Aldur and he from Cantrada? Would we meet once a month in order toprocreate?”

Lord Harrow gazed steadily back at me, not in the least affected by my words. “I would suggesttwicea week if that were the case, at least until the first child.”

I grabbed a goblet of wine and downed it. “And this man would likely be acommoner, since the Cantradian line is dead. Unless you’ve been hidingThadin your back pocket?”

I had only heard rumors of this mysterious heir, but I would be lying if I didn’t say I wasn’t intrigued. Tall, dark, and handsome with a rumor of magickal powers...who wouldn’t be interested?

Then again, I was perfectly content with mycurrentpartner. A wicked smile curled on my lips as I thought of how Zara hadadvisedme last night. Harrow rolled his eyesand I started talking, an idea taking form. I needed something to keep my peoples' interest divided...a distraction of sorts. “The draken queen made all of her contenders compete in a contest to win her hand. If this is something Imustdo, then I insist on doing itthisway. Open it up to anyone who wishes to participate. Surely my people can’t complain if I’m giving out a chance for one ofthemto rule beside me?”

Harrow’s lips parted in shock. “You’re—you’reserious.”

My eyes narrowed. I wasn’t some stupid princess anymore—I wasqueen. “The draken queen did it. Why can’t I?”

I resolved to meet this other queen one day. We would be thebestof friends. I didn’t give Harrow another chance to respond. “Go ahead and make the necessary arrangements. I want to have this done and sorted within a month. The quicker I have aking, the quicker everyone will stoppesteringme.”

---