2 days later
Corinne's POV
Surrounded by everyone in the meeting room right now, made me realise just how deep this war had gotten.
When we returned back from Avanos, we announced the fact that we were top ranked. It was safe to say that everyone was ecstatic. They actually threw a party that same day to celebrate. Me and Callie of course joined in and I'm sure the whole wolf world is still celebrating this very moment considering we broadcasted our achievement this morning. It was an honour to be a part of this milestone in not only Callie's reign but in history. Our kingdom is the only kingdom to be top ranked with a royal couple at a such young age. We have made history.
However, the parties and festivities were now over for us. The royal guards from the mermaid kingdom had arrived early this afternoon and we were now sitting down together, with our royal guards, to discuss what our next move was going to be.
After King Symmon's had threatened to hurt Corey, we decided to send Corey and my family off on a little holiday of sorts. Really it was for their own protection. I had sent six guards along with them, three of them were to watch from a distance, the other three were to be close by. I wasn't taking any chances.
I was more worried about Prince Hunter than anyone else. He was as ruthless as his father and I knew he would stop at nothing to get what he wanted.
I ran a hand through my hair and took my crown off. It was annoying me and I didn't see the need to wear it right now. I placed it on the table in front of me before leaning back on my chair slightly.
I scanned the room and realised that everyone was looking directly at me. I looked at Callie, who was looking at me worried,
"Are you alright? I asked you a question but you didn't seem to be listening."
I nodded, "I'm sorry, I was in a slight trance for a moment. What was it you asked?"
She went to caress my cheek but I moved back slightly. I just didn't think this was the right time to be doing that. She looked at me hurt but didn't say anything on the matter. I knew she would talk to me about that later though.
She cleared her throat, "I asked you what you think we should do."
I leant my head on my hand and thought for a moment. I didn't really know what to do. I didn't condone violence and only really used it when necessary or when I was extremely angry or upset. That was rare. I didn't want the kingdom to be labelled as one who believes in violence. I didn't want to retaliate but I knew we had to. Not only did he send his men to stab my wife, twice, he also threatened to hurt my son. That was unacceptable.
It wasn't only King Symmon's we had to worry about though. We had Prince Hunter, Cyran and Diane. Callie told me that she believed King Clarence had no idea that Cyran was allied with the witches and warlocks. The witch and warlock kingdom were fairly neutral. They have gotten into a few wars over the years so I've heard but they've been pretty quiet lately.
So we had a wolf, witches, warlocks, and vampires to deal with. All I know is, if we prevail with this war, no one will mess with our kingdom again. Guaranteed.
I came back to reality and shook my head slowly, "I don't know what we should do. We are up against three different species here. Cyran is manipulative and if the wolves in our kingdom had any ounce of respect or loyalty, they would know better than to join up with him. The moment they do, is the moment they commit treason. Usually, I am not one to retaliate but I'm making an exception," I looked over at Kingsley, the guard from the mermaid kingdom,
"Your kingdom is closest to Dranthoven than ours. Is there no way you can somehow infiltrate their castle and get some sort of inside information?"
He sighed and leant forward slightly, "Believe me, it is impossible. Although they are now ranked fourth, their security system is one of the best out of all the realms. Infiltrating their castle would be suicide."
I groaned in frustration. I knew from that point on what to do and it wasn't something I wanted to do either,
"I'm sorry to say this but we are going to have to wait this out."
Everyone burst into a fit of rage, exclaiming how waiting it out would be waiting for death. I growled and slammed my hand down on the table,
"Enough!!" I shouted, getting everyone's attention immediately. They all bowed their heads, mainly out of fear,
"Nothing else can be done! We cannot go in there blind and fight! We cannot infiltrate the castle! We cannot reason with him! What else do you want me to do?! Marry the Prince?!"
Everyone lowly growled at that. Callie's was the loudest. I placed my hand on her shoulder reassuringly before speaking again,
"We're going to send King Symmon's a written message. We will give him an exact date, time and location as to where this war will be held. If he refuses, then we attack no questions asked. I am a strong believer in fairness and I will not be changing my morals for him."
I walked around the table to fetch a piece of paper and a pen. I placed them in front of Milos, who, out of all the guards put together, had the neatest handwriting,
"Write down everything I say Milos, word for word."
He nodded and took the pen into his hands. I looked over at Callie and she nodded, letting me know that she agreed with what I was doing. That made me feel better.
I took a deep breath before speaking, "Dear King Symmon's and Queen Alessandra. As you have made it clear that you will not make the right choice and back down, I am giving you a different choice in accepting our terms. On April 21st, at exactly 10pm the war shall take place. It will be held in No Mans Land. We have taken your warnings but we will not take anymore. You either accept these terms or we will hit you where it hurts most when you least expect it. Make the right choice. I will be expecting your reply by the end of the week at the latest. Regards. Queen Calliria-"
Callie cut me off momentarily, "Milos, hold on. Do not put my name first. Write Queen Corinne and Queen Calliria Remington. We will sign our names underneath it when you're done."
Milos looked at me for confirmation, which made Callie growl, "Do as you are told Milos."
He nodded fearfully and finished off the letter. He then slid it over to the both of us and I read over it. I took the pen and signed my name at the bottom of the letter. I handed it over to Callie who signed her name as well. I then walked to a drawer to retrieve an envelope. All of our envelopes had the royal crest in the top right corner. I folded the letter and slid it into the envelope. I then addressed the letter to King Symmon's and Queen Alessandra before sealing it and placing it in front of Zen,
"Make sure this letter gets delivered to them personally. I don't want it handed to the guards. I don't want it handed to a clan member. I want it handed to either King Symmon's or Queen Alessandra directly. Are my orders clear?"
He nodded and stood up from his seat, "They are your majesty."
"Good. Contact us when it is done."
He nodded once again and bowed to me. He then turned and bowed to Callie before walking out of the room.
I walked back over to my seat and sat down, facing everyone left at the table, "The time for games is over. The time for leniency is over. This is war and you are a part of it, no matter how hard you try to tell yourself otherwise. Drayton will continue to train you. Every other day, both me and Calliria will be training you so you better make sure that you are up to standard. As of right now, you are dismissed."
Everyone, except for the mermaid guards, stood up and bowed to us before leaving the room. I sighed and ran a hand through my hair before looking over at the remaining guards,
"You can go and tell your King and Queen that although we greatly greatly appreciate their assistance, it is not necessary. Bringing war and conflict to the mermaid kingdom was not our intention and by offering your assistance, it is exactly what we will be doing, hence why I am refusing it."
Vernon smiled and shook his head, "Our King told us that no matter how hard you try and refuse our assistance, to not back down. You can turn us away as much as you like but our King refuses to back down and leave a kingdom to fight on their own. Our assistance will be given, whether you like it or not."
I groaned, "He is so stubborn."
Everyone laughed, "No need to tell us that." Kingsley said, "Although our Queen also agrees with him. You will not get through to either of them so please, just accept our help."
I sighed and looked over at Callie. She nodded and I knew we had no choice but to accept their help. Callie already tried once to refuse it but the King wasn't taking no for an answer.
I looked back over at the guards slightly defeated, "Okay. Fine. We will accept their help."
They smiled, "That is wonderful. Our King and Queen will be delighted."
They stood up from their seats and me and Callie stood up as well. They bowed to us briefly, "It's been a honour. Until we meet again."
I smiled and nodded and they gave us a final smile before leaving the room. I sat back on the chair and closed my eyes. That was intense.
I heard the door close, making me open my eyes. Callie was leaning back against it, staring me down. I knew it was time for that talk now,
"Why did you move away from me earlier?" She asked,
"It just wasn't the time for it. I said I was okay, you should've just left it at that."
She scoffed and crossed her arms, "The last time you said you were okay, you fainted. So tell me again that I should've just left it."
I looked down momentarily, defeated. She was right on that one, "I'm sorry. I unconsciously moved away from you. I didn't really mean to, it just happened."
She sighed and pushed away from the door, "Look, if you want me to cut out the PDA and such, I will do so. I would rather you just tell me than pushing me away and letting me figure it out for myself."
I looked at her shocked and stood up, shaking me head. I walked over to her and caged her against the door, trying to get my point across,
"That is not what I was suggesting at all," I leant up so that my lips were brushing against hers, "You know I love you baby."
She nodded as much as should could with how close we were. Her eyes drifted to my lips and I smiled, making her smile as well,
"I know. I love you too. Seeing you pull away from me just hurt I guess. You never really do that."
"I'm sorry," I said, giving her a peck on the lips, "I'm really sorry."
She gave me another kiss, making me smile even wider, "It's okay. You know I can never stay mad at you."
I gave her a kiss on the cheek before taking a step back. I walked back to where I was sitting and picked up my crown. I placed it on my head and adjusted it slightly until it felt comfortable,
"I think we should go and monitor the training for a while, especially now. We should make sure that there is no sexism or favouritism going on."
I nodded in agreement and walked back over to her, "I agree. Although naturally they'll act different when we're around so why don't we watch from a distance and see if anything happens where we need to step in."
"I like that." She replied.
I smiled and took her hand in mine. We made our way out of the meeting room, towards the back of the castle. We could watch them from the entrance without them noticing us.
Everything seemed okay when we started to watch them. They were doing their usual training drills, some in wolf form, some in human form. I could easily tell the difference between the males and females. Males were slightly bigger than females. That's how it's always been. Although me and Callie were now bigger than the males, due to the fact that we were royals.
I partially shifted, along with Callie so that we could listen to what was going on without straining ourselves. Partially shifting was when you could tap into all of your wolf senses without having to fully shift into one. It was a skill that was hard to obtain and I was only able to do it because Callie taught me, with much difficulty by the way. I eventually got the hang of it though,
"I don't even know why they allowed women to fight anyway." A warrior names Justin said. His friend Lyonas nodded in agreement,
"I don't know either man. I mean look at them," He said, gesturing to some of the women, "They're not even that good. The only good thing about this is the fact that they're all hot."
Justin laughed and bumped his fist with Lyonas'. I growled lowly at the utter disrespect they show towards women. I think they seem to have forgotten that they are being led by two women,
"I just think that women should stay home, where they belong. Not out fighting. That's a man's job." Another warrior, Cedric, stated to his brother Herve,
"I agree with you," Herve replied, "Women aren't strong enough to fight in battle, hence why the law said they couldn't. Changing it was terrible."
Cedric nodded in agreement. I shook my head in both disgust and disappointment. I have never heard such nonsense in my life. I snapped when I witnessed something though.
A warrior named Xander, nudged his friend lightly. He then gestured towards a woman named Lisa and thrusted his hips slightly, with a smirk on his face. I mentally gagged at what he was implying. That was when I decided to make myself known. I could feel Callie's anger with this one but she took a step back and allowed me to deal with it.
We walked onto the field and everyone immediately stopped what they were doing, standing in a single file line in front of us,
"Your majesties." Everyone said, bowing to us. I stood in front of them, with Callie on my right and scanned over everyone,
"Shift back into human form." I said. They complied immediately and those who were in wolf form, shifted into human form,
"I would like the males to stand on the left and the females to stand on the right." They looked at me confused so I growled lowly, "Do it before I do it for you!"
They jumped into action and separated themselves into two single file lines. I didn't like to separate them like this but it was necessary for what I wanted to do.
I walked up and down the two lines. Every single person bowed their heads as I passed them.
I did this around two times before coming to a stop in front of the males, "We don't usually monitor these sessions because we trust you not to do anything we don't like. We can trust you right?"
They nodded, "Yes your majesty!"
I chuckled and shook my head, "See now I don't believe we can. Me and Calliria stood right by the entrance and listened to what was going on. I heard and saw many sexist actions."
A few of the males darted their eyes back and forth but none of them ducked their heads. They knew that if they did, I would know it was them. I was smarter than that though,
"Justin. Lyonas. Cedric. Herve. Xander. Step forward."
They nervously took a step forward, out of the line. I walked around all of them and I could literally hear their hearts beating. They were beyond scared right now,
"What am I?" I asked them. They looked at me confused so I repeated the question, "What am I?!"
They flinched and Xander spoke up, "A woman."
I gave him a slow clap, "There we go! I am a woman. Queen Calliria is a woman. As men, you've made it clear that you do not respect us. Is that true?"
They all shook their heads. I knew their mindset wasn't going to change though so I thought, why not have a bit of fun with this?
I walked up to Justin first. He visibly gulped, making me smirk and tilt my head, "Scared?"
He nodded, making me laugh, "And here I was thinking you were a man. Seems your proved yourself wrong."
I swiped his legs out from under him and he fell to the ground. He groaned as he made impact and I looked down at him,
"Stay there until I say otherwise."
He nodded and kept his head down. I then walked in front of Lyonas. He was shaking now. I brought my leg up and kicked him in his stomach, making him fall to the ground as well.
I then did the same thing three more times with Cedric, Herve and Xander. I looked over at the line of women,
"Ladies, come and stand in front of these men, facing them."
They all made their way to them and stood up in a line, facing the men who were pretty much cowering on the floor,
"Now. Gentlemen. I would like you to move towards these women, get on your knees and apologise for the rude, sexist and disrespectful comments and actions you made."
They crawled over to the women and raised their heads up to them. They were about to open their mouths when I stopped them,
"Ah ah. Repeat after me. I am deeply sorry for the sexist, rude and disrespectful comments and actions I made. I will never do it again. Women are our equals and without them, we wouldn't be here today. No one is superior."
They nodded and repeated what I said word for word. I nodded, satisfied with what they said and told them to stand up with the rest of the line. The women smiled in thanks and stood back where they were. I scanned the warriors one last time,
"I don't like sexism. Whether it's towards men or women. It doesn't matter. We will not tolerate it either way. Believe me, if the women said those things towards you men, they would've gotten the exact same treatment. Don't ever let me catch you saying such things again. The punishment will be worse than the one you have just witnessed. Take this as your second warning men. Take this as your first warning women. Next time, I won't be so forgiving. Have I made myself clear?"
"Yes your majesty!" Everyone replied. I stared them down for a moment before nodding,
"Good. Continue as you were."
They all bowed as me and Callie walked off back into the castle,
"We need to go and check the cells again. Redemption is possible and I'd like to see if any of them feel the same."
I nodded and followed Callie to the cells. Like always, she scanned her palm and inputted a code. The door opened and we descended the stairs to the bottom.
She led me to cell 25. I hadn't been down here often enough to know who was in each cell so I was unaware as to who occupied this one.
Callie inputted another code, allowing the cell door to open. The sound of it opening, awakened the occupant of the cell. He shuffled and immediately sat up on the bed, looking back and forth between us, fear in his eyes,
"Leon. As always it's a pleasure." Callie said. She was in Queen mode so I knew to take a step back and allow her to take control with this one, especially since I had no idea why he was in here anyway.
Leon bowed his head, "Your majesty."
Callie walked over to the wall opposite his bed and leant back against it. I stayed where I was,
"I'm sure you're aware as to why we're here." He nodded, "Great. So, you know the drill. I ask you one question and your answer determines whether or not you are eligible for release. However, this decision will be down to Queen Corinne today."
I looked at her shocked and shook my head, "No no, you can't just spring this on me."
She looked at me amused, "You'll be fine."
She looked back at Leon, "So, like I always say, redemption is a possibility for everyone. Has it been a possibility for you?"
He ducked his head momentarily before shrugging his shoulders, "I don't know. I've been locked up for..." He trailed off to look at the wall beside him where he had a tally chart marked, "For eight months. I know that I feel deep deep regret for what I did. It was impulsive and I kick myself every single day for it."
I tilted my head in confusion before asking, "What exactly did you do?"
He turned his attention to me, "I stole from the royal vault."
Shock took over my expression, "How did you even get in? I assumed it was impenetrable."
"I guarded it. Getting in wasn't particularly hard. I was greedy and foolish back then and it was cowardly of me. I got paid highly when I was a guard but greed took over and now I can't even see my family anymore."
He wiped away a stray tear before continuing, "If present me could go back in time to say anything to past me, I would say not to do it. To think about his family and take a different route."
I walked up to him and took his chin in my hands so that I could look into his eyes. I looked into his but he didn't look into mine. It didn't matter though; I was still able to see the sincerity in his eyes. That was all I needed to make my decision.
I let go of his face and took some steps back next to Callie. I cleared my throat before speaking,
"I don't know what ran through your mind when you committed that crime. What I do know however, is that you regret it. I can see it in your eyes, in your body language. Due to this, I'm deciding to release you."
His eyes widened and he looked at me shocked, "A-are you serious?"
I nodded and crossed my arms, "I am. However, you will be put on a probationary period. Six months to be exact. If, in those six months you show us that you have changed your ways and you're able to contribute to this kingdom, your full freedom will be granted. If however, you manage to break the law in any way shape or form, well, let's just say, we'll be keeping this cell vacant for your return. Do not take my kindness for weakness Leon. Cross on the wrong side of me and there will be a consequence. Have I made myself perfectly clear?"
He frantically nodded, "You have your majesty. I don't know how I can ever thank you for this."
A hint of a smile crossed my face, "Thank me by making something of yourself. A life of crime is a bad path to take so I think you need to reverse and take a different path. Don't make me regret my decision."
He shook his head, "I won't, I swear."
I looked to my right to see two guards standing by the door. Callie must have called them down here after I granted his release. I looked back at Leon,
"Alright, stand up." He immediately stood up from the bed, standing directly in front of me and Callie,
"These two guards will take you upstairs. You can get dressed and cleaned up. Then they'll take you to see your family."
He nodded and smiled widely, "Thank you. Thank you so much. I promise I won't let you down."
I nodded, "We'll see. Six months. Starting right now."
He bowed to us both before walking towards the guards. He walked in front of them and the guards followed behind him. I smiled and looked at Callie,
"He seems like a great man. I just hope he keeps his promise."
She nodded, "The robbery was a first for him but because he attempted to steal something of such value, his sentence was longer. It was originally two years but because of good behaviour, I decided to come down here."
"I'm glad you did. He can make something of himself. He just doesn't realise it yet."
She nodded once again in agreement, "I agree. His family will be delighted he's out. His mother is a family friend but I don't like bending my rules for anyone, family friend or not."
"Of course of course. I would like to give King Clarence a call. He needs to be made aware that witches are working against us. We're already going to war with vampires. I do not intend on going to an unintentional war with the witches and warlocks, especially without the King and Queen being aware."
She nodded, "I agree."
She took my hand in hers and we made our way out of the cells, making sure to lock the cells and then double check they were locked. We were not about to have another prisoner escape today. One was enough and it was just our luck that it was the worst prisoner throughout the whole cells.
We made our way to the meeting room where we would make our call. Callie sat down on one of the chairs so I automatically took that as a sign that she was going to let me take the lead with this one. I didn't mind.
I walked over to the phone and dialed the official number for Kindridas Castle. It was quite rare when anyone called the castles directly. It was usually only done when a royal didn't want to physically make their way to the castle or for important matters, such as this one.
It only took about three rings before I heard the Queens voice, "Hello?" She answered,
"Queen Anneliese. This is Queen Corinne. I hope you've had a pleasant day so far."
"I have, thank you. Same to you. What is the problem? I assume there is one since you are calling the royal line."
I nodded and then realised that she couldn't actually see me, "Is your husband there? It would be better if I spoke to both of you at the same time."
"Give me one moment."
I looked over at Callie and saw her getting some paperwork out. She smiled up at me briefly before going back to what she was doing.
It was about two more minutes before I heard King Clarence's voice through the phone,
"Queen Corinne. What is the matter?"
"A war has been waged between the wolves, witches and warlocks."
"I was not made aware of this." He replied confused,
"One member of your kingdom, Diane Cristal, is in alliance with Cyran Remington," I heard the Queen gasp at the name. Everyone knew who Cyran was and I mean everyone,
"Due to this alliance, a war was waged. It is bad enough that we have to face Cyran and a whole army of vampires but now witches and warlocks? That is one battle that will be extremely hard to win."
There was a moment of silence before he spoke again, "We will assist you."
I shook my head, "That is not the reason for the call King Clarence. I merely called you to make you aware of what was going on. I do not want to be held responsible for the downfall of the members of your kingdom."
He sighed, "I will not allow for a kingdom to fall knowing that I could've done something to help. Even if you say no to our help, we will be helping anyway."
"You and King Chalmers are both so stubborn."
He chuckled, "Comes with the position. Is there anything else you wanted to discuss?"
I looked over at Callie. I knew she could overhear the conversation, as much as she was trying not to. She shook her head absentmindedly,
"No, that is it. Thank you very much."
"You are very welcome. We will be visiting your kingdom before the week is up. Until then, we bid you farewell young Queen."
Young Queen. I shook my head at that, "Goodbye King Clarence. Goodbye Queen Anneliese."
I hung up the phone and ran a hand through my hair. Young Queen. I mean, I knew me and Callie were young, but we didn't need it to be thrown in our faces all the time.
Yes, we knew we were young. We knew we were the youngest royals ever to be on the throne. We knew. Regardless of that, we were ranked in first. I'm not going to sit here and say that any of it was because of me because it wasn't. Callie did all of it and I'm extremely proud of her. She did all of it at the age of nineteen so I seriously thought that it was about time everyone stopped pointing out our age.
I sat down on the chair opposite Callie and looked over at her. She was biting her lip slightly as she looked down at the papers, letting me know that whatever it was she was looking at, needed to be solved,
"Callie, do you need help?" I asked.
She shook her head without looking up, "It's fine. I got it."
I tilted my head slightly, wondering why she was lying. I could tell when she was lying straight away. It's not that she gave away any signs, it's just that I knew her better than I knew myself so it wasn't hard to tell,
"Why do you lie to me?"
She sighed and rubbed her temples, "To protect you from the truth."
"I'm twenty years old. I don't need protecting."
"And I don't need your help." She retaliated. I raised my palms in defence and leant back in my chair,
"Fine fine, whatever. "
Whatever it was that she was looking at, obviously wasn't good. She only tended to close herself off when she was either angry or upset. The former was rare but it had happened enough times.
Since Callie wouldn't let me help her, I had nothing to do. I decided to go and assist some of the chefs in the kitchen. It's been a while since I've cooked and I missed it.
I stood up from the chair and walked out of the room. I knew better than to even acknowledge Callie right now. She was angry for whatever reason and I understood that. She would talk to me when she wanted to,
'I'm sorry.' Callie said through our mind link. I smiled at that,
'I know. When you're ready to talk, I'll be here.'
She didn't reply but that was okay. I knew she got the message. I continued to make my way to the kitchen.
Like always, once I walked in, everyone stopped what they were doing and bowed to me. I waved my hand slightly, letting them know that they could raise their heads.
Marco walked up to me, "Your majesty, to what do we owe this pleasure?"
"You act as if I am never in here."
He chuckled, "True but it is rare that you are in here without Queen Calliria."
I nodded in agreement, "That is true. I'm here because I would like to help out in the kitchen."
He looked at me confused, along with the other chefs in the kitchen, "Why?" Marco asked.
I shrugged, "Because I love cooking."
"We are here to cook so that you don't have to." He reminded me. I laughed,
"I'm well aware of that, thank you. I think you forget that I was not born into royalty. I like to do things for myself and cooking is one of them."
He looked at me wearily, scratching the back of his neck, "Queen Calliria would not approve."
I sighed. I knew that Callie was very respected around here, but the fact that I had to constantly seek her approval through others was very annoying. I guess I still had to prove myself, something I was willing to do,
"Queen Calliria is not here. I'm not asking for much Marco, just to help out in the kitchen, even if it's just for today."
He looked around the room, seeing what all the other chefs had to say. Ava then walked into the room and placed a hand on my shoulder,
"Let her help Marco, my goodness. If Calliria disapproved of this, she'd be here right now would she not?"
He nodded, "Of course Madam Ava." He looked over at me, "Since Ava is here now, you can help her with some of the food preparations. Lindsey, Connor and Vivian will join you soon. Your majesty."
I chuckled at his ending. It's like, if they didn't greet us formally, we would punish them. That wasn't the case, although I didn't get tired of hearing it.
I nodded towards him and he bowed. Ava smiled up at me and gestured for me to follow her. I followed her to another part of the kitchen. This was clearly where they prepared the food while the bit we were just in, was for casual dining and cooking.
We walked over to a pile of potatoes on the side, "We'll start by peeling some potatoes. Unless of course you'd prefer to cut up the onions."
I adamantly shook my head, making her laugh, "Potatoes are fine thank you."
She smiled and we proceeded to peel the potatoes. A few minutes in, Ava asked where Callie actually was. It was fairly rare that me and Callie were seen apart. We were always together and to be honest, it wasn't something I minded. I loved being with her,
"Callie is doing some paperwork. She got a bit frustrated and wouldn't allow me to help her so I just left her to it. Better than causing an argument."
She nodded in agreement, "Callie has always been one to want to do things for herself, even before she was Queen. It's just the way she is. I wouldn't take it to heart. She'll realise in the end that she can't always do things for herself and that asking for help isn't a sign of weakness."
I sighed and placed the peeled potatoes to the left of me, "I know but it doesn't hurt any less when she pushes me away."
She smiled sympathetically, "It's a working progress. When I first arrived here, she was eight years old. She was a lot shyer than she is now. Although I was only a chef, I looked at Callie like she was my own daughter. As shy as she was, she was very loving and mature. Yes, she closed herself off a lot but that's just her way of dealing with the world. We didn't start off with the relationship we have now but over time, with a bit of trust and love, she opened up a bit more. There's still work to be done but it's okay. Things like that take time and I'm not about to push her."
I stopped peeling the potatoes momentarily and took in what she just said. Ava was right. I didn't have to push her to open up to me, I just needed to let it come naturally. I knew that if I started to push her, I would end up pushing her away from me and that was something I most definitely did not want to happen.
Just as I was about to reply to Ava, three people walked into the room laughing and joking. As soon as they realised I was in the room, they sobered up and bowed to me,
"Queen Corinne. We were unaware you were here." The guy said. I tilted my head slightly, curiously,
"You bow your heads as if you are in fear."
"You are very intimidating your majesty." He spoke again. I chuckled at that,
"I don't see how. You can raise your heads. Please, introduce yourselves."
They all lifted their heads and looked over at me. The guy started off, "My name is Connor Kingston and these are my two sisters, Lindsey and Vivian. We're new."
"Ah, I see, hence why I've never seen you around here before. Are you liking it so far?"
All three of them nodded, "It's amazing," Lindsey proclaimed, "Everyone is really friendly around here."
"As it should be." I replied, "Have you spoken to Queen Calliria yet?"
They all shook their heads, "We have a meeting with her later on. This is our third day here but she's been busy, so I've heard, so this meeting was delayed. It's nerve-wracking."
I smiled, "A couple of tips. Spoke when spoken to. She doesn't like it when people speak out of turn and do not under any circumstances, stutter when you speak to her. If there's one thing she hates, it's when people stutter in her presence."
They nodded, "Thank you your majesty." Vivian said, making me nod in acknowledgment,
"Well, I think we should get to work. Wouldn't want everyone to starve would we?"
Smiling, they all shook their heads and walked over to the batch of potatoes.
I have to say, it was a great way to pass the time because before I knew it, a whole hour and a half had passed. No, we weren't peeling potatoes that whole time. We cut up some other food items as well. Connor, Lindsey and Vivian made it fun as well, telling jokes and sharing funny stories. I was confident that they would make a great addition to Remington Castle.
Once we were finished, I decided to go and check on Callie. She was still in the meeting room but it wasn't how I left it. I looked around the room confused. There were papers strewn everywhere, making it look like someone had literally ransacked the whole room looking for something,
"Callie, what the hell happened?" I asked incredulously. She sighed and ran her hands through her hair,
"Someone has been messing with the castle finances."
I sat down on a chair opposite her and looked over at her even more confused, "Is that not sealed and confidential information?"
"It should be but these figures aren't right. We're missing over one-hundred thousand pounds. Someone within this castle has been taking money from the accounts."
"What if it's not someone in the castle though? Just remember, Diane came back and released Cyran and we thought it was someone in the castle when it wasn't. It could've been anyone at this point. Trust within not only the castle but the whole kingdom is wearing thin but that doesn't mean we can go blindly accusing people. We did that once before and we were wrong. It's definitely not a mistake I wish to make again."
She sighed and leant back in her chair, "You're right. I need to look at this from a clear head. Its just really not what we needed right now, not with everything that's been going on lately."
I nodded in agreement, "I know but we're just going to have to deal with it one step at a time."
She nodded and started to pick up the papers that were on the floor before placing them with the rest that were spread out across the table. She put them back into a folder before sliding it to one side,
"I'm sorry about earlier." She said. I smiled,
"It's fine. I know that sometimes you need your space and I respect that."
She smiled and shook her head, "I honestly don't know what I did to deserve you."
I shrugged amusedly before a knock was heard on the door,
"Come in!" Callie shouted out.
In walked Connor, Lindsey and Vivian. They immediately bowed to us,
"Ah, the new arrivals. Please, take a seat."
They walked over to the end of the table and took a seat opposite me and Callie. Callie scanned over them briefly before clearing her throat,
"Okay. It's rare that I hire new staff of such a young age but I feel like you have potential. Call me hypocritical because of my age but it's true. I know first hand that those of a younger age have less experience. However, I'm giving you a chance here. Not many people get a chance like this, so I would consider yourself very lucky. Very lucky."
"We do your majesty." Connor replied, "It's an honour to be working here."
Callie nodded, "It is. Although, I have been made aware recently that you have a criminal conviction."
I looked over at Connor shocked. I definitely wasn't expecting that. He didn't even look like someone with a criminal record, although, can you really tell when someone had a criminal record?
Connor rubbed the back of his nervously, "I do. I got arrested for assault last year."
"For what? What did you do exactly?" Callie asking curiously. Connor looked over at Lindsey briefly and she nodded,
"Lindsey had an abusive boyfriend. I found her one day on the floor with him standing over her and I lost it. I beat him up and he pressed charges on me. I only spent a month in jail and I would do it all over again if it meant I could keep my little sister safe."
Both mine and Callie's expression softened. The fact that he protected his sister was very admirable,
"I'm sorry about what happened to you Lindsey." Callie expressed. Lindsey smiled and shook her head,
"It's okay. It's in the past now and I have a fresh start now. Although, I have been smelling this really amazing scent ever since I arrived here but I can't seem to locate it."
I smiled, "Your mate is here."
She looked over at me shocked, "You think so?"
I nodded, "I know so. It's a lot easier to locate in a location like this because it's indoors. I'm sure you'll find him eventually."
She smiled and nodded before looking over at Callie who was just listening intently,
"Alright. There wasn't really much I wanted to say. I just wanted to meet you and see who I had hired. You are free to leave."
All three of them nodded and stood up from their chairs. They bowed to us both before walking out of the room.
I looked over at Callie and she smiled, automatically making me smile back at her. That gave me reassurance that everything was going to be okay. As much as it didn't look that way right now, I knew it would be. It had to be. I would make sure that it was.