Near sunrise, I was ushered out of the room by staff members who rattled off my schedule for the day. I had to be up in a few hours and ready for a press event; I was meeting with the ambassador from Greece about something or other; I had to choose the China to be used for the state dinner at the end of the week. The voices went on about plenty of other things that I ended up tuning out.
When I got to my room I shut the door behind me and that was that. It was like suddenly being in a bubble where no one else could come. I’d make sure of it. Between now and whenever they came to wake me up, nothing was getting in my space or in my head. I had survived day one; now I just needed to survive day two. We could worry about day three when the time came. My father always said the job of a ruler was something that had to be taken one day at a time, and I always thought he was exaggerating. Now I understood completely.
I got myself out of my gown, even though ladies-in-waiting were just outside the room to help me. I was a woman, however; I knew how to get in and out of a dress and heels. So I readied myself for bed without much fuss and washed my face carefully to get as much of the makeup off as I could.
When I lowered myself into bed it was the greatest feeling in the world. Absolutely nothing could compare to laying your head down after a long day. And “long day” didn’t even begin to cover what today had been. But I felt the softness beneath my cheek and the way the pillow was cradling my head and I let my eyes close, hoping I would dream something good.
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Letters from a Prince: The Royals of Heledia (Book 1) Page 18
