by Renee Carr
“John?” Countess Arillia responded, in shock. “That is quite interesting. He doesn’t normally give such speeches, does he?”
“Well, perhaps, with King Michael growing older, he wants John to practice. Should be an interesting day at classes for all of you, regardless,” Henry said.
“But what power does he really have?” Lady Sarah, the youngest daughter of the Beckwith family, asked. Of all of her sisters, Sarah was the one who was the most interested in politics and also the most outspoken. “If he’s just the crown prince? And if he isn’t a proper negotiator?”
“Sarah,” her mother chided. “He will be our Alpha dragon someday.”
“I understand that,” Sarah answered. “I was speaking to his skills.”
“You’re so rude,” Lady Mary, her older sister, said as she sipped her tea.
“I was just asking a question,” Sarah muttered.
Edith, the middle sister, shook her head.
“I agree with Sarah,” she chimed in. “Although I never would ask him. But I would not feel confident, Father, in negotiating in the unlikely event that I would be asked to represent you. Would you, Mary?”
“No, that’s not what I’m saying,” Sarah retorted.
“Sarah, I’m not sure what is happening with your attitude today,” her mother said. “But if you expose such words in front of the prince, you will find many other privileges revoked.”
“I’m not trying to be rude,” Sarah protested, but she knew that she wasn’t going to get a proper answer out of her parents. She finished her breakfast and stood up. As the youngest daughter, she knew that she got away with quite a bit more than her sisters, but she still didn’t feel like she got fair and equal treatment. “May I be excused?”
“We will expect you to be properly dressed for that lecture,” Arillia said and Sara gave her a fake smile.
“Of course,” she presented pleasurably. “Did you have a specific outfit in mind?”
“Just something appropriate, please, Sarah,” her father said and Sarah sighed.
“When is he coming?”
“Tomorrow morning,” he answered briskly.
“Of course,” she said, and left the breakfast room.
Sarah hated that they didn’t even watch her go. She knew that her family thought the easiest thing in the world was just to ignore her and hope that she went away.
She had always had opinions that differed from the rest of the world. She knew that throughout history, it would have been accepted to just send the crown prince for any business the king didn’t want to handle. However, she was of the mindset that things should be handled by those who were best trained to do so. As the youngest child, her education was not controlled, and Sarah was left to study whatever she wanted. While her sisters studied topics related to traditional female roles, Sarah was not as confined. She sometimes felt like her parents had completely given up on her. She took some classes just to test their patience, and it seemed they didn’t even notice. Battle tactics were actually something she was interested in, but they didn’t bat an eye when she talked about it. The speech was open for the whole university to attend, although she was sure that her classmates would be front row and center.
Did you hear? one of her friends, Judd, texted her. Most of her classmates were male, and she was used to texts without the usual polite salutations. She did enjoy that they didn’t seem to mind that she had a title, even if it was a minor one. To them, she was just another student. Judd, in particular, had a special place in her heart, given that they’d had an on-and-off relationship for the past few years. They are sending the crown prince to talk to us about battle tactics.
And how many battles, specifically, has he been in? Sarah texted back as she chose an outfit for the day. Because I think his count is none.
Dare you to ask him that, Judd texted and she grinned.
Maybe I will, she replied. See you in class today?
See you then, he said.
Sarah hadn’t told anyone that she had feelings for Judd beyond being just friends. They weren’t intense, and she wasn’t lying awake at night hoping that he would message her or anything. But she found herself staring at him in class, or wondering whom he was messaging when she saw him texting. Their relationship was strange. Sometimes, they were holding hands and making out, and sometimes they were nothing but friends.
She didn’t fancy herself in love with him, and she didn’t think he was her mate or anything. However, she did think that perhaps they could have something together if the feelings continued to progress.
“Who are you always messaging?” Edith asked her as she stuck her head in her youngest sister’s room. “You look like a doe.”
“What?” Sarah asked. “Are you saying I’m small and fuzzy?”
“One of those Earth creatures with those big eyes,” Edith answered. “Am I using the right word?”
“Yes,” Sarah said, grateful that Edith was referring to her. After all, she had taken an Earth specialty course. “Are you going to school today?”
“Yes,” Edith said. “We can fly there together.”
“Um...” Sarah hesitated. If she traveled with Edith, then she would have no chance to stay after class to talk to Judd. Edith liked to leave as soon as class was done, more of a homebody than Sarah was. “I think I’ll go by myself.”
Edith gave her a look.
“Are you sure you’re alright to go by yourself?”
“I’m fine,” Sarah said, half growling at her.
“But...”
“I’m fine,” Sarah insisted and Edith sighed.
“Alright,” she said. “But Mother will not be happy that we are taking two separate ships.”
“Well, I don’t like to be on your schedule,” Sarah said and Edith rolled her eyes.
“Yes, Sarah, we all know that you don’t like being on anyone’s schedule,” she said and left the room.
On that annoying cue, Sarah felt the familiar round of dizziness that sometimes struck her at random.
She sat on the bed, hoping that it would pass quickly.
For the past few months, Sarah had been having random bouts of dizziness that no doctors seemed to be able to understand. Her blood tests were fine, and she never had any issues with her health before then. Twice, she had fallen and injured herself, both times in front of her family, and it made them even more overprotective than they usually were. It frustrated her, partly because no one could find anything wrong with her. Sarah liked to identify problems and then solve them, and she was frustrated that they could not figure out this health concern.
The doctors had just said that they were random and unlikely to occur again. Yet, here she was, wondering if she was going to hit the floor.
Luckily, it passed. Sarah took a sip of water from her bedside table and stood up, testing her balance. It seemed like she was fine, and she hoped that it wouldn’t happen on the way to school.
Hey, Judd texted. Do you think that you’d be up for going out to eat after class today? A bunch of us are going.
Yes! Sarah responded right away.
Great, Judd said. I’ll set it up.
Now she was even more glad that she resisted Edith’s offer to head to school together.
“Sarah?” It wasn’t Edith this time, but her father who was at her door, holding a sheet of paper. “The university just sent this over for you.”
“For me?” she asked. “What is it?”
“Seems like a pretty high honor,” he said. “To send it on official paper rather than just by electronic mail.”
Sarah raised an eyebrow, scanning the document.
Lady Sarah Beckwith,
As the current most likely candidate for valedictorian of your class, we would like you to present the official welcome to our special guest, Prince John, at tomorrow's visit. Please see below a list of requirements that we have for this speech. We hope you will accept this high honor.
Dean’s Office.
Fai
rTrade University
Knorpp
“What?” Sarah read it again. “Are they jesting?”
“Official welcome?” her father answered. “That is the highest...”
“They are giving me twenty-four hours to make a speech,” she said. “With a whole list of requirements, and I have to go to class. What do they expect, that I will just drop everything and do this?”
“You are not considering rejecting this offer?” he said.
“I don’t have...”
“Sarah, you will not reject this offer,” her father ordered. “I have tolerated you taking double the course load at university, and working your way through two degrees. You have to consider doing more, or I will...”
“Or you’ll what?” she asked him. “What will you do, Father?”
Her father fixed her with a stare.
“Or I will pull you from the courses,” he said. “You have been taking education with absolutely no direction.”
“Oh, now you notice,” Sarah taunted. “How kind of you. What direction would you like me to take, Father? An obedient wife? A quiet, uneducated lady? Or perhaps I will just accept that our claim to the titles is practically over, with no son, and our lands are...”
“Do not speak of such things,” her father thundered.
“Then don’t threaten me because I have thought about what kind of future I want,” she retorted. “And because I won’t accept the one I was born into.”
“What do you want, Sarah?” he asked.
“To change the universe,” she replied.
“Oh, I see,” he said and pointed at the letter. “You better make that speech. Or else.”
“Of course, Father,” she said sarcastically. Once he was gone, she threw the letter on the bed and slammed the door, so that no one else could interrupt her.
She considered rejecting it just based on the fact that her father was being so miserable to her. However, the reason she didn’t instantly contact the university and tell them was off was because it was a new opportunity, and Sarah thrived on new opportunities. She told herself that she wanted every new experience, or else how would she know exactly what direction she wanted to take in her life?
Besides, perhaps she could use this as an opportunity to show the crown that there were more ways than one to rule a kingdom. She could write a speech based on all the groundbreaking techniques she had just studied in the last course.
She called the extension that was listed, her mind completely changed from when she first got the letter. Once someone answered, she accepted the offer.
“I was just wondering, though,” she added. “Aside from the requirements that you have, can I say whatever I’d like in the speech?”
‘Yes,” said the woman who answered. “In either official language.”
“Well, thank you,” Sarah said. “I have a lot of ideas already.”
“That sounds wonderful, dear. I look forward to it,” she responded and then the phone call ended.
Hey, guess what I just got asked to do? Sarah texted Judd as soon as she was done the phone call. She explained the situation and he wrote back right away.
Something tells me that you have a devious plan already, Judd said.
I do, she said. Want to help me?
Anything my fair lady wishes, he said, and she bristled. Even though he was just teasing, it was the first time he had used her title, and it bothered her. You say the word and I’ll do the rest.
I’ll let you know, she answered and put her phone away to get ready to leave. This was her one chance to influence the crown, and she wanted everything to be perfect.
She got dressed, her mind a million miles away as she picked out a ship to take to school. She wanted to see the room where John was going to speak so that she could plan out what areas she wanted to use. The crown prince had no idea what he was getting into.
Chapter 3
“This is the university?” John inquired when the ship finally arrived. It wasn’t exactly what he thought it would be. For such a well-respected university, it wasn’t as glamorous as he’d anticipated. He’d expected shiny new buildings and beautiful pathways. Instead, it looked like a relic of the past.
“Yes, sir,” said the driver. “Very restricted. For every 100 applications, they take one student.”
“Wow,” John said as the ship stopped. “I’m glad that I did not have to go through such a process.”
The driver chuckled.
“One would say that the weight of the crown is more stressful than a university admission,” he said. “This is your escort, in the brown shirt.”
“Thank you,” John said as he stepped outside of the ship. It had only been a journey of a few hours but it felt like so long since he had breathed fresh air. He had spent most of yesterday inside the palace and then he got straight into the ship. He was grateful that the university was at least within a wooded area, and it seemed that the students on campus were very relaxed, walking and laughing with each other as they went to class. John watched them for a moment and then put on what he called his public face, tightening his jaw and smiling as he shook hands with his escort, who then bowed to him.
“Your Majesty,” he said. “It’s an honor to have you join us.”
“I’m happy to join you,” John tipped his head. “Is attendance for my lecture going well?”
“There is a student in every seat and some in the aisles,” the escort answered. “One of our top students will give an introduction and then you are welcome to speak for the majority of the two hours. We ask that you leave at least 20 minutes at the end for questions.”
“No problem,” John said. “I have prepared some of the oldest battle victories in the universe and their strengths.”
“I’m sure the students will love that,” the escort enthused, leading John to the largest building.
John was brought into a large, empty classroom, where the seats seemed to go on for miles. It was a very simple setup, and the podium was ready for him upfront, with a screen behind him. He was familiar with the technology, and he put his bag on the floor and began to set up for the speech. He was used to people standing around and staring at him while he set up, so he didn’t say a word, focusing instead on his own notes. He saw, as he looked down, feet coming and going, as different people came into the room to set up other parts of the presentation.
“My Prince,” said the voice of his escort. “This is Lady Sarah. She will be giving the introduction to your speech.”
“Alright,” John said. “If you could just...”
He looked up and felt like he had been hit with a lightning bolt.
She had piercing eyes and a strong jawline. Her cheekbones were sharp and her hair was pulled back onto her head, although he could see that it was curly. Her figure was hidden in a dress made of rich material, and he knew that she was one of the Beckwith daughters that Cory had been talking about.
She was standing in front of him with an expression that he had never seen before. Most people who met him were impressed, or doe-eyed, or clearly willing to do whatever he wanted. Her expression was different; it wasn’t quite rude, but it was unimpressed and it was defiant. She didn’t seem to care that she was in the presence of the next Alpha; she just seemed annoyed that he was standing at the podium where she wanted to be.
He was intoxicated, starstruck, and dumb all at the same time. She was beautiful and unique, and he felt like wrapping his arms around her and never letting her go.
The longer he stared at her, the longer she stared back. Then her expression dropped, turned neutral and then to one of confusion.
“Hello,” he said, starting over from his first impression.
“Hello,” she managed and then all her items fell from her arms. John moved forward and managed to catch them before they hit the floor. “Oh my goodness, I’m an idiot.”
“No, no,” he said, handing them back to her. “It could happen to any of us.”
They continued to
stare at each other for another long moment until a young man came up from behind them.
“Sarah?” he asked, interrupting their magical look. “Is everything alright?”
“Everything is fine,” Lady Sarah said, and finally broke her gaze. “Everything is fine. I’m just going to make the speech, Judd.”
“Are you involved in the speech too?” John asked, turning around. He was a good few inches taller than the young man, as well as broader in the chest and a few years older.
As John towered over him, Judd took a step back.
“No,” Judd said and bowed. “My Lord. I’m just helping Lady Sarah with the preparations.”
“Are they complicated preparations?” John asked. “Because otherwise, I am done with my setup and I can assist with hers.”
“No,” Sarah blurted out. “They are not complicated preparations at all. You could assist me if you like.”
“Of course,” John said, and turned back to the young man. “I’m sure I’ll see you at the lecture, though.”
“Sarah, what about—?” Judd started to ask, but Lady Sarah glared at him.
“Just the speech, Judd,” she said, and he sighed.
“Whatever you say,” he said and headed for the door. As soon as he was gone, John turned back to her. He had never met anyone like this at all. He was used to meeting people briefly and quickly, and then walking away and never thinking about them. This girl was like a tattoo on his heart.
He knew exactly what this could mean, but he didn’t want to admit it. If he admitted it, his whole life could change.
“What can I help you with ?” he asked, and she seemed to have trouble finding words.
“I just am... going to use my notes,” she said. “I had a video and some other things... but I think it’s better to just use my notes.”
“Are you sure?” he asked. “Something innovative could spice up the words that everyone is obligated to listen to.”
“No one is obligated to be here,” she said. “This is an optional lecture.”
