20 years back

She stood there, in the huge corridors, all alone, giving final instructions to the head guard and the head maid. She wanted this event to be flawless. After all, it was her pregnancy to be revealed to Elijah, she wanted this moment to be remembered. Feeling two large arms wrapped around her waist, she quickly dismissed the servants, which did seem strange to the man behind her frame, but he shrugged it off. Turning her around, he got extremely close to her face. His attempt at kissing her ended in vain as he heard a cough at the end of the corridor behind him.

"Get a room, guys," Elijah's right-hand man, as well as the head in charge of training the officials, and his best friend, Robert, told them. Priscilla blushed and freed herself from Elijah's grip, exiting the hallway to excuse herself to the library.

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She sat in the palace library, reading one of the King's numerous books on European history when she overheard Robert speaking to a servant. He sounded rash and uptight as if something were wrong.

"...Tell all the servants to be on call..." he was saying, "...and make sure the cook is ready to prepare lunch for us..."

Lunch? For "us?" What could he be talking about? Priscilla wondered. She walked out of the library to see what all the ruckus was about. The hallway looked more like a marketplace: servants passed fervently back and forth as Robert dished out orders.

"Get that rug cleaned. Tell the maid to do up the dining room..." Two soldiers passed by with maps.

"What's going on?" Priscilla asked.

"Good afternoon, Your Majesty," Robert said.

"Why all the commotion?" she persisted.

Robert could not help but notice her abruptness.

"The arrival of Sir Aaron, Your Majesty," he replied. "He will be here shortly."

Sir Aaron was Tastia's top military leader, with the only exception being the King himself. He was well-known throughout the kingdom for the great victories he had achieved in foreign lands, colonizing more territory than any previous leader.

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"Sir Aaron?" she repeated. "Why?"

"Well, Your Majesty," Robert explained, "it seems as though a little problem has developed. "

"A problem? What type of problem?"

"Yes, My Lady. The Tastia colony of St. Georgia has been invaded. Sir Aaron is requesting a larger army to deal with the problem. He arrived late last night with the news."

"So the King wishes to dine without me this afternoon?"

"No," Robert replied. "He wants the complete opposite. He says that your presence is requested, since the upcoming events may affect you just as much as he does. All the dukes and generals will be present as well, an hour hence."

"Very well," she said. "I will be there."

"A-he-hem..."

It was Robert. All turned upon hearing his voice.

"The King is coming," he said.

Priscilla, Sir Aaron, and all the dukes took their seats immediately, with Priscilla sitting at the end of the table. The king entered and all rose.

"Be seated," said Elijah, sitting himself down at the head of the table.

"The situation has been explained to me, but only in brief," said the King. "Why don't you explain it to us again, Aaron?"

Sir Aaron had been ready for this. He spoke slowly and clearly:

"Well, it seems, Your Highness, that our largest colony, St.Georgia, has been attacked by the neighboring Belden colony of Montania. The attack came as a complete surprise to us since we have operated in that area for years without any breach of peace. I learned of the attack four days after it occurred and immediately headed to Tastia. From what I gather, an army of twenty thousand men surrounds our former colony. Our original force of fifteen hundred has fled and scattered. The people inside support us. They prospered under us. "

Elijah was listening with the utmost intensity.

"How many army men do we have at present?" he asked Robert.

"Twenty-five thousand," Robert replied.

"Very well. I expect five thousand army men from all the Dukes at the least. We must leave within the week, so that gives us five days to prepare all our men.", said the king.

"We?" said the Queen, Priscilla, who had been silent up until this point.

"Well, my dear," said Elijah, "you can't expect our army to fight a war without its commander. St. Georgia is very far. If Sir Aaron's plan should fail, it would take weeks to travel up here to form a new one, and then weeks to travel back. Time wasted in such a manner would be far too costly. I must go."

"But you can't!" she persisted.

"I must," said the King.

"Now?" Priscilla questioned.

"Well, of course now, my dear."

"But who'll run the kingdom?"

"I have the utmost faith in you," he said. "Sincere faith, my dear. I'm sure you can handle matters while I am away."

"But you can't do that! Not now,"

"Is there something I should know?" He asked. "What? What is it?"

Her lip quivered, but nothing came out. She braced herself. She let out a mighty sigh.

"I'm- " - her words became lost. "I'm... pregnant," she said as if the very word was a curse.

The entire room gasped. For a moment, the King was startled. His eyes watered. His hands grasped the arms of his chair.