I’m not really fond of boats. The rocking back and forth, the noise of the engine, the smell, not just of the water, but of the ironically unwashed sailors sweating up a storm. ‘Did I have a nose this sensitive in my previous life?’ I wondered about that, Japan was so damn clean, I never really appreciated just what a difference that made when compared to early twentieth century Europe.

I reached up and touched the spot on my chest where the Type ninety-five was usually located and watched the white cliffs of Dover draw closer. ‘If I had that, I could have just flown here by myself. But… what’s the Commonwealth without its ships?’ I saw the boats out of the corner of my eye, the escort of Empire ships was a very ‘ceremonial’ sort of thing.

They were small battleships designed for war, but specifically for ‘escorting’ larger ships and using small guns to intercept fire and screen any attempt at hitting the larger vessels. Without a battleship to escort, they were effectively rendered ‘ceremonial’. I should have been glad to have an escort like this, but I wasn’t.

‘At least I don’t have to pray to Being X anymore to use that stupid thing.’ That thought was pleasant at least, and it wasn’t like I needed the Type ninety-five to use magic.

Sir Knolly must have seen my gesture, reaching for my computation jewel, and thankfully he misunderstood me completely. “Are you thinking of everything you’re leaving behind?” He asked. His cane tapped on the metal floor of our ship.

‘At least he gave me a convenient lie.’ I mused and answered him.

“Yes. I’ve never lived anywhere else but the Empire. And now I’m going to a place that spent the better part of the last two years trying to kill me. It’s a strange thing to think about. Going off to be the Queen of a country that will probably despise me, and leaving behind everybody I ever knew, lived with, trusted?” Judging from his expression when I answered him, I couldn’t help but think, ‘If being Queen doesn’t work out, I should be an actor!’ To cap off my performance I added, “It’s for the sake of peace though, so… what’s one girl?”

I looked away from him and dropped my hands down to my sides. I knew enough about the geography of this world to know that we were probably going to land at Hastings. We’d left from the Norman coast, so that was more than a little fitting.

Sir Knolly put himself between my eyes and the island Empire and crouched down. “Child, my home is not a bad place. It’s just full of people, just like your home. It has good and bad people of all kinds, but nobody wants this fighting to go on. And you won’t be completely alone. Your comrade, the one who has somehow slept through all this, will be there at least. And the Prime Minister will be there to advise you at every turn. You’ll be the symbol of the country, and have your loyal guards to protect you from anyone that might want to harm you.”

“That’s good to know.” I said glibly.

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He was right about Visha at least.

I thought about her response that morning…

“Ma’am, you want me to… what?” Visha’s wide blue eyes were dazed and confused, the boat loomed large and bobbed up and down on the blue waters of the channel, already the Empire’s ships were moving into position.

“To come with me to the Commonwealth. Apparently I’m going to be the Queen, and I’ll need a Lady in Waiting. Somebody I can trust to assist me with whatever needs doing, think of yourself as a personal assistant with fancy dresses. General Zettour has already given approval for you to join me, if you wish. Or… you can return to your barracks? What do you say, would you like to work for me? I don’t know what it pays, but I’m pretty sure it will pay well.” I almost… almost felt bad for her right then. It was sometimes a pain to have a competent subordinate removing my excuses for struggling to be productive.

But going over there, it would be a relief. It isn’t that I dislike her, if anything, she’s the closest thing I have to an actual friend. She’s tough, reliable, works hard, in many ways she’s the ideal subordinate and the closest thing I really have to a peer. If it weren’t for her abiding sense of ‘sentiment’ we would have a lot more in common. Although… she didn’t object meaningfully to what we did in Aren either.

Maybe she’s harder to judge than I thought.

“Ma’am,” she said to me, and then snapped to attention and saluted, “I would follow you anywhere!” She shouted loud enough to turn a few heads our way.

She then relaxed and picked at her uniform, “But ah, shouldn’t I see about changing clothes, shouldn’t we both? Won’t it look kind of bad if we arrive in the Commonwealth in Empire uniforms?”

She had a point there. I was so used to my uniform that I barely gave it a second thought.

One emergency call to a tailor later, and our measurements were taken and sent to the Commonwealth to have someone find and provide suitable clothing for us both to change into before we disembarked onto Commonwealth soil.

So now in the present, I really couldn’t blame Visha for sleeping as she did. Though I’m glad she didn’t have her computation jewel on her, I’d heard about her talking in her sleep and I didn’t like the thought of her accidentally using it while unconscious.

“Will you be alright by yourself, Your Majesty?” Sir Knolly asked, I noticed how solicitous he was of me, and how reluctant he seemed to be to move aside, but solicitous or not, he couldn’t keep his yawn at bay. His mouth opened so wide I could see the molars in the back of his now gaping maw. “Forgive me, but I am exhausted, and we have some time before we reach home.”

“Yes, I’ll be fine. I’d just like to watch for a while longer. I’m used to going without sleep.” I said and waved him off. I don’t really play up the fact that I’m a child very often, but when reading about the history of the island I found a story there that struck a chord with me.

It seemed that there were two Princes under the care of the King, who the King may have considered to be a threat. After they ‘disappeared’ never to be found, the King was accused of their murders. While political murder by itself probably wouldn’t have justified a rebellion, it seems that the children were so young, close to my present age, that they were considered ‘off limits’ by polite noble society. Albion seems to have considered executing children to be bad form.

I’m not fond of children, but imperfect as I am, I can appreciate that sentiment.

With that in mind the best strategy for survival and to ease my transition was to play up their cultural tendency toward sentimentality.