Seeing Hammonet reunite with his daughter after he knows that they are not going to face fatal punishment brings a soothing feeling to me. It’s nice to know that there are fathers out there who will still love and protect their children even if their children did something to disappoint them.

Amelia, my brothers, and I decide to give them some privacy. There are plenty of guards, plus Hammonet so we don’t need to watch them right now. When we are out of earshot, Amelia turns towards my brothers and I.

“Asher’s and Engledeo’s funeral ball is in two days. Because I am hosting two funeral balls, the events will last longer than the usual three hours. I am thinking it will be a whole day’s event in honor of what my son and husband have done in their lives.”

Funeral balls, are something that Chopver, Krosla, and other surrounding kingdoms have added to their traditions. When someone dies, instead of feeling sad and thinking about what the person could have done with their life when they were alive, we host funeral balls to celebrate what they did in the life that they did live. We use to send the body off into the sea at night so that Darkness could take them for their forever rest. Funeral balls never existed before Darkness went on his rampage but when there were more and more people dying due to Darkness, our people decided they wanted more happiness in their lives. That’s when the funeral balls started to exist and I like to believe that we will forever hold this tradition. I like celebrating life more than grieving it but maybe that is because all I see is death since I am immortal.

“I would like the three of you to attend. Asher and Engeldeo would have loved to see you and I think they would be ashamed if you couldn’t make it to their funeral ball,” Amelia continues.

“Of course we will come,” I say.

“We would be honored,” Strider says after me.

“After all, we have been here way before you were queen. We watched you grow up and we watched Asher grow up too,” Theon cuts in.

“Your Highness,” Hammonet walks over and bows, “I have a request.”

Amelia nods at Hammonet to speak.

“My daughter and her friends are civilians. If you’d allow it, I think that they should attend the funeral balls as well. I know my daughter is devoted to Chopver and she would be devastated if she could not make it to the funeral balls.”

“We can’t allow that. They are prisoners and they need to stay in rooms that are secured where they can’t run away,” I say. I can hear my tone getting harsher and harsher the more words I speak.

Hammonet looks at me with a blank expression then at Amelia. His face turning into desperation.

Amelia tightens her lips into a thin line. Hesitating, I know that she is trying to make a rational decision while also listening to her kind heart. Finally, she replies. “I think that they deserve to celebrate their prince and king as much as any other civilian. You three will be there and the palace will be raiding with guards so if anything happens I know you will be able to take care of it.”

I can feel my emotions drop. So, I have to go to the funeral ball of my best friend and his father and also keep an eye on my prisoners who are potentially working with my father. This is just great. But I wouldn’t want to ruin the ball where Amelia gets to remember the good times with her family so I nod in agreement.

Amelia claps her hands. “Great. Well, servants and the seamstress are waiting for you. Your funeral gown is in your closet still but I think it needs a little bit of a modern touch.” She gives me a slight smile before turning around and telling the guards to take the prisoners to their rooms.

A modern touch? What is wrong with my current dress?

I head up to the room that I stay in whenever I am in Chopver. The room fills me with so many different memories from centuries ago to now. Memories of holding and playing with the young royal family members and staying there after celebrating the coronation of a royal member that I watched grow up. Sometimes it fills me with excitement to see the royal bloodline get handed down for generations but it also stings sometimes. I see those people grow up and I see them die and it’s tiring to say goodbye to everyone I have ever met. I live through history but sometimes I wonder what the world would be like if I died along with said history.

I shake my head at the chilling thoughts before I open the door to my bedroom. My heart eases once I see the familiar cream-colored room. It sticks out like a sore thumb compared to the rest of the green interior of the castle but it is beautiful nonetheless. On my left is my king-sized bed all tidy and made for me. Above it, there is a brown canopy a king from many years ago built for me. It was his gift in an attempt to propose to me. I gracefully declined and we were on good terms until the end of his time.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

Three windows straight ahead of me are open and let in a fresh breeze. It feels nice when the sun isn’t trying to burn me alive. The bench in front of the windows is still there and it gives me relief. I read there whenever I stress about something and it always brings me into a different world so I don’t have to worry about the one I am currently in. It’s nice to live in a fantasy world where there isn’t a war and if there is, there is also a happy ending.

When is my happy ending going to come?

On the wall to my left there is a big mirror and standing next to it is the crew of servants and a seamstress waiting for me with different color fabrics next to them. There are plain pinks and greens, glittery golds and silvers, and red and white floral patterns.

I step over to the seamstress who asks me to step on the circular platform and face the mirror. Then she walks over to the closet and opens the door with a grunt. Squealing as if it is in so much pain, the door eventually gives way and swings open. Many dresses from many funerals are in the closet reminding me of the long long life I have lived. Grays and black take up most of the closet except for one bright blue dress. I wore it at the funeral of the sweetest little girl who was taken away too soon by a horrible disease. Her favorite color was blue so we all decided to wear blue in honor of her. It was one of the hardest funerals I went to.

None of these dresses seem to be right for the funeral ball. I think I need a new one.

“Do you think you could make a new dress?” I ask.

“A completely new one, Your Highness?” the seamstress chokes.

I nod. Both stress and excitement fill the eyes of the seamstress as if this is a challenge that would be an honor to take on.

“Of course, Your Highness. I will need to take measurements and do fabric sampling.”

She takes my measurements and compares fabric cloths to my skin color and hair color, trying to see what color palette works best for me. She suggests I wear something maroon because it looks good on my fair skin and black hair but I tell her I want to wear green. I, a Magnificent, am going to a funeral ball for the king and prince. It is only courteous of me to wear something in their country’s color.

The seamstress scrunches her nose as she heads to the many green patterns she brought with her. When she holds them up to my body she makes comments trying to make me change my mind and go to maroon. I say nothing to her and let her say what she wants to say but I am the Queen of Krosla, I need to act like a queen.

When I am starting to get into my thoughts again, the seamstress gasps. I shake myself out of the daze and get ready to fight whatever threat the seamstress has seen.

“Your Highness, this shade of green looks magical on you. I can make a beautiful gown out of this fabric if you’d like me to,” the seamstress says.

I look in the mirror to see what she is talking about. The piece of fabric she is holding up to my body makes my pale skin look a little more tan and my dark hair even darker than it already is. It’s beautiful and I think it would look great at the ball.

“It’s perfect,” I respond.

The seamstress jumps up and down while clapping faster than I have seen anyone clap before. “I will get this to you tomorrow morning for fitting.”

“Don’t you need to sleep?” I ask.

“I have a night team if I need a little wink but I can stay up all night to make a dress for one of The Magnificents.” I hesitate to respond but before I could even argue, she continues, “Don’t worry about me, Your Highness. I can sleep after the gown is finished.”

She smiles, bows, and collects her things to leave. I feel tired and so after the seamstress and the other servants leave, I go straight to bed to get some sleep before dinner.

___

“Your Highness,” a light knock is coming from my door. “Your Highness, dinner is ready to be served in the dining room.”

I tell the servant at my door that I will be down in a second. I stretch and groan as I roll out of bed. I don’t feel rested at all which means I probably wasn’t asleep that long. I walk out of my room and head to the dining room where I see my brothers and Amelia already sitting and conversing with one another.

“Ahh, sister, you have finally decided to join us. It’s about time,” Theon stands and pulls out my chair. I roll my eyes and give him a playful smile. I sit in the chair as Theon slowly pushes it in.

“Sorry, I was tired and taking a nap,” I explain.

For the rest of dinner, we act like this horrible day has never existed. We talk and joke around as if my brothers and I have come to visit just to see how Amelia is doing. It feels nice to bring a little bit of the past back to the present after such an eventful day.