I don’t want to do this.

I don’t want to stand in front of a room full of reporters and listen to Victor, his Prime Minister and Chuck talk about the attack. I don’t want to stand there and look at the blank expressions; the hands holding up voice recorders and cameras. I don’t want to stand there knowing that I could be here with Ben.

“You have to go,” he keeps insisting. “The people will want to see that at least you are okay. I’ll be fine and you won’t be gone long.”

I shake my head, sinking down lower into my chair next to his bed. “I can’t… I can’t do that.”

He lets out one of those sighs he does when I aggravate him. “Anna, please. Don’t be selfish; don’t be a coward. Go show them you’re okay; show them you’re stronger than they think.”

I draw my brows together. “Did you just call me a coward?”

“Yes,” he says, his face not showing even an ounce of humor. He’s not kidding. “So, go with my dad and prove to everyone—including me that you’re not. Don’t be scared of the press now, Anna. You never were before. Don’t be now.”

Leaning forward, I cup my face in my hands. Just as I’m about to surrender and tell him that I’ll go, the door bursts open.

A loud raucous fills the room as four guys come rushing in, wearing army fatigues and berets. Their camaraderie stops once their eyes all land on me. In a split second they stop, bow, and then salute in unison. It’s pretty impressive.

Ben laughs, but winces. I can tell his chest still hurts, even with all the meds they’re pumping into him.

“How did I know you guys were my next visitors?”

Of course I should have expected his army friends to come here at some point. His aunt, the Duchess of Odessa came last night, and some of his extended family—like that cousin that Victor said I would have to marry if anything had actually happened to Ben (Leopold was his name I’m pretty sure). They came this morning.

“See, Anna? I’ll be fine while you’re gone. I’ll have these guys to take care of me,” he nods as they begin to walk over, joking around again. However, they seem more subdued. It must be me.

He introduces me, “These are my army friends from the base; guys if you haven’t already heard, this is my fiancé, AnnaMaria.”

With a roll of my eyes I laugh and, to avoid awkwardness, I rise and get ready to go tell Victor I’m coming with him. The guys—who were just about to take seats in the small chairs on the other side of the bed—have to stop and wait until I nod at them before they can sit down. It’s the kind of cringe-worthy awkwardness that makes me wish I had left a few minutes ago.

“Well it’s very nice to meet you,” I give them a friendly smile.

I lean down and kiss Ben on the cheek, which makes them coo and hoot. “I’ll see you in a bit,” I tell him in Slovek.

He replies with, “Yes, you will… try not to pay too much attention to the cameras, Ann. Just focus on my father.”

I nod, “Right.”

“You’ll do fine,” he calls out as I walk out the door.

You’ll do fine.

Yeah, okay. If you say so, Ben.

“Changed your mind?” Gabe’s voice startles me.

After I recover and compose myself I answer, “Yeah. Where’s Victor?”

“Waiting for you three doors down. Also, I should mention that your styling team is there, too.”

I automatically and instinctively let out a groan. “Oh no…”

“Yep,” he nods and guides me with his hand on my back, turning me down the hallway. Hesitantly, I let him open the door and push me inside.

I’m greeted by Victor first. He says in a know-it-all tone of voice, “I knew you’d change your mind… or Ben would change it for you.”

I raise an eyebrow at him. That’s when I see the styling team—all three of them plus one assistant—standing behind him. They’re right near a chair and vanity, with their tools at the ready. Their smiles brighten as I say hi.

Val is the first one to burst out, saying, “We’ve missed you!”

The last thing I expect is a group hug, but apparently they’ve decided to throw all the protocol rules out the window—like I’ve been telling them to do for months.

I gladly accept the hug and admit, “I missed you guys too.”

“Ready to feel pretty again?” Garret teases, pulling at my ratty, messy bun on the top of my head.

Wincing, I sit down and let them get to work. Victor jokes in the background, “Hey, at least you get to have your hair done!”

It’s a good thing I showered last night or Bryant would be having a heart attack right now—even more so than he already is.

I survive all the pinching, twisting and pulling of my hair; the makeup brushes in my face and all of them chattering in my ears. But now, I’ll admit I have more appreciation for them. Without them and their bubbly personalities and talent for hair and makeup I wouldn’t feel like a true princess.

“Ready?” Victor asks as I step out of the bathroom.

Smoothing out the grey dress and fidgeting in my high heels, I answer with a simple, “I guess.”

@HRHPrincessAnna: Thank you all for keeping my family in your thoughts and prayers. #PrayForBenjamin

It takes us less than ten minutes to get back to the palace. It takes even less time to get to the meeting room where nearly one hundred reporters are waiting to stick microphones in our faces and ask us really touchy questions.

Victor gives my shoulder a reassuring squeeze as we walk towards a set of doors. Once they open the sound of hundreds of chairs scraping against wood flooring reaches my ears. We step into the line of view, heading for the stage as flashes go off at insane speeds and the shuttering of cameras is all I can hear.

But they remain quiet. No one speaks. All is silent even as the PM of Vladesvya takes to the podium. This is astounding. The Vladesvya/Chirnovian media being polite? It’s almost as unheard of as the British media being polite.

“Thank you all for being so courteous during these hard times. I am willing to answer any questions after I give the briefing.”

And so, he briefs them all on what happened. It takes a lot for more to hold back tears as he explains what happened to Ben. I swallow down the lump in my throat and remind myself that everyone is watching; waiting to see if I’ll have a nervous breakdown or handle this like a true royal.

“Now, for the questions,” the PM says with a sigh. “Please, be polite and I’ll make sure to get to as many of you as possible.”

The first hands shoot up and he pick out one, who asks, “So there is confirmation that these attacks—the bombings and the shootings—were all organized by King Dmirty’s rebels?”

“I think we would all appreciate it if everyone would stop calling him King,” he snaps. It makes my eyes widen. He’s officially my favorite person right now.

“And as for confirmation, yes; it was all organized by them—and they will be held accountable for their crimes.”

Another group of arms go up.

“Is the safety of the royal family still at stake here?”

Victor and I exchange a glance as the prime minister defends the royal protection agents and everyone involved in our security.

Then, it’s Chuck’s turn, and then finally Victor gets the chance to speak… well, more like answer a bunch of questions, but still he gets to voice his opinion.

“Yes, my son is doing fine and he is making a full recovery,” he says proudly with serious expression still etched into his face. These past few days I’ve been worried I would never see him smile again.

“Has it been hard on your family, Your Majesty?”

What a stupid question.

“Yes, of course it has been. However, we have the support of our people, our friends and most importantly each other,” he says, glancing over at me.

And then the worst thing happens.

“May we ask Her Royal Highness some questions, Your Majesty?” One woman reporter asks politely. She’s sitting right in the front row and locks eyes with me on purpose.

An awkward silence pierces the room until Victor says, “If she agrees to it.”

I snap my eyes back to him and he raises his eyebrows. Desperation surges inside of me. I remember the panic attack I had in front of all those cameras at the airport and my palms start sweating. Prickly heat fans out from my stomach, going all the way up to my cheeks. I must be bright red.

“Um,” oh god Winnie is going to kill me for stuttering. “I, uh… sure.”

Swallowing hard, I slowly walk towards the podium. Victor gives me an encouraging smile. I feel his hand give my shoulder a squeeze as I step in front of all the cameras, lights and voice recorders.

The woman reporter in front stands. She smiles and says, “Thank you, Your Highness. I know this must be very overwhelming for you, but could you tell us some of your thoughts? Some of your concerns?”

It’s just like me to blank out at a time like this. I can literally feel the beads of sweat forming on my forehead. Thankfully, one of the nurses gave me the prescription I take for anxiety so I don’t feel as bad as I did a few days ago going into the airport.

“I, um,” struggling to get a sentence out, I settle for a simple kind of answer. I leave it vague. I speak in Slovek first. “Well, yes it has been a very stressful time for everyone—not just me. So, I’ve just been focusing on helping Ben and being there for his family, too. I was very saddened to hear about the death of one of our security agents, and I’d also like to take a moment to send my heart and prayers out to the family… most of my thoughts are focused on family right now.”

It’s not the best statement I could have given, but I think they understand (they better).

The reporter nods, “Thank you, Your Highness.”

Another one hesitantly stands and raises his hand. It’s weird how they all seem so reluctant to ask me questions, when they were like rabid dogs for Victor and our Prime Ministers.

I nod towards him, forcing a smile. He asks, “What do you think of these rebels?”

Oh, that’s not a good question to ask me.

I really could just blurt out exactly how I feel about those pathetic bastards right now… but I won’t because that wouldn’t be ‘royal’ of me. My advisors would have my head.

It takes a lot to simmer my anger down and get my hands to stop shaking violently.

“I think they’re cowards,” I blurt out. It’s the first thing that comes to mind. “People that kill innocent civilians are always cowards. People that hide behind bombs and guns and refuse to talk face to face with the people they oppose… are utterly pathetic.”

I’m so getting quoted on that.

“That’s all I have to say.”

The reporter furiously scribbles on his notepad before asking, “Do you believe your life is in danger?”

The frown on my lips drops even lower. “No, I feel very safe with the security staff that I have right now.”

They ask a few more questions that all sound the same, and then Chuck ushers me off the podium. Victor gives my shoulder another reassuring squeeze as Chuck thanks them all for their politeness and time. Then, we finally get the cue from Kassy and Victor’s assistant to leave.

Again, more shutter noises go off. It makes me wince.

“Couldn’t have said it better myself,” Victor says suddenly once we’re out in the hallway.

He puts his arm around my shoulders and smiles faintly. “The papers and stations are going to be quoting you for the next month, Ann.”

Oh, yeah. I called my Uncle’s men pathetic and cowardly.

He’s right.

“But that’s a… good thing? Right?” I ask, noticing the way he’s gotten a bit more comfortable with me. I guess it’s just taken him a while. Now he’s acting like a normal father-in-law.

“Of course,” he says matter-of-factly. “Now, let’s just forget about what happened in there and go see how Ben is doing, hm?”

However, before I even get the chance to respond I suddenly hear his advisor say something very interesting.

“Your Majesty, they’re going through with the operation tomorrow.”

My brow creases in confusion. Victor glances over at me, releases my shoulders and says, “Can we discuss that later?”

“Discuss what later?” I ask.

Victor runs a hand through his hair nervously as he says, “Like I said, let’s save this discussion for later tonight.”

@HRHPrincessAnna: People who attack innocent civilians are cowards. #neededtobesaid

~*~

Once again, I think this chapter could have been way better but it’s more of a connecting chapter. The interesting stuff will come in the next chapter!

Thanks so much for reading! All your comments and votes are very much appreciated and I’m soooo happy you all like it so much <3

Shall we say 10 more comments until the next update? :D I’ll probably end up giving in and posting earlier anyways but it’s worth a shot lol

Love you guys! See ya in the next chapter!