♡ Odette's POV ♡

A soft mumbling was heard as Ivy finished her sentence, everyone quietly voicing their thoughts on the matter. We definitely needed a new king, Ivy was right, we were stuck with an empty throne. But who would rule?

"It is imperative that we crown a new ruler before this so-called revolution begins to celebrate." Ivy said, everyone nodding their heads in agreement. Ivy had to clench her fists together tightly before continuing.

"Since the king gave up his hold on the throne to Delia, none of the brothers are allowed to take the throne. Once he gave up the crown, no one in the family of parentage of King Walter and his wife may succeed him. But, the grandchildren of Walter may rule." Ivy explained like she had memorized the royal coronation handbook. She probably had.

"Unfortunately, Sebastian must be declared as unfit to rule since he is hospitalized indefinitely for a long period of time. Which means..." Zayn sucked in a deep breath next to me, his eyes now wide.

"The Malik family of Yaser and Patricia are now the ruling family."

The room fell silent again, Lady Malik and Yaser looking the same as Zayn. They had previously only been members of the ruling family, but now the tables had turned, and now they held all the power.

No one said anything for a few minutes, everyone taking their time to take all this in. I didn't know if it was partially from the shock of everything moving so quickly or if everyone genuinely never thought that Zayn's family would rule one day. I took a glance to Zayn, did that mean he was king now?

However, Zayn's eyes were trained across the room, to his sisters who were crying their eyes out.

"That means Doniya is queen." Zayn muttered in awe, Doniya stopping her sobbing momentarily to stare at everyone in the room. All eyes were on her now, and I could practically feel the nervousness she was.

Doniya looked like a poor deer in headlights, her mouth hung open, her watery eyes looking at everyone. "I-I..." she started before sighing, "I can't."

"What do you mean?" Zayn was standing now, his eyes fixed solely on his elder sister. "You have to!"

"Zayn, I can't. You don't understand." Doniya pleaded, but Zayn was growing angry now. The one person everyone was relying on to lead the Empire didn't want to only out of fear. "Please."

"No!" Zayn was yelling now. "You can't back out now that two of our family were murdered! You don't get to!" Ivy rushed over to him, begging for him to get quiet. Zayn only shrugged her off before storming over to his sister, who was crying once more.

"Why are you suddenly so scared to take what's rightfully yours?!" Zayn yelled, and Doniya's wails became louder.

"I can't, will you shut up and listen to me?!" Doniya screamed, immediately silencing Zayn.

The poor heiress was in hysterics, her ruby red gown stained with tears, her hair a dark mess, and her mascara running and leaving trails down her flushed cheeks. I never, ever, expected to see a girl of such grace and strength become so frail. It was paradoxically tragic, how things turned out for poor Doniya.

"I can't become queen," Doniya spoke, her dark eyes trained on her younger brother. "Because I gave up my claim to the throne a long time ago."

You could hear a pin drop, it became that quiet.

"W-What?" Zayn barely whispered, and Doniya sighed.

"I gave up my claim to the throne, I was to be used for a different purpose for the Empire. Mom and Dad told me so."

"What purpose? We're not chess pieces for them to manipulate." Zayn muttered under his breath.

"Do you remember what Dad always told us when we were young?" Doniya said, Zayn staying quiet.

"Princes are to rule a country, princesses are to protect it."

Zayn still didn't say anything, but Walihya and Safaa must have caught onto what Doniya was trying to say, because suddenly they burst into more sobs and clutched their dear sister tighter.

"I have an arranged marriage with a prince from another country." Doniya spoke somberly, offering a sad smile to Zayn, whose eyes suddenly grew wide.

"W-What? Since when?"

"Since I was sixteen. The marriage will create a military contract allowing us to better protect our borders with their country's larger military." Doniya tried brushing away her ugly mascara trails on her cheeks, but most of them stayed put. "I'll be protecting my country, even though I won't be living in it anymore."

Zayn's mouth pressed into a hard line, his eyes became dark with fury, and he looked like he wanted to break something, sit and cry in a corner, and yell at someone all at the same time. I'm sure he would have some choice words for the prince Doniya was going to wed, maybe even a few punches. I quickly rose from my spot where I sat on the floor, my legs still shaky from the earlier events of the day.

My heels clicked on the floor as I walked over to Zayn, immediately hugging him tight while being careful of my stitches. Zayn's body tensed, unaware of my presence until I felt him gradually relax, his arms wrapping around my middle.

"It'll be okay, we'll be okay." I hushed him before he could say anything he would regret later to his family and parents. Nothing registered in my mind at the time who the throne would fall to since Doniya gave up the throne, but it probably should have.

"Ahem," Ivy cleared her throat to interrupt our hug. We pulled away, but Zayn still kept his arm wrapped around my waist. "Since Doniya has given up the throne, the crown must fall to the next oldest."

I felt Zayn's breath hitch as he realized what that meant.

"Prince Zayn Javaad Malik, you are now considered the crown prince of the Malik Empire, and you are to be its next king." Ivy explained, and I glanced up to see Zayn's eyes wide.

Zayn was going to be king.

Everyone was now staring at him, and I found Zayn's courage in situations like this remarkable. He took a deep breath, composed himself, and then nodded to Ivy. Ivy smiled softly as she spoke.

"Then I hope you don't mind your Majesty, but I am afraid we must do an impromptu coronation here." Zayn shook his head no and Ivy rushed out of the bunker to retrieve everything she would need for his coronation.

As soon as she left, chatter started buzzing around the bunker. Servants couldn't believe it, even family members were still in shock. I was still reeling from the whole prince thing, and now Zayn was going to be a king? What did that make me?

Nothing without his Mark, my rational mind scolded me. I took a glance to my bare wrist, anxiety setting in as I realized the stakes in front of me. If Zayn proposed, I could be a queen. If he didn't, I could go from riches to rags. The scenario daunted me.

Ivy returned soon later with what looked like a crown hidden under a velvet cloth on a pillow. She ordered Zayn to kneel in the center of the small bunker, and everyone else to stand along the walls around him. I began to walk to the wall, but a warm hand stopped me. Zayn's.

His tattooed hand held mine tight like a life support, his eyes silently begging me to stay. I nodded and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before standing just a little off to the side of him, so I wouldn't be in the way of others.

Zayn knelt in front of Ivy in the center of the room, his eyes closed like his cousin's had been.

Ivy had a servant come forth to hold the velvety pillow while she recited the same thing that had been said to Delia mere hours earlier. The thought made tears prickle my eyes.

"Do you swear to uphold the laws of peace, justice, and camaraderie that this Empire was built upon so long ago?"

"I swear." Zayn said.

"Will you rule the great people of this nation as you would your own kin, keeping your citizens safe and happy?" Ivy recited.

Zayn stared up at the girl who would now be his royal advisor, not his father's. "I swear."

"Then I hereby crown you King Zayn Javaad Malik, new ruler of the Malik Empire." Ivy uncovered the glittering crown of a king, taking it from the pillow carefully and slowly, before placing it in Zayn's inky hair. Zayn stood once it was placed properly, and immediately everyone silently bowed down to him in the bunker, servants, princesses, parents, everyone.

I quickly realized I was supposed to bow too, and curtsied to my king, my head kept low in respect. My gown flowed out around me, and I stared at others in my peripheral vision, waiting for them to stand so I could as well.

"Long live king Zayn!" Everyone in the bunker shouted, and just as I finished saying it as well, I felt myself being pulled up onto my feet. Zayn smiled at me, the crown on his head shining in the lights of the bunker, making it seem like a halo around his head.

Almost like he was a guardian angel. And, in a way, I supposed he was. He was protecting the lives of the millions of people in the Empire, he was protecting his family, protecting me.

Zayn pressed a quick kiss to my lips, his crown halo enveloping us both in a gleam of light.

I had never felt more safe and sound in my life before.

A/N: Yay Zayn is king! Speaking of royalty, I'm so excited for my birthday on August 3rd cuz then I'm practically the queen of the house for the day ^_^ I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and as always, vote and comment! Love you! -M