♕✿~♕✿~Chapter 7//: Am I fit to be king?♕✿~♕✿~

Ahren's POV

When the search party leads me to what they found, I'm feeling both horror and disappointment.

It's a teenage girl. She looks similar to Madi, with silky blonde hair and brown eyes. But the golden locks of hair are now matted with dirt and the eyes stare off into space, no life in them.

She was murdered. It's obvious from the disturbing care the killer took to hide the body, which took the search party two days of searching in the same area to uncover her corpse. I feel a shudder run through me as my mind creates an image of Madi's body, red blood beneath her.

No. I won't let that happen to her. She'll be fine. She won't end up like this girl.

Calming myself, I look at the body of the girl with sorrow. Which family is grieving right now because of the disappearance of their daughter? How would they react once they find out their daughter is dead?

Empathy runs through me as I recall how I felt after my parents' death. How gravely it impacted, and still impacts, both Juliet and me.

"What should be done about the girl, Your Majesty?" A guard asks me. I stay silent before saying quietly:

"Look for an identification card on her. If you find one, notify her family of what happened. Then we can pass her body over to her family so she can have a proper funeral."

The guard nods in understanding, passing on my orders to the rest of the guards gathered. They start to gently look through the pockets of the girl's clothes to find the identification card.

I try to turn away from the body, the stench of death too strong for my liking. But I can't help but be reminded of my parents' dead bodies and wonder if this is the fate of Madi if I fail to find her in time.

The guards come up with an identification card soon enough. The girl's name is revealed to be Alexandria Carter. I feel a lump in my throat as half of the guards start to call back to the palace to check where the Carter's household is. A family will grieve tonight. A family will have to suffer the pain and loss Juliet and I felt. I didn't want anyone to have to go through what Juliet and I had to go through with our parents' murders.

"Shall we go back to the palace, Your Majesty?" A guard asks me. Feeling empty and numb, I nod without emotion, forcing myself to turn away from the decaying corpse.

♡

Back at the palace, I am greeted by Gregory, who has a serious look on his face.

"We need to discuss something, Your Majesty," he tells me.

I knew immediately what he wanted to talk about. Sighing, I walked with Gregory to my father's old office. Closing the door behind me, I turn to Gregory.

He looks at me expectantly. "What was it the search party found?" He questions.

I purse my lips at the memory. "A girl's body. I think she was murdered. We'll most likely have to set up another force of guards to figure out what happened to her if her family wants it." The stress was starting to wear on me as more things were being added to my to-do list.

Gregory nods in agreement. "I expect you'll do that soon." A pause. Then: "You know what I want to talk about, I assume."

I grit my teeth. "Yes, I do, Gregory. And my answer is still the same. I won't continue the Choosing until everything has calmed down." I hope that at this point, Gregory would realize just how determined I was.

Gregory just shakes his head. "Your Majesty, realize that I am not doing this because I want you to forget about Lady Madison. I know you feel strongly for her, and I wouldn't want you to ever let go of those feelings. But, the people expect other things."

I furrow my brows. "They may expect me to continue the Choosing, but they can't expect me to suddenly move on from the Rogue Dawn attacks. I'm not leaving Madi to die, and I need to stop the Rogue Dawn before they hurt more people. Isn't that what the people should want?" I muse out loud.

Instead of answering me, Gregory goes to my father's old desk. He grabs a magazine on top, flips to a page, then hands it to me. I take it, my eyes quickly scanning the title of the article. My blood freezes as I read it:

Is Prince Ahren really the best candidate for the Norta throne?

After the horrendous events that happened at the palace a week ago, resulting in the death of His Majesty, King Oliver, and Her Majesty, Queen Rianna, everyone has been waiting expectantly for His Highness, Prince Ahren, to ascend to the throne with a new bride.

However, His Highness seems to have different plans. Instead of focusing on planning for his coronation and finding a new queen, His Highness has been running around Norta, doing other tasks deemed more important than becoming king. Can we, the citizens of Norta, rely on a young man who can not prioritize what is important from what is not important?

Many think we can not. A man, who wishes to remain anonymous, has said that His Highness "does not care about his people. A good prince, soon to be king, should be focused on solidifying the power of the Norta throne in order to send the message to rebels that Norta is still strong after the havoc the rebels opened at the palace." Other citizens agreed with what the man said.

With the prince not able to stay focused on his coronation and finding a queen, and the people of Norta growing restless, it probably won't be long before there are demands from the people to take the crown away from the prince and give it to Her Highness, Princess Juliet. Many seem to think Princess Juliet on the throne will be better, especially because there are rumors of Her Highness having already made plans for a marriage alliance with Piedmont.

So the question remains: Is Prince Ahren really the best candidate for the Norta throne? Or are we to be ruined by the rebels?

Article by Samuel Morten

The magazine in my hand crumples at the edges as my hands tighten slightly.

"This Samuel sure is an optimist, isn't he?" I murmur. I look back up at Gregory.

"This is ridiculous," I start. "The people want me to deal with the issue of the rebels, but want me to do so by ignoring them and finding a queen? That won't stop the rebels from attacking. I need to find the rebels, and I need to put an end to them, whether it be through peace or violence." I had started pacing while talking, but I stop from my pacing. I look back at Gregory.

"Gregory, I'm doing the right thing, aren't I?" I ask, my voice quiet from uncertainty. Reading about the people's nonexistent faith in me was making me more and more uncertain about what I was doing. I was a new king, and an unexperienced one at that. I didn't know anymore if I was doing the right thing for both Madi and my people.

"Your intentions are honorable, Your Majesty. But the people seem to think otherwise," is all Gregory tells me.

As Gregory leaves the room, I can't help but wonder if what I'm doing is helping or making things worse.

♕✿~♕✿~♕✿~♕✿~♕✿~

How is everyone's summer going?

I had plans today, but they got cancelled so I decided to write this chapter!

So I came to the decision that this book won't just have Madi's and Ahren's POV. There will be other POVs, and the next chapter will be in a very interesting POV ;) This POV is of a very...complicated character so hopefully I won't mess it up.

Anyways, have a good week!

Glass_Sword