The next morning I woke up early and ate the delicious breakfast that was in front of me. Then things started happening super fast. I had training for last minute things I needed to know. So that I would be prepared.

         Then a man came in to do my makeup, a lady right behind her to do my hair. Finally I got to see the dress. It was gorgeous, everything I had hoped it would be. Cathryn came in with a beautiful crown. Fit for a princess. She gently placed it in my hair. "You've got this. We've been training all week. Good luck." She said. I wanted to beg her to give me her number so I could text her if I ran into any problems. But I knew I had to be on my own. I was ready and dressed and the ball was starting soon so we headed to the ballroom. 

     There was an orchestra playing beautiful music. Everyone looked so fancy in there ball gowns. I kept an eye on people. Looking for two things. One, guys my age who might be potential suitors and Morgan. But I didn't know what she looked like so that one was a bit hard.

         These people knew who everyone was so I stuck out like a sore thumb. Some people figured out I was the heir to the throne. Others thought I wasn't supposed to be here. I walked around smiling like I belonged. I got curious looks all around.

       I bumped into a girl and took a hurried step back. "Oh I'm so sorry." I said. She wiped at her dress as if my tiny bump had soiled it. "Excuse you!? You are to refer to me as Your Grace." "Um no?" I said. "Do you not know who I am!?" She asked. "No a name would be great." I said. "Morgan...but commoners should refer to me as Your Grace." She bit out. "K, no. Do you not know who I am?" I asked pointing to the crown. "No not at all, and I don't care to know. But that crown is cute. You get that from the 97 cent store?"

"Really, is that any way to talk to your future Queen?" I swear I did not mean that as mean as it came out. But come on, I had been told all week that the Queen had to be treated with respect and as weird as it felt I wanted to make sure I was following the rules as well. Her eyes grew wide. "You!? You're the girl they say is suppose to be the future Queen? This has to be some sort of joke. Ah well this should be a piece of cake you clearly can't rule the country." She said. "Why? Because I'm not stuck up like you?" I asked. 

"What? No I'm not stuck up." She huffed. "I'm refined. I have class, and I don't know what you have." She said she said looking down on me. I huffed. "Your opinion of me means very little as Queen I can do away with you and your nasty attitude. It's my right and it's not voted on so if you don't like it you actually can't do anything. Isn't that a hoot? But you have a good time." I said turning to go.

Well I thought when I met the girl that would take my place she would be nice and lovely. But she wasn't. She was mean and horrid. Would she even be a good queen? I mean I thought a good queen needed to care about others. She just cared about the title it seemed. Man now there was even more pressure on me! If I couldn't do this she would take over! I would just have to try harder that's all.

"Don't let her get to you. I'm Daniel. Prince of Stafford." Said a guy coming up beside me. "Mac er uh Mackenzie nice to me you. And I'm trying not to let her, any of this get to me.." I said. "Here's the thing. Morgan has been told her whole life that she was going to be queen. Nobody knew about you. The Queen let it slip one day that her son, the former prince, had taken you away and wouldn't tell you anything. That you wouldn't be back and they needed to be prepared. She's just upset and shocked that's all."

"That's because she would clearly be the better choice, she was raised for this, and you with that weird accent couldn't possibly rule." Said a girl walking up as well. "You don't know what you're talking about Vanessa." Said Daniel. "Daniel, is this some ploy to secure the crown for yourself? You should know that Morgan thinks you are looking fine this year and is willing to let you ride her coat tails." Said Vanessa.

She was talking quietly and not using titles. It was hard to keep up. I just listened to the two of them battle it out, maybe I'd learn something. Daniel rolled his eyes hard. "That's not it at all! I could care less! I always knew my brother Christopher would take over as the next king. And he's going to be great at it. I'm fine just being a prince, less pressure that way. So please don't put words in my mouth." Said Daniel. "Please, Morgan will need to secure a husband in order to take over. And she has her eye set on you." "Morgan can have her eye sat wherever she wants. I'm not interested and besides Mackenzie here is next in line. And I don't think she's going anywhere." Daniel said.

"If you say so, but if I were you I wouldn't waste my time on her. She's not cut out for this and she'll figure it out soon enough. So why don't you go dance with Morgan." Said Vanessa. "Okay I've heard enough of that. Tell Morgan her crush is sad and obvious and that if she wants Daniel she needs to tell him herself. Secondly if Daniel wanted to be with Morgan he'd already be dancing with her. He's grown he doesn't need your help honey. And you can't scare me. I know that I haven't had all the lessons that Morgan has but I'll figure it out. And the ruder she is the more I want to do this. How's that for backfiring? Now Daniel, would you like to dance?" I asked holding out my hand. "Love too, see ya around Vanessa." He said.

Vanessa made a face, she was shocked. "You handled yourself very well back there." Said Daniel. "Thanks, and I'm sorry if I said anything wrong, if you're into Morgan then I'll go fix it." I said. He laughed. "I am definitely not into Morgan and it's never been a secret that she's liked me. Keep your eye on the prize and find the right guy to rule by your side. And for the record I meant what I said. I am not looking for the crown." He said. "I just know how tough this world can be." He shrugged. "Thought you'd like a friend." He said. "You have no idea, how much I need that." I said.

I looked around the room, there were only about five guys other than Daniel that were even close to my age. "But you gotta be careful, some people here think they know what's best for the country and will try to convince you they are best for the job. And it won't even be about love or marriage it'll be an arrangement. They'll promise to make you look good, ya know?" He said. "That's what scares me the most out of all this. Am I foolish to think I could have both?" I asked. "Yes and no. Part of me want's you to be happy and find love because everyone deserves it. But the other part of me knows how it is. And in the end you might have to just chose the best of the worst." He said. I mulled his words over in my head. Of course he was right, I had already come to that conclusion myself. But it wasn't always the answer I wanted.

"My dad told me that his parents had an arranged marriage. That would be even worse." I said. He looked over to where the king and Queen were sitting on their thrones. "They look happy though, even in love." He said. "Yea I mean they are sweet to each other but I think that's just because they've been together so long and you can't help but learn to love each other. Kind of a mutual respect thing." I said.

"And what about your dad?" He asked. "See that's the scary part. He fell in love with my mom and that's why he quit. If she had been a royal he probably would've kept the title. But I couldn't imagine falling in love with someone and giving up the crown. I would feel bad about letting down my parents, my country. My worst fear is that I won't be good at the job. Nothing else matters." I said.

"Well I think you can learn everything you need to know in time. And even if you can't you'll learn as you go. And that's the best part of choosing a royal. They will be able to help you as well." Daniel said. "I just don't want to embarrass myself." I said. "Well I think it's gonna happen, one of my first balls I ripped my pants!" He said. "Oh no!" I giggled. "I'm sorry to laugh but the image just makes me feel better." I said. "Yea I had to go change pants and come back." He said grinning.

Daniel was nice, and he was cute even. He wore a fancy uniform with buttons that were navy. His dark hair was gelled back to perfection and his blue eyes sparkled. He was tall and thin but not really muscular. I didn't feel that same spark that I felt with Andy though. My heart rate went up. Did I just admit that I felt a spark with Andy? Crap no, that is bad. That can not happen. Maybe it'll just be a slower burn? The song came to an end and there was another guy waiting to take his place.

"Catch you later." Daniel said smiling. "Ello, I am Alexander. Duke of Willingford." Said a short stocky guy with light blonde hair in a quaff. His green eyes and chubby cheeks made him look so cute. "Mackenzie, nice to meet you." I said. He bowed to me and held his hand out. "How are you liking it here in Levoux?" He asked. "It's so beautiful here." I said. "It isn't beautiful where you are from?" He asked. "It is, just different. And hot, much hotter." I said.

He nodded. "I see, well I hope everybody is treating you with respect and kindness." He said. "Well Morgan and Vanessa are going to take some getting used too." I said. He scowled. "I never did like those two." He whispered. "They think they run this place." He said with a thick accent. I knew one thing. No matter who I chose I would have a great group of people around me. Balls would never be boring. Other than the two girls. But IF I became Queen they would have to be polite to me, they didn't have a choice. And I was too nice to let them ruffle my feathers anyways.

After Alexander and I danced another guy was ready to take his place. Well this was getting exhausting. "Hallo, my name is Lord Bartholomew of Birshir." Said a very tall guy in a fancy uniform. He had short black hair and golden brown eyes. He bowed and held his hand out. "Mackenzie." I smiled.

Then there was a Sir Richard of Lushawania. A Duke of Cornwall. A Duke of Wellington. When I had danced with everyone we adjourned to the dining room for dinner. We had salad, some fancy soup that wasn't terrible. Some kind of meat with vegetables and a strange ice cream of sorts.

I ate it all because it was the polite thing to do. Hey if I become Queen I can have a say as to what we have during the balls. I knew the food had to be approved and still fancy but it could be more me.

After we were done we retired back to the dance floor. My mom pulled me aside. "Honey I just wanted to tell you that you look beautiful and I'm super proud of you." She said giving me a hug.

"Thank you." I said. "So how did it go with the guys?" She asked. I filled her in. "They all seem very nice. I think Daniel has potential. Even if we just marry as friends and I fall in love like Grandma and Grandpa. He would make a fine king I suppose. But Alexander would be good too. We'll see, it's too soon to tell." I said.