One True Queen

“Hello Lady Olivia.” The woman approaching me smiles. I blush, fidgeting a little. No matter how many times I hear that name, I can’t get used to it. Especially now that I know Warrick knows the lie.

“Good morning.” I reply, fixing on a false smile, hoping she doesn’t notice the worry I feel. Luckily, she doesn’t seem to. Instead, she beckons over a few cameras and smiles, just as falsely as mine.

“Lady Olivia, tell me why you have changed your mind about taking the throne.” She demands, and I sit back in the chair I am sat in. Straight to the point.

“I decided that it would be good for the country for someone with royal blood to sit on the throne. I suppose it was partly due to Queen Leah’s lack in procreation.” I say bluntly and the woman grins from ear to ear, as if I have just given her the best possible answer.

“My, my. Lack in children, and we understand you already have a royal heir provided for us?” My cheeks sting, flaming. Warrick said that no one knew about Olivia and him, yet they know she has a child?

“I do. My husband supports me one hundred percent.” I say, my cheeks continue to burn. I wonder how old Olivia was... I wonder if they can tell I’m fourteen.

“Can you reveal the secret to us? Who is your husband, our future King?” And that’s when I choke. It was only on my own saliva, which makes it worse. I choked at the words. Warrick as my husband, as the King? I can’t do this...

“No, sorry. I guess the mystery must remain.” I say, only just loud enough to be heard.

“Can we go back to your darling daughter? How old is she now? Five? Six?” My brain clocks through every possible answer, but I assume Warrick’s child is around five or six so I take a guess.

“Six years old.”

“And what’s the young princess’s name?” She asks and my cheeks continue to flame. I thought no one should know about... What if Warrick set this up? To see me fail in front of the world and expose me as a fraud? So I say the honest truth...

“I can’t do this, I’m sorry. My name is not Lady Olivia. I am a Silver, and I am fourteen years of age. My name is Lady Bekka, and I am the heir of Tork.”

“But...”

“I am the one true queen...”