The Isle (Chronicles of the Irish Princess Book 1)

Sarah and I were helped from the carriage, we'd stopped just outside of a few small shops that were set together. Everyone around us smiled and bowed out of respect. I honestly had wished I was able to go out without my crown and sash. I hated that I was so easily recognized. There were a few children running through the streets they were playing a game of sorts and by accident a little boy no more than eight had bumped into me.

He looked up at me realized who I was and dropped to his knees. "I'm so very sorry Princess. Please forgive me."

I smiled at him and bent down to his level making sure not to ruin my white denim pants. "That's alright young man. My name is Leah, what's yours?"

"FINN!" I heard a woman yell from the door of one of the shops. She saw us and immediately ran up. "I'm sorry your Highness. Finn, do you know who this is."

"Ma'am it's alright, I'm not injured. Finn here was just playing with his friends. At his age it's important to play and make friends. Please, he's fine," I smiled at her.

She smiled back at me, "Thank you Princess. Finn go wash up for lunch please."

The boy ran off in the direction of the shop. I noticed a sign above the door that read flowers.

"By chance, would it be possible for us to look at some of your wedding designs?"

"Oh, of course your Highness, please follow me. I would be honored." She gave me a humbled smile and guided us through the doors.

Everywhere you looks there were many different bouquet styles ranging from everyday to grand occasions. She even had a few funeral arrangements, along with various garden trinkets. I looked around in awe of her work. It was clear she was very good at her trade.

"These are amazing," Sarah said in awe.

"Thank you Lady Sarah, here is my latest wedding creation. It was for a friend of mine. Her and her husband run a small farm at the edge of town."

I was admiring the arrangement when a little girl no more than three came up from the back. It was clear that this girl belonged to the woman, they looked exactly the same. The same shade of brown hair and bright blue eyes. She came up to me and lifted her arms. With a smile I picked her up.

"This is my daughter, Anabelle. She normally never lets anyone pick her up, not even me. The doctors have told me that she may never speak."

"Hello Anabelle, my name is Leah."

She reached up and tapped my tiara.

"Yes, I'm the Princess. Your mom is going to do the flowers for my wedding. Look at these," I showed her the bouquet. "Aren't they pretty?"

She nodded. I looked up at her mother, "I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name."

"Liz, your Highness."

"Oh please, call me Leah."

"You're not like the others. This is the first time in years that someone has come from the castle to see the people."

I looked at her surprised. "Well I grew up in America, things there are very different. I want to be a good Princess so that one day I can be a great Queen, like everyone keeps telling me I will be. I don't think someone can do that without visiting her people and getting to know them."

"You'll be great, because you already are."

"Thank you, Liz."

I set down little Anabelle and gave Liz a hug, "I'll be back next week to talk about the arrangements, okay."

"Wonderful, thank you. Have a great day."

From the back I heard a little boy's voice, "BYE LEAH!"

"Goodbye Finn, it was great to meet you and your family."

I gave Liz one last smile before heading out the door where Sarah and the others were waiting. Sarah and Kai exchanged a smile as he took my arm and guided me down the street. We made a couple other stops at some local shops that were selling baked goods and one little boutique that was full of wonderful clothes. The store assistant said that many of the designers were local and worked from their homes or in the shop itself.

When we got back in the carriage, I was slightly tired. It was a good sense of tired though, accomplished was probably a better word for it. I tucked myself into Kai and rested my head on his shoulder. I looked over to Sarah who was fast asleep in my brother's arms. I smiled at him and he smiled back.

"You really did great with those kids and that mom, sis."

"She was very kind and a great Floral decorator. I'll be happy to have her design the flowers for the ceremony. Maybe I can get her to do the arrangements for our birthday as well. Can we have someone check into her. I want to know more. I didn't see any trace of a man in their life. I want to make sure they are okay."

Kai chuckled, "Still the same old southern girl, aren't you."

"Yeah I am."

"That is why you'll be a great queen." He said kissing the top of my head.

When we got back to the palace I decided to go visit Oran. I didn't tell Kai. It was just something I had to do on my own. I knocked on his office door and heard a muffled response of enter. The room was filled with books, all sorts of books. The walls aligning with the doorway both were celling to floor bookshelves and there was a ladder that swung around them. The wall behind the desk was a giant map, on each side of the map were murals of what I assumed to be wolf history. Once I was past my amazement I sat down. Oran looked up at me and smiled.

"Something I can do for you dear?"

"I wanted to say thank you for yesterday. For letting me speak and defending me."

"I know this is all new to you and to them. My Arianna isn't this outspoken, I knew you would be though. They are just old men set in their ways and upbringings. For a while after you first arrived I wondered if I would be the same, but clearly I'm not. I know you are trying to help us, but what are we going to do about the wolves. We can't house them all here. And we can't protect them all out there."

"No, we can't, but they are perfectly capable of protecting themselves. Why do we have so many wolf reps anyway? One from each pack? I think with you here that is overkill."

"Are you suggesting I send them all home?"

"Possibly, I want our people to survive, but I'm not quite sure if sending them home would do any good either. We need to be able to get in touch with the other Alphas as quick as we can if things get bad. Maybe brining all the packs here would be a better idea. I don't mean to be rude either, because I'm not sure that brining them all here under the same roof or even just in the same territory would be the best idea. Do you think the wolves are more likely to cause more trouble together here than if they were in their own countries? If we were to send for them how would we control them?"

"I guess I need to think about this then. I want to help you in this battle more than ever. The Great Mother has shown me all the loss, but Princess, you cannot win this war without the wolf warriors."

"I suppose not. But we need to find housing and ways to keep them under control. They can't stay in the palace."

"I agree with you on that, we cannot keep them here."

"Could we keep them on the isle, but not in the castle? Is it possible to build enough manors in time for them? I mean how many are we looking at?"

"Serbia, Hungary, Romania, Ponca, Ireland, Brittan and Russia. I think that is it."

"So seven, seven different manors. That is a lot, we don't have a lot of time. Isn't there something we already have we could convert? It would take less time."

"Actually, I think you're on to something. Have you ever been on a tour of the Isle?"

"Um, no." I said quickly.

"Find your brother, and my grandchildren. Bring your aunt and uncle too. Meet me at the front in fifteen minutes."