4 Four

Four -Danielle-

Lori tried to shield me away from the people that's trying to talk to me. She obviously knows everything, after the night of the fire I told her everything and man she was not happy. She kept telling me that she's going to protect me no matter what. And right now, she really is trying to protect me.

"Lori?" I whispered and she slowly looks at me " Its okay, i'll be okay" I tried smiling to her just to reassure her that everything is going to be fine "We'll just talk. Can you give us a minute?" She doubts my words for a second but I know that she'll understand my reason why later on. She slowly nods then faces the people in front of us.

"If you feel uncomfortable or just anything. Shout and i'll come running back" she assures me and I nod. She leaves me with the royal family and my father and brother.

"Maybe we should all sit" Michael goes to my side to lead me to the couches and both Queen Tatiana and King Julius nods, walking to the couches. My father watch me walk together with my brother, he was obviously assessing if i'll be fine. I am obviously not fine but I have to face all of this now or this things will just keep on chasing me.

Michael made me sit next to him and in front of us where the royals and my father sat on the other couch that was facing the wall. Weird but he did that.

The Queen was obviously uncomfortable with how we are all just looking at each other without saying anything. If I am to describe Queen Tatiana, the word beautiful wont give her justice. She's practically a goddess. Mom used to say that before she got married to King Julius, noble men from different countries would come just to court her. Her marriage with King Julius was actually an arrange marriage, no one really got to make our Queen fall in love so it was easier to marry her off to the royal family. At least tha's what my mom says. And above that, what I also know is that Queen Tatiana's beauty was one of the few reason why some of the negotiations between businessmen and high nobles go so smoothly, some said that its because they could hardly say no when facing the Queen so they always agree to whatever the Queen says. But that didn't made her so high and mighty, she stayed humble and that's not just my opinion but my mother as well. She even said that our Queen should be crowned not just the Queen of the Country but the Queen of all goodness.

King Julius on the other hand, is a different story. Though he matches the Queen really well, he is more of an authority. He can be really scary once he gets mad. There was a time that someone from inside the palace tried to poison the royal by putting cyanide on their drinks, but someone saw what the traitor was doing and got suspicious so he reported it to the guards. Threats or information that concerns the Royal Families safety is treated with utmost high alert. So they did what they had to do and found out that what was reported was true so they caught the traitor and when the King found out, he literally lashed out. The man was beat up bad no one could stop the King after that.

To some people, they see the current King and Queen are the perfect match, one is calm while the other is dominating. They can win any war as long as they work together. But to some, they fear to be on the wrong side of the royals. Where am I on this? Well, I'm on the side where I still get to see my life going forward.

"So? Danielle?" the Queen started to speak up. "We need to discuss some important things with you, but you need to promise me that you wont lash out or worse ran away then never listen to what we say" Queen Tatiana confirms, its not like I have any other choice. They already have me surrounded. Queen Tatiana took my silence as a yes so she nods to my brothers way and I felt my brother sighed for a bit.

"Dani, your moms death, lady Vals. It wasn't an accident" Michael speaks up straight to the point. Striking my heart into pieces "After the incident, we decided to hire a private investigator. The initial report from the police said that the fire started because of some faulty wire" Its true, days after the incident, some police officers came to visit me and showed me their initial report. Further investigation is still going on but for the insurance sake, they have to release something. "Our investigator saw something that wasn't supposed to be there" Michael takes something inside his back pocket , it was a ziplock with something inside it. It looks like a chip.

"What is that?" Confusion builds up in me

"This is a chip from one of the dash cams the night of the fire. A car was parked just right behind your house, the car was fortunately hidden from the sight of anyone trying to lurk around your house,, so it works well for us" Michael pauses to study my face but I wasn't showing any sign of negative response, well I was trying not to. I want to understand the situation first before saying anything.

"Someone started the fire that day Danielle, it wasn't just a faulty wire problem but someone caused that faulty wire to happen" The Queen stated, concern etched to her face.

"You are no longer safe around here Danielle and we, as promised to your family extends our hand to you. We are here to honor our promise to your family by giving you the chance to join the Royal family by matrimony. In this kind of situation that you have, we can't just settle by making you work inside the palace, just as my mother told me, you need power and we can give you that. Your father as a leader of his own country can give you that kind of power as well, but his council will never stop bothering you. So we decided that it would be best for you to just stay with us" King Julius, spoke for the first time and explains to me what will happen to my life now.

My father already told me about this, but its not that simple.

"What do I even have that some people would do wicked things? My mom was innocent. She only took care of me and lived for me. Why would someone do an awful thing to her?" I had to ask, I mean my father already told me about the fact the his council hates me because I was born from a low ranking lady. But thats not enough reason for all of this to happen.

"That's the question we can't really answer for now. At first we believed that it was because of your mothers standing, but then, the threats and all the effort to find you and kill you. Well it doesn't really make sense anymore. No one really thought that someone would go as far as to kill Lady Val. Now that they know who you are and how you look, they'll probably do everything in their power to hurt you" The Queen answered with a very annoyed voice.

Before I could say another word, one of the royal guards rushed inside the room together with Lori and her mom.

"We apologize for the intrusion your majesty, but we receive an anonymous message threatening the safety of both the Crownprince and Crownprincess. We have to go back to the palace now until the situation is safe" The royal guard reports and it didn't take long for the King to suddenly stand and booms with anger.

"Who dares hurt the royal family?" Ironic right, just a few minute ago they were all trying to convince me to stay with the royal family for my safety but right now someone is trying to harm them royal heirs.

"Our team is still tracing the sender your highness. For now, your safety is our priority. The cars are waiting outside" The King takes hold of the Queen but Queen Tatiana didn't budge when King Julius tried pulling her out.

Queen Tatiana and Michael looks at me.

"You need to come with us Danielle, please honey. For both your mothers sake. Please come with us" with pleading eyes, the Queen tries.

Michael and my dad are both watching me as I make a decision. Its too obvious that they wont stop bugging me about this until I decide to go and live with them. I looked to Lori and she gave me a soft nod of encouragement. By this time I'm pretty sure she already heard everything.

"Fine, I'll go" I said and The Queen exhaled sharply "On one condition" I added, they all watched me and waited for my demands "Lori and her family must be protected"

"I give you my word. Now can we go?" King Julius said, assuring me for my friends sake. I nodded and we were all led to the exits by the royal guards.

Identical cars lined up outside waiting for all of us. My brother and father went to their own cars and Lori and her mom was led to another car by one of the royals guards and lastly, me and the royals were led to a much bigger car. Well the bigger car makes sense now because four guards came in with us and so we are all stuff inside the car. They take this threats seriously and honestly speaking, they deal it in the most uncomfortable way.

The car finally moves and we all stayed silent.

Here's the thing, the palace is divided into three parts and its divided by a huge wall so no one could actually get a glimpse of the other side. The first wall holds the gate and all the servants preparing the things needed for the inner palace. The second wall holds the council, all the lady courts and if by some point someone wants to meet the Royals, this is where they go. The Inner palace is the most private part. Its where the royals reside and usually only the servants and guards know what the inner palace looks like. No visitor is allowed to get inside that place so I'm guessing if I do stay with the royal, i'd only be allowed to stay until the second wall. My mom could stay there as well, but because of me she was given the chance to stay outside the palace. And now, i'm the one thats going to stay inside. I really hope this is what my mom would tell me to do as well. I wish shes here too.

"Honey, its going to be okay" the Queen holds my hand and I felt calm after receiving her words.

The drive was silent and fast, the next thing I know the cars pulls into a slow stop and the Palace gates opens. My heart was pounding so hard and I was getting anxious, what if instead of things going great what if worst just keeps happening. What will I do then?

I still have people to care, and now that my father decided to show up, he becomes one of those people too. Even though he sucks being a parent to me, my mother loved him so much that as a sign of respect. I'll try and get along with him. As for Michael, well he is too good to be true. I'm still thinking if I should really trust him or just pretend. He is awfully taking everything like its a piece of cake and something about his personality ticks me off. I never had a sibling before and having someone who gives too much attention and care to me after all the years of being apart from each other is really something else.

Because of my thoughts I didn't notice our car entering the palace gates and not just the first gate but up until the very last gate which is where the royals reside. My eyes grew wide after the realization, as far as I know we are not really allowed into this part of the palace. But here I am, with the King and Queen, and my family waiting for the guards to open the doors and directing us inside the huge palace.

The inner palace was huge. You would thought it would be just a single huge mansion or castle for the royals but it actually looks like a paradise with connecting pavements leading to different houses. I'm guessing each royal family owns a house in this place. All the servants were lined up to welcome the royals and you can't miss the amount of security roaming around the place. Looking from up the sky to the ground.

I was still admiring all the different houses and the beauty this place holds when I felt someone watching me. When I look back, I saw someone rather familiar. She looks a little different, old but nevertheless, she radiates with power and authority.

"You look exactly like your mother described you to be" She speaks slowly then moves forward. What happened next didn't just cause a lot of gasps but also made everyone around bow their heads, well except my family and the royals.

In tradition, this only happens when the oldest members of the royals or any member of the family shows a little physical to direct attention to anyone that is below their rank. This is in respect for the royals personal privacy. Anyone who works inside the palace are not allowed to look nor give attention if they ever witness a royal member doing something they should do in private. And the situation I am in right now is definitely one of the things done privately especially if the woman squeezing me right now, happens to be the Royal Regent. Judging by the look of everyone else, I have no doubt that she is the Royal Regent.

Both the King and Queen didn't say anything but they both looked so surprised that the only thing they managed to do was waved the guards away. My father was just watching with a glint of respect to the lady hugging me. Lori and her mom was bowing their heads same with every servants of this palace.

I remained still. Waiting for all the awkwardness to fade. The Royal freakin' Regents is hugging me and I don't know what to do. I honestly don't know how she looks like now, I used to see her photos back when she was so young but the moment she turned as the Royal Regent, she no longer face any cameras nor she attends any gatherings. She would rather stay and be left alone in her house. My mother serves her and she would always tell me how gracious she is to everyone.

To everyone the Royal Regent stands not only as the brains of the royals but also the mother of everyone. The nation may see the Queen as its mother but the true mother of everyone is the Royal Regent. Everyone respect the Regent and they always seek her knowledge.

She releases me from her strong grip and examines me from toe to head. With her looking at me like this, I finally notice that she was wearing one of the traditional dresses of our nation. White lined mixed with gold prints sure do proves how elegant she is. The way she carried herself is enough reason to show her respect and submission.

"Mother, why are you out this late? You should have waited inside your chamber, especially with the threat going around. You are not safe here out in the open" King Julius breaks the tension by speaking first but the Regent never took her eyes on me.

"I've waited a long time to finally see you. Your mother did everything, just for you to get here. Both of them did" She holds both my hand and watched me with a broken heart all written in her eyes "They both did everything they could. Now they are both in heaven watching and guiding you. So its your turn to do what you need to do" She squeezes my hand making me confuse by what she meant of what I need to do. She smiles slightly before releasing both my hands and facing the other people around us.

"You must all be tired and confused. For now and for the coming days, the royal family will cater to everything you need. Tomorrow we will talk about the things needed to be done, for now. All of you may rest and save up your energy. Especially you, little Elle" She faces me "You need more energy from now on. Let the servants assist you and tend to your needs" She smiled to all of us before turning and walking inside what seems to be her own place. The servants before raised their heads and went to each one of us. The royals were of course escorted by their own lady maids and guards. My brother nods to me together with my father. Lori and her mom were instructed to go with us as we were led into one of the houses. It looks like we will be staying in one house, makes it easier to kill us all in one night. Not the brightest idea but its practical and easy to guard.

After a few minutes of walking, we finally reached the place assigned for all of us. The servers and guards went to their places, watching every corner of the house while some of the lady court went and helped us inside the huge house.

"Lady Mary knows all the rooms but if you have anything else to ask me, I will be honored to serve you all" The lady guiding us bows but recognizes Lori's mom. Lori's mom nods in agreement and then we all dismissed the servant.

We all went to our separate rooms but my dad decided he needed more time with me so he followed me until my room where we both can talk in private.

I sat on my temporary bed and my dad stayed near my door. As if his guarding it from anyone who would dare listen to our conversation.

"I know you're tired. But I have to tell you this before I leave tomorrow morning. The circumstances are bad but this is the only way and I want you to understand this" He gently talks to me as is avoiding a fight "Tomorrow the rest of the royals would probably tell you the same but I need you to be strong" He walks near to me and kneels in one knee. "They are going to let you marry the crownprince but with certain conditions. One of this conditions is that you have to join the ladies of the inner palace..."

"WAIT! Thats insane" I blurted out "Prince Luke already has a wife, why does he need another one?!" The whole country knows about it, although since they are royal they are allowed to marry as many wives as they want. But I never dreamed to be someones concubine. Hell, I didn't even think of becoming one of the royals.

"Its a long story, but tomorrow they'll explain everything. But I atleast want you to hear this news from me" He explains "Tomorrow morning, your brother and I will travel back to the West, we can't be away too long or someone might take advantage of our absence" he stands up then walks back to the door.

"Dad you can't just leave me here after everything. I still need answers. Plus what if I do something that offends the royal family, what will happen to me then, this are all new to me and I don't have anyone else" I was growing impatient.

This everything that ever happened to me. They are all new and bizarre to me. This only happens in books and never in real life. I must be dreaming. Right, right. This is all a dream. I need to wake up. Thats it. I just need to wake up and everything will be over. I'll be back in my mothers arms and my father would still be useless and our house would still be standing. I just need to wake up. This is some crazy dream. Right, right?

"Dani?" I snapped my attention back to the man looking at me with worry and pain written on his face. Thats when everything flashed back to

me. Everything is real.

My mom is dead

My dad is hear

Our house is gone.

I'm going to be wed to someone I don't know.

And worst of all, someone is out there hunting me, praying that i'm dead and would do everything just to get to me.