To Love Somehow

The Queen was beautiful. She had long brown hair that curled a little at the end, her bang neatly ended just above her eyes. She was often mistakenly considered skinny, but that never bothered her. She always wore the most amazing clothes that matched well with her personality. While her husband run with the political circle, the Queen was always helping the village people. Everyone loved their Queen, and looked up to her in ways she brought hope to everyone.

Roxy was walking down the long hall where the stairs from the second floor led to the first. She had been called for dinner. She happily descended the steps, humming to an old classic song the Queen used to sing to her at night. She met with the rest of the royal family in the dinning room.

Roxy made her way to her usual chair where she had sat for 10 years. It was then she realized they had company. There were times when the King invited important people over for political reasons. She looked at the Queen uncertain, but she just smiled and nodded, which encouraged Roxy to introduce herself. She got off the chair and stood face the little girl about her age that was sitting next to her. Roxy was not all that shy and she loved meeting new people. She wanted to be just like the Queen, where she put others before her. She bowed, ladylike as she was taught.

The little girl looked at her confused.

“Now it’s your turn,” Roxy smiling.

The little girl looked at her mother, which she nodded. She got off her chair and did the same. “I’m Emma.”

The girls bowed again, this time being silly and giggled. They both returned to their seat. Dinner was served.

Dinner was peaceful. No one was talking really and everyone was enjoying what was on their plate. Roxy loved the food here. It was delicious, but she also liked eating out whenever they did. Sometimes, the Queen liked to make random appearance in town to check on her people. Sometimes she would even take requests, whether it was medical, financial, even educational reasons. Roxy might have only been 10, but she knew enough to like when someone likes someone because she caught Emma looking at Fred in awe.

She didn’t say anything, feared she might embarrassed her, or maybe herself. Although the King and Queen raised her as if she was their own daughter, the older the kids got, the more Roxy thought of Frederick differently.

Frederick was eating like a pig until his father gently slapped him behind the head and the boy slowed down. He apologized with his mouth full and the girls giggled. The King shook his head, but showed no shame of his son’s manners. The boys had just returned last night from a three-day hunt out in the woods. If you went far enough, there was an area that was deserted and destroyed due to a 20-year-old civil war from two royal families who competed for that very same land a long time ago. It ended bloody, and no one had stepped foot in that area since then.

~~~~~~~~~~

Two months later, the news was all over the kingdom. The Queen was dying. The King felt hopeless. Frederick was devastated. The people of the kingdom were already in mourning, fearing for their lives of what the future would hold. Yet, Roxy stood by her side as though there was nothing wrong. She wasn’t naïve, but too much optimistic. Like the Queen taught her, she kept faith and smiled through all the pain and hurt.

Roxy was sitting on the bed next to the Queen. She pulled her knees up to her chest and hugged them. She looked at the Queen. She was still beautiful, but paler. A lot paler. There were bags under her eyes due to exhaustion and the medication. She lost weight and it showed on her face and arms. She was weak. Why was this happening to her?

“Sweetie, don’t be sad,” said the Queen. Her voice was hoarse, at most. She wasn’t getting better. They have the best doctor in the world flown to their country and the best he could do was give her medication to ease the pain.

Roxy gasped. Of course she was going be sad. This whole situation was beyond unacceptable to Roxy.

The Queen smiled. She knew she was dying. She couldn’t hold on much longer. She was glad she had that talk with her husband, for she knew what the future held for Roxy. It was going to be challenging but a promise well kept by her husband put her soul at ease. She would do anything to protect Roxy, even beyond her grave.

Roxy could not understand why the Queen was smiling. Death was not something to be happy about. The Queen saw the confusion on Roxy’s face.

“Something wrong, darling?”

Roxy shook her head, “No. You’re smiling.”

“Why not?” she chuckled weakly. “Oh, Roxy. I will not let death get the best of me. I will smile until the end because I lived life in happiness. I served my people and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Nothing can take that away from me.”

Seeing the Queen on her deathbed was nothing in comparison to watching her stay strong, which was exactly what she did until her last breath.

A few days later, it was over. She was gone. Roxy ran to her room as fast as she could before the Queen would disappear. Roxy cried for the first time in years that night. She practically glued herself to the Queen. It took two bodyguards to get out of the room. When they wouldn’t let her back in, she ran. She ran until she reached the barn. She ran up the stairs, not even caring that the stairs were long overdue to repair. She crashed face down on the bed and cried all night.