Palace staff and security paused and stepped aside to give way to their future king as he walked with purpose towards the queen’s office. His strides were long and determined and the staff knew why. There was no need for words, because voicing out their thoughts would most definitely cost them their low born lives. Meaningful glances and the slight raising of brows was enough to acknowledge what everybody in the palace knew but could not admit out loud.

Luke arrived in front of the door made of smoked glass. The seal of the queen was embossed in gold and blue on the glass. He never had the need to knock on that door, but that morning, the prince did. Luke knocked before pressing his palm on a black glass panel embedded on the wall beside the door. It slid open without a sound. Behind the door was a rectangular room large enough to house a family of four. Three adjacent walls were painted a glossy white with subtle gray tint depending on the angle at which the light touched it, while the fourth was made of clear floor to ceiling glass. Sunlight entered the room through the glass, showing the thriving metropolis of New Florence. In the middle of the glass window was Queen Camilla’s very organized desk. Behind the desk was the queen, who was frowning at the feed she was either reading or watching. When she heard somebody enter the room, she lifted her head and placed the device down before tapping the screen a few times. “Leave us,” she ordered her royal guards consisting of four very able soldiers.

“Mother,” Luke greeted as the door closed behind the last guard to exit. With the morning light behind the queen, her face was partially masked by shadow, but her eyes were burning through Luke’s soul. She slowly rose to her feet, then gestured her hand over her device and in an instant a rectangular section of the wall adjacent the door came to life. It played the infamous scene from the Victor’s Ball as covered by a local media company. Luke did not take the bait despite the annoying accent of Ambassador Jin filling the room, but instead stared back at his mother. “I saw the coverage,” he admitted.

“You think you had everything figured out, do you?”

The feed changed to reports of renewed momentum of the rebellion in different regions of the kingdom. The latest of which was reported not an hour ago wherein an estate of a baron was attacked, killing the baroness and her four-year old daughter. Both the treasury and armory of the estate was robbed, meaning more gold to fuel the revolution and more firepower to push the cause further. 

Luke was silent. There was no point defending himself. Whether or not the attack was triggered by the events that happened at the Victor’s Ball, the queen had already decided that it was his fault. Arguing otherwise would only enflame her anger. 

“More and more sympathizers every day. The movement is growing in number and in power, and do you know why?” She stepped around the desk and slowly walked towards Luke. The queen wore a black wrap dress underneath an embroidered orange jacket. “Because they feel that they are victims in the imbalance of wealth and power in the kingdom. You and I, they see us as the enemy. That we were born to the upper class was wrong for them, because while they waste away in the mines, the farms, the streets, you and I live our lives in unimaginable luxury.” 

Luke was looking down at his mother while she stood in front of him. “It was not my fault that the clumsy farm girl was not accustomed to wearing heels. None of this would happen if only she -” The queen stopped him from talking with a backhanded slap that rang aloud across the room. Luke was startled. His eyes were bright, blue, and wildly full of questions when he sought his mother’s own. Strands of his wavy hair strayed on his face, touching his cheekbone that was grazed by a ring that the queen wore that morning. The queen’s hard expression, though, did not change.

Just then a knock was heard, and a voice announced the arrival of Ms. Rhiane Black. The queen ignored the announcement. “It is easier to disown you than to cover for all your idiotic actions, Lucius. You don’t even regret any of it do you?”

He shook his head, gritting his teeth, not trusting himself to open his mouth. The guard knocked again, then repeated the request for permission to enter the room. The queen ignored it again, but that time her face softened. She lifted her hand to cup her son’s cheek – her first born and the love of her life. She used the thumb of her hand to wipe the blood seeping out of the cut skin. The skin around the cut was starting to bruise. “My son,” her smile was bittersweet. Her voice was softer as she continued, “I’m not asking you to love the commoner, just wed her. After you do, I will not ask you to spend your life with her, just father a heir or two. After that you can re-marry into nobility.”

“Just like you did,” he failed to stop his tongue. “Just like how you murdered my father.”

The guard knocked a third time. Luke turned around and pressed his palm against the panel to open the door before the guard was done announcing the presence of her future bride.
 
The queen withdrew to her desk, not at all happy with the direction their conversation headed to. Luke, his face blank, passed Rhiane a cold look before turning away and walking towards a sofa to the left of the queen. “Follow me,” he instructed.

By the time that the couple was seated, the queen had already composed herself in front of her desk. “Good morning, Ms. Black. I trust that you slept well, last night? Marcel reported that the doctor was thorough in his treatment. I called you two, because of what happened last night.”

Luke sat at one end of the sofa with his eyes on the floor, while Rhiane occupied the other end. “It is not at all believable that you are happy to be with each other. Our people will not buy it. So, in order for this rags to riches sham to work, you will tour the kingdom, and you will show the people that you are in love. Think of it as a fairytale story that will be told to the future generations of the kingdom.”

The love story of a poor farmer who found her prince charming – it was the perfect distraction. Rhiane was the bridge that the monarchy needed to make the common people feel that they are closer to the nobility. Luke thought his mother was a genius in manipulating people. 

“Just one more thing,” the queen added. “We cannot afford to have a repeat of what happened last night, therefore I have taken some precaution.” She pushed a button on her table and after a few moments somebody knocked at the door, which she granted permission to enter.
A woman dressed in the white uniform of doctors and nurses stepped in the room. She was carrying with her a rectangular plastic container and a gadget that looked like a scanner.

“Eve, join us.” The queen invited the woman. “As I was saying, we will take precaution to prevent a repeat of last night.” Luke straightened. He hoped the precaution was not what he thought it was. “Explain it to them, Eve.”

“Certainly, your majesty.” The woman looked at Rhiane and Luke, one after the other. “Your highness, Ms. Black,” she started, the picked a metal syringe from the container. She held it up for both Rhiane and Luke to see. “This contains nanotechnology bots that will plant itself on your spine and cause you to feel pain when you are more than 10 meters away from each other. The application process is easy and non-invasi--”

“This is not necessary, mother.” Luke interrupted the doctor. It was exactly what he thought his mother would employ, but it was too much. He did not dream of being stuck with a commoner and a stranger. 

“It is, dear,” the queen was firm. “You left me with no choice. Just cooperate and don’t make this more difficult for me and for your lady friend who is sleeping in your room right now.”

If there was any resistance left in Luke, it vanished at the queen’s concealed threat. He sat straight like a behaved little school boy as the doctor deployed the tech at the base of his neck with the use of the syringe. The doctor did the same for Rhiane, but Luke didn’t notice if she protested. 

“We are done,” said the doctor clapping her hands. “Only her majesty can disable the devices. So if any of you needs to be away, remember that only the queen can grant the permission.”

“Thank you, Eve,” Queen Camilla said, pleased with herself. “Now would you like to give it a try, Luke?”

“Just a warning, the pain intensifies for both of you as either of you go further away from each other.”

He had high tolerance to pain, from his training in the army. Luke would challenge the devices without being told. He got to his feet and glanced at Rhiane, trying to see if she was at all nervous, or if she had any objections against testing it, before hastily walking away. With every step, he anticipated the pain, but nothing prepared him from the jolt that hit him. It ran from his head down to his spine to his extremities. Pain made it difficult to move. It brought him down to his knees. He fought against it and crawled back to safe radius.

Breathing heavily, and sweating, he pushed himself to his feet. It felt like his strength was drained. He wondered how it was for Rhiane.