Queens Don't || #ONC2022

5 || QUEENS DON'T PREFER PETS OVER PEOPLE

The royal residence was definitely a castle. A massive beige stone structure at least two stories high – maybe three – with two round towers on each end and two taller ones in the back. Even though the building has been around for centuries, it remained impressive with its grandeur and modern aesthetic. Gone was the medieval or sorcery vibe, but the aura of royalty, power, and leadership was ever present.

The history books I had read detailed the changes the castle had gone through from removing the moat and the drawbridge to adding the taller towers in the back to installing modern amenities. I learned a castle was meant to protect the king from his enemies, which explained the former moat and drawbridge and use of heavy ass stones.

"Holy shit, we're going to live here one day?" Phil said in awe as her eyes slowly swept across the perfectly manicured lawn, pristine landscape, and enormous castle mansion.

"I think so," I said uncertainly, wiping my clammy hands on my new dark floral dress.

As soon as I exited the dark SUV that parked in the tan cobblestone wide circular driveway in front of the castle, my nerves skyrocketed to new heights. With my heart pounding uncomfortably fast, I debated asking Keating to either push me or drag me to the front door because I had no faith I could get there on my own.

Renning returned to the cottage this morning with freshly baked scones, Archer and Keating to relieve Montgomery and Weber, and about two dozen dresses deemed appropriate for a visit with the royal family.

As much as Phil and I enjoyed antagonizing Montgomery and Weber with our more colorful questions, we learned quite a bit about Moneres Island. Like most police departments, not all officers have the best intentions about upholding the law and protecting their assigned regions.

Despite a few bad seeds, the police are mostly well respected and worked hard to keep the crime rate low. With the population a little over a hundred thousand, I compared being queen of the small country was similar to being mayor of a big city.

As far as Montgomery and Weber were willing to share with us, no major drug cartels or mafia families ruled any of the smaller islands. Prostitution was illegal, but marijuana was not. Hello, pot brownies, an order Weber mentioned he would fill for us.

"Ready?" Renning asked, walking in front of a second giant SUV that he drove.

"Are you sure we're dressed appropriately?" I asked, narrowing my eyes on the three guards' casual uniforms of jeans, a button down shirt, and sunglasses.

While the dresses Phil and I picked out were summer casual and we looked gorgeous as hell, I would have been more comfortable in jeans and a t-shirt. But, on the other hand, maybe I shouldn't be completely relaxed when meeting a royal family for the very first time.

Phil, however, was completely in her element, appearing stunningly exquisite in a full length one shoulder white dress with a red floral print. The thigh-high split showed off her long caramel colored legs whenever she moved effortlessly in her gold strappy high heel sandals. Her long black hair fell over her shoulders as small gold hoops dangled from her ears.

I kept my look simple with a knee-length dark dress with a white floral pattern and lantern-style sleeves. A trail of tiny white pearl buttons started at the hem and stopped at the bottom of the deep v-neckline, showing off the curves of my amazing boobs. If I couldn't have long legs, I was grateful God blessed me with a nice rack.

Completing my breezy ensemble were my favorite black strappy high heel sandals that gave me a little too much confidence and a silver necklace with a small diamond heart pendant my dad had given me on my sixteenth birthday. The last present he had given me before he passed away.