When vengeance strikes in the form of a bullet out for the princess's blood, Princess Aleia VonAuclair must flee the heart of her country in order to protect the people she loves and take back the pieces of her soul she'd lost to the girl she once l...
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"That's it?" I asked, stunned. "A press conference?"
Aaron nodded stiffly.
"Emira will notify all the news outlets of the conference by the end of today but since Your Highness just arrived yesterday, we will schedule the press conference to be held in two days."
I leaned back into the armchair, my frown prominent in the mid-afternoon light. The blush pink dress I wore rustled with the movement.
"Is there some kind of script?"
Aaron shook his head. "No. There's no particular script, but Emira will draft up an outline of what we're ideally aiming for. You've been media trained, so I'm not too worried if you'd like to steer things your way."
"Right."
I blew out a heavy breath into the informal meeting room in the West Wing of the palace. Apparently, Aaron and Bryan were the only guards aware of the plan. Something about being wary that something would go awry if word got out.
My dad offered an encouraging smile from the armchair adjacent to mine, his wrinkles and frown lines more pronounced than ever and I was positive that the entire country had aged an extra decade within the span of a few months.
I would've returned it with one of my own, but I was too busy fretting over the plan to even attempt to compose myself.
Mom placed a firm hand on my knee, and it was then did I realise it had been bouncing for the past few minutes. I chewed away at my cheeks with the growing ball of nerves dominating the space in my chest.
"You'll do well, Aleia," Dad said. "Just be honest. You don't have to say anything you don't want to."
I frowned. "That's the thing. There must be some kind of limitation, right? I mean, yes, be honest, but how honest can I truly be?"
Aaron angled his head a fraction of a degree in thought.
"I suggest honesty to the fullest extent. It's the only way we can throw the insider off balance while shedding some light about the situation onto the people at the same time. After all, we've kept it under tight wraps for long enough. They're growing restless."
"So, we kill two birds with one stone" I said, uncertainty weakening my tone from the type of conviction I would need for said press conference.
"Yes, Your Highness."
An unsteady inhale rocked my lungs and I stared at the coffee table for an endless amount of time as I tried to wrap my head around everything.
"This insider," Nate started, his expression taut and shoulders sharp with barely contained anger. "How are you so sure they're working from within?"
Aaron sifted through a stack of papers and pulled out a blueprint of the palace. Laying it flat onto the table, he picked up a pen and drew three circles over the main security check points.
