**3rd Person POV**
“I missed you too, Aunt Emily,” Charlotte planted a big smile on her face.
“To my study, now,” ordered Emily refusing to return Charlotte's smile
“Reginald, you will not follow us,” said Emily, knowing that she could never win against the both of them.
“Aunt Em?” Charlotte protested.
“Enter,” Emily had been walking very fast and they were now in front of a door that Charlotte dreaded entering. She was not scared of armies with the sole intention of killing her but a one-on-one meeting with Aunt Emily sent chills down her spine. Unfortunately, there was no mummy to save her. Emily had made it impossible for Regina to bail her out.
“Aunt Em, I… I can explain the… uhm… my absence..”
“You are not getting out of this Charlotte, go inside,” shouted Emily. Her voice made her flinch a little bit. Like a lamb being led away to its slaughter, she entered the room.
“I believe Reginald has already debriefed you on the visit to the Kingdom of Dome?” quipped Emily as she sat down.
“About that Aunt Em…”
“This is not up for debate Charlotte,” replied Emily. Charlotte kept her cool. When her aunt became this way, it was best to keep quiet.
“I have received word that the vampires in Dome may be open to a marriage alliance…”
“You are setting me up for marriage? Seriously? What happened to…”
“I never said you are marrying anybody. They have invited us to the inauguration of their crown prince. It is a ball; you will go there and look pretty,” said Emily.
“I don't do pretty Aunt Em and you know it,” returned Charlotte. There was no world where she was going to agree with this.
“Charlotte, I will not marry you off. I assure you that such would never happen. You will only marry if you are in love with whoever but you are going there so the vampires can know we are open to having conversations, okay?”
“Why are we even doing this? The vampires have been attacking us for quite some time now. It is obvious that we need to go to war…”
“Charlotte…”
“There was a vampire raid on one of our border villages, what other evidence do we need for war?”
“That is what you will find out when you go there,” returned Emily.
“Don't you get it, Aunty, they want to cleanse us from the land. They think that our blood has been dirtied by the werewolves. They do not want a hybrid clan,” returned Charlotte. How did her aunt expect her to visit such a place?
“Charlotte, you are the only one that can do this. I trust your judgement and I know that if anything arises you can get yourself out of there alive,” said Emily.
Charlotte knew there was no way she could talk her aunt out of this. She could see that the decision had already been made. Perhaps, it was time to start attending court so she could let the ministers know that conversations were a waste of time. It was time instead to spill blood.
“In that case, I had better start packing,” Charlotte admitted defeat in her tone.
“You do not leave for Dome until next month but you are right to pack. Your father has requested your presence at his palace,” replied Emily. Charlotte swore that she would kill her brother. He had made her believe that she was leaving next week.
“When will mother be back from her trip?” Charlotte asked her aunt. Regina was always in some faraway land enjoying different cultures and having fun. She had decided that she was not interested in ruling or staying in the palace. Once her children had been old enough to stand on their feet, she had taken up travelling.
“If I knew, Charlie, I would tell you,” replied Emily.
Charlotte said her goodbyes and left the study. Emily watched her niece as she left. The twins were like the children she had never had. They had grown up here in the palace and she had been responsible for their royal education. She had recorded huge success with Reginald who was good at court and made a fine soldier. Charlotte was proving hard to train. She only wanted to shed blood which made her excellent in battle but useless for politics. She hoped her niece would learn a thing or two with her trip to Dome.
She wanted Charlotte to one day rule in her stead but she needed to mould her into a capable leader first. She also needed to make Charlotte interested in taking the throne. Reginald was already crown prince in his father's kingdom which was sort of ironic because he spent all his time here. She let a big smile play out on her face. She had succeeded in keeping the twins' interests here even though Dagen had tried to win them over with countless gifts. The height of it had been giving Charlotte his horse. It did not matter anyway because both of them considered this place home.
“I heard I could find you here,” It was Thoma who had walked in.
“Charlie doesn't look too happy,” he said.
“She will live with my decision because it's not changing,” returned Emily.
“Dictator much?”
“They enjoy the privileges of their birth, they must carry the burden too,” justified Emily.
“And your burden is that you cannot get married, huh?” quipped Thoma.
“We've talked about this, Thoma. The twins need me..”
“The last time I checked, the twins were adults. What do they need you for? Changing their diapers?”
“Thoma…”
“I love you, Em. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. How hard can it be?” Thoma had made up his mind about marriage. He would grovel if he had to but he was going to marry the love of his life. He had recently given up sailing to become more settled so he could spend more time with Emily.