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5. Enemies? Not anymore!

Niya reached the main exit of the palace with her security team and after almost two days, she was able to see the view outside. Everything was similar like it was on Earth, the green trees, the colorful flowers, the concrete roads, and the blue skies. Nothing was unusual on this planet, even the chirping of birds in the morning was the same.

A fresh wind touched her face and she closed her eyes to feel as deep as she could.

"Your Majesty, in which car do you want to go today?" A voice broke her chain of thoughts. A man in his early thirties was standing there in front of her in a full white uniform. By his uniform, she guessed that he must be the driver.

"How many cars do I own?" She raised her eyebrows in shock and smiled.

"Ma’am you name any car, it will be in front of you in no time." He bowed while smiling.

"Oh? I would like a tour to see all of my cars some other time, but for today I want a Bugatti. May I?" She excitedly asked.

"Sure, ma’am." He said and within a few minutes, a brand new black Bugatti Chiron was in front of her. A Bugatti has been her dream car ever since grade 8th. She always wanted to drive one and right now she couldn’t believe that her dream car was in front of her eyes. She wanted to do her happy dance but she didn’t want to ruin her image in front of her security team.

"Umm, Mr...?" She politely asked her driver's name.

"Steve Jackson, Your Majesty." He replied.

"Okay! So, Jackson, you are on leave today, I am gonna drive this by myself." She ordered her driver and he left immediately.

"Ma’am, you can not drive this, it can be dangerous." Her security head said with no expressions on his face.

"You cannot order me, dude." She shrugged and entered the car's driver seat just as Archie reached them with his security team and Elena.

"What is going on?" Archie asked the head of security and he explained everything to him and within the very next second Archie knocked on the window of Niya's car. She lowered the window glass annoyingly.

"What?" She snapped at him.

"This is very risky, you cannot drive on your own. Get out of the car." He gritted his teeth trying to control himself.

"Oh please, I am gonna drive this and this is my order, King Archie." She said just to irritate him more. He rolled his eyes and sighed.

"Okay, fine, you stubborn kid, but I am going to be with you." She shrugged, not caring that he accompanied her, she just wanted to drive herself. ''El you go in my car, I have to go with her." Archie said and entered in Niya's car.

Elena was burning inside and she desperately wanted to kill Niya but she couldn't. "I cannot kill you girl but that does not mean I cannot hurt you." She whispered to herself.

They started their journey to the airport and Niya was enjoying driving her dream car as fast as she could.

"Wooooo... I am gonna fly you, sweetheart." She shouted in excitement.

She was so excited that she almost forgot that Archie was sitting next to her. Archie was kind of amazed by seeing her excitement. She was happy because of the car but he was smiling like a fool just by seeing her smiling. He wanted to stop that newfound feeling in his heart at its very beginning, that is why he always tried to mask it by sounding rude as much as he could. But everything he was doing to avoid it was going in vain.

"Slow down, you'll kill me." Archie controlled his smile, trying to sound rude.

"Oh please Eve, shut your mouth up and let me enjoy this." She said annoyed.

"Eve? Seriously? It sounds girlish." He rolled his eyes.

"Eve is a short form of Everette and I am gonna call you Eve from now on." She smirked to tease him. She was in no mood to argue with him today so she was avoiding any serious argument, not wanting her happiness to end. When they reached the airport, thousands of media persons were waiting outside with their cameras, microphones, and other news, or media, equipment.

"What the heck?" She gasped at the view outside.

"Everybody is excited to see you, just smile or wave. That's it." Archie tried to calm her down as he knew she was claustrophobic.

"No no no... I can't." She stopped the car.

"Calm down, if you do not want to interact you have to do two things, just hold my hand tightly and walk fast. Okay? Let’s go." Archie came out of the car and opened her door, offering her a hand. "C’mon." he said. Niya had no other choice so she silently grabbed his hand and hid her face in his shoulder.

"Your Majesty, how much longer would this friendship between royals and politicians go?"

Flash

"Your Majesty, when will you join the Official Royal office?"

Flash

"Ma’am, when is the coronation?"

Flash

"Your majesty, what are your plans for the minorities?"

Flash

These kinds of questions, and more, were thrown at her like a missile. The flashes of the cameras could turn anyone blind. Her heart was beating fast and sweat drops were shining on her forehead. She was unable to breathe properly, even though the security team had formed a circle of protection around her and Archie, but it was still chaos and messy.

After walking for two minutes, they finally entered the airport where a private jet was already ready to fly and within a couple of minutes, the airport van dropped them in front of the jet’s stairs. Niya was still in shock and her hands still had a tight hold on Archie's arms, like a child afraid of a crowd. Archie understood her internal turmoil and immediately entered the jet with her.

"Hey, you okay?" Archie asked, cupping her face in his hands only to realize that her face was full of sweat. She was not able to reply to him, or anyone, her trembling hands were the only thing she was able to move. Archie made her sit began rubbing her back.

"Niya calm own, breathe in breathe out, nothing is going to happen to you. Look, I am here with you and all the security team is here to protect you. The media is gone, you have space to breathe. Here, this might help." He gave her a glass of water.

She didn’t utter a word after that during the whole trip. She was angry at herself. She wanted to look stunning in front of the media, instead, she made herself a joke. Her mind was so full of thoughts about how she could avoid the panic attacks in the future, not wanting to experience something like this again, that she didn't even know when she slipped into a deep sleep.

"Niya! Rise and shine, sleepyhead." A voice reached her ears slowly and sweetly.

"Dad, please, five more minutes." She didn’t open her eyes, her sleepy state making her think it was her dad, not the king.

"Oh my goodness, Niya! Wake up! We are already in Valeri." Archie said annoyingly and this time, a little bit louder. She woke up with a jolt and looked around while trying to fix her hair.

"I am ready. Let’s go. I wasn’t sleeping, my eyes were just closed but my mind was awake." She argued while Archie chuckled and sighed dramatically.

"Is that so? You are not fulling anyone." He sighed and two women entered their cabin, doing their touch-ups to make them more presentable in front of the media that was waiting outside the Valeri airport.

"Are you ready for another tight hug?" Archie flirtatiously asked her.

''No, thank you, brainless bimbo. This time I am ready to face the world." She rolled her eyes. But she was still shivering inside and to calm her mind down, she started singing her favorite song.

"This time I am ready to run, escape from the city and follow the sun..." She was singing in a very low voice but Archie could hear it clearly.

He was smiling by seeing her antics again. He was changing, not completely, but a little bit. He was smiling more than before, he was flirting with her, which he had never done before. He started to feel emotions inside him, jealousy, happiness, anger, emotions he had never experienced before. But the devil inside him was still forcing him to maintain a distance from Niya as much as he could.

She is not for me, she can never be! She is a little pathetic human, an inferior being, his devil self was repeating these words in his mind. She is just a competitor and once I find out the solution to our problem, I will definitely kill her, he repeated in his mind.

They came out of the jet and William was at the end of the stairs, standing with a wide grin and a bouquet in his hands. William was in a black tuxedo similar to Archie’s, the only difference was their ties. William wore a silver tie while Archie wore a golden one. His security members and other ministers were also present. She hugged him formally and chatted a bit then they came out of the main exit of the airport.

Now, it was William who was holding her hand protectively and this time, Niya reacted like a born to be queen. She waived at the media, she smiled at them but did not talk. The three of them gracefully posed for photographs and Niya noticed that Archie and William had similar heights, about six feet or so.

After what felt like hundreds of photos, they finally left the airport. Niya enjoyed the ride, watching the scenery and hearing William talk about the city. Their cars stopped in front of a beautiful white colored palace, Prime Minister’s Residence was written on the top in golden letters. Getting out of the car, she entered and gasped at the view in front of her. A huge hall with silver and golden colors, that was just like the Royal palace, stood in front of her. The chandeliers, instead of being modern, were a bit old-styled here. White marble floor and a huge Statue of Justice was another charming thing that caught Niya's attention.

"Welcome to my home sweet home, Your Majesty." William smiled.

There were already many guests present in the room and as soon as she entered the hall, everybody bowed in sync. And the party started.

Many ministers came to introduce themselves to Niya, many buttered her up by flattering or complementing her. She was just smiling at their stupid efforts. In the chaos, she almost forgot about Archie and suddenly her eyes landed on him. He was standing with Elena who appeared to be standing a little too close to Archie, and by the look on his face, Niya knew that he was uncomfortable. So she decided to help him as he did save her from the media in the morning.

"King Everette! I have to talk about an official matter with you, could you please join me for a minute?" She approached them and politely requested. Archie was desperately waiting for the chance to get rid of Elena so he immediately came and joined Niya.

"What is the matter?" Archie asked trying to sound professional, even though Elena was out of earshot.

"Nothing, I noticed you were a bit uncomfortable there so I decided to help you out." She smiled while drinking, just as William came with his glass of wine.

"This one is for our new friendship." He raised his glass.

"Enemies? Not anymore!" Niya smiled and all the guests toasted for the new bond between royals and politicians.


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