After running their mouths off for a long while and after a never ending series of 'would be, could be, your majesty this, your majesty that', the group of people finally retreated.
And the only people left in the meeting room were the king and Amara.
''I am pleased to see that you are in good spirits,'' King Callahan remarked as he glanced at Amara.
Amara fought back the yawn she had held in through the entire meeting. As the king averted his gaze, she tilted her head to the side and let out a yawn that she could not fight back any longer.
When the king turned to look at Amara, she was sitting straight, nothing amiss about her posture, ''Are you satisfied with the arrangements regarding your new bodyguard?"
''I haven't looked into it, father. I trust your arrangements.''
''Hmm?"
''It would be a national loss if something happens to me so naturally you will be considerate...'' Amara trailed off when the man quirked his brow slightly, ''I believe you would not want me, your only daughter, to suffer out there in the wild.''
The man shook his head with a hint of a smile on his face.
Furthermore, Amara was not really bothered by it. She did not want James gone. But if James was going to be replaced anyway, then she was not as intrigued about who was coming in his place. They would meet anyway.
But something else had been on her mind since that day she talked to Queen Alexandra after her father's declaration of a new bodyguard in the meeting room, ''Father, why didn't you tell me that James wanted to resign?'' Why did you make it look like you were firing him?
King Callahan remained quiet and the room sunk in an unpredictable silence.
A long long time ago, a little girl had once knelt in the snow and sobbed till her tears dried up, 'Why would nobody ever put me first, father? Why do they say they love me when their love cannot make them stay with me? Mother held me to sleep and told me how much she loved me... Why, then, did she leave my side when I opened my eyes? Why am I so easily abandoned...'
The girl that day had a lot of questions but she did not ever receive any answers.
Just the thought of it gave Amara an embarrassment. Even she had been quite a little fool once.
Did her father remember that episode to this day? As she looked at the man, even she did not notice the faint light of anticipation that she held.
''I did not find it significant to tell you,'' King Callahan declared, ''Whether he wants to resign or not is secondary. He would have been fired for letting you get injured.''
Amara nodded slowly, ''It was, but a scratch.''
King Callahan's jaw ticked, his gentle face betraying a hint of anger, ''A scratch? If not for your uncle, were you you going to keep it...''
Amara caught the keyword, ''Uncle?"
King Callahan paused and then closed his eyes.
''Father, didn't you say that you got to know because brother's friend happened to be there that night?"
''It's not that. Your uncle wanted to keep his visit a secret. He has found himself some novelty there these months. It was one of his people who caused your injury. They were a new batch of guards who had never met you before so this accident happened. But it is good that he fired them all.''
A vague image reappeared in Amara's mind. That night, she had not been able to see the person who was sitting behind the barrier of the guards. She was worried that Leah would get on his last nerve and offend him further so she grabbed Leah and rushed out of there as soon as possible. It hadn't hit her that it would be her uncle.
This uncle of hers was rather frivolous and playful but at times, he was no less than an iceberg. In his days, he was a young genius. People assumed there would be intense struggles in the royal family but at the age of 15, he declared that the throne was the last thing he desired. That place would belong to no one but his elder brother.
Now, still a genius, he is a man with a violent temper. Unpredictable actions. Unknown whereabouts.
The last she saw him was some more than a year ago.
''Your uncle was drunk that night and he could not react in time. By the time he realized it was you, you had left. So, he briefed me about this matter and asked me to not reveal this. He was worried that it would leave a scar in your heart and you would be afraid of him."
Yes, her uncle treated her like a little doll. He always did. But the outburst in the snow was witnessed by him alongside her father, and that cemented his treatment of her.
Amara fell quiet.
''Now, don't tell him that you know or he will fly over to give me a difficult time.''
''I understand,'' Amara sighed. She could visualize her uncle hovering over father's head like a stormy cloud, striking thunder in intervals.
''Father, are we waiting for someone?"
King Callahan looked up, ''You could tell?"
Not to mention the fact that she was intellectually formidable, but... ''You have been looking at your watch constantly and we are still sitting in this empty meeting room.''
''Well, naturally, I need to introduce you to...'' The doors to the meeting room opened, catching King Callahan's attention mid-sentence, ''There he is.''
She turned her head, expecting some older, gruff man in the standard uniform walking back to the meeting room with another bout of 'could be, would be, your majesty this, your majesty that' up his sleeve but instead, the man who stepped into the room made her breath catch in her throat.
Him.
It was him. Rafe.
And she was not even dreaming. She was seeing him in the waking hour.
Amara's lips parted a little, part disbelief and part anticipation.