Okay! Hi gys! Sorry this took so long, but I finally worked up the strength to add another chapter! So here ya go! I'm going to try to finish this story first, but that doesn't mean I still won't be updating my other ones along the way or making new ones! So always check out my other stories and see if there are any otehr yous like!

Other than that, please review! I CANNOT SAY HOW MUCH I LOVE REVIEWS! Especially when they are helpful by telling me what people like or don't like about the story so I can stop or keep doing those things!

Thanks again!

~Enjoy~

A few days later, Nala was in the dining room eating breakfast when Carliah found her. The head maid had been sick for the past few days and was finally recovering from a long cold.

"Nala, your mother has returned and would like to see you in her room." Nala set her spoon down on her dish and looked up at Carliah curiously.

"What?" she asked in surprise.

"I said: Your mother would like to see you in her room. I'd go now, too, if I were you. From the sounds of it, it's something very important," the maid answered. Nala hadn't been called to her mother's chambers for years, if she really was being called there, then of course it was something important! Nala hopped off of her chair and walked quickly to her mother's chambers. She was both excited and nervous. Excited because perhaps it meant that her mother wasn't going to be crazy anymore, but nervous because perhaps... well... perhaps not.

As she approached her mother's door, her footsteps slowed and she suddenly felt very dizzy. "Maybe I shouldn't..." she muttered to herself, but she walked up to the door anyways. She lifted her fist to knock on the wood as slowly as possible, and tapped the door once, quietly. That was enough. Her mother opened the door very suddenly and Nala winced in surprise.

"It took you awhile to get here," was all her mother said. The queen turned around and sat on the bed, not even glancing at her daughter. "Close the door behind you, please."

Nala nodded and obediently closed the door, following her mother to the bed and sitting across from her. When she looked in her mother's eyes she expected to see anger or disappointment, but instead she saw grief. Suddenly, the queen put her head in her hands and began sobbing.

"Oh, Nala. I'm so very sorry..." she cried. Nala was taken aback.

"Sorry for what?" she asked, not knowing what else to say.

The queen sat up straight and wiped the tears from her eyes. "For what I'm about to tell you," she replied. Nala did not like the sound of that one bit. "In a week, I am to be married to the Duke of Clearfields. He and his son Felix will be living here from then on."

Nala's eyes widened in shock, but the shock quickly turned into anger. "Where did this come from? After all the years of staying locked up in a room crying over the king, you decide to get married now? And so suddenly, too?"

"I know, I know it sounds awful to you, and that's why I apologized. But you must understand Nala, this had to be done. Not for me or for you, but for the kingdom!" the queen said quickly. Nala didn't respond. Instead she turned away slightly and folded her arms. "Look," the queen started slowly, "I met the Duke at the Moot. He was very polite and kind, but I can assure you that I have no feelings for him. At the Moot, I realized for the first time what I was doing to my kingdom by locking myself in, and the Duke suggested that I marry someone of Noble standing so I would not have to struggle with turning my kingdom around alone. After much thinking and many other people suggesting it, the Duke and I came to a mutual agreement that we should be married." More silence. "He's a wonderful man... when it comes to military strategies. He will make a fine king. Perhaps not a fine husband, but that is not what matters."

Nala couldn't believe what she was hearing. She whipped her head around. "Can't you just stop being so sad? Can't you just -I don't know!- ask for help from somebody? Why must you get married!"

The queen stared at her hands. "It's not so easy for me to just forget my husband's death ever happened. Some people can handle it better than others, and I am not like them. This marriage is more for symbolism than anything else. The marriage of the queen will be something the people want. It will make them believe I've finally moved on and am ready to help my kingdom instead of harm it. Nala, please, just listen to what I'm saying and picture for a moment what it would be like to be me. For years I have been suffering. I closed myself off to the world and now that I've finally opened up a little, the full impact of what I've done is hitting me. It's been hard enough with your father's death, but to finally wake from my long slumber and see all this hardship that I caused makes it even harder. How am I to live with myself knowing that my own self-interests were the things that caused our kingdom to deteriorate! We used to be an equal kingdom where even the poor had nice homes and hearty meals, but now we have people living on the street..." The queen looked away and wiped a few more stray tears from her face. "I'm getting married, and that's final. The Duke will be the first good thing for this kingdom since you were born into this world. This isn't for you, or for me, it's for all of them out there." She gestured out the window that looked onto the market square.

Nala stood up and walked over to the window, gazing outside on the square below. It was a sunny day and many of the children were playing by the ice fountain, but she noticed that most all of the vendors in their shop stalls looked sad or angry or both. Perhaps her mother was right, or... well... perhaps not.

"When both you and the Duke are no longer suitable for the throne... I will still be queen, right? Felix doesn't have the same claim as I do?" She wasn't asking the question out of greed for the throne, she was asking because she didn't trust the Duke or Felix. It also wouldn't be fair, to her, or the subjects.

"Yes, you will still be queen. Felix's only claim as king would be if our bloodline ceased to be. Other than that, he would be a care-taker until a proper heir came of age was ready to rise up and take back the throne," the queen answered. Nala nodded slowly in acceptance before moving towards the door and opening it. "I love you, Nala," the queen whispered.

"What?"

"I love you. I haven't said that to you in a very long time, and I want you to know that I love you, so, so much," the queen repeated. Nala didn't look at her. She couldn't look at her.

"Okay," she said in reply before closing the door and leaving.