FF: Royal Pain Season 2: link pg 140

(First Look)

What you are about to read is Donna Paulsen approved.

Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, lived a king who ruled his subjects and their hearts with grace. His valor was known to all; his power praised and revered. The king married his prime minister's daughter, a woman synonymous to poise. Her majesty was orphaned on her wedding night. As she walked around the holy fire for the seventh round, her father breathed his last breaths. She had but one brother left. His majesty generously offered to pay for his education abroad. Now, only the royal couple reside in the palace. Some unwanted pests mark their seasonal presence. Namely, Deepali and Sikander not royal by blood or mannerism, only empty titles that grant them entry in to the servant quarters. They had bartered for the rich quite life mostly because his majesty left them no other options.

"Either live in the city or the kingdom retreats your titles", he told them and they agreed. Now, they were only granted entrance for holi or diwali.

Her majesty made regular appearances in public charity events, maintaining a safe distance from the commoners against her better judgement. Her appointed guards followed her to the washroom, the shower heads were checked and double checked before she stepped in. Her toothbrush was scanned for poison and the vanity guarded by lasers to nip potential assassinations in the bud. Even making her way to the bedroom was no easy job. She had to memorize several security codes and scan her thumbprints just to get five minutes of her husband's time. Not that she craved it very much.

He was a rather cold man, cold to her that is. It was almost as if she did not exist. He would find time for political dinners, even public displays of (conservative) affection but not a private moment in the palace. She did not remember having a single one-on-one conversation with him post their wedding. The marriage was not forced from either side. In fact, the proposal had been in the works since his majesty's coronation. Granted the sudden passing of the prime minister had shifted the order of events, she failed to understand his hostility.