Long May They Reign

Previously......
"My Lord, it has become worse outside." The Queen says as she looks out of her window and see's devastation surrounding her kingdom.
"My Queen, fear not, for we shall overcome this as we have been doing for many years."
"But it's different now! We've held them off for years but now they know of our secret. They can take us down whenever they want. We must protect the future, our daughters, for they are the only thing that is left of us that has been untouched. They are our only hope. The others don't know of them, they only know that we have children not of their gender or names not even age."
"That will not happen. We will see it that our enemies come to an end. We will not be defeated that easily. Think of our children as a motivation to defeat them. I am not done giving up the fight just yet my dear."
"Oh Albert."
"Anya, this is not like you. You have been behind all of our strategies that have allowed us to win. You even went out on the battlefield yourself when the forces got too close to the kingdom, this is not the Anya i know. We can defeat them." He walks towards her and holds her hands in reassurance.
"Yes but that was before Anastasiya was born. I am not willing to sacrifice her or Amelia over a reckless operation. We are parents."
"But we are also rulers. We have a duty to our people as well." The Queen sighs under her breathe to his truth.
"I suppose so."
"So what does my ruthless Queen have in mind?" She gives him a sad smile and he understands what they must do to protect the kingdom and their daughters.
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"Ana!" Amelia say's as she runs down the halls to inform her sister of the news she has heard.
"Amelia? Why are you running, princesses do not run. If you can run then i should be allowed to." Anastasiya replies as she pouts her lip.
"Now is not the time, mama and papa they-"
"Children!" Anya opens the door with sorrow in her eyes as Amelia quickly holds Anastasiya close to her in fear of what her mother has to tell them. "My darlings, i love you so much." She says as she pulls them in for a hug and loads them with kisses.
"Mama? What's wrong?" Anastasiya askes, confused with what her sister was going to say earlier and the sudden change in their mothers actions.
"Nothing my little Ana. I just wanted to give you guys some love. As a matter of fact, would you guys like to join your father and i in a walk?"
"Yes!" The girls yelled happily, they rarely ever got to go out on walks with the whole entire family. Someone was always missing. The queen guided them out as the daughters formed a chain linking the parents on the end and themselves in the middle. The family exited out of the back way and walked through the family garden down by the lake.
"Papa? What's that?" Amelia says as she points to a marble white building hidden by trees on the far side of the lake.
"That my dear, is a little place we built for you and your sister, as a place to go whenever you are feeling down. But you are not allowed to go in it yet."
"Why not?"
"Because you're not sad."
"But i can be sometimes."
"When you are feeling alone or miss us that is when the house should be used."
"I won't ever miss you." The King looked very confused at what his eldest daughter had just said, "Because i'm going to be with you forever." A tear started to stream down his cheek.
"Oh Amelia, i will always be there with you." He whispers to himself as his Queen looks back and overhears their conversation. She too starts to tear up, but puts on a brave face. She leads them over to a white gazebo surrounded by lilacs, the Queen's favorite, as they all sit down on the benches inside.
"My children, we have a gift for you." She pulls a necklace with a beautiful simple key on a chain and hands it to Amelia, next she gets a gold ball necklace that looks as though it opens.
"Now darlings, one day these things will be of use, but for now do not make anything of them. You will know when they are needed, trust me my dears." Mother told them as a man arrived with a canvas.
"What is this?"
"We are getting a family portrait done."
"Why? We just had one a few months ago."
"Well.." She looked over at their father looking for any excuse he could give her.
"We just thought that we won't get a day like this in a very long time. It may be last portrait we get like this." There was some truth in the King's voice but every bit of what he said felt like knives to his chest. If only the children knew. They sat there for hours getting their portrait painted, the Queen kept encouraging everyone to smile for their last portrait. Once they were done, the Queen took Amelia to give her one last item whilst the King started to run around the garden with Anastasiya, telling her about all the plants and the meaning to each. Amelia could not take this strange behavior anymore, the only reason she held out so long was for Ana's sake.
"Mother, i know what is going on."
"What do you mean child?"
"About the war going on, i know what you are trying to do. You are trying to give us one last happy, family day in order the lay everything at rest but it won't work. Ana will be torn part. I know that you and father want to protect us, but i don't want to loose you." By then Amelia was already crying, which caused her mother to cry as well but she couldn't cry in front of her daughter she had to show her a Queen's duties.
"Amelia, i am so very sorry. But we must do this in order to save the kingdom and our legacy. This is for everyone all of the other families out there and for you and your sister to live on our rule in the future. King's and Queen's must make sacrifices for their country, something i wish that you will never have to do."
"But you are not just a Queen. You are my mother! Why don't we flee? The Haner's kingdom is not too far away surely we can all be together." Anya just sighs, she has already thought of the possibility of that but it's not going to end this war.
"Amelia, I am a Queen and you are a princess. We pay the price of loyalty through sacrifices. We do not have the luxury to control everything in our lives. You are a princess and you will be a queen, you must live on and do this not only for your people but for your father and i. We love you very much and it's the last thing on earth that we would ever want to do."
"I understand. Royalty pays a price. What about Ana?"
"I hope that one day she will understand, but please take care of her and remind each other that your parents loved you with all of their hearts. This pains me the most but we will always be with you in your hearts and memories. One day we can be reunited." Amelia says nothing as she wipes her tears and gives her mother a hug that could be their last.
"I've got something else for you, it's your grandmother's crown, the one that has been passed down to the next queen for generations."
"No, i couldn't. I'm not nearly a Queen yet."
"It is tradition to pass it down. You are just getting it earlier than everyone else." Anya gets the crown out and places it on her daughters head. "My aren't you beautiful. You will make an amazing queen." She says as she shows her daughter the mirror.
"I-I look just like you." The tears start flowing once more, this time Anya can not hold it back.
"I've always wanted to see you wear it. I'm just glad i was able to even if it is not at the right time. "
"Mother!" Amelia couldn't stop the tears, she knew she must stay strong and hide this from her sister until she is ready, she knew her duty, she practically was Queen already with such responsibilities. The next day the kind and queen left to the battlefield to end this war. They were some of the most amazing fighters but they knew in order to get close to the king from the other country, that they must sacrifice themselves. Little did they know that their daughter was hiding in the trees in hopes that she can still save them somehow. But there was no avail, the king fought twenty men at once in order for the queen to close in. She sacrificed her body by getting stabbed by his sharp armor in order to get close enough to end his life as the king screamed out his wife's name and cried to himself. Although the couple knew of this plan, they gave each other one last kiss before departing forever, the king got hit by one of the men causing a lot of blood loss. As the men started to retreat, the king crawled towards his wife on the ground who was still conscious but not for long, there they laid holding each other and reciting their last words of love and memories to each other.
"Mama, Papa!" Amelia yelled as she ran towards their bodies and laid between them, by then the men have all left.
"Amelia! Why?" The king had trouble speaking but was somewhat glad he got to see his daughter one last time.
"I-i love you so much and i will always remember you. I will take care of the country i will take care of Ana, all for you. Mama, Papa, i will always love you." She said as she cried into them getting covered in their blood.
"Oh child, Mother and father love you very much, we always did. Do not blame yourself for this, it was for everyone. Just remember who you are, we will always be looking down on you." The king struggled.
"Father, do you remember that one time you taught me how to shoot a bow and arrow?"
"Yes i do dear haha."
"And when you taught me how to sword fight?"
"Ha ha, that's my tough little princess." The king looked over to his queen and noticed that it was her time to go as she gave her last dying breath saying 'i love you'. A tear escaped from his eye but he still held onto here with their daughter in the middle. Amelia kept on talking about her memories and he smiled at all of them. 'We've done a good job Anya' he said into the sky.
"Amelia?"
"Yes papa?"
"You will always be daddy's little girl. I will always be with you." Then he was gone as well. Amelia kept talking to her dead parents and eventually fell asleep talking to them. She was found the next morning by her cousin's family. They were all crying at the sight of the loving, dead parents lying with their living daughter. Amelia did not cry for she knew that they will always be with her. She gave them one last kiss on their foreheads remembering the conversation they had before they died.
"I love you." She whispered as turned away.

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