How to Catch a Queen (Runaway Royals #1) - Alyssa Cole Page 0,104
survived the desk dousing. She removed the “Field Guide to Queendom,” along with the journal she had found, opening both to the last page with writing. She copied the wisdom of Anise, the mysterious first queen of Njaza, into her guide.
Men take, drunk with power and unable to see past their egos; this is why kingdoms fall and will always fall until balance is achieved.
And
My presence is ignored and my contributions are attributed to others. I’ve been silenced in the kingdom I spilled my heart’s blood to create by those I care for most dearly. They want to rule this kingdom and me—they will get only one of those things. I will leave them to it.
Shanti had always thought it was best to listen to her queenly elders.
She put her most important belongings—her journal, towel-wrapped laptop, and clothing into a valise, and then pulled out the notepad that had the overlapping impressions of letters that chronicled the last few weeks spent with her husband and began to write.
On the night of our marriage, I told you that I had expectations and that whether you met them was up to you, she wrote in smooth, precise cursive, though her hands shook and her heart ached. I’m not your father, another person for you to pin your self-worth on. I’m not Musoke, to reprimand you when you do wrong. I expected respect and cooperation, and I told you I wouldn’t barter. If gaining those things from you means I have to sit on the queen’s bench waiting to be given a crumb of the cake I helped bake, then, like your subjects, I deserve better. Since you have avoided the question of whether you’ll continue our marriage trial, I offer one last assist with your decision-making and agree in advance to the dissolution that kicks in at the end of the four-month term, which will be completed this weekend. Best of luck to you and your advisors, and whomever you marry next.
She pursed her lips and then exhaled, willing away the emotions trying to distract her.
“All queens cry,” one of her lesser used quotes from Ramatla read, “but most of these fools really aren’t worth it, dear. Chin up.”
She didn’t leave through the secret passageway—the memories of the mutual passion and hope for their future that had bloomed there between her and Sanyu might break her resolve. She left her room, where the hall was empty as Kenyatta’s replacement hadn’t arrived yet, then walked out of the exit of the queen’s wing. The wheels of her suitcase clacked loudly on the stone floor as she entered the palace’s main hallway.
“Where are you heading, Madame Your Highness?” Rafiq called out as she passed him.
“Out,” she said tersely, unable to look at him.
“Do you need me to roll your suitcase for you, Madame Your Highness?”
“No thank you.” She held her chin high and looked straight ahead, but she felt it when he moved to stand beside her.
“I will walk with you to the gate,” he said quietly. Shanti wondered how many times the older man had done this—escorted a humiliated queen from the palace.
No one else asked her any questions because he walked by her side, and when they reached the gate, Rafiq tapped his spear three times before bowing.
Shanti left without saying goodbye because her throat had closed up; a moment after she passed through the guardhouse, she was out on the streets of the capital.
She kept her gaze trained across the busy street, over the tops of cars and heads of people on motorbikes; she’d never see the palace again.
She wouldn’t be the True Queen, but she was still a queen for a few days more and there was still work to be done. Shanti didn’t let a little thing like failure get in the way of finishing a job. She would go to the Royal Unity Weekend and give her talk on the Njaza no one knew. Her presentation had to be amazing enough to make up for having gotten herself into this mess—enough to make up for having failed her friends at Njaza Rise Up.
She would have to find out about this Okwagalena that even Sanyu seemed not to know about.
New objective acquired, she headed for Liberation Books, toward the people who weren’t queens and had never wanted to be, but worked to save their kingdom just the same. They might never know who she truly was, but they were always happy to help lift her up, and Marie knew