The Ink Well Prompt #70: Conflict in the crown

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Young Eglantina Velásquez graduated as a journalist in the USA, Summa Cum Laude, but her passion is literature. She wants to be a writer. She writes her resume in detail; she has to start working quickly to pay for the scholarship she was given during her studies. She enters her credentials on different sites. Within a month she has two options to choose from: one for the international news network Reuters, where she would have to start covering wars anywhere on the planet; the other for a European monarchy. There she would be the palace press officer. But she would have to maintain her anonymity while in the service of the crown. She opted for the latter. Her imagination flew fast, leading her to fairy tales, queens, romance and something more. Surprises awaited her for that fertile imagination....

Eglantina starts reading about protocol. She knows nothing about it. She doesn't want to be embarrassed in her future job. She has 15 days to prepare her trip, to a continent unknown to her. The young woman has always traveled as a backpacker, getting to know different countries in America. She even won an award for her work on the strange events occurring on the islands of the Sun and the Moon in Bolivia.

Finally, with everything ready, she prepares her luggage. He arranges it in a beautiful phosphorescent violet suitcase, so it would be quick to identify it. She arrives at the airport, very excited and boards the plane. She gets ready to rest after all the hustle and bustle. She arrives at her destination. There, an employee of the crown was waiting for her, who was perplexed by the color of her suitcase. She boards the vehicle that takes her to the palace. She settles in and immediately has a meeting with the king. He tells her everything she has to do:

-Miss Eglantina, the first observation I make to you is that you have to be very discreet, even with your private life. You will work in the palace under a pseudonym, Hibiscus, that is a tropical flower that my wife likes very much. Also, before publishing any news related to the palace, my advisor, Mr. Harold, will review it before releasing it. I repeat, any news, no matter how banal it may seem, must be reviewed. The image of the crown must be impeccable. Tomorrow you will meet the other members of our family, as well as the staff who work with us. That is all for today. You may retire to rest from your long journey.

The young woman breaks protocol. She thanks him for the welcome, promising to fulfill all the mandates. Everyone is embarrassed.... She retires to her assigned room. When she arrived, she lay down on the best bed she had ever had in her life, soft, with pure cotton sheets, spectacular silk cushions... She was exhausted. She did not imagine that her work would bring her confusion mixed with pleasant emotions....That night she dreamed she was a famous writer. That omen would come true in an unusual and strange way...

The next day she dresses according to the required protocol, black shoes with low heels, short-sleeved dress, colored jacket. She wore the wine-colored one. Her short hair discreetly arranged with a headband, in wine velvet, matches her jacket. She goes to the library where she would meet the queen. The door opens,

-Good morning Miss Eglantina, welcome to the palace. This is my work team and the rest of the royal family.
Immediately each of those present identify themselves. Eglantina is pleasantly surprised. She senses something in the queen that catches her attention, but she cannot decipher it. Time will tell...

The young woman does her job to perfection, with her affable manner she has won the friendship of all those who work there; although sometimes her spontaneity was frowned upon. She was the youngest of the group. As she was alone in that country, she would eventually form a big family with them. She always spent her vacations with her blood family in her country of origin. Ten years passed in this way. The queen, observing her impeccable behavior, proposed something unusual for her position:

-How about writing for a local newspaper? Something simple. Just your mystical experiences and your travels? I understand your dream is to be a writer.

-Your Majesty, but that's forbidden in my employment contract. -Yes, but I've already proven my loyalty.

-Yes, but you've already demonstrated your loyalty. I would explain to my husband. I don't think that will be a problem, the queen replies.

-I think it's fantastic. Eglantina answers all excited.

The next day he learns the positive news. He begins with the queen's suggestions. His writings are very successful, they reach people's souls. Three years went by. Subsequently, the queen makes her her confidant. Although she had married in love, she was frustrated. She could not develop her gifts as a writer, so she proposed to her faithful employee, another project: a romantic novel where the plot would be the love of a European princess with an ebony knight. Something unusual and shameful for a monarchy at that time.

-And how would you do that, your majesty? Eglantina asks

-You would do it secretly. The king must never find out. He would be disgraced.

Eglantina is puzzled and does not know what to say.

The queen clarifies:
-I have everything minutely calculated. If anything should happen, I will take you out of the country immediately, with people of my extreme confidence. That is the danger we have to run.

Eglantina hesitates but decides to accept; she admits this risk in order to become a writer.

She writes the novel "Conflicto en la Corona" in record time. It goes on sale in November. Already in December the first edition is sold out. The king finds out about it. When he reads it, he forbids its sale.

-It is shameful that such a thing should happen in my country!

Eglantina immediately leaves the royal palace. She goes to her country. When she arrives in the USA, she reprints her novel, which becomes a bestseller. She establishes herself as a writer. From now on everyone waits for Eglantina's novels....

The years go by..... and today, at 92 years old, she is surprised when she watches the television program, News of the Heart, she hears:

-A descendant of the Swedish crown falls in love with a man of ebony, creating a conflict in the conservative population, some of them even speak of death....

The fiction embodied in her novel became a reality 50 years later...

Conflict in the crown by María del Carmen Sánchez Copyright © 2022

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)