Reedsy<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\nIn a cramped kitchen in a bar in Anchorage, Alaska, a slight, dark-haired woman with pale skin and bright blue eyes sweated as she turned out burgers, fries, and assorted bar snacks. Working the early shift meant she got the lunch regulars, and a few die-hard barflies, but she avoided the crowded, noisy nights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While the bar was ostensibly a \u201csports bar,\u201d the large TV screens displaying whatever games were live couldn\u2019t be heard during regular bar hours. During the day, however, they were tuned to cable news. As the bar was quiet it was easy to follow what was being said, if she wished to. Instead, Ana chose to tune it out and focus on getting the orders out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She plated the burgers and rang the bell to let the Janice know orders were up. There were no more orders waiting, so she took the time to scrape the grill, clean and sharpen knives, and run the waiting rack of dishes through the washer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAna, did you hear about Merovina?\u201d Janice, the bartender of indeterminable advanced age leaned in the order window. She\u2019d recently told Ana she had been working there for forty years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnother protest for elections?\u201d Ana asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNo, but something big is happening. The government shut down all communications and isn\u2019t letting foreign journalists in or out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ana sighed. \u201cNo doubt it\u2019s something manufactured to scare everyone into accepting things as they are.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhile we\u2019re not busy,\u201d Janice said, \u201cyou never told me why you left.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI got asylum from the US because of\u2026political issues.\u201d Ana chuckled. \u201cAnd they probably didn\u2019t want me to go to Russia for asylum. Like I\u2019d give them a reason to annex my country.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHow can you still care about it when you had to run away in the first place?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI ran away to avoid an arranged marriage\u2026to a seventy-year-old lecher.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHow\u2019s that political?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt was a political marriage. Besides,\u201d she said, changing the subject, \u201cI was publicly calling for the \u0441\u0431\u043e\u0440\u043a\u0430<\/em> to be elected rather than appointed by the crown.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cSborka?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAssembly, kind of like a congress or parliament.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAh. So, the king decides who makes up the whole government?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt used to be all princes, lords, and dukes, but for the last hundred years or so it\u2019s also included influential industrialists, and the ultra-wealthy loyalists.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAh, I could see how that could get you in trouble.\u201d Janice looked like she was going to circle back to the marriage question, when a large group of people in business attire entered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cLooks like a three-martini lunch meeting just walked in.\u201d Ana winked and got ready for the flurry of orders. She knew to expect every order to be personalized; no onion, extra tomato, bacon extra crispy, no salt, lettuce wrap, substitute this for that\u2026the whole thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While it meant she couldn\u2019t whip through the orders on muscle memory alone, it kept her mind occupied enough to not worry about what was happening in her home. Sure, she had a green card, and was probably going to be living in the US for a long time, but it still wasn\u2019t home<\/em>. Anchorage came close, at least in climate, and there were plenty of native Russian speakers.<\/p>\n\n\n\nShe closed out the day at four, when the swing shift crew came in; three people to handle what she did on her own during the less-busy days. \u201cHave a good night, guys,\u201d she said on her way out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ana lay down on her bed, a mattress on the floor of a small apartment in the \u201crough\u201d neighborhood. Sure, there were a few drug dealers and prostitutes, but it was nothing like Chicago\u2019s South Side, where she\u2019d been when she first came to the US.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She was woken in the wee hours of the morning by an earthquake. How the locals ever got used to them enough to sleep through them she didn\u2019t know, but it was small, and nothing fell. Realizing that she wouldn\u2019t be getting back to sleep, she opened her laptop and checked the news on Merovina.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So far, it was all speculation, as no news had come out of the country in more than thirty-six hours. The UK and US governments were demanding their reporters be allowed to leave the country, and instead, the Merovina government blocked all<\/em> flights leaving the country, and limited inbound flights to those carrying Merovinan citizens. Those planes were then allowed to fuel and leave after the Merovinans got off, providing no one else got on.<\/p>\n\n\n\nIn response to the increasingly tense situation, NATO forces and Russian forces began moving closer to the Merovina borders. Meanwhile, it seemed that the crown had followed the examples of more authoritarian states, cutting off the internet from the entire country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ana wondered whether it was a coup, or something else. Either way, she was in no position to do anything about it. She left for work early, stopping at an all-night diner for breakfast first.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The eggs and sausage sat like lead in her guts as she started the day. Janice was kind enough to not bring up the marriage topic at all in the morning. As it was a Thursday and between paydays, it would be slower than usual.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On days like this, she and Janice would do the grunt work. Scrubbing the walk-ins, clearing off every shelf in the kitchen and sanitizing, doing an inventory count on everything from toothpicks to saucepans, kegs to potatoes. As Janice was fond of saying, \u201cIf you do the hard work first, everything else is a piece of cake.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ana had finished the hard work and moved on to the \u201cpiece of cake\u201d part of the day. She was busy filling out the order form for their vendors, when three people came in. A man and a woman in ICE police uniforms, and a man in a suit. Janice told them to sit wherever they liked, and the man in the suit shook his head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMa\u2019am,\u201d the woman officer said, \u201cwe\u2019re looking Anastasia Politskivina.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s the problem?\u201d Janice asked. \u201cHer green card\u2019s still good.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIs she here, ma\u2019am?\u201d the male officer asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m here,\u201d Ana said, leaning through the order window.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cCould you come around and talk with us, please?\u201d The man in the suit pointed to a table and the ICE officers sat there. \u201cYou\u2019re not in trouble, and we\u2019re not here to deport you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cJanice, could you get the officers some coffee? I\u2019ll come out and talk to them.\u201d While Janice moved behind the bar to get the coffee, Ana set her phone up to record the area around the table where the officers sat and made sure Janice saw it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSure, sweetie.\u201d Turning back toward the officers, she asked, \u201cCream and sugar? On the house.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ana came into the main part of the bar and joined the three at the table. She laid her green card, driver\u2019s license, and Merovinan passport on the table. \u201cWhat is this about?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAre you sure you want to talk about this here?\u201d the suited man asked. \u201cWe can go somewhere more private\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnything you have to say you can say here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He took a deep breath. \u201cOur embassy in Merovina managed to contact us late last night. We need you to go home.\u201d Before she could raise an objection, he went on. \u201cYour father died two days ago\u2026heart attack. In the absence of the crown princess, Minister Kosolovich has taken over, and is trying to get control of the throne. The people, however, want their rightful heir to return, or at least that\u2019s what the protestors are saying.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe old crow that father wanted me to marry is running the country?\u201d Ana snorted a derisive laugh. \u201cNo wonder it went to hell so fast. As if he could ever be a ruler. He can\u2019t even control his own hands.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWill you consider it?\u201d he asked. \u201cYou wanted democratic reform; this is your chance to make it happen. It would go a long way to relieving tensions in the area. Not to mention, you really should be there for your father\u2019s funeral.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Janice had been standing near the table holding the coffee pot and four cups, her mouth agape. \u201cY\u2014you\u2019re a princess?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ana smiled. \u201cYeah, glamorous, isn\u2019t it?\u201d she asked, flipping the edge of her greasy apron. \u201cJanice, would you be upset if I quit?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAre you shitting me? Of course not! You go home and be the queen!\u201d She laughed, then composed herself. \u201cOh, sorry, here you go, darlin\u2019,\u201d she said as she placed the cups on the table and began pouring coffee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m very sorry, Anastasia\u2026and<\/em> Janice,\u201d the man said, \u201cbut there\u2019s a private jet waiting at Anchorage International. The sooner we get you there, the better. You\u2019ll fly to Dubai, then take a chartered Emirates flight to Merovina. We\u2019d like to avoid making you look like an American puppet.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cWhat about my apartment, and my clothes?\u201d Ana asked. \u201cMy car can go to the scrapyard for all I care, but I can\u2019t very well walk into the palace looking like this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe State Department will take care of your apartment and car, and we\u2019ve loaned you an assistant for a couple weeks. She\u2019ll get you properly clothed, after a shopping trip in Dubai, and prepped to meet the government.\u201d The man smiled. \u201cI think she\u2019ll find her job a lot easier than the ambassadors she usually deals with.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnd am<\/em> I an American puppet, now?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cIf the CIA got to you before we did,\u201d the man said, \u201cyou might have been. The State Department would rather have friendly allies than puppets that need to be kept on a leash.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnd Merovina has no oil, diamonds, or other exploitable materials,\u201d Ana said through a half-scowl. \u201cI should be glad of that, though. Otherwise, we would have been swallowed by the USSR, rather than ignored as insignificant.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After thanking Janice for the coffee, the ICE officers stood up and shook hands with the man and with Ana. \u201cWe\u2019re done here. Good luck, Ana,\u201d the woman said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ana took off her apron and handed it to Janice. \u201cI guess I won\u2019t be needing this any longer. Don\u2019t forget to order limes this week.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBefore you leave,\u201d Janice said, \u201ccome here and take a selfie with me. We had an honest-to-god princess working here!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
#<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The funeral was broadcast world-wide, with Queen Anastasia bidding a tearful final farewell to her father, King Freidrich IX. In the weeks that followed, Merovina faced sweeping reforms. The entire 130-member \u0441\u0431\u043e\u0440\u043a\u0430<\/em> was disbanded, and elections for a new parliament of 200 were held.<\/p>\n\n\n\nSergei Kosolovich and everyone who backed his attempted takeover were forgiven, but the high court banned them from ever holding any political office. Ana\u2019s first impulse had been to have them all imprisoned, but she didn\u2019t want to be yet another Merovinan monarch that dealt with dissent by permanently silencing it. Instead, in her first public address, Ana said, \u201cTreating harshly those who attempted to fill a vacuum would reflect poorly on the new Merovina. As such, the crown will not seek any further charges nor take any further action against them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In that same address, Ana did something few monarchs ever do; she drastically curbed the power of the throne, making her role more ceremonial than political. The newly elected parliament was made up of twelve parties, and more than a little messy, but the newly fledged democracy was finding its feet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe first order of business for the new parliament,\u201d she said, \u201cis to draft a new constitution befitting Merovina. Until it is drafted, passed by the parliament, and meets the approval of a referendum vote, we are still shackled with the old way of doing things. It is my deepest desire that the previous call for election, and the signing of the constitution will be my only actions as queen under the laws that are now more than six centuries old. I look forward to serving as your queen under a new constitution, in a new Merovina.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Closing out her address, Ana smiled brightly for the cameras, and gave a closing line that left Janice beaming. \u201cI have faith in my fellow Merovinans that we can and will<\/em> create a new rule of law based on equity, humanity, and good will for our neighbors. As a dear friend often said to me, \u2018We will do the hard work first, then everything else will seem easy.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"prompt: Write a story about a character who\u2019s secretly nobility. available at Reedsy In a cramped kitchen in a bar in Anchorage, Alaska, a slight, dark-haired woman with pale skin and bright blue eyes sweated …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[208],"tags":[234,210,209],"class_list":["post-2283","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-trunk-stories","tag-contemporary","tag-fiction","tag-short-story"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pxT7i-AP","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2283","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2283"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2283\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2284,"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2283\/revisions\/2284"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2283"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2283"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2283"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}