Erika’s Reviews > To Catch a Queen > Status Update

“So you’ll be around?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

“Good.”

That single word was enough to make her warm with hope, no matter how chilly the morning was.

“If you believe you won that crown fairly enough that it and the Realm will accept your rule, feel free to put it on,” Sophie said, still with that honeyed tone that implied she was seriously pissed-off, but was too much of a Southern belle to let it show. The “bless your heart” was implied.

^ maybe Nana will stay in the Realm to keep an eye on the land?

Eventually, Nana’s eyes came back into focus. It might have been Sophie’s imagination, but she was pretty sure she looked even younger. Her hair was darker and redder, almost Emily’s color, her eyes were brighter, her skin smoother, and her posture straighter. Sophie had never realized that her grandmother was actually taller than she was. “Your majesty,” she said with a smile, dipping a slight curtsy.

“Oh, you’re a plain-spoken lady, I see,” he said with a patronizing smile that made her want to introduce his teeth to her toes. Too bad she’d already taken off her pointe shoes.

“And you’re clearly an aspiring politician.”

^ *thinking of DJT*

But, strangely, Sophie felt utterly confident that she could prevail, with Nana’s help. She knew in her heart that she was meant to have this throne. In the real world, that wouldn’t mean much. Unworthy people were always inheriting or being elected to positions of power. But the Realm was the setting of fairy tales, the place where good won, evil was vanquished, and the most worthy would always win the crown.

All the riders and horses were transformed to match their leader. The dogs became sleek hounds that looked much healthier and less mean. They approached Beau and went through the universal canine sniffing ritual, then Beau turned back to Sophie, seemingly reporting that the dogs were on board with the changes, too. “There, that’s better,” Sophie said with some satisfaction.

^ hahaha what.

“This is what you could be if you served me. Or, rather, if you chose to offer your arms in my service.”

He couldn’t see himself well, but she could already tell he was carrying himself differently, and the other members of the Hunt were looking at him the way women side-eyed another woman who’d just had a spectacular makeover.