Page 1 of Her Royal Rebellion

1

Isla

I caught Serena checking the time again and fought to keep a smirk off my face. My soon to be sister-in-law wasn’t accustomed to how these meetings ran quite yet. She had done it all in the past. Finding the grant or donations, working with the local government for approval, gathering the team of volunteers, and physically aiding in the building of the schools and hospitals. The poor thing hadn’t adjusted to how things worked in the palace. I had more resources and a greater reach that I was now offering to her, but it came at a cost. Namely, bureaucracy.

She used to be able to find the need and work at actually fixing it within months. Things took longer here. We had to get approval from what felt like every department of the government. Even as a princess, I had to go through the proper procedures and channels to get approval for my philanthropic efforts.

“We’ve received permission from the Malawian government to proceed with the plans for the school, but we’re waiting to hear back from the treasury on the funds request,” said Daniel, the government’s head of International Development. He and I had worked closely together for the past seven years.

While I was the royal representative and public head of philanthropy and international aid, he was the one in the background making it all come together. He and Serena would be working closely together as well, but she had to forfeit some of her control if they were ever going to accomplish anything. They were like two wolverines circling each other, silently challenging each other for dominance.

“How long is that going to take? I want to break ground before the holidays.” Serena was using her boss lady voice, which I recognized from the times she pushed for what she wanted. She was sweet, kind, and patient most of the time, but she was someone entirely different in these meetings.

“They have two weeks to review,” Daniel’s voice was tight. He’d told her this nearly every meeting, but Serena didn’t like the answer.

“Can’t we push it up?”

He leveled her with a look one might receive from an overworked teacher. “No, the treasury must review and approve or reject everything. Not just your projects, miss.”

Serena crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair. She glanced at me, and I gave her a sympathetic smile. The same one I gave Daniel a few minutes before. Being caught in the middle wasn’t my favorite thing, but I was used to it. I was the peace keeper. The level headed one that brought people together and helped them see the other side of things. Usually with my brothers, but the more responsibility I took on, the more I found myself in this position.

“Thank you, Daniel.” I decided it was time to change the subject. “Did you hear back from the suppliers? We want to use local resources and business as much as possible, but I haven’t received any responses.”

“Only one so far. I’ve reached out to our contact within the government to see if they have better luck. If we don’t hear back soon, we’ll have to make other arrangements.”

“Absolutely not.” Serena interrupted. “We’ll only be using locals. That’s the whole point.”

Daniel shot me an exasperated look. “We can’t build a school without materials and workers. We simply cannot fly down there with our team and hope for the best. We will have to get them from somewhere else.”

Serena sighed. “I’ll fly down there and talk to them in person. I’ve had to do it before.”

Daniel opened his mouth, but I leaned forward and placed my hand on her arm. “That isn’t a practical option anymore.”

Her brows furrowed. “Why not? I’m not technically a royal yet.”

“No, but you will be very soon. You’re no longer a regular woman that can travel alone or go anywhere without being noticed.”

“Cian said I would still be allowed to travel.”

I nodded, fighting to remain calm even though we’d had this discussion before. “You can, but it requires weeks, if not months, of planning. You can’t simply pack a bag and fly to Malawi alone.”

She pursed her lips and seemed to resign. I wasn’t sure how many more times we’d have to go through this before she accepted it. She knew the cost of accepting my brother’s proposal. She was the future queen, but it felt like she was fighting each step along the way.

“We’ll keep trying to reach out to them.” I shared a pleading look with Daniel, and he agreed. “But in the meantime, we can think about the remodel at Taramore’s children’s hospital. It’s coming up after Independence Day and we still need to decide on a theme.”

She lit up at the new subject. “I was thinking we could do a jungle this time, with lots of animals and some swings and slides in the playroom.”

I smiled. “That sounds perfect.” I wrote down a few notes and glanced over my shoulder to my assistant, Carolyn. She tapped her watch and I nodded.

“Thanks for all of your work today. Daniel, please keep me updated. Serena, enjoy training.”

She groaned. My parents were adamant she went through the same training I had with a special operations team from the army. For two weeks, she’d go through combat training and various attack and kidnapping scenarios. It was grueling and eye-opening. I just hoped she took it seriously and came back with a genuine understanding of what was at stake. Maybe then she’d stop asking to travel to foreign countries alone.

“Now if you’ll excuse me. I have another meeting.” I stood and straightened my cream, tweed skirt before walking toward the door with Carolyn behind me. I read through a few new emails on my way through the hall to my office. The only sound was the crisp clacking of our heels on the marble.

“Your father has requested to speak to you before your conference call with the Red Cross.”

I paused and looked up from my phone. “Why?”