The Hathway Kingdom (Book 2)

Eight.

~Eight. ~

"My sincerest condolences, Your Majesty. Your Uncle was good and kind," one of the lords of the court said to her as he bowed to her before stepping away from the throne in which Larissa sat. It was large enough for two people to sit on, the King and the Queen, but only she sat in it at present. She gave the lord a polite smile as he moved away before she leant towards the Professor who was standing off to her right and he inched closer ever so slightly.

"How many more of these are there?" she asked him, and he chuckled before he stood up straight and responded.

"There are...Twenty-five members of the Royal court, Your Majesty, and you have received condolences from...Fourteen of them so far," he replied, and Larissa groaned as she leant back into the throne, closing her eyes as she sighed.

"Great..." she said in a quiet voice as she sighed again, shaking her head.

"That is only the Royal court members, Your Majesty. There are still the foreign dignitaries as well as the members of the Royal families that have come to pay their respects," he went on to say and Larissa bit back another groan as another member of the court stepped up to give their respects.

The condolences continued for another hour before Larissa was given a brief reprieve. She closed her eyes and leant back in her throne before she moved forward slightly, resting her head in her hands and her elbows on her knees. She sighed heavily as she lifted her head as Elissa approached with her drink. She sat up and accepted it as Elissa held it out to her before she drank deeply from it. Hearing more footsteps coming towards her, lowering her cup from her lips. She relaxed when she saw that it was Romulus and Lizbeth and she moved over to allow him to sit beside her on her throne now.

"How are you feeling?" he asked her gently as he took her hand in his and gave it a gentle squeeze.

"I've been better," she said softly as she squeezed his hand in return. Romulus then hid their clasped hands in the skirt of Larissa's dress, and he watched her as she took another sip of her drink. After a while, the rest of the people who had gathered within the throne room began to come up again and the next round of condolences began.

Several more hours went by and Larissa found herself eventually freed of people coming up to her to offer her their sympathies and condolences. Romulus had stayed with her as the next lot had begun and he was now talking to Tristan and the Professor and Lizbeth was now engaged in a rather animated conversation with Elissa when she had come back with a second drink for Larissa. Larissa smiled as she watched them, taking a long drink from her glass of wine.

"Your Majesty?" she heard a voice say and she froze as she recognised who it belonged to. She turned slowly to look at Isidore's father as he stood before her, giving her a sympathetic smile.

"King Methodios..." she said in as calm a voice as she could manage, and she felt Romulus stiffen beside her before he turned towards the King as well. The two conversations happening on either side of her came to a stop and her grip on Romulus' hand tightening slightly.

"My deepest condolences, Your Majesty. Your Uncle was a dear friend of mine. I was sad to hear of his passing," he said as he bowed to her. She felt Romulus go to get up, but she moved her hand from his and subtly placed it on his arm to stop him.

"I thank you, Your Majesty. My Uncle thought of you in the same way, I assure you," she said as she sat up straight, watching him carefully and doing her best to appear calm even as her heart was beating frantically in her chest.