Hardly a Lady

XXII

Two weeks had passed since the coronation, and very quickly Will and Giselle had fallen into a routine of their royal duties.

Every morning, Giselle would rise just before dawn, she would sit and wash herself in a warm bath as she looked out of the large window of her bedchamber and watched the sun rise and the ships come in and out of the harbour below, and then when the water had begun to cool she would emerge from the bath and dry herself off. Then, dressed in a silk bathrobe she would sit at the large bay window and peacefully read a book for an hour or so until her ladies returned to break her serenity.

Then, her ladies would help her to dress in one of the many fine gowns that as Queen she had in her expansive wardrobe, they would style her hair, bring her jewels to adorn her head, fingers, neck, ears and wrists with, and then she would proceed to the nursery to wake her children.

Giselle liked nothing better than those quiet hours before she had to dress and become the Queen, the wife and the mother. Although she adored her children with all her heart, and she knew that in her role as Queen she had the power to help a lot of people, Giselle couldn't help but find her life immensely exhausting, and so she relished the moments when she was able to put the crown and the toys aside, and simply be Giselle once more.

She had always felt more like herself in the moments she had been able to steal with Ash, but now that he no longer served her and his replacement - the stern Captain Basilos who reminded her too much of her father for her liking - had taken his place, the moments in which she could be herself became few and far between.

And so when she could merely watch the golden sun creep up over the horizon, admire the ships sailing in and out of the harbour and dream of the far off places to which they were sailing, Giselle felt - for a short while anyway - like nobody, and those who know what it is to be somebody, will appreciate the luxury that can be found in - just for a moment - being nobody.

After she had entered the nursery, Giselle would first go to Elienna's room, and she would admire her beautiful, golden-haired oldest daughter as she slept, watching as her little chest rose and fall, and her angelic face would be relaxed and free in sleep from the expectations which - as the eldest child - had been upon her shoulders from the moment of her birth. Before long, Elienna would sense her mother's presence and would awaken, and as her eyes focused upon Giselle, a loving smile would appear on the little girl's face, and she would clamber out of her bed and into her mother's arms.

Giselle would sit with Elienna for a few moments, enjoying her daughter's embrace and uninhibited love, and then the two of them would progress hand in hand to Thea's room.

Giselle's younger daughter would often be awake by the time her mother and older sister arrived, waiting eagerly for their arrival, and Thea would wait patiently for Elienna to climb into her bed beside her and for her mother to kiss her dark curls - so like her own. Giselle would leave her two girls for a moment, chattering in that childish language which only other children and mothers seem to understand, and would go to Edward's crib.

Her darling boy would most often be asleep, and as Giselle tenderly lifted him up into her arms, his eyes would open and he would smile up at his mother, whom he loved with all his heart. Giselle would kiss his tiny little nose, and then return to Thea's room, where she would too lie down between her two girls, and the four of them would lie in each other's embrace for a few blissful moments.

The few minutes in which her children could remain still and peaceful at her side were always sheer bliss. Giselle took immense pleasure in the feeling of those three small bodies curled up beside her, each of them a part of her and each of them possessing her undying love. She always found herself wishing that it could last just a moment longer, or that she could embrace her children without each of them feeling the weight of their invisible tiaras and crowns upon their small heads.