She was a soldier and the long lost Queen of an underwater world.
When her war is finally over and she is crowned Queen she tasks herself with the mission of creating allies with the people her great grandparents turned away from. Her people didn't...
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(this is my absolute favorite chapter)
Delphine wondered how much more of this she could take. The smiling, the hugging, the handshaking, all of this to put on a front.
"DELPHINE!" A familiar voice echoed across the tile. Delphine turned to face the woman. She had two braids on either side of her face. The top half of her hair was twisted back into an intricately braided bun and the bottom half was let free in waves of pink. In the bun was a pink seashell and fastened over her blue sheer dress was another pink seashell, Delphine recognized them to be the shells she was given when chosen to be an adviser. Under the sheer dress was a champagne pink dress. There were a few moments when Delphine saw Lake all formally dressed. In fact this was only the second time.
Taking her in for a moment and in the seconds it took for Lake to hug Delphine, she prepared herself for the physical interaction.
Still that wasn't enough as she flinched. Lake's fingers too closely to her own neck for comfort.
Lake noticed this immediately, she pulled back her hands resting on Delphine's shoulders. Her eyes connected with hers. Noah and Oliver turned to William who now couldn't bear to look at Delphine.
"What's wrong?" Lake asked sternly, but before Delphine could deny, the doors opened.
"I present Queen Delphine of Atlantia and her advisers, Lady Lake, Sir Oliver, Sir Noah, and Sir William to the altar," Queen Historia announced.
Lake sighed she knew she couldn't demand an answer so for now she moved to Delphine's side.
"Your highness," William took her other side, gesturing for the opened doors.
Delphine kicked her dress from under feet, her fingers clasped in front of her and her posture straight as she began walking. Everyone else was standing as Delphine officially entered the throne room. She looked at no one almost dissociating herself from the walk. It kept her nerves calm and her eyes blank.
Levi sucked in a breath as Delphine passed him. He'd never seen her so regal... and so
empty.
This can't just be because of our loss. In the end, we won... he thought to himself, this is something different. Something else must have happened. But what? Levi watched the advisers. Lake, Noah, and Oliver seemed fine... but William. His expression was different from the usual, in fact, he looked forlorn.
Delphine's advisers took the first empty row, except William who stood behind Queen Delphine on the wall. Queen Historia bowed to Queen Delphine and in seconds they were now standing side by side. You could see the differences but also the similarities. Both queens stood straight at the same height, but that's where the comparison stopped.
Queen Historia was wearing a white gown, the top littered in gold flowers and pearls. The dress covered her from her shoulders to her feet. The sleeves ran down her arms before flaring at her wrists. Over the gown was a cape covered in gold flowers. Levi couldn't tell what shoes she was wearing. He assumed they were either sandals or boots.
