A Night Without Stars | ✗

2

Long May She Reign

All the bells of Rozendale ring for me in a loud, clanging chorus, blasting to the stunned Rozenians that I am now Queen. They have not yet recovered from the shocking death of their previous rulers, and the reverberating bells also stun them. They are my symbolic coronation, and some will argue my true one. Rozendale is widely abused for its love of sentiment. The official, legal crowning will involve lengthy ceremonies and stately processions through the streets, and that will provide a good show, but it is not the bells. I wonder if, somewhere, bells are tolling for James Kobren as well.

Already this split between sections has forced us to lay aside certain traditions. Usually, the heir of Rozendale is instated to the throne in Pueria, the capital. Unfortunately, Peuria is up north, in Kobren's hands. It would be suicide to travel there, with the current mood. We must settle for holding my coronation where we are.

Luchran has never had to deal with a Princess becoming Queen in the confines of her sleepy little town. There is a general scramble to make the needed preparations. Dane tries to draw me in, to involve me. He wants me to remake my rule. He is so set on change, he even dared to suggest altering Rozendale's symbol, a lion standing over a lamb. This proposal met with scandalized looks. I don't know what has possessed him lately.

No, I do know. Grief.

Marland has an entirely different agenda. He wants to keep everything the same. He wants to show that I respect tradition. If I keep the appearance of a Queen, against Kobren's radical motions, I am showing that I am a Rozendale ruler and he is nothing but a radical revolutionary with unprecedented ideas. Marland wants to place a crown upon my head as soon as he can arrange it. He wants to convince Rozenians I am Queen before they can be exposed to any propaganda attempting to sway them into any other opinion. I leave him to this. It is his job anyway, and I am grateful for the slight reprieve to control my emotions.

Even in his hurry, Marland spares no expense in planning the week of celebrations that accompany a coronation. He is determined to put on a lush, magnificent show to reinforce the image of a strong monarchy. I know that this is all essential to his plan, but at times I worry. Our coffers are not as full as I had previously been led to believe. This trouble in the North has diminished the Royal family's income dramatically. We are still plentiful, but not extravagant.

When I address these concerns, Marland merely looks at me with his unfathomable eyes and repeats his motives for expending so much money upon the coronation ceremony. I believe he knows best, but I am still anxious. I suppose that this going to be my mood for the rest of my life. Ruling is stressful. Both my parents had been handsome and beautiful, but long years of fretting over every decision had carved lines into their faces, whitened their hair, and deprived them of their spirit.

Rozendale is worth the loss of good looks, I think. However hard this will be though, I would rather carry it alone than share the burden with that awful Count of Rathbourne. Somehow I doubt this desire will be gratified. We need supporters in the North, and as much as I absolutely detest the fact, Rathbourne is a powerful man there. He practically owns large sections of the northeast. Marrying him would be like marrying a foreign prince to form an alliance. I need an alliance with the north before these stirrings of unrest spiral out of control.

I don't speak of these things to anyone, but ruminate on them in the privacy of my mind. I do not even tell Madeleine, but she knows that I keep something from her. She says nothing, though, but her eyes speak for her. As I knew it would, my changed status has dampened our relationship. She must be even more distant from me than before. In anticipation of this event, I should have valued the freer moments I spent with my ladies. As restricted as I was from being truly close to them, I was still allowed to do more than I am now.