The Flower Crown Princess

Part 30

"My people, I come to you with the most broken of hearts as I deliver this news."

I stand on the castle gatehouse, dressed in black from headscarf to slippers. I am shaking and terrified. What if the scores of people before me don't believe my story? What if they see what's really going on?

"King Finen and Queen Maridi are dead of a sudden illness. It swept through the castle a few days ago, a mysterious disease that killed within hours. There was nothing the doctors could have done." I let my voice shake, let a few tears slide down my cheeks. I've convinced myself, can I convince others? "Prince Diormanc could not be located. We did, however, find his coat in the wilderness and he is believed dead. It is a great tragedy upon our nation; a tragedy that will never be forgotten. And so, it is my solemn duty, as I come here before you, my people, to become the reigning queen. I would like to swear fealty to you, and not you to me, because I believe in you, the people, and the wonderful things you are capable of. We can make this kingdom prosperous and continue the rebuilding left by my beloved brother. I promise, before the heavens above and the earth below, that I will not go back on our cause, and if I do so, so help me God."

The great audience cheers. I've meant every promise I wrote into that speech (even if I did write it very late last night), just not in the way that Nolan intended it to be.

I am crowned right there, the heavy gold weight upon my black headscarf new and strange. The people cheer again, genuinely, and I turn to them.

"Long live the queen! Long live the queen!"

The words do not feel as though they should be meant for me.

But they are.

It feels wrong to be standing, arrayed in gold, as the queen, when my brother sits in a hiding place. I feel as though I'm robbing him of his rightful title. I am.

I walk back to my room. There will be no coronation ball for me, under the pretext of the illness that "killed the king and queen" but I wouldn't have had one anyway. I might have broken down.

The passage opens behind a portrait of a gold- arrayed couple. I walk quickly down it, rushing to my brother. I know the way to the room- the same that I last met Nolan in- and my footsteps echo in the narrow passage as I go. 

I unlock the door and throw myself at my brother, Maridi pacing beside him angrily and Diormanc sleeping in the corner. "I am so, so sorry, Finen," I sob in a whisper, burying my face in his shoulder. His arms work around me tightly. "I don't want this. I never did." 

"I know," he replies equally quietly. "But I trust you, Nivh, and I know that my kingdom will be returned to me. And," he lifts my chin so we are eye to eye- "as much as I hate the idea of you reigning while I live, I know that you'll do what's right."

*****

"How is being queen treating you?"

I stand on my private balcony, watching the sunrise, as Asdagh walks up. 

"It's been two days."

"You can tell a lot from just two days, Nivh." He settles next to me, leaning over the edge and looking at the mountainous horizon far away. "What's it been like so far, my queen?"

"Well, politically I'm higher up than you are, so that's nice."

"Hey!"

I laugh. "I have a people to protect and care for and the leader of a traitorous rebel group wrapped around my finger. People look to me for everything and I have this enourmous responsibility left on my shoulders to bear almost completely alone." I turn to him. "I love it. I feel more important now than I did as just the princess, even if I was sister to the king."

"There's something else."

I nod and sigh, tracing a finger absentmindedly on the stone railing. "I wish my family wasn't locked up in a secret room. Eventually they're going to have to die. Whether or not that happens before I can complete my mission is unknown."

*****

"Nivh. I must speak with you at once."

I jump at Nolan's words. "Of course, but you really can't barge into my rooms without knocking, at least," I say irritably, putting away my pen. My hand cramps from having been writing an agenda for so long. "I have a council meeting in ten minutes, though, so it's best if you would hurry."

"I'll say this quickly then. I want you to appoint an ambassador to the common peoples."

"A representative?" It's a good idea... what are his motives?

"Yes, a representative of the common peoples. And, what's more, I want it to be Kell."

My hands stop for a moment in putting on my gloves and my heart skips a beat. "Kell? The coachman?"

"Yes."

I stretch my fingers and push the gloves on so they fit properly. "May I ask your motives?"

"I'm your leader. You don't have the authority to." 

Just in time, I think that bringing up my newfound position may not be a wise idea. "Of course. I'll have to put it to a vote, of course, but I will try my hardest."

"Good." He smiles in an expression of a strange feeling: it is not joy, nor cruelty, nor mirth. It is something else, like he has a plan but does not want me to know. He does not trust me with it.

That knowledge hurts a little, knowing that Nolan does not fully trust me but it is understandable. What worries me more is that he might suspect me.

"You don't want to be late for your meeting, do you?"

"Of course not," I reply, straightening the court robes on my shoulder and walking out. 

"You will see it done?"

"Certainly."

I don't really have a choice, do I? 

*****

"Kell, do you accept the position?"

His brown eyes flicker to me before answering the appointer. "Yes." 

So it is official. I have to tread carefully now around Nolan. I'm walking almost completely in the dark, and the dark is a good place to hide dark things.