She was to look for a husband. Instead, she found a King.
-♞-
Princess Mikayla is the only heir in Aurelian who had survived the War of the Four Kingdoms.
After her family was brutally murdered by the other creatures in the realm in the struggle fo...
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Chapter Four
THE DAY YOU TURNED TWENTY-ONE WAS A DAY that most royals dreaded. Especially if you were the heir to the throne. Everything changed in a night.
At 11:59 p.m. you were a princess but when the clock struck twelve, and the bells rang in synchrony across the Kingdom, you were officially a Queen. I couldn't sleep until the bells faded into silence and the cheers outside the castle became nothing. I had laid in bed, staring at the roof of my room where I had gotten it painted with the finest gold to represent the springtime, dainty leaves and roses beautiful painted across the white canvas.
I wasn't thinking about anything in particular, I just listened to my fate being sealed. Throughout Aurelian, everyone knew that their Princess was turning twenty-one today and her coronation was to be held that following morning. Gen told me about the banners and decorations set up as the towns happily prepared for this festivity. It was over fifty years since they had seen a coronation.
The events were as followed: my coronation was in the morning, then that evening, I'd meet rulers and nobles across Elysium. I wasn't looking forward to it; partially because I knew it was truly a meeting to meet any suitors and make alliances. None of my nobles would be honest about it but we all knew what was being said between the lines. The following morning, I'd enter Bazzara, the capital city, to greet my subjects and make them aware of who I was: their Queen.
In my bedroom, as I recited my schedule, every inch was taken up by the tailor, people doing my hair and makeup, and maids scurrying around to meet the demands of those getting me ready. I stood on a circular podium, hands outstretched to the side as they tightened my corset before helping me slip into a beautiful red and gold ball-gown - the colours found on Aurelian's flag.
The gown was made from the finest silk, the sleeves fell off my shoulders, and the material cinched around my waist before cascading down to the ground, trailing behind me. Red mostly dominated the fabric but the elements of gold embroidery enhanced such an exquisite gown, complimenting my gold earrings and the crown that I would bare in a few short hours.
My heart hammered against my chest as people tend to my hair and face; they straightened my russet curls and lightly let it fall to my waist, my makeup was the right amount of glamour, my lips painted red and my eyes adorned gold glitter. I stared at myself in the mirror, soullessly, watching people return colour back to my face, admiring the golden tiara that rested on the top of my head for the very last time, the diamonds glittering in the light.
They whispered among each other; they thought I couldn't hear them, but I could. They questioned my reign, speculated whether I'd be like the last; I wondered that too. There was this gentle knock that broke me out of my daze, my eyes lazily trailing over to large doors which the guards opened a moment later. Grandclain strode in, donning a crimson robe, hands clasped together as he admired me, his eyes broadened faintly, and a slow smile graced his lips before he bowed.
