Hardly a Lady

XVIII

3 months later

As was customary, Helixonia observed 3 months of mourning for Kings Magnys. Each morning for three months, the bells of the Onyx in the city rang out, reminding the people of the dead king, as if they could ever forget. All over the city, dress shops suddenly became filled overnight with black gowns, gloves, doublets, breeches, hats, capes and any garment of clothing you could imagine, and people flocked to buy them. Giselle herself - as a member of the royal family and the new Queen - was expected to wear black for the entire 3 months, and so as soon she was recovered enough to return to court following Edward's birth, her chambers were full of seamstresses and tailors brought in to create a new wardrobe worthy of a Queen. Not only did she have an abundance of new black dresses, but the King commissioned gowns in all manners of beautiful, luxurious fabrics for his Queen, along with all of the royal jewels that were passed to her by the Queen Dowager plus a few new pieces of jewellery from the King, several pairs of shoes and head-dresses, capes, cloaks, gloves, petticoats, corsets, stockings and farthingale's. Giselle had never owned so many clothes in all her life, but it frustrated her a little that until the mourning period was up, they remained in the royal wardrobe, never seeing the light of day.

King Magnys' funeral occurred 2 weeks after his death; although she was obligated to attend, Giselle took the decision to leave Elienna, Thea and Edward back at the palace in the care of her ladies, all three of them being far too young to understand what was happening. She hated the thought of leaving Edward so soon, but the Prince was already strong and healthy, stretching longer than either of his sisters had. He would be tall, like his father, Giselle thought with pride each time she admired her son.

Giselle and Will had attended the funeral together, along with the rest of the royal family, and it had been an awfully extravagant affair. Giselle hadn't attended a funeral since her mother's when she was a girl, but the two were nothing alike; whereas Lady Thea's funeral had been small, quiet and full of emotion, King Magnys' was grand and expensive, his coffin was drapped in golden cloth worth so much it could feed an entire village for a month, everywhere there were flowers and wreaths, and the 300 guests had all dressed in their finest black mourning clothes. At Giselle's mother's funeral, only she, her father and their servants had attended.

The old King was interred in a grand tomb along with his ancestors, and it was from this point that their three months of mourning began. The only joyful moment came with Edward's Onyxination. Since it was considered unlucky to leave a child's Onyxination longer than a month, Edward's Onyxination was planned for the week after the funeral, and it truly was marvellous. Will had ordered no expense to be spared for this presentation of his son into the world; Edward was dressed in the ceremonial robes that all future heirs to the throne were Onyxinated in and guests flocked from far and wide to see the Onyx accept the new heir. Will proudly displayed Giselle's son for all of them to see, and Giselle herself stood protectively close to her baby, fearful that Will may drop him in between waves. Nevertheless, everybody else seemed to enjoy the day and this momentary reprieve from mourning, but as soon as the bells chimed midnight the day of celebration was over, and everybody returned to black.

Will quickly settled into his new role as King, despite not yet having been officially crowned. Giselle often attended meetings with her husband, watching as members of the court and the public came forward to offer their grievances to the new King, and listening to Will's judgment on certain matters. Occasionally the Queen would offer advice of her own, being much more sympathetic to the common people and the worries that plagued them than her husband. Giselle quickly created a reputation for herself as being wise, gentle and good, a reputation which spread like fire throughout Samarus and then the rest of Helixonia. No doubt her father and Adela had heard the news by now, Giselle thought to herself as she sat upon her throne, looking out at all of her loving subjects. She couldn't wait for her father and step-mother to see the might of the Queen for themselves.