The Lost Knight (Volume I)

Chapter 23: The Queen

The swirl of noise and color pulsing through my body is making my heart beat erratically. I pray the ear-splitting roar is the ground cracking open so it can swallow me whole. Run! my brain screams, but I'm frozen like a statue. Hopefully the frenzied crowd won't notice me if I sit still enough.

Is this a parade? Can you have a parade with only one vehicle? There's a band playing and people are dancing in the street. It's definitely some kind of block party. Is this for me?

Little pointy people are flooding the street, shoving at each other to get a closer look at the carriage. They're not tiny like Santa's helpers, but they're small, like jockeys. They're dressed in overly elegant attire that doesn't match their rowdy behavior, but does highlight my dirt and remind me that I'm still in the black sweater and jeans I've been wearing for longer then I care to remember. I'm dirty and smelly, and I haven't combed my hair in over a week. Worse, I'm being compared to the beautiful Dathid and elegant Albína.

I close my mouth and plaster on a smile. Although my eyes betray me, I'll pretend to enjoy their admiration with some meek waves. The happy faces of the villagers passing by makes my stomach knot, so I turn my attention to the colorful architecture. I'm surprised that the village is inside the castle's walls, but then again, I don't know much about castles. Everywhere my gaze travels there are flowers, streamers and wreaths covering every surface. This can't all be for us. I want to ask Albína if elves normally decorate this way, but she wouldn't be able to hear me over the music and cheering.

We slowly progress through streets clogged with celebrating elves and eventually make it to the castle steps. I want to study the colossal building, but I don't want my admirers to think I'm being rude by ignoring them. I wave continually and count twelve towers before I get distracted by the massive gargoyle statues that are tucked into various nooks along the enormous jade-colored walls. I want to study the exquisite artistry longer, but Albína stops the carriage and everyone hops out.

Jonah smiles down at me. "Did you enjoy that?"

I half-heartedly smile back and am about to tell him how I really feel, but he turns away before I can answer. "Are you ready for this?" he asks Dathid.

Dathid's teeth grind together and he takes a deep, unsteady breath. "I knew this was part of it, so let's get it over with."

"What are we getting over?" I whisper to Jonah's back.

He doesn't have time to answer because a dark-haired elf, who's only slightly taller than I am, is charging down the stairs. His ultramarine blazer and lightly ruffled melon shirt are conservative by the elfin standards I've witnessed so far.

"Hello! Hello!" the strange little man shouts. When he reaches the bottom step, he collects his dignity and says formally, "I apologize for my tardiness. Cypus Turehart, at your service. It is truly a pleasure, Sir Agatha." He says this last part to my feet because his bow is so grand, his upper body bends parallel to the floor.

I think Sir is a title. And I think it's for men. Does this guy think I'm a boy? Albína's curtsy was amusing, but the bowing and the waving, and especially the cheering grates on my nerves. I've been invisible my entire life and now everyone is staring at me. I wish they would've warned me about the parade because I'm still so rattled from that ordeal that I may vomit on Turehart's shiny red boots.

I jump when Mr. Turehart rises with a clap of his hands, but no one notices me because he's already bowing to Dathid, who looks mad, uncomfortable, and bored, all at the same time. This bow is quicker than the one I got and when it's over, the elf gracefully leaps and spins in the air. "Her Majesty is waiting. Follow me."