A Princess For Christmas (Of The Dreams We Seek)

Seventeen

Avni walked down the stairs with Philip closely following her. At the end of the Stairs Callahan and Serafina were waiting for her there. She looked away slightly. "You look beautiful Princess, now let us take you to the coronation ceremony." Callahan said. 

He laid them to the court, which was decorated in the national colors Red, white and yellow. And there were lilies everywhere. As the Queen entered everyone raised from their seats. Followed by Callahan and Seraphina who took their place next to their mother. 

Next was Avni accompanied by Philip. "Rise for your Princess." The Queen said addressing the court. They stood up as Avni walked gracefully towards the throne where everyone was standing. "Kneel" The Queen said. Avni knelt before them.

 "Do you swear to protect the dignity of this Kingdom, to uphold the laws, to be just, and to preserve the glorious past of this Kingdom? Do you swear to treat people equally, and to lead your subjects into a bright future?" Prince Callahan repeated remembering the day he was crowned as a Prince. It seems like it was ages ago. 

Ten years have passed since then, his grandmother was alive then, if she was now alive, they couldn't have brought Avni into this picture. "I swear" Her voice brought him into present. "Then by the power vested in me by the Kingdom of WinterDell, I dub thee as Princess Avni of WinterDell." The Queen said placing the ceremonial staff into her hand.

 And then she placed the crown over her head. "Rise Princess Avni, welcome to the Royal family, may you be a just ruler" She smiled turning around to face other people around her.

"This was my first crown, I ever received. But the jewels were old so I had them replaced with Sapphires, it looks better on you then Diamonds it used to have." The Queen said. "Thank you, Mam, for doing this." Avni politely said.

 "Call me Grace. And you do not have to wear the crown always, I have some light ones arranged for you, that are travel friendly." She nodded. "Avni, now we both are Princesses, how cool is that" They were in garden currently as Queen introduced her to various people in the court. Most were nice to her. And very polite. But when they came to the last person to visit for the day, he wasn't happy at all.

 "Princess Avni, this is the Prime Minister, head of the Ministry of the court Louie and his daughter Margret." Margret bowed quietly "Your highness, may I say you are looking exquisite today." The Prime Minister said to the queen. Before he can take her hand, she pulled it back. "Thank you Minister that you are finally coming in terms with all this and decided to attend the coronation of our Princess." Margret chuckled. "Did I say something funny dear?" Nothing was friendly about queen's tone.

 "It is funny how you are treating her as a royal when she is not born royal, and the other royal families other than yours are treated like trash. You call it justice? Are you a just queen? Treating a commoner like a Princess? And trashing other families over it?" Avni have enough of it, but she reminded herself that she is a princess now, being hasty was not a way. 

"Lady Margret, the thing is if you were the one desirable for this crown, you would have dubbed as a Princess, not a commoner like me. Although it might offend you but I have to say this, you may become a princess because of your family. But for a commoner like me, it is always hard work and the way you can connect to your people is the real definition of if you are trying to be a princess." Margret didn't took the insult well. 

"You are right, you know nothing about royals, or the life a royal have to live, the training they have to go through, the things they have to do to become the perfectionist they have to in order to rule. It is not just people skill that is important, I can speak five different languages, I can play piano, I have a college degree, and I am an excellent negotiator. You have nothing, you haven't even gotten through college yet." Avni only can smile at her.

"No but she is right, being a princess means not only to look pretty or have pretty skills, but to use those in order to benefit the ones who need your help." The answer came from a very unlikely person. Callahan was hoping to get some moments alone with the new princess but no such luck, because people are swarming in on her to talk to her all the day. 

He hardly have any time to spend with her and now she is surrounded by some people who hate her. He cannot let anyone shun her down for anything. "Callahan, I didn't knew you had changed your opinion towards the peasant" Callahan looked at Margret with angry eyes. "You..." Avni held his hand and everyone around him gasped.

 They very well aware of his temper and that no one in the entire kingdom can stand up to that not even his own mother. He took her hand off him held it in his lacing their fingers. Avni shook her head. He closes his eyes taking a deep breath. 

"It is Your highness or Prince Callahan, also it is Princess, or your highness she is my family, and I cannot let you insult my family, as a royal crown prince I order you to apologize to Princess Avni at once. You have insulted her for no reason. And that is Margret is unacceptable." Callahan said. "No, Callahan it is alright" Avni said. 

"It is not alright Avni, you are a Princess, and nobody have a right to insult their superior for no reason. I will not allow it, not for anything. It is your right as a member of the royal family to get the same respect as all of us" Callahan turned around and looked at Margret again. "I told you something, apologize now." Margret's father nudged her. And she looked at her father angrily. 

"I apologize Princess, this will never happen again, I promise." She said. "It better not Margret or you or your father can lose their position in the royal court." The Queen said. Then she turned to Callahan. "Son why don't you show Avni what she will be doing." Callahan nodded and told Avni to follow him.

"That was intense, is she always this jealous and mad?" Callahan gave her a small smile. "no Princess, it is you who makes her this way. She seems to grew much crueller than before. And something tells me, her apology was just on the surface." Avni said nothing but keep following him. 

She let him lead her somewhere, she doesn't know where. And when she fall behind He held her hand and followed in her steps there is complete peaceful silence between the two of them. And then he took her to the lake. But to her surprise it wasn't frozen at all. The stone walkway laid to the lake was shovelled and de-iced to perfection. He sat down on the bench and she followed his que. 

"This is one of my favorite places to be around the castle" Callahan said. "I love coming here when I am doing nothing, or I want to think, or write a letter, sometime when no one is looking I bring out my supplies to paint a pretty sunset." He looked nostalgic. "You are sharing your secret spot with me?" Avni was surprised. 

"Yes, I am sharing it with you Princess, perhaps this had become too lonely for me from a while now. Even though my father told me once, the path of a Monarch is always a lonely one, he cannot have time for his own wishes, or creating a life for himself. He must devote himself fully for his subjects. And I believed him. I still do. That is why most of my life I have opted for the things that only required me and no one else. But now..." He looked at Avni and paused. 

"Now?" She asked whispering. "Nothing, Princess, so are you liking our hospitality?" He asked. "Depends on why are you doing this, is it a return gift? Or it is something different?" He gave an innocent smile. Still trying to get the right answer out of Avni. And then he asked in very thoughtful tone 

"So, if I gave you the right answer are you going to marry me Princess?" Avni laughed at that and replied in a very whimsical manner "I may my not so charming Prince, if you manage to deduce the correct meaning of my words" And that made him smile too rather too in a charming way. 

Word Count: 1500 Words