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THE SETUP IS EXACTLY as it was for Macsen’s coronation, and strangely, as it would have been for Everleigh’s sacrifice as well. The crowd is bigger today, so many visitors from across the Realm, wanting to see if it’s true, if a Kingmaker will become Queen.
Her army bring up the rear, row after row after row of them, hands on swords, ready, just in case.
The dais is raised so everyone can see the royal party as they wait for Everleigh to be named Queen.
Her crown is ready, sitting on a red velvet cushion.
The crowd go mad when she stands facing them, waving her hand, and smiling at them; her subjects. They are cheering and stamping, crying out for their Queen and Kingmaker. Everleigh smiles. Will she always be known as the Kingmaker?
She takes her place next to the teacher, looking out at the people who will serve her, the people she will rule over, and she feels a fizz of excitement in her stomach.
She is going to be Queen.
Addyson sits behind her, much as she did at Macsen’s coronation, that turned into Millard’s coronation and a bloodbath. She was in a daze then, but now she looks like a different child. Della sits next to her on one side and Archer sits on the other. Will sits next to Archer, but Ceryn chooses to stand, hand on her sword.
The teacher stands opposite Everleigh, ready to make her a Queen.
“Ladies and gentlemen of the Realm, esteemed visitors, we are here today to witness the coronation of Everleigh.”
The crowd go wild; all of them cheering, women weeping and children clapping.
“She will be Queen of the Realm, her dominions and all of her possessions. She will rule with a true soul and an honest heart, a fair countenance and a just disposition.”
The teacher says the words that form the binding ceremony of the coronation loudly and clearly, and the crowd are hanging on his every word.
He holds up the crown. “This crown symbolises the power and the magic that runs through your veins and no man may usurp the rightful Queen.”
He places the crown on Everleigh’s head and chants in a strange tongue.
Then he takes her hand and raises it up with his own. “Long live the Queen!”
The cry is taken up by the crowd and the cheering is deafening.
One by one every man, woman and child lower themselves into a bow or a curtsey for their new Queen.
Everleigh cannot stop grinning, this is what she’s waited for, been dreaming about since Halfreda told her she might live, since she made the river rise.
She is Queen.
There is a flurry of activity as the musicians start to play and the crowd start to dance and Archer stands up to take Everleigh’s hand.
A garbled shout of fury has them both spinning around to see Wolf, bloody and bleeding, clutching his stomach, a balled-up wad of material pressed into his wound, tied around with bandages. His gait is unsteady, but the dagger he holds is surprisingly stable.
Archer pushes Everleigh behind him and reaches for his weapon. Ceryn is right beside him, her hand on her sword, confusion in her eyes. “How did he survive?”
Before Archer can answer her, or before they can take another step, Addyson leaps out of her seat, picks up her chair and slams Wolf across the back of the head. He drops to the floor, and Ceryn and Archer, both laughing at her bravery, set their swords on him.
“Addyson!” Everleigh shakes her head. “What were you thinking?”
“That he locked me up before and I wasn’t going to let him do it again. And I didn’t want him to spoil your special day.”
“Well, thank you, little sister.”
Everleigh takes her sister’s hand and together they face the crowd.
The Queen of the Realm, her adored sister, the cursed princess, and her knight, Archer.
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THE END
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