The streets are once again lined with people who look as if they’ve camped out here from all hours to see their King and Queen. To wave the flag of their county and cheer and celebrate. When we arrive at the abbey it’s packed with even more onlookers than it was the day of our wedding. I gasp at the sight of everyone here to watch us in one way or another.
Inside, I know is filled with people from around the world. Standing room only. I want to be sick but instead I paint a proud smile on my face and watch as Rhys stands and exits the carriage before turning back and offering his hand to help me down instead of absconding that detail to the driver.
He keeps my hand in his as we walk up the steps of the abbey, and I remember to stay one step behind him. The optics are to show that I’ll not make a playfor his throne.
As if.
I’d be back in my apartment in New England under an assumed name with a new face before I ever did that. I’ve learned the world out here is crazy and I am surely not about to fight for my place amongst the insane.
Craig is here in the official dress uniform of his station and we stand behind him in the line of people who hold importance in this ceremony. As they file in, Craig holds a massive sword upright, held reverently by the hilt, and with a serious look on his face, he moves into his place.
Finally, Rhys and I are led to our seats while the archbishop takes his place at the altar and begins his service talking about the appointment by God to lead this nation.
Rhys is called to the altar where he stands face to face with the archbishop, nothing between them.
“Do you promise to love and honor this great nation?” he asks.
Rhys’s voice rings out with a resounding, “Aye.”
“Will you protect her people and do them no harm, ensuring they lead their lives safely?”
“Aye.”
“And do you vow to produce an heir with your Queen, ensuring that God’s promised bloodline continues in this realm?”
“Aye,” he says. “God willing, I will.”
“As God grants it, please kneel before me,” the archbishop asks, and Rhys kneels down on a large velvet pillow. “Please hold out your right hand and accept the Sovereign’s Scepter. This holy item symbolizes the King’s power to govern and to do so with mercy.”
Rhys holds out his hand, and a beautiful golden staff, adorned with different markings and priceless gems, is placed in his grasp. I can’t see it all from my seat but it’s beautiful.
“Now please hold out your right hand and take the Sovereign’s Orb. This represents your rule over this verdant isle. You hold our fate in your hands now.”
Rhys holds out his hand, and a giant cut emerald is placed in his palm. I’ve never seen anything like it before.
“And last, I place on your head, the crown of our nation, may you always be conscious of the weight it holds and the symbolic weight you now carry on your shoulders as you go forth today.”
The crown is like something out of a fairytale story with fur trim and a velvet cap under gold bands that are dotted with gems.
“I call up the head of state,” the archbishop says.
A woman in a bold green dress and jeweled headband carries another large sword, this one even grander than the one Craig carried in.
“As the head of state,” she says, gently tapping Rhys with the flat of the blade on each shoulder, “I pledge to you the power of the great people of the Isleof Saints.”
“I call up the Head of the Judicial Courts.”
A man in formal dress carries up another sword to stand before Rhys.
“As the head of the Judicial Courts,” he says, tapping the flat of the blade on each of his shoulders. “I pledge to you the power of the courts.”
“Lastly,” the archbishop says, “I pledge to you the power of the church. May you lead and govern with grace and mercy.”
The weight of this ceremony is pressing down on all of us. I’m beginning to shake in my seat as I watch my husband carry the charge of his nation on his shoulders like he was born to do so. I remind myself that he was.
“You kneeled before me a man, but you may now rise a King,” the archbishop says and Rhys rises gracefully to his feet.
He walks a slow circle around the dais so that everyone can see the gifts he has been bestowed by his nation. When he stops in front of the archbishop, I know that I’ve run out of time.