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Talos wheeled their grandfather up to the line of waiting staff so they could be spoken to in turn. When they reached Amy the thuds in Helios’s heart became a painful racket.
This was the first time she would meet his family. It would also be the last.
Bracing himself, he said, ‘This is the exhibition curator, Amy Green. She’s on secondment from England to organise it all.’
Not looking at Helios, Amy curtsied. ‘It is an honour to meet you, Your Majesty.’
‘The honour is mine,’ his grandfather replied with that wheeze in his voice Helios didn’t think he would ever get used to. ‘I’ve been looking forward to seeing this exhibition. Are you my tour guide?’
Her eyes darted to Pedro, who, as Head of Museum, was supposed to take the role of the King’s guide.
Sensing her dilemma, Helios stepped in. ‘Despinis Green would be delighted to be your guide. Let’s get you inside and we can make a start.’
Inside the main exhibition room the four King Astraeus statues were lined up on their plinths. The sculptor of the fourth, which was covered and ready for unveiling, awaited his introduction to the King. When that was done, and the official photographers were in position, in a hushed silence the cover was removed and the King was able to see his own youthful image portrayed in marble for the first time.
For the longest, stillest moment the King simply stared at it, drinking in the vibrant, enigmatic quality of his statue. There was a collective exhalation of breath when he finally spoke of his delight and reached out a wizened hand to touch his own marble foot.
It was a moment Amy knew would be shown in all the world’s press.
From there, the group progressed through to the rest of the exhibition.
The thought of being the King’s personal tour guide should have had Amy in fits of terror, but it was a welcome relief. She had to concentrate so hard to keep up with etiquette and protocol that she could almost act as if Helios meant nothing to her other than as her boss.
But only almost.
After the King had examined and admired all of the military exhibits, they moved through to the room dedicated to his marriage to Queen Rhea, who had died five years previously. It was heartbreaking and yet uplifting to see the King’s reaction first-hand.
Their wedding outfits had been carefully placed on mannequins and secured inside a glass cabinet. Queen Rhea’s wedding dress was one of the most beautiful creations Amy had ever been privileged to handle, covered as it was with over ten thousand tiny diamonds and crystals.
King Astraeus gazed at it with moist eyes before saying to her, ‘My Queen looked beautiful that day.’
Amy murmured her agreement. On the opposite wall hung the official wedding portrait. Queen Rhea had been a beauty by anyone’s standards, but on that particular day there had been a glow about her that shone through the portrait and every photo that had been taken.
What would it be like to have a marriage such as theirs? Her own parents’ marriage had seemed mostly happy, but once Amy had learned of her true parentage her memories had become slanted.
Her father’s infidelity, although mostly never spoken of, remained a scar. Danny knew their father had cheated on his mother whilst she’d carried him. Neil knew their father had cheated on his mother back when he’d still been talking in broken sentences. They might love Amy as a true sister, and have nothing to do with anyone who saw things differently, but their relationship with their father bordered on uncomfortable. They didn’t trust him and neither did Amy. She loved him very much, but the nagging doubts remained. When they’d still been living at home, and he’d been kept late at work, although they’d never said anything they’d all wondered if his excuses were true. And as for her mum...
To anyone looking in, their marriage would seem complete. They laughed together and enjoyed each other’s company. But then Amy thought of the times she’d caught her mum going through her father’s phone when she’d thought no one was looking and knew the pain she’d gone through had never fully mended. Once trust had been broken it was incredibly hard to repair.
King Astraeus and Queen Rhea’s marriage had bloomed into that rarest of things: enduring, faithful love. The kind of love Amy longed to have. The kind of love she could never have when the man she loved was going to marry someone else...
The truth hit her like a bolt of lightning.
She did love him.
And as the revelation hit her so did another truth of equal magnitude.
She was going to lose him.
But he’d never been hers to lose, so she already had.
There was nothing for her to hold on to for support. All she could do was keep a grip on herself and wait for the wave of anguish to pass.
