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It was a first in history. The current king, dressed in full regalia, carrying his father’s casket into the abbey to be buried.
I was not sure of the time, or of the date, or of the weather, or what anyone looked like. Were people speaking? I couldn’t hear. The only things I knew was that there was an altar before me and my shoulders were heavy because I was carrying my father. I was taking him to his grave, where he would stay forever beside my Arty.
And that was the end.
I’d never see either of them ever again…
When the rest of the pallbearers and I set him down, I looked at the flag draped over his coffin. Touching my hand on the center, I stood there for a moment longer before walking back down to where my mother stood, her face hidden behind a veil, but I could still see she’d been crying. Stepping closer, I hugged her, and she smelt like burnt sage, rosemary, and geranium…it was my father’s cologne she was wearing.
Kissing her temple, I stepped to the side to see where my grandmother stood. She’d chosen not to wear a veil. She stood with only a black hat, and her face was void of everything and anything. Leaning in, I hugged her as well.
“I don’t know why we didn’t think of having the new king be a pallbearer before…you are going to look so nice in the papers tomorrow. The people will love you for it,” she whispered, and it chilled me even more than I thought possible. She’d had five children and lived to bury four of them. And this was what she said at the funeral?
“You will leave back for Donaè after the traditional three days. Until then, I will be watching you. I pray Aunt Cornelia outlives you, so you have no other reason to come back here,” I replied in her ear, kissing the side of her face. Letting go of her, I placed my hand on Eliza for a moment before walking back to my place ahead of Odette.
Adjusting my uniform, I stood straighter, staring up at the altar, waiting for this to begin when I felt a hand take mine. I knew that hand. When she squeezed me gently, all I could do was squeeze back.
I had barely any words.
What could anyone say when death had the last word anyway?
Chapter 28
“Sir? Sir?”
“Yes, Mr. Prime Minister?” I asked, glancing up.
“Did you hear me, sir?” he asked, looking me over carefully, his blue eyes checking to see…see if I’d broken down and lost it as the media had reported. That I was beside myself with grief…that I was hiding from the world. It was my own fault for leaving early during the Easter celebrations. I simply came out to greet everyone, not even spending half an hour. They all took it as a sign of my emotional decline…I wasn’t sure if they were wrong.
“Sir—”
“You were speaking about when Odette would go get her identification,” I answered his earlier question.
“Yes, the date was postponed due to the funeral. However, the rollout is in a few days—”
“I could go back on my word,” I muttered, leaning back in my chair. “After the loss of my father, there has been an outpouring of support from the people. If you launched a fake investigation on us now, people would call you tyrannical.”
His jaw set, and his grip on his cane tightened. “We’ve already announced it before the passing of your father—”
“We could say you are mistaken, and the queen never agreed to do so. We’ll claim you were pressuring us to do it—as you are—and then leave it to the people of the country to decide. I’m sure they will believe you would do such a thing. Getting this law through smoothly is your greatest priority.”
“Since you are speaking so candidly, I will speak the same,” he said, sitting up in his chair. “Yes, I want this to work because I truly believe more than anything it is needed. I will push it forward and up a hill because that was what I was elected to do. Lead the nation.”
“If that is the case, why does it take my wife to do that? You are prime minister. Your law has passed. Yet still, you are pushing it, trying to get the people to understand and accept it. And because you can’t, you are trying to make my wife do it. Why do you require us to lead the nation?”
“It is a government in your name, sir,” he reminded me with a hint of annoyance across his face. “I am the captain of the ship. The people are the passengers. The government the engine…you, the royal family, are the actual iron and steel of the boat. You and the queen are one…that is why you are both required. And if the ship refuses to sail…you must drag it to repair.”
“Or get a new ship,” I said, the other part for him. “Isn’t that what you want?”
“Not at all, sir,” he replied. “But I would prefer one that did not fight against me as I steer. You are correct; the time for an investigation has passed. But I would like to think that the people and I could count on the king to always keep his word.”
I stared at him, no longer interested in this conversation, before rising to my feet and forcing him to as well. “We will be in contact with you for a new date by tomorrow,” I said, giving him my hand.
“Thank you, sir,” he replied, shaking my hand.
I waited for him to leave before sitting back down, staring at the spot across from me. I really had no more energy to do anything. I hadn’t had energy for days, and yet I kept moving on anyway.
Knock.
