Kapitel 49: Chapter 49: Coronation
Francine
"This is it," Brother said, yawning. "The morning of the Coronation,"
The others yawned and stretched their limbs as they took in the surroundings one last time. Today it was either "My Coronation day" or "Our Execution Day".
However, the only day I was sure it was today, happened to be my birthday.
Jamie added. "Also, 'tis Liz's birthday, Sam."
"Ah, happy birthday Princess Beautiful!"
"Thanks, brother,"
Nicole eyed me, warily. "You don't seem excited about it. I know I would!"
"Nicole, today's my supposed coronation/execution day too," I said. "I would've been happy if everything went according to plan. I do not know what to feel now,"
"Life doesn't always go according to plans, Liz. You need to be able to adapt to situations and see where the wind takes you," Jamie said, smiling.
"I guess you're right. I should be looking at the bright side now," I smiled back.
Nicole placed a hand on my shoulder. "No matter what happens Princess, we'll always be right by your side - whether we live to see another day or not,"
"Nicole!" Jamie, brother and I yelled in unison.
She shrugged. "What? I'm just being realistic,"
Brother sighed. "I'd rather you be optimistic right now, darling. We are already here to be realistic,"
Jamie backed him up. "He's right, Nicole. For now, we need the motivation to move forward. Liz cannot always do that - so we shall be counting on you to be our cheerleader,"
She grinned. "You can count on me for that, Jamie!"
"So what shall be the plan?" I asked.
"Everything counts on Charlie and Augustus at the moment. All we can do is hope that they show up with valid evidence and we can escape death," Brother said.
"And execute McCrae in the process," Jamie added.
"Speaking of McCrae..." Nicole started. "Isn't it strange that he hasn't shown his disgusting face today?"
"He's preparing to take over," I answered. "Before the coronation, one must prepare themselves to stand before the crowd and give a speech,"
"That's one of the many things they need to prepare for," Brother mentioned. "There's a lot of paperwork before and after the ceremony,"
Jamie piped in. "And then welcoming the guests and mingling with them...McCrae needs to be in the perfect mood to be able to do that,"
"Why are we already accepting defeat?" Nicole questioned. "If McCrae's executed, Francine will be the one to do all this stuff!"
"You said it yourself," Brother said. "If McCrae's executed. We are not yet confident if that shall happen,"
Nicole argued. "But good always prevails over evil!"
"We know, Nic," I said. "We are hopeful. However, as we said, we three are the ones thinking realistically as this is no fairytale. We are simply preparing ourselves for what lies ahead,"
"It's hard for me to be optimistic when you three are so down! This isn't being realistic! After all, we've worked so hard for this - to get here! You can't just accept your fates now. Guys, come on! I believe in Charlie. Charlie will show up with Augustus. You will be Queen, Francine and McCrae will no longer be in our lives! Let's focus on the brighter side of life. Let's imagine what we'll do once we get out of here. Being down won't help us with anything - the least we can do is recount our best memories!" Nicole declared.
Jamie smiled. "Thanks, Nicole. We needed that,"
Brother chuckled. "Cherie would have been so proud of you right now, darling."
"Agreed,"
Nicole flipped her hair dramatically. "Of course she would be! She's always proud of me - one of the reasons we're best friends!"
Jamie raised his eyebrow. "Because she's proud of you?"
Nicole playfully slapped his arm. "No silly! I was talking about motivational speeches!"
"Ah right, we all need that motivational boost every now and then, don't we?" Jamie chuckled.
"Yeah, we do," Brother and I said in unison.
"So...about the recounting best memories - who's gonna start?" Nicole asked, literally jumping on the ground like a four-year-old on Christmas.
Brother sat up straight. "I shall do the honours,"
We all sat down and stared at him eagerly to start narrating the tale. Although, I did know most of the stories brother would share as we've grown up together and whatnot, it was still interesting to hear him recount the tale. He had a knack for story-telling! All the stories that he would tell would be filler with loads of humour, sarcasm, silly acts, pranks, and all those childish things. Even as a twenty-four-year-old, he still loved the idea of playing pranks on people.
"So, it was on a Christmas eve..."
---
"...And then we dashed out of the pub with bottles of whisky. Those were some good times!" Jamie said, fondly.
Nicole, I and my brother laughed at this.
"How did you guys not get caught?" Nicole asked, completely awed at how my brother and Jamie were able to pull it off.
Jamie chuckled. "When I say your boyfriend's a genius, I mean, master-mind level of genius. This guy, right here, can pull off a lot of stunts without ever being caught. The main reason why McCrae hated him back when we were children,"
"'Tis strange how small our world is," I uttered. "I mean, what were the odds?"
Brother agreed. "I know right? Out of all the people on this planet, that sorry excuse for a human being had to be Nicole's boyfriend,"
"You know," Jamie started. "When McCrae is proven guilty, I do have a few things in mind we can do to humiliate him more. We shouldn't make his exit so easy,"
That seemed to get my brother's attention. He smirked, evilly.
"What did you have in mind?"
Jamie reflected my brother's evil smile. "A lot of things, actually. I'm not exactly sure from where to start..."
"I'm sure you two will figure out what you wanna do with him...as for me, I wanna spit on his face when he's dragged out of the palace," Nicole said, an evil smile creeping onto her face.
"That's it?" I asked. Knowing what hell she's gone through, the only thing she wanted to do was 'spit' on his face? "Nic, we have waaaay better options than that,"
"Yes, darling," Brother agreed. "That is exactly what we shall be planning right now,"
Nicole yawned. "Well, you guys can keep planning - I need my beauty sleep,"
I retorted. "You just woke up an hour ago,"
She lied down on the mattress. "Call me up when the guards show up,"
Nicole shall always be Nicole.
---
"Princess Francine, Prince Samuel, Prince Jamie, Miss Nicole - 'tis time," I heard Phobias call out as he unlocked the door.
Nicole yawned and stretched her hands above her head. "Is it the time already? I barely slept!"
"Hmm, we know Nicole. Your snores said it all," I said with a hint of sarcasm. To be honest, if there was anyone who slept peacefully over the last three hours - that was Nicole Anderson.
Nicole gasped. "I don't snore!"
"Uh-huh and pigs can fly, we know Nicole. You do not need to further explain yourself," Jamie deadpanned.
"Sammy!" Nicole yelled as she shot my brother a look. "You were supposed to defend me here,"
Brother simply shrugged.
"Sorry, darling. I cannot help you here. 'Tis the truth," Nicole glared at him and that made Brother quickly change his statement. "Not that we hate that about you. 'Tis normal to snore. Everyone does that,"
"We don't," Jamie and I said in unison.
Brother glared at the two of us. "That's because nobody told you guys,"
Jamie retorted. "'Tis because nobody saw us sleeping!"
"Guys!" I stepped in between the two and pointed towards Phobias who was patiently waiting for us to finish our bickering. "We need to leave,"
"'Tis not over, Samuel Alexander Maxwell," Jamie glared at him.
Brother glared back at him. "'Tis just the beginning,"
"GUYS!"
---
Once we got out of the dungeons, blinding sunshine welcomed our arrival. I had completely forgotten what it felt like to be out in the day. The only lights I saw for the past ten days were the dim orange lights in the dungeon.
We were handcuffed and our heads were hung low as to not let the light hurt our eyes. From the corner of my eye, I could see the decorations of the palace. It looked gorgeous - like a bride on her wedding day. I could see Jamie smiling from beside me as he whispered.
"I'm glad we got to see how beautiful the palace looks before the execution,"
"Me too," I didn't wish to argue with him. 'Twas just the way we were preparing ourselves for the execution. A part of me still clung to the hope that we shall make it out of here and the other part was convincing itself that it would be okay if we were executed.
At least we didn't back down without a fight.
Just because Phobias was the one escorting us, we were escorted to the throne room with dignity. The other guards would've dragged us out mercilessly.
Before we were taken to the throne room, we had to take a detour. Kings and Queens of different kingdoms would be here to witness the coronation so Father did not want to let them see us as 'prisoners'. As far as Phobias filled us in, Father announced that McCrae was taking over because after my engagement I wouldn't be able to rule both kingdoms.
And this was "My wish" as Father liked to say.
Hence, we were quickly taken to our rooms for dress and makeup. Nicole was escorted to my room and one of my maids helped her with her dress and makeup. We quickly dressed up in gowns (Nicole in a blue gown and me in a crimson red gown). Brother wore a white t-shirt and a navy blue blazer paired with denim jeans while Jamie went for a deep blue button-down shirt with black jeans.
"You look gorgeous, Princess," the boys greeted me with a compliment.
"Thank you. You guys don't look too bad for yourselves. However, don't you think it's pretty casual for a formal occasion?" I asked them, raising an eyebrow.
"Relax, Liz. 'Tis completely fine." Jamie answered with a wave of his hand.
"Yes, Princess Beautiful. 'Tis alright," Brother agreed.
"Alright, if you guys say so."
Brother laughed. "Relax, 'tis not like our old man shall reprimand us in front of his guests,"
I laughed along. "That he won't,"
"Where's Nicole?"
"Hey, fellas," Nicole smiled, wobbling towards us.
I chuckled as I grabbed her by the arm to steady her. "Easy there, Nicole. Don't fall,"
"Why are the heels so high?" Nicole whined. "I can barely walk in them!"
"I believe that was Charlie's statement," I pointed out.
"I haven't worn heels in a while, Liz. I've lost practice," Nicole said.
I had not realized that Brother was staring at her with love-struck eyes. I suppose he fell in love with her all over again.
"Darling," He breathed out. "You look breath-taking!"
Jamie sang. "You've got competition, Liz!"
"Of course not! I wouldn't dare compare my sister to my girlfriend!"
"Right, because you love your life," Nicole smiled while shooting daggers with her eyes.
Jamie and I chuckled in the background. Charlie would've loved to watch this scene! However, I was confident that this wasn't the last time they would be behaving like this (if we live after this day, that is). We'd see more of these in the future.
"If you guys are done, we should get going. We have a mission to complete," Jamie interrupted the lovebirds and soon enough, we were on our way to the throne room.
---
Brother took a deep breath. "Deep breaths, shoulders straight, heads up,"
We followed along.
The Royal Guards announced our names.
"Please welcome Miss Nicole of The United States, Prince Jamie of England, Prince Samuel and Crowned Princess Francine of Titania,"
All heads turned towards us and we sauntered in with style. We were welcomed by most familiar faces - save our own family and the King of Scotland. He did nothing but sneer at us the minute we showed up.
Luckily, no one noticed.
The boys went to mingle with the guests, leaving Nicole and me on our own.
"I haven't felt this nervous in ages," Nicole whispered.
"Don't worry, Nic. Just imagine that you're the only one in the room. Helped calm my nerves when I was younger," I whispered back.
"I don't wanna imagine myself being the only person in this room - who knows what I'll end up doing," Nicole shook her head.
"Suit yourself,"
Soon after, I could see Darlene sauntering towards us. She wore a smirk.
"Nicole...if you're the one here, then who's with Prince Samuel?" She pointed towards a corner where Brother and a princess were chatting - 'twas more like, he was cracking jokes which made her laugh.
I could see Nicole fuming.
Uh-oh, 'tis not gonna end well!
"Someone who doesn't know that guy has a girlfriend," Darlene said, gritting her teeth. "I'll have to make my presence known, I believe,"
"All the best," Darlene and I smiled at her while she stomped straight towards Brother.
Darlene stood beside me watching the scene.
"Do you think we should have not told her?" Darlene asked, amused.
I chuckled. "Brother deserves it. It shall take him a little time to adjust to his new life,"
She chuckled along. "I'm confident Nicole shall set him straight,"
"I'm confident too,"
Soon enough, I found myself mingling with other guests before the coronation. They kept asking me the same question over and over again.
Why was my dear cousin taking over?
They just wanted to hear it from the source itself.
I stuck with the answer that my dear father had said while smiling internally.
They didn't know about the big plot twist that would happen as soon as Charlie showed up.
"Princess Francine!"
I turned to see Jamie sauntering towards me. I excused myself from the crowd.
"Prince Jamie, what is the matter?"
He kept his voice low so that only I could hear. "I saw McCrae talking to Aurelius a few minutes ago. Aurelius looked slightly tensed, Liz."
"What about McCrae?"
"Oh, he was worse than him! He seemed like he had seen a ghost or something. From what I heard, there's an uninvited guest in the party who knows McCrae's secrets,"
"So he's gonna shut him up...?"
"That is exactly what he's planning. I couldn't hear much as he found out he was being watched. He and Aurelius moved to a secluded corner,"
"We need to find that person before McCrae does," I concluded.
If that person, whoever they were, knew about McCrae's secrets then they would be advantageous to us. That was great news! However, if McCrae got to them before we did, it shall not end well for us.
"A lot of people are here, Liz. How do you suppose we find that person? We neither know a name nor a face,"
"Hmm, you're right about that," I agreed. "McCrae's one step ahead of us in this one. If Aurelius knows the person, he can take McCrae straight to them,"
"What do you suggest we do then?" Jamie asked me cautiously.
"We inform the others,"
---
I was growing anxious with every second. I couldn't mingle with other guests when my mind kept thinking about that mysterious person. Jamie and I informed the others to watch out for that person if and when they make an entrance.
Who was this person who could make McCrae sweat bullets?
What secrets did they have to expose?
After a while, Brother joined me.
"I hate you," He whispered.
"I shall only say that you deserved it. Plus, now's not the time to bicker like children. We have things to take care of,"
"Right, right."
"Did you find our mysterious person yet?"
"We don't know how they look like, Liz. Moreover, no one here looks suspicious to me. I wonder where Charlie and Augustus are," He replied, crossing his arms against his chest.
"And I've been wondering why Father is stalling the coronation," I expressed.
"Everything feels strange now," Brother said. "I can't get this anxiety out of my chest,"
"I just hope everything turns out fine,"
"Same,"
Soon enough, the chatters died down. Everyone looked up at Father who was standing before the throne.
He cleared his throat. "Thank you, everyone, for joining us on this joyous occasion. I am grateful to everyone who has made an effort to be here with us. You must all wonder why my dear daughter shall not be crowned. 'Tis because she shall be engaged to the Crowned Prince of Scotland. However, the engagement shall be postponed for a while due to circumstances,"
"He's not mentioning the execution," I whispered.
"Of course he wouldn't. People would start questioning things and our Kingdom shall be defamed." Brother whispered back.
The others stood beside me and listened intently to Father's speech.
He continued. "Now, without further ado - I would like to call Sir James McCrae to step forward for the coronation,"
"This is it," Brother said.
"I can't watch this," I whispered when I saw a grinning McCrae stepping forward. My heart shattered into pieces watching him take something he didn't deserve. He was snatching my birthright from me! And I just stood there, helplessly because we didn't have proof to bring him down. My emotions got the better of me and a tear rolled down my left eye.
McCrae stood in front of the crowd and locked his gaze at me mouthing, "I won,"
The minute Father was about to place the crown on his head, the doors to the room swung open.
"Wait!"
All heads turned towards the doors.
"Time's up, McCrae!"
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