56 The Queen
“You are ready, Your Majesty,” Martha glanced at Anastasia from top to bottom and said with a satisfied smile on her face.
“How do I look?” Anastasia asked somewhat nervously.
She didn’t know why she cared about her looks so much today.
‘Maybe I am worried about the judgmental looks that the vampire nobles are going to give me at the ceremony. I don’t want to give way for criticism, other than the obvious fact that I am not a vampire,’ Anastasia thought to herself while glancing at her reflection in the mirror.
Holly took a few steps back and gazed at the Queen while pressing her palm over her chest. And she praised the Queen, “You look like a rose blooming in the snow, my Queen.”
Anastasia was wearing a white gown with golden embroidery works done on it. Countless pearls were embedded on the stomacher of the gown making it look even more extravagant.
She was wearing very heavy pieces of jewelry that Caspian had gifted her this morning. Her necklace had one large ruby in the middle while two smaller rubies on either side of that large one. The rubies were further encircled with small diamonds. She was also wearing a matching pair of earrings, as well as a ring.
Her look for the night was completed with the long red coronation mantle. In the middle of that mantle, the royal symbol of Sorvando – a phoenix rising from the ashes – was woven with golden threads. The mantle was so heavy that Anastasia wished the ceremony would be over soon so that she could take it off.
“Is Her Majesty ready?” Caspian knocked on the door and made his presence known.
.....
Before the maids could answer, he opened the door and stood at the door.
“Oh, sweet heaven!” Caspian held his breath and gazed at his wife’s ethereal beauty.
Caspian walked in without taking his eyes off his wife.
“You two did a great job,” Caspian gestured for the maids to leave the chamber.
And when he was alone with his wife, he took her hands and gently kissed her on her knuckles. “Do you know how beautiful you are?”
“I could ask the same to you.” Anastasia looked like she was already lost in her husband’s otherworldly eyes.
Caspian gazed at her lips and inhaled sharply. And he whispered in his low husky voice, “Wife, if you keep looking at me like that then I will have to cancel the ceremony and keep you up the whole night.”
Anastasia snapped out of her daze and looked away. She whispered to her husband as a soft smile lingered on her face, “Let’s head towards the hall then. We can’t keep all the guests waiting for long.”
Caspian forcefully tore his gaze away from his wife and turned around. He offered his arm for Anastasia to hold. “Let’s go.”
The two of them walked out of the room. Martha and Holly also walked behind their Queen while helping her with her mantle and gown.
When they reached outside the throne hall, they could hear some noises made by the guests. They all went silent after the guards announced the presence of their King and Queen.
“Are you ready? Or do you need some time to gather your breath?” Caspian asked Anastasia in a soft voice. He had been noticing that her breathing was getting heavier and heavier as they approached closer to the hall.
Anastasia appreciated the concern shown by her husband. She quickly took in a few deep breaths. And then she whispered, “I’m ready.”
“Here we go then,” Caspian led his wife inside the throne hall.
Inside, all the vampire nobles were sitting in their respective seats. There was a raised platform at the front of the hall. And today, there were two thrones instead of one.
When Anastasia and Caspian walked down the empty aisle, soft music filled the room. Everyone got up from their seats and turned their gaze on the couple.
Anastasia was feeling overwhelmed by the piercing gazes from all those red eyes. She was trying her best not to look down at the floor. She didn’t want them to think that their Queen was a weak human.
So she looked up ahead at the thrones. And she kept on saying to herself, ‘I can do this. I just have to go there and the ceremony will be over in no time. Calm down.’
Just as she had thought, the crowning didn’t take that long.
After Caspian addressed the guests, Anastasia stood in front of Caspian.
A court lady brought an extravagant gold crown embedded with a large sapphire and smaller diamonds.
Caspian held the crown and declared, “From here on, I instate Anastasia Vairina as the Queen of Sorvando.”
The King of Sorvando crowned the Queen.
The hall was filled with soft music accompanied by the hails from the vampire nobles, “Long live the Queen.”
They all bowed to their Queen even though most of them didn’t like bowing to some inferior creature who would most certainly not live long.
Most of them thought that the King was stupid for declaring Anastasia as the Queen. They didn’t understand why the King would even bother when she would die in a couple of decades.
But they couldn’t voice their opinion, and neither could they whisper. By now, all of them had heard what had happened to Beth. And even though the King wasn’t directly involved in her death, they were sure that he was the one responsible. They all loved their lives. So they quietly accepted their new Queen.
Caspian, on the other hand, achieved what he had wanted. With this ceremony, he formally established Anastasia’s position higher up in the power hierarchy. And the vampire nobles were scared to even whisper bad things about Anastasia because of the recent deaths from blood duel.
After the formal ceremony was over, all the guests moved towards the open lawn for the informal greeting session.
Caspian led Anastasia around and introduced her to the main family members of the powerful noble houses. Anastasia tried her best to remember the names of all the houses.
After a while, Anastasia found a vampire who she was fond of. She happily walked to her and greeted her, “Aunt Edith, how are you?”
Edith smiled and gave a hug to Anastasia. “I’ve been good, darling.”
Caspian also greeted his aunt. Edith expressed her sadness towards the recent assassination attempt on Anastasia.
“My poor child, I hope you aren’t shaken,” Edith held Anastasia’s hand. She looked visibly worried.
Anastasia shook her head and replied with a smile on her face, “Caspian is here to take care of me. You don’t have to worry.”
Caspian was flattered when his wife said that.
Suddenly, a tall man with a similar build as Caspian came and stood behind Lady Edith. He had neatly combed that shoulder-length blond hair. He was wearing a black waistcoat, a pair of white trousers, and black boots.
From the color of his hair, Anastasia guessed that he was Caspian’s relative.
And she was right.
He glanced at Caspian and casually greeted him, “Hello, cousin. I was gone for a few weeks and it looks like you found yourself a pretty wife.”
Caspian greeted him with coldness, “Maybe my streak of bad luck ran away along with you. You should have stayed away for some more.”
Caspian’s cousin laughed scornfully. And he threw a satire, “Oh, are you trying to say that you were surrounded by good luck in my absence? Then care to explain why your wife almost died twice in the span of a week?”
Anastasia was very uncomfortable as she was standing in the middle of the two of them.
‘Why do I feel like they are enemies rather than cousins?’ she thought to herself while trying her best not to show the discomfort in her face.
Caspian gritted his teeth and said in a hateful tone, “Keep this up and I will whoop your arse right here.”
“Please, give it a try. We shall see who wins.” His cousin was about to throw back some more insults at Caspian when his mother stopped him.
“Ah! These two! Shut it already!” Edith glared at her son and ordered him, “Greet the Queen, will you?”
He smiled and gave a polite bow to Anastasia. He took her hand and said after losing his mocking tone, “Apologies, my Queen. My cousin brings out the bad in me. I can’t help it.”
“No, it’s alright,” Anastasia smiled back and gave a nod.
He then placed a kiss on the Queen’s knuckles and introduced himself, “You can call me Hamilton, my Queen.”
Read latest chapters at f(r)eewebnov𝒆l Only