For King and Country

Heartbroken Nobles

Chapter 23

The air was filled with the chill of autumn. Every morning, the palace grounds were filled with the mist that rose from the cooling sea. I added an extra blanket to my bed, and Helena made sure the maids had a fire lit in the hearth every morning. Fall had come more quickly than anyone expected, almost overnight. Henry started off every morning with a walk through the gardens. I'd meet him there as he finished, and complain about how the waterfalls running through the palace were quite impractical. He'd laugh, and explain how the giant furnace would run when it got colder, how it would heat the water and warm the castle. I told him he was making things up. After breakfast, Tessa and Lily would drag me through the seamstress's craft rooms, picking out fabrics for the series of dresses for my trip to Westlake, the ancestral homeland that I'd have to visit before my coronation. Then I would spend the rest of the day with Micah or Fitzgerald. Elijah would pop in and out through out the day, along with various other nobles. 

"Henry is tired about hearing about your trip to the village." Marie scolded as she held a fabric up to my skin, measuring the color and texture. "You've talked of nothing else for the last three days!"

"It was a great day! And he says he'll take me back to the library when we return from the mountains!" I say. Henry listened to me ogle over the huge library since I returned home that night. The building was completely made of marble and steel, with shelves that extended all the way from the ground floor to the third floor. It was three floors of nothing but books from all over the world, over every topic. I had wanted to check out every book in the place, but Micah reminded me that I was on a horse. It was a beautiful place, a roaring fountain in the entrance floor.

"Oh, good lord." Marie scoffed, rolling her eyes. "You've got a huge collection of books right here." Lily breezed into the room, plopping down on the nearest couch, grabbing a soft swatch of fabric.

"But nothing is as magical as the grand library..." She pretended to swoon, waving the thin silk above her head.

"Shut it you!" I scolded, making Helena and Tessa laugh.

"Marie, think about it," Lily laughed. "After this trip, the noble will arrive, and then we're going to let Avalyn run a country. Lord this place is going to the dogs." I scoffed.

Westlake was apparently a spiritual experience. It was an isolated town in the mountains, around the Westlake Sea. There, I would visit the castle of the Duke of Westlake, and go through a series of ceremonies to prepare me for my reign. I would meet the cousins of the original Duke of Westlake, who kept the castle, and the Priests of Westlake, also cousins. Henry had told me the stories of the siblings. The eldest son, Timothy, the twins, Marlin and Montrose, and the sister, Wendy. Timothy, the Duke who became king. Marlin and Montrose, the brothers who became priests. And Wendy, the woman who kept the home front for when Timothy returned. Their descendants did their duty as I would be expected to do mine.

"Can I leave?" I snapped at Helena, who was instructing a seamstress on how to drape the white satin fabric. Helena looked to Marie, who shrugged.

"Might as well, you're not helping anything." She grumbled, making a note in her thickening portfolio of notes for my departure in two days and the coronation in two weeks. When I returned from my trip, I would be swamped with greeting delegations of ambassadors and diplomats, rehearsing the for the actual event. Henry said Westlake would be my only peace until I'd been Queen for a year. I couldn't help but think he was right. I grinned when Marie released me from my torture, and I hopped off the platform and stripped off my dress, forgetting all courtesy as I quickly as I grabbed the burnt orange dress I'd put on this morning.