A L M I R A

Chapter 44
Almira Davenport

It's been days since Raiya's passing. Calix said we should cremate her and then when I go to what was her kingdom, The Kingdom of Galadia, we'll bury her with Regional. I agreed with him.

Currently, the maids were frantically packing dresses, hair supplies, shoes, and a bunch of other items into chests to set in the wagon. They were preparing me for my trip to Galadia.

I, on the other hand, sat in the same spot I've been in for the past five hours, staring at myself in the mirror. I wasn't admiring anything or criticizing anything, just staring at myself, thinking.

I was thinking about the kingdom, the new people I was to lead, their reactions on me replacing Raiya so soon, and I was thinking do the coronation. Most of all, Alastor.

I hated that I was giving him the time to even invade my mind or give in to the worry about him attacking. It'd be absolutely horrible if he heard of the coronation date and crashed it. The commoners would be all confused and mixed up about their new queen suddenly going holy, since Abelia would be taking over my body.

"I understand you're absolutely mesmerizing, but don't you have other things to do other than stare at yourself all day?" Calix teased, kissing the top of my head before looking at me in the mirror.

I jumped and my eyes shot up to his before smiling. "Yeah, I do. I'm just really nervous, overthinking things."

Calix let out a small chuckle before rubbing my shoulders. "Taking the throne of a kingdom is a scary thing, especially when it's one you're not familiar with. Galadia has completely different customs than ours."

My eyes widened. "They're completely different from us and I wasn't told of this? Oh my stars! Calix! What if I make a mockery of myself? They'll never respect me," I whined, laying my head on the vanity table.

Calix shuffled behind me, the sound of my closet doors being opened up. I lifted my head up into my hands and watched Calix from the mirror. He grabbed a dress and laid it out for me, picking a pair of shoes to go with it.

"I think you'll be just fine. You'll have some time to pick up on things you need to know before the ceremony, and then you can learn all about their customs. Everything will be okay, I promise," Calix encouraged, smiling at me.

Mr heart fluttered at his words and his smile. He can be a really supportive guy sometimes, and I was thankful one of those times was now. I stood up and ambled to Calix, wrapping my arms around him. He returned the warm embrace.

We stood there, just holding each other, for a couple moments before Calix tucked a loose curl behind my ear. I looked up at him and smiled. "You're going to do great. Although, your coronation is in two days and they're already setting it up and decorating. If we want to get there on time, you need to get ready and be ready to leave in the next ten minutes."

I huffed and nodded, shuffling to the dress he set out for me. He didn't do so bad. It was an emerald green dress made of pure silk that flowed to the ground. The skirt was poofy and split in the middle, revealing the white ruffled fabric underneath. Along the edges and the bottom was gold floral carefully embroidered into the dress. The sleeves went to my elbows before fluffing out.

I slid the dress on and Calix button me in the back, tying the sewn-in corset for me. I took a deep breath, a part of me forgetting how tight they were. I let my hair fall loosely down onto my back, pulling a couple strands to the back and pinning them so they'd stay out of my face.

I slid the shoes on and turned back fo Calix, looking at him for approval. I didn't need it, but it was a nice confidence boost if your mate compliments you. Calix smiles and made his way in front of me, cupping my face in his hand. He leaned down and gently kissed me before smiling. "You look beautiful, darling."

I returned the smile and picked up the bottom of my dress, giving me better access to walk faster. "Then shall we?"

"We shall."

~-~

After long hours of travel and listening to Cole complain about the bumps in the road, we finally arrived at Galadia. I stepped out of the carriage and continued to hold Calix's hand. Two Galadia guards walked up to us and bowed. "Your highness," The first one greeted.

I nodded my head in respect. The two guards stood up. "We'd like to welcome you to The Kingdom of Galadia, Your Majesty. Your Highness, King Calix of Mortala, we welcome you as well."

Calix nodded his head out of respect, the other guard continuing. "Please, follow us. We have much to do in so little time."

I glanced at Calix before he put his hand on the small of my back. We followed the two guards into the castle. I looked around at the maids frantically decorating and ordering others around. In the middle of the room stood the lady giving orders. She looked our way and smiled, careening our way.

She curtsied before standing up, looking at me. "Your Highness, my name is Khione Cortasi, a pleasure to be of service to you."

I nodded at her before she straightened her back. "So, Khione, what's all this?"

"Your coronation set up, of course," She replied, smiling. "It's not much, but it'll get better. The townsfolk will be in here watching you as you take the throne, but that's two days from now. We have time. However, I'm going to need your measurements, run trials on your hair and makeup, and then introduce you to the traditions and do run-throughs," Khione explained, tapping the pen on her paper against a book.

I hummed in response. "That all?"

She looked up at me, surprised. Part of me felt guilty as if I said something wrong. "'That all?' You're used to this kind of pressure?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "I planned a wedding in a week, set up balls in a day, planned welcome home arrivals in hours, and I practice magic on the daily basis. Stress and I are familiar with each other," I elaborated, smiling at her.

She returned the smile back. "Well, these guards will show the others to their rooms. I'll be taking you with me, if that's okay, Your Majesty."

I turned back and kissed Calix's cheek before adverting my attention back to Khione. "You have my full, undivided attention, Khione."

"That's a good thing," She jested, leading me down a hallway. I admired the paintings on the wall, taking in little Estelle, Ryker, family portraits of Raiya, Regional, their family, the coronation photos of generations before them, and many more paintings.

Khione opened a tall white door and walked in. All of the girls in the room stopped sewing and embroidering, standing up and bowing. "Ladies, this is Her Majesty, soon to be Queen of Galadia, Almira Davenport."

"Hello, Your Majesty," They simultaneously said.

A chill ran down my spine and I smiled sheepishly. "Hi."

The all stood back up and sat back down, tending to their work. "She's here to get her measurements to continue the dress."

"Continue?" I questioned, raising an eyebrow at her.

Khione nodded. "We've been working on the fabrics and details since we were told of Queen Raiya's death. We need your measurements for the main parts of the dress, but the train, the silks, the shoes, the corset, the laces, and the ribbons are already done."

"Oh, wow. You're all putting a lot of effort into this dress. I greatly appreciate it, thank you," I gratefully spoke, looking at each girl in the room. They all smiled at me before continuing the dress.

A couple girls came up to be and mumbled apologies before pulling out measuring ropes and taking my measurements. They quickly wrote it down and walked off. Khione checked that off her list before leading me out of the tailoring room.

"We'll do hair and makeup tests tomorrow. For now, let's warm you up on some traditions. To the library we go.

A grin spread across my face as I realized I now had another library to read from. We walked into the library and a gasp escaped my lips as I took in the heavenly amount of books sitting on tall, lean shelves.

"A couple traditions you need to know off the bat is for your coronation, you have to give a speech after you're sworn in. While walking up, you have to carrying a bouquet of flowers, kind of like a wedding. When you get up there, you hand the flowers to the previous Queen, but I guess you'll hand them to me since Queen Raiya is no longer with us. Another thing is you'll hold the traditional staff in your right hand, the orb in your left. You'll face the crowd, bow, and the bishop will place the crown on your head, take the sword of the Goddess, and make it official."

I sucked in all that she explained. My brain hurt from the strict orders but I slowly nodded my head. "Alright, I can do that."

"Good. Now, take these books and read up. You're done for the day," Khione handed me a stick of books and I let out a groan as the weight took me by surprise.

"Alright, um, thank you, Khione. Rest well," I dismissed, walking out of the library. I stopped in the hallway. "Where's my room?"

I heard Khione laugh from within the library.

~-~

Today was the day of the coronation and everybody was panicking, rushing around, and gathering supplies. Calix and I were awoken early by maids rushing in to the room in big groups. "Rise and shine, Your Majesty and Your Highness!"

We both sat up and yawned. "What?"

"We're here to get you ready. King Calix, you'll have to come with us, I'm afraid Her Majesty has to get ready on her own, no males in sight. It's a tradition!" One of the maids urged.

Calix looked at me confused and I shrugged. "I'll see you later," I kissed him quickly.

Calix smiled and peppered my face with kisses before standing up and leaving. We agreed to wear pajama clothes instead of him just sleeping on boxers since we were here and didn't know that customs.

I watched at Calix left before the girls ushered me out of the bed. They led me into the warm bath water and bathed me, even though I could do that myself.

They dried me off, and began to style my hair, do my makeup, and hand me a robe all at the same time. After hours of hair and makeup, they smiled and called the other girls in for the dress. When they brought it in, I gasped and covered my mouth. "It's beautiful," I murmured, staring at it in awe.

Before me was the dress I was to be crowned Queen in. It was a cream white dress, and let me tell you, it was beautiful. It had golden embroidery all over it. It had the vision of a sweetheart neckline, but more unique. It had a deep cut down the middle of my stomach before going to my waist. At my waist, the cream satin puffed out and the delicate golden embroidery laid on top. The train was long and followed the rest of my dress. A see-through fabric covered my arms had small, golden leaves embroidered into like the rest of the dress. It was absolutely gorgeous.

The slid me into the dress and fixed my hair to the way it should be. "Are you ready, Your Majesty?"

I took a dee breath, looking at the door. "It's coronation time."

~-~•~-~