The Stolen Princess
I watch the road out the window of the carriage as we approach the Church, and I find myself having to hold back huge sobs as I do because I know that I have to be strong. Everyone is going to be looking to me for strength in this immense time of uncertainty; no one knows what will happen.
Who am I kidding? Everyone is already looking to me, and I still have no fucking clue what I am doing. I only know one thing is for certain, and that is I need to get through the funeral, and once that’s done I can figure the rest out.
The carriage comes to a stop. I close my eyes and take a deep breath, trying to cleanse my thoughts as I am about to go give a eulogy for someone I somehow just met 6 months ago but also have known my whole life.
As I open my eyes, I see that we are parked in front of the ancient Temple of Maeven and know we are here and I must get out. I can see the crowd gathered outside of the carriage but with the magic they cannot see in.
I take another deep breath as I hear a deep voice from next to me ask, “Are you ready, Your Majesty?”
I nod, never looking at him and continue to look out the window knowing in a few seconds I have to step out and face one of my biggest fears. I never knew this fear existed until after I met her and now suddenly the fear is all I think about.
How am I supposed to go on knowing that she is gone and even if I could gather all of the magic in the world I will never be able to have her back in any form. If I had a choice to bring her back exactly how she was before the battle I would in a heartbeat. But everyone knows that no one ever comes back from the dead the same, they come back as something very dark and dangerous.
I take another cleansing breath needing to feed my brain with as much oxygen as I can so I can stay present and focused throughout this entire service. Everyone in the country is going to be turning to me to watch and see what I do and how I am going to handle all of this moving forward.
“Ready as I’ll ever be,” It’s at that moment that the driver opens the door and I hear the murmurs in the crowd come to a halt as I step out and make my way up the grand steps of the Temple.
Here goes nothing I guess...