Hidden Princess

Chapter 18

*The girls' dresses and hairstyles are pictured above! Don't forget that Apolônia has a red sash on as well.*

Xavier and Alex are waiting for us at the bottom of the second staircase. Lia is the first one down, followed by me, then Cami. Alex's face lights up when he sees me.

"You look beautiful babe," He says as I reach the bottom steps. He holds out his hand to me and I take it. Both Alex and Xavier are dressed in black, fitted tuxes, with black bowties. Xavier has a royal blue sash positioned on his right shoulder, like my red one, marking him as a member of the royal family.

"You don't look so bad yourself," I say with a smile. Alex and I take the lead as we make our way through to the throne room in the front hall. Everybody had arrived and taken their seats, and we are the last to get there, since I am the princess, I will be walking in with my mother right before Remi. We find my mother waiting to the side, in her gold dress, with her red and royal blue sash laying across her body, and her crown sitting atop her head.

"You girls look amazing!" She says with a wide smile as we approach her. "Amália, why don't you take Cami and Alex inside and show them to their spots," She says to Lia who nods. "You are sitting in the front row, and your parents are already there waiting for you. Xavier, you and your mother are going to walk in together, right before Apolônia and I do."

Lia leads Cami and Alex into the throne room as Brígida comes up to where we are. She is wearing a silver gown, much like my mother's gold on, with a royal blue sash, like Xavier's, and one of Mamãe's extra tiaras.

"Are we just about ready?" She asks as she stands next to Xavier.

"I believe we are just waiting for Remigio to get here," My mother says. Just then Remi rounds the corner. He is dressed in his black military finery, his medals are pinned on his left, and the royal blue and red sash, that was our father's, is positioned on his right shoulder. He used to have just a red sash, like me, but now that he is being crowned king, he gets to wear father's sash. "There he is now," Mamãe says. "We are ready to begin!"

The music playing inside the throne room changes to the anthem of Eplea, and Brígida and Xavier begin the procession.

"Are you ready for this?" I whisper to Remi as we wait for them to get to their places.

"As ready as I can be," He says with a small smile, right before mamãe and I have to enter.

I walk on my mother's left as we make our way down the center aisle, towards the throne in front of us. We walk with our heads held high, our shoulders back, and our hands clasped together in front of us, to where my hands look as though they are resting right above my skirt. When we get up to the stage the throne is placed upon, we split and take our places standing on either side and a little behind the throne. Once we are in our places, Remigio begins his entrance.

Remi walks with his head held high and his arms at his sides. The Archbishop moves to stand in front of the throne as Remi approaches. Remi kneels on the steps to the throne in front of the Archbishop as the music comes to a stop.

"I hereby present unto you, Remigio Micael Amílcar Vasconcelos, the son of the late King Aloísio and Queen Lygia, as your new King, least anyone object and bring forth another with a claim to the throne." The Archbishop announces in Portuguese. He pauses for a moment, as is customary, before he continues on. "Do you, Remigio Micael Amílcar Vasconcelos, solemnly promise and swear to govern the Peoples of Eplea, according to the laws and customs set by those before you?"

"I solemnly promise so to do," Remigio answers.

"Will you to your power cause Law and Justice, in Mercy, to be executed in all your judgments?" The Archbishop continues on with the oath.

"I will," Remigio says.

"Will you in all your power uphold the standards of country and crown? Will you help your people when they come to you, and protect them in times of war and peace? Will you keep your people's wellbeing in the forefront of all negotiations and treaties you may sign during your reign?"

"All this I promise so to do. These things I have here before promised, I will perform, and keep. So help me God." Remigio finishes the oath.

"Rise, and take your place on the throne," the Archbishop says to Remigio, who stands and walks the few steps up to the throne. He turns around to face everyone, before sitting down. The Archbishop picks up the crown that was sitting on a pedestal beside the throne and he turns to Remigio with it in his hands. "With the acceptance of your oath, it is my honor to place this crown upon your head, and name you King of Eplea," The Archbishop says, as he places the crown on Remi's head. "You are now named King Remigio Micael Amílcar Vasconcelos. May you honor your oath and serve the people of Eplea well all through your reign. Long be the reign of King Remigio." The Archbishop finishes.

"Long reign King Remigio," Everyone echoes back, before the throne room erupts in applause. The anthem starts to play again as Remigio leads the recession, followed by my mother and I, with Xavier and Brígida behind us.

Remigio disappears for a few minutes right after the coronation, as everyone is making their way from the throne room to the ballroom. Mamãe removes her sash and crown, placing them in the chest in the throne room where they will stay until Remigio marries and names his queen. Mamãe then puts on a red sash like mine, and one of her tiaras that she would wear when her and Papai would go on outings around the country.

Just as we are about to head in to the ballroom, Remi returns. He changed out of the military finery and into a fitted black tux like what Alex and Xavier have on. He kept the red and royal blue sash on, as well as the crown.

The three of us enter into the ballroom together and make our way to the front where our table is set up. Alex, Cami and their parents, as well as Brígida, Xavier and Amália are at the table with us. I notice that my mother had arranged the seating to where Remi was seated between Cami and me, while Alex sat on my other side. Next to Alex was Xavier, then Amália. On the other side of Cami sat my mother, then Brígida. The twins' parents were in the last two seats. Cami and my mother engage in a conversation for awhile, before my mother is pulled away to take care of something.

We are served a light meal, as it is only about 1 in the afternoon. Remi and Cami make small talk as we are eating, though I can't quite figure out what they are talking about.

"Cami, where did you get the tiara from?" Lacey asks her daughter.

"Nia let me borrow it," Cami says, and I see a hint of a blush on her cheeks as if she was hopping no one would ask about it.

"And it's okay for her to wear it?" Lacey asks, turning to me. I nod.

"Oh yeah! I don't wear that one as often, and my mother insisted I let her borrow it today, as it ties together her whole look," I say with a smile. I glance over to see Remi glancing over to Cami with a small smile on his lips.