"King Aldway the Second, it is an honor to have you here in attendance." Ronald gave a strong sure hand shake to the older man, a greatly admired king of the south. Ronald made special care to thank him personally. "I was told your travels have been long and difficult, you must extend your stay. Enjoy our wonderful land, see great landmarks of ours. And I would like to personally welcome you to stay here at our castle, if you will."
Ronald sent out his peace offering, hoping he would take it.
The older king's brows furrowed in consideration, he looked to his wife, who seemed to agree with Ronald. "We will think about it. It is generous of you to offer, I myself have not been up here, during the reign of your father. I am rather intrigued." He gave a respectful nod and reached out his hand. Ronald refrained from making an expression at the mention of his father. "May you and I form an alliance." Ronald's shoulders eased at those words.
Smiling, Ronald replied, "I sure hope we do. It would be an honor to form an alliance with you. Shall we gather sometime and speak on some changes that would benefit us both?" Ronald enticed the king with an offer.
Ronald grew up thinking his father was foolish for making enemies with King Aldway. He had studied their land, rich in salt and minerals, and many more things. There were also great routes for trading that had been cut off, because of his father. That would soon change.
Ronald was surprised he even showed.
"I would like to. I will be in contact with you on that." Once the King became preoccupied with the sampling of their famous delicacies, Ronald was waved down by the castle steward who said he had an urgent need to discuss with him.
"I am to what?" The moment the steward gave full detail of what is to be expected today during the banquet, Ronald's eyebrows rose a notch. Along with his frustration.
Ronald made his way through the crowd. Having received news that he would be making a formal announcement today, he knew exactly who put this into motion.
He saw his mother, who stood off to the corner of the banquet hall, and made his way to her. Gathered with a few noblemen, she looked rather joyous. The banquet was filled with chatter and boisterous laughter.
Unfortunately he had to bring the lively conversation to an end. "What did you do?" He said when he approached her, not bothering to apologize to the men. The men, noting the tension, dispersed.
She turned with an air of innocence. "What? I didn't do a thing."
That was a lie. No one else would think to cross their King. Since she was his mother, she felt no trouble doing such things. "Then who set up a Royal announcement in which I was to announce my bride? Today?"
His mother gave a small shrug. "What are you so upset about? I simply did a little nudging where you needed. I'm your mother. I know you well, my son. You are afraid to make the announcement. Putting it off for later won't make it any easier. You're going to have to stand up for your bride. Besides, no one has a right to condemn you, who you take to be your bride."
The reason he put it off was not a matter of being afraid of what his people will think of her, but rather to give Bethany time to adjust, to prepare.
It was not too long before he was crowned that he proposed to her. It would not be an easy transition. Coming into such a social standing when she was hidden all her life behind servants quarters.
She was not prepared for this life. It was not something anyone could instantly get accustomed to.
He was grateful she thought well of his bride, a good sign. But one thing was not right. "I did not warn Bethany, I did not give her a proper chance to prepare for such an occasion." Nor was he.
This must've not crossed his mother's mind because a glimpse of contrition passed over her complexion. Ronald expressed this, "She will not be happy with me. I promised that I would keep her informed of any such events."
"Son, I am sorry, but surely she won't mind it in the least. After all she knew it would come with the territory, I am quite positive."
She did make a fair point, nevertheless he urged a nearby servant to catch Bethany before they went out to the banquet. He wanted to prepare her somewhat.
"Have Bethany shown to the drawing room." He started to tell him, when his mother noticed his attention was averted, took the opportunity to take her leave.
She turned to him, an air of finality. "You took care of it, see? There's no problem. The kingdom should meet her, and soon." She said as she walked off briskly before Ronald was finished giving the order to the servant.
He knew his mother had a lot of influence with his father. In the wake of his fathers death, he was finally seeing how much his mother played a role in keeping his father in line. A part of him wanted to laugh at how his mother was quite a handful, but the other part of him wanted to explain to her she needed to relinquish her role as Queen.
It was a transition for her, one she hadn't gotten down yet. But neither has he.
Ronald turned back to the servant who stood patiently waiting, and said, "Have her meet me there, I need to speak with her before she goes out to the banquet hall." The man gave a curt nod and walked off in the direction of the king's quarters.
Ronald gave up the fight trying to speak some sense into his mother.
He averted eager guests who desired to speak with him, and slipped past the crowd into the corridors. A pleasant silence met him. He took a full breath as he walked to the drawing room. A guard followed him at a respective distance.
It was a long day. Ronald was eager for the festivities to be over. But it was far from over. Everyone wanted to speak to him, wanted to get on King's good side. And it was waning on him.
In the room, he paced the floor as the time ticked by slowly. When the door opened, it was not Bethany's head popping into the doorway, instead it was the servant he had sent.
"Is Bethany with you?" He asked, he walked over to where the servant stood at the doorway.
"I'm sorry your Royal Highnesses, but I'm afraid she is already at the banquet hall. I didn't catch her in time, a lady maid informed me she had already gone." The servant, eyes downcast, awaiting a harsh reprimand.
He wished he could sink in a hole. The day was long enough. He thanked the servant. "Thank you. It's none of your fault. I will see to it." Ronald gave him a quick pat on the shoulder and made his way back to the banquet hall. At first he couldn't locate her. But then a fine dressed lady with red hair turned, and Ronald recognized her.
It was Bethany indeed. He almost didn't recognize her in a fancy dress and makeup. She gave him a big smile when she saw him, and it took Ronald's breath away.
She sure was stunning in the emerald green dress.
His mother was right, it was time the kingdom got to know her. Ronald walked over to them, and stood listening for a moment.
The people who were talking with her grew quiet upon his arrival. All eyes turned toward him. He took the opportunity. "Might I excuse Lady Bethany for just a moment?" They gave nods in agreement. Ronald guided her away from the group.
They stared after them. His mother rushed to apologize. "I'm sorry, it would seem he is rather preoccupied. I do apologize. I was glad you got to meet her. Isn't she wonderful?" His mother slightly gushed over Bethany. And Ronald gave a soft laugh, his mother sure was garnering support for his future queen. For which he was grateful for, upon hearing.
As they walked away, Ronald leaned closer so only Bethany could hear, "It seems they already approve of their future Queen."
Color crept up Bethany's cheeks. "I'm not sure that all of them do."
"Don't worry about it. In time, everyone will come to love you." He said as they neared the corridor. He breathed a sigh of relief. "I am truly sorry, mother did not inform me that she set you up like this."
To his surprise Bethany replied, "It's okay, she only wanted to help you out. She is quite kind actually. She handled introducing me in such a pleasant manner. All though I must say it was quite unexpected. At first I thought it was something Mary set up to embarrass me. Set me up with a false ruse but then Melissa and mother assured me it was genuine." Ronald caught the mention of Mary. A servant he knew had resentment towards Bethany. He was about to comment, but decided against it.
"I was caught off guard too. That's why I wanted to talk to you beforehand but it seems you had already left. No matter, you're here now. And that's all that matters. You look beautiful by the way." He took her hand and ran a thumb over her delicate yet roughened hands.
"Thank you." She looked down at her dress instinctively, "I feel so out of place. I have never worn such a pompous dress before."
Ronald barked out a laugh. "You are quite something. Many young ladies would be dying to wear such a dress." He said with a smile. "But you are not like other ladies, are you?"
Bethany jutted her chin. "I am not. And I would just as quickly dress into something far more useful. I cannot even sit in this dress." Once more her candor speech made him laugh.
On a more serious note, Bethany said, "What if people find out I was a servant? I have not yet been crowned a princess, they could just as easily riot against our union. Besides, I am not properly trained in the ways of being a Queen. I might not be fit for the role."
"Even before we found out you had a title, you spoke to me as though you and I were on the same level. You didn't care what others said was proper. That's what I loved about you, no rules applied to you." He grinned. "My fiery little rebel."
Once more, her cheeks grew pink in embarrassment. He smiled and took that as an invitation to place a kiss on those red lips of hers. She didn't pull away, but rather melted into his arms.
His love for her grew with each passing day, that much was certain. There was not a moment where she didn't consume his thoughts.
He felt a presence and he pulled back. The life of a king, no time to connect with his beloved Bethany. The person slipped past them, and reluctantly Ronald took her hand and whispered into her ear, "Let's go blow everyone away with our announcement."
Together they walked hand in hand, to the threshold of the banquet hall where they were formally announced.
"I present His Royal Majesty, King Ronald the first, and Lady Bethany Bolace." Ceremonial music played as they entered, he felt Bethany tighten her hold on his arm. And he placed his hand over hers. All eyes turned to the two of them. Some cast curious glances, some judgmental, some eager to know the story of who was that lady on his arm.
Today they would know.