Chapter 4 #2
The attentive members of the audience quickly turned to one another and began chattering in a friendly manner, and the people nearest the doors started to walk out of the throne room.
A few of my Masters respectfully approached the dais and offered their congratulations. Miriam, my Master of Cloth, was especially cheerful as she remarked on the beautiful gowns my three queens were wearing.
“They turned out so well,” she said with pride in her eyes. “You really picked an incredible material, Your Majesty.”
Miriam reached out and gently touched the edge of Yori’s purple skirt.
“I couldn’t have done it without you, Miriam,” Yori insisted. “I really thought yellow was the way to go.”
“Yellow?” Serra gasped in shock. “With your complexion? That would have washed you out like a sheet of parchment.”
“Well, I didn’t know that!” Yori laughed. “Miriam was the one who suggested something purple.”
“And that is why she is our Master of Cloth,” Tanell said in a bemused tone. “You really outdid yourself this time, Miriam.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty.” Miriam dipped in a little curtsy, and then she turned her playful smile on me. “Did I do your queens justice, sire?”
“You did,” I assured her. “All three of them are gorgeous. I mean, they’re always gorgeous, but you really made them shine tonight. Thank you.”
“It’s my greatest pleasure,” Miriam said.
She curtsied once more before she waggled her fingers in a little wave and headed out of the throne room.
The ambassadors from Basstrum stepped up to us next. They were an interesting pair of men, and I’d grown pretty fond of them since our alliance had been formalized.
Sir Phillip, who insisted on being called Phil, was a tall and jovial man in his fifties. His brown hair was rapidly fading to a distinguished shade of silvery gray, but his gray eyes were bright with youthful energy and intelligence.
He and King Enken had been friends since their teen years.
Enken had informed me they’d met at the Basstrum University, and they’d been thick as thieves ever since.
As I’d gotten to know Phil, it was easy to understand why he and Enken were such close friends.
He’d served as ambassador for nearly twenty years, and his work as ambassador was possibly the only thing he took seriously.
Phil had a wild sense of humor, and he managed to find joy in almost any situation.
Sir Gideon, his colleague and fellow ambassador, was a much sterner man.
He was around the same age and several inches shorter and significantly rounder than Phil.
His wavy hair was still entirely pitch black despite his years, and his sharp, dark brown eyes didn’t seem to miss a single thing.
He’d been appointed by King Enken and Queen Doria about five years ago.
They were both men of great integrity, and they’d been invaluable in our work with the Kingdom of Basstrum. Now we had the beginnings of a lucrative trade deal in the works, and I was grateful to have such honorable men to foster the relationship between our two nations.
“Your Majesties.” Phil bowed much deeper than he needed to. “It is a delight to have witnessed your coronation.”
“Thank you for joining us, Phil,” Tanell said with a warm smile.
“A horde of rabid Drolg couldn’t have kept me away,” Phil joked.
Gideon allowed a small snort of laughter to escape his stoic fa?ade.
“It was a beautiful ceremony,” Gideon said in his gruff voice, and he bowed deeply. “Congratulations, Your Majesties. Long may you reign.”
“Mm, yes,” Phil agreed, like it was an afterthought. “I’m quite excited for the feast. Your chef is a master in his own right.”
“Very true,” Tanell laughed lightly.
“He really outdid himself tonight,” I said, and I gestured behind the ambassadors to the otherwise empty throne room. “How about we join the others?”
“Excellent idea!” Phil bellowed. “I had no idea everyone had already moved out.”
“They simply couldn’t resist the excellent food and drink.” Gideon pursed his lips and nodded.
“And neither should we,” Serra said, and she motioned elegantly with one hand toward the open doors. “Shall we?”
Phil and Gideon nodded and proffered their arms out to my new queens in a very diplomatic gesture. Yori actually giggled as she took Sir Phillip’s arm, and Serra smiled warmly as she took Sir Gideon’s.
They walked down the aisle toward the doors, and I shared a cheerful smile with Tanell, and she looped her arm around mine to rest her hand on my forearm.
“That went so perfectly,” she murmured as we followed the others.
“It really did,” I sighed with relief that the show was over.
Much like Serra, I’d been nervous about performing in front of such a large crowd, and now that it was over, I was ready to let loose and have some fun as we celebrated my gorgeous queens.
The reality of my new life hit me like a bucket of cold water, and I almost choked on the idea that I had three incredible, stunning queens in my life. They were my lovers and my partners, and now they were royalty.
Exactly as they should have been all along.
A deep sense of rightness settled in my stomach like a warm cup of tea, and everything felt right in the world as I walked into the grand hall.
The room was massive. It was about six thousand square feet with cathedral ceilings that rose a good forty feet above our heads.
A dozen enormous crystal chandeliers that were glowing with hundreds of beeswax candles hung from dark wood rafters.
The flickering candlelight hit the hundreds of crystals on the chandeliers and sent little speckles of light all through the grand hall.
Forty round tables had been set up on either side of the long room, and an expansive series of rectangular tables were lined up at the far side of the room. They were loaded with so much food, I wondered if we would even be able to eat it all.
“I’m starving,” Yori groaned. “Do we have to wait, or can we go eat now?”
“I’d be happy to accompany you, Your Majesty,” Phil said with a charming smile.
“‘Your Majesty,’” Yori giggled. “It’s going to take a while before I’m used to that.”
“Yeah,” I answered her earlier question. “I’m really hungry, too, and all the official business is done, so as far as I’m concerned, we can just enjoy our evening.”
“And your concern is law,” Phil joked.
“It’s good to be king,” I laughed back. “Come on.”
We headed across the grand hall toward the food and were stopped at least seven times by Masters and Nobles alike who wanted to wish my new queens well and thank us for inviting them.
Finally, we made it to the food, and Yori barely managed to restrain herself as we laid eyes on the buffet.
There was a lavish variety of foods to choose from and a literal cornucopia in the middle of the tables that was stuffed to overflowing with dinner rolls that were still steaming from the oven.
There were a dozen whole roasted ducks that glistened in some kind of citrusy glaze beside the cornucopia, five large spiral-cut hams on the other side, and about twenty small roasted birds.
“Are those pheasants?” I whispered to Tanell.
“Quail,” she replied.
“Mmm,” I hummed and let my eyes wander further across the tables.
It seemed like the main dishes had been arranged in the center, with the side dishes further down, and at the far ends of the tables were the dessert options.
The cooks had prepared nearly every kind of vegetable I could think of, and there was steamed broccoli, bacon-wrapped green beans, glazed carrots, Brussels sprouts in some kind of sauce that smelled delicious, and four kinds of potatoes.
My head chef had questioned why I wanted so many potato options, but they were Phil’s absolute favorite, and the childlike smile on his face when he spotted them made it all worth it.
“Cheesy scalloped potatoes?” He looked like he might weep with joy. “Your Majesty…”
“I knew how much you love potatoes,” I laughed.
It was so hard not to call them “taters, Precious,” but somehow, I managed.
“Superb.” Phil pressed the tips of his fingers to his lips and kissed the air.
“He’s so funny,” Tanell murmured. “So full of joy.”
“I love that about him,” I laughed.
An army of footmen and kitchen maids stood behind the buffet table to assist our guests in loading up their plates, and Adelyn happened to be the one to help me.
“What can I serve you, sire?” she asked as she selected a plate from the huge stack behind her. “We also have filet mignon steaks over there. I know you prefer beef over fowl.”
“I do.” I smiled at her. “Yes, a filet mignon, please, with the green beans, asparagus, some of the scalloped potatoes, and a bit of that gravy, please.”
“Certainly.” Adelyn hurried to load my plate with everything I’d requested, and she managed to arrange it all like something out of a cookbook by Gordon Ramsay.
“Oh, can I have one of those rolls, too, please?” I asked.
“Of course, sire,” Adelyn said.
“God, that looks amazing,” I sighed when she handed me the plate. “Thank you.”
“It’s my pleasure, Your Majesty.” Adelyn bowed her head in a respectful gesture. “Is there anything else I can get you? Some dessert, perhaps?”
“No, thanks,” I said with a grin. “I’ll come back for dessert later.”
“As you wish.” Adelyn smiled once more at me before she turned to the next guest.
I turned to look for my women, and they were all about done loading up their plates, and we walked over to the table designated for us.
We settled into our seats and began eating while more servers drifted around the grand hall with bottles of champagne and wine, carafes of coffee, and selections of tea for all our guests.
Gideon joined us a moment after we sat down, and his plate was a healthy balance of selections from the buffet. When Phil sat down a second later, his plate was half potatoes, and I couldn’t help but laugh.
“I hope you enjoy it,” I said.
“Oh, I will,” Phil insisted, and he basically gave me cartoon heart-eyes before he skewered a cheesy slice of potato and shoved it into his mouth. “Mmmmm.”
I chuckled and had my first bite of the feast.