54. Koarthandris
KOARTHANDRIS
It seemed only right to have Izzy’s coronation at Veilblood Academy. This place was all she’d known of the fae realm, her home for the last couple months.
I had to smile. Izzy had been here for two months and she’d overthrown a false queen, started and ended a war, and learned a little magic in the meantime. Oh, and also permanently affected the lives of five men, of which I was one.
Luckily, the academy had two large forums suitable for an event such as the coronation, and we planned to use both.
The coronation would happen twice, so more people could witness it.
The first ceremony had finished at Anadendyra Hall, the massive great hall on campus, named for Izzy’s royal family.
Now Izzy led a parade through the campus — a long and winding and indirect path — to Cliffside Arena, where she’d be crowned all over again for a different crowd.
The parade in between was for the thousands of people who’d shown up and not been able to fit into either the great hall or the arena.
Izzy waved as she walked past, smiling and proud.
She looked radiant in a golden dress, modest and stylish, though she’d insisted on no train, which had broken the hearts of the palace tailors.
For the parade, she wore no crown. She’d wanted to meet the people as one of them, even though she’d already been crowned once and would be again in a little while.
She even stopped to shake hands or talk to people, probably more than she should have.
Luckily, we’d made sure there was lots of time for her to make it to the second venue.
She truly wanted to meet all the peoples of the fae realms. It may have been a bit of a slight to those in the two larger venues, most of whom were from what had been the higher classes.
She hadn’t talked to anyone there, but here, where so many of “the rabble” had gathered, she lingered and talked and laughed with them.
I hoped she didn’t make any more enemies.
Already, there had been a divide among the elves.
Only about a third had fully accepted Izzy.
Roughly another third were skeptical, taking a wait-and-see approach, and the last third had already vacated the capital, heading for the wastes where the titans had once dwelled, furious at the changes Izzy wished to make.
No one was really worried. All the other races had united around Izzy, all of them would be “elevated” at least a little if made equal to the elves.
We had other enemies, but none of great concern.
The nephilim of Elysial and the pyrkai of Urval were still vying for control of those realms, but, to a certain extent, no one cared.
Most of the other races had come to live here in Seial.
The seraphim and the repentant sylphim would make new homes in the high mountains.
The vast plains would suit the salmaeri and concubi just fine, a step up from their previous home of fire and darkness.
Izzy had plans to talk to both the nephilim and the pyrkai at some point, to see if she could set up trade and diffuse the tensions between us and them, which had lasted for thousands of years. Few thought it possible, but they didn’t know Izzy like I did. If anyone could do it, she could.
I cleared my throat as Izzy spoke to a pixie at length about ways to enhance and simplify the bureaucracy of the realm.
She looked over at me.
I made a pointed look toward Cliffside Arena. We were close, on the last leg, and our time was drawing short.
Izzy sighed, got the name of the pixie and told her to find us “after all this nonsense,” then was back on the path.
“I was learning a lot!” she said to me as we walked side by side.
“There will be time for that later, we wouldn’t want to be late.”
Izzy sighed as the arena loomed closer. “I don’t have many fond memories of this place,” she murmured to me.
Myel had been imprisoned here, then faced a deathmatch. And Izzy had fought for her life on the same arena floor where she was about to be coronated.
I grunted my agreement.
“Still,” I said.
“One must face many unpleasant things once one is queen,” Izzy said a bit stiff.
She was quoting her grandmother verbatim.
Olinara was a massive resource for royal life, having been the last true queen’s inamora, the highest of the inamorati.
But not all of what she had to impart to Izzy were easy things to hear.
“It’ll be over soon,” I said.
“The coronation, yes, but then I’ll be queen in truth and I’ll have so much more on my plate.”
“You wanted this.”
“I wanted to change the world, not be queen.”
“Those go hand in hand.”
She slipped her hand into mine and squeezed. I squeezed hers back. It had become a common thing for Izzy and one or more of us guys, this small gesture of support when she couldn’t show her uncertainty and overwhelm.
I couldn’t help myself; I leaned closer and whispered, “be a good girl and you’ll get a reward later.” I’d been experimenting with being… playful, a little less uptight about… everything.
Izzy eyed me with a half-grin before her gaze returned to the crowd and her lips to the wide smile she wore for everyone else.
“Oh?” she whispered back. “What kind?”
“The kind that’ll make you scream and make a certain shifter very uncomfortable unless he joins us.”
Izzy’s giggle was very un-queen-like.
We arrived at the arena and were whisked away through corridors to a staging room where we waited to go out. Here, it was just Izzy and us guys and Olinara, who was our master of ceremonies for these events.
“How long do I have?” Izzy asked while sipping some water.
“A few minutes, Lhorine will give her speech, then you’re on,” Olinara answered.
“Enough time to put a flush on my cheeks?”
Olinara seemed confused at the question before Izzy tilted her head towards us men with a significant look.”
“Oh,” Olinara sighed. “Really? Now?”
“Weren’t you the one who said something about how I’ll have to find intimacy in the rare moments when I can find it?”
“I regret that wording now.” Izzy’s grandmother shook her head, then sighed again. “Fine, but only one of them, and a hand-job only, no penises, you horny slut.”
“Takes one to know one,” Izzy said over her shoulder to her grandmother, who nodded at the veracity of that statement. Then Izzy turned to me, looping her arms around my neck and pulling me down for a kiss.
“Reward time,” she whispered.
When I hiked up her dress, I found a distinct lack of underwear.
“Did you plan this?” I asked, my hand cupping her core.
“Hmmm, harder, and no, this dress is heavy and it’s warm and I wanted my lady bits to breathe. Anything else is a happy accident.” She ground herself against my palm. I slid a finger along her slit and it came away wet.
“Fucking hell,” Myel hissed. “Not this again.”
“Let me help with that,” Rook said, kneeling before the shifter and opening his fly to swallow down his hard erection.
“Fuck, that’s sexy,” Izzy purred, watching them while I worked her with my hand. “Hmm, fuck, yes!”
Olinara turned her back, checking outside. But I’d caught a smile on the nymph’s face before she did. It made me wonder how horny the previous true queen had been.
With Izzy and Myel both feeling each other’s bliss, it didn’t take long before she was coming on my hand and he was emptying himself into Rook’s mouth.
“And… time,” Olinara called. “You ready?”
Izzy gave a giggle as she pushed her skirt down. She definitely had a heady blush on her cheeks now.
“Yup!” she said, popping the “p.” Olinara quickly checked her over and adjusted a few minor things, then ushered us out.
“Maybe,” Izzy said as we made our way toward the podium at the center of the arena, “I could get used to the perks of being queen.”
“Now I’ll need a reward later,” I said, hoping the massive crowd wasn’t focused on the bulge in my pants.
“I’ll make it my first official act as queen,” Izzy said, a rejuvenated lightness in her voice.
When she took the podium and went — yet again — through the long ritual of being crowned and all that entailed, she faced it with a brilliant smile on her face.
And I was glad I’d been able to “sooth away” her anxiety and help her focus on what lay ahead.
I’d be there for whatever she needed, whether that was protection or pleasure or just a friend.
My role in her life was far more than just her guard.
In a week’s time I’d pledge my life to hers as her husband, becoming a prince of the realm.
And I also knew… we’d not be alone. I’d failed the previous royal family because I’d tried to do everything myself.
I wouldn’t need to worry about that anymore.
Whatever Izzy and I faced, we’d face it with four others to help us and so many others who’d dedicated their lives to Izzy.
She brought out the best in everyone, and she’d finally allowed me to forgive myself for my past and look with anticipation toward the future.