Chapter 3

After an hour or so the initial shock started to wear off and I became more aware of what was happening.  I had never been this clean in my life and they weren’t even done yet.  I did my best to accommodate the maids as they sponged me clean, dressed me dodged around Ami as she told me how the coronation would proceed.  I would obviously have a large part and I let her drill me until I had my lines from the Oath ceremony memorized.  I looked up somewhere in the middle of the process to see one of the maids frowning at my reflection.  Her tall willowy frame was bending over my head with a look of intense concentration. 

“That bad is it?” I asked trying to keep the apprehension from my voice.  I didn’t want to care about how I looked, but after Ekthros made that needling comment about my appearance.  I couldn’t seem to help it.

She gave me a reassuring smile, “Oh no, my Lady, I’m just trying to decide how to dress your hair.  May I have your permission to experiment a bit?”

“As long as you don’t leave me bald headed.” I replied with a grimace.  I had seen the coronation pictures of previous queens and they tended to reflect the styles of the time periods in which they had lived and not all of them had been flattering.  One queen had stood out to me when I was younger because her hair had been dyed a bright orange color that existed nowhere in nature.  I hoped to escape a similar fate.

The tall maid with red hair gently took the knot out of my hair and started combing my hair into smooth sections. 

“What’s your name?”

“Gellee, my Lady.”

“Jell-lee,” I said sounding out the unfamiliar syllables, “That’s a pretty name.”

“Thank you.” She replied shortly, her concentration focused on the thick tangle at the back of my head.  She moved around the front of my chair to start on my long bangs when I noticed her swollen stomach.

“When is your baby due?” I asked mostly to keep up a conversation.  I didn’t want to lapse into silence again now that I had broken it.

“She reached down to pat the bulge fondly, “In about 4 months my Lady.”

“Oh.  What will you name it?”

“I’m not sure yet.  I will receive a catalog of available names in my eighth month.  I’ll get to choose one then.  Not that it really matters.”

I didn’t understand and hesitated briefly before my curiosity got the best of me, “Why doesn’t the name matter?” 

“Because this child will be donated to the Academy when it is born; in the service of our country.”  She said all of this matter-of-factly and without a trace of bitterness or anger.

The Academy is located in Dome 23 and trains all of the servants, maids, and guards that work in the palace and parliament buildings.  If a current worker had good genetics then he/she was selected for the continuing breeding program.  The men would donate genetic material and the women would be artificially inseminated.  The resulting child would be placed in an Academy program for instruction in the position they are slotted to fill.  Their destiny is decided from birth.  I had heard in the past that occasionally mothers did not want to give up their child after birth and either tried to run away or in an extreme case a few years ago the maid killed the child and then herself.  I wondered which way Gellee blew?  She seemed happy enough, but I know that if it were me I would have a hard time losing a child like that.  Never to see him or her again…I guess it was better than being an outcross.  B*****d children, commonly called outcrossed,  were the illegal offspring of unmatched parents.  If they were untested or did not receive permission to have a child then there were two options available o the parents.  One-to terminate the child either before or after birth, their choice, or two-to take the child and live in exile outside of the domes.  The first choice was usually the one taken, as it was suicide to live outside of the domes during the crossover months.

“Alright my Lady, we’re done and I’ve rung for you escort.  Are you ready?”  Amica’s cheerful voice broke through my gloomy thoughts and I looked up to see all the maids standing in their perfect line against the wall again.

Gellee beamed at me and nodded her head at the mirror.  I could still feel the hair on my head which was extremely comforting as I moved to see my reflection.

Two things occurred to me when I reached the mirror:

I still look like myself

and

I look pretty good.

The girls have put me in a deep red dress with long sleeves that end in points at my knuckles.  The deep color sets off the intricate knot of hair that blooms at the nape of my neck.  They used almost no makeup except for a few brushes of white and pink powders to highlight my eyelids and bright cheekbones.  My bright ruby lips are the only things that stand out against the pale skin of my face and neck.  I’ve never looked like this in my life.  The only jewelry   My entire body feels like a work of art from the red on my nails to the matching shoes with their tiny heels on my feet.

I turned back to the girls trying not to cry with relief.  I could get through the rest of this day knowing I looked amazing thank to these sweet and talented women.

“Thank you.  All of you.” I said, my voice creaking with emotion.

They flushed with pleasure and curtseyed before Ami raised a hand to wave them out of the room.

As they filed out I could see a group of people gliding down the hall towards us, presumably this would prove to be President Ekthros and company arriving to escort me to the coronation ceremony.

I feel a light pressure on my shoulders as Ami fastens the collar of a long cape around my neck.  I glance back at the mirror and see that it is trimmed with black spotted white fur and made of a soft red material a few shades brighter than my dress.  It completes the ensamble perfectly. 

Ami takes my hand and bows over it solemnly.  I’m at a complete loss for words in the face of her kindness and thoughtfulness. 

Ekthros clears his throat behind me and I give Ami’s hand a firm squeeze.  I may have imagined it, but I could have sworn that she gave me a tiny squeeze in return before whispering,

“I will see you again tonight after I prepare your private rooms.  Gellee and I will be there after the banquet to help you out of you things and ensure that you are comfortable.”

I want to tell her that I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself until I remember that this dress has what must be hundreds of tiny buttons down the back that I could never reach on my own.  I sigh and let go of her hand in silent resignation.  This is probably how things will be from now on, might as well try and get used to it. 

I try to hold my head high as I stride forward to meet the group hovering around the door.  I am surprisingly reluctant to leave this ugly pink room.  It seems now to be a quiet sanctuary when compared to the chaos to come. 

“Your Highness!  You look lovely!” Ekthros gushes through his grey teeth.  This would probably mean more if he had not insulted me just a few hours ago.

Ekthros gives me a small nudge and I start moving towards the large brass doors at the end of the eternal hallway.   The throne room where the ceremony will take place is just beyond them.  With every step I take I bless the maids for choosing short heels; I can walk easily in them despite the weight of the cape trailing behind me.

I don’t see any familiar faces among the guards and I briefly wonder where the one with green eyes went before we’re at the doors and I’m being prodded into the bright white lights of the throne room.

 I feel slightly claustrophobic when I see how many people are packed into the large egg shaped room.  I walk straight ahead towards the throne itself while looking around surreptitiously at the well dressed crowd.  I almost laugh because all of these people are here to see me and I couldn’t name one of them. 

I reach the dais and notice him standing there.  The green-eyed guard holds out a hand to help me up the stairs.  I take it and feel thick calluses under my fingers.  His hand is warm and comforting, but I let it go as quickly as possible so as not to appear weak.  He keeps his eyes down turned through all of this like a good little guard and returns to his place at the foot of the stairs.  I hate to admit it, but he looks really good in his black uniform.  I bet he know it too.

  I turn to face the crowd and sweep the cape around so that I can sit down.  The whole throne is made of thick bubbled glass that fans out above the purple cushion in curves and knots to form the backrest.  President Ekthros comes forwards and the cameras all press in eagerly.  Thanks to Ami’s patient repetition I remember my roll perfectly and the whole process moved along smoothly.  Mostly I just listened to Ekthros drone through the formalities.  I kept up for the most part but froze once during the oath taking,

“Is your Majesty ready and willing to take the oath?”

Ekthros stood to one side of my chair so that the cameras had a full view of our faces.  I somehow doubt that this was as much for my benefit as it was for his.  A young boy came forward with what looked like a white-ish chunk of dirty rock sitting on a black pillow.  He offered the pillow to me and I took the lump in my right hand.  Ami had told me that this was the last piece of what had once been the capitol building before the Event swept the whole east side of the country into the sea.  The lump feels cool in my sweaty hand.

“I am ready and willing,” I reply.

“Will you solemnly promise and swear to rule the people of Proto Rodinia according to their laws, traditions, and customs?”

“I solemnly promise to do so.”

“And will you to your power provide decisions on Law and Justice and, in mercy, execute all of your judgments fairly?”

“This…”

I hesitated just for a moment and could hear whispers run through the crowd.  After all of the rehearsal time with Ami I balk at this section of the oaths. 

 I just don’t think I’m smart enough or worthy enough to be responsible for judging others according to laws I don’t know.  I was supposed to answer, “This within my power I swear to do,” but I decide at the last minute to change it to fit how I felt.  This might not be the best decision, but here goes anyway…

  I took a deep breath before answering, “I swear to do my best in this matter and accept council before making merciful judgments on my people.”

The silence in the room was heavy as the crowd stood motionless.  I had just changed three hundred or so years of history.  That was bound to come back and bite me at some point.

Ekthros came forward with the sovereign ring and I passed the chunk of capitol building back to the boy with the pillow. 

Ekthros held the ring in the palm of his hand and tried to recover the situation with renewed zest.

“By placing this ring on the royal finger I hereby consecrate the symbolic marriage between Queen Marniah and her country.  May she serve it well.”

He turned to be and bent forward blocking me from view.  His face was shadowed and angry.  His eyes burned through my face as he picked up my hand.  Ami had said that the ring would be sized for my small fifth finger of my right, but Ekthros slid it slowly on my fourth.  He looked right into my eyes as he shoved it painfully over the knuckle and into the soft flesh at the base.  I bite my lip and can feel my eyes widen at the sudden vicious pain.  He smiles at my expression and gives me a slight nod before placing my hand on my lap.  I see something in his eyes right before he turns away that puts ice in my belly.  The camera lights seemed brighter thatnbefore as he takes my other hand to help me to my feet. 
“Long live the Queen!” He shouts and the crowd echoes. 

He leads me down the steps and out of the throne room to the banquet hall.  I glance off to the side as I pass the tall, dark haired guard I can see his bright green eyes narrow on my face.   He must be able to tell that something is wrong.   I rearrange my features to appear happier and try to keep up with Ekthros’ brisk pace.  My finger throbs and the pain shoots up through my wrist.  The joint is already swelling around the silver square ring and feels like it might actually be broken.  I can’t seem to process what had just happened through the shock.  My brain tries to catch up with the past few minutes and I slowly start to get angry.  I let that dirty man hurt me and hadn’t even made a move to defend myself.  What was happening?

Apparently he hadn’t liked my response.  He treated me like a disobedient child that needed to be punished.  I don’t like it at all.  I am now the queen of ProRo and he dared to do that in front of all those people, not to mention the cameras and viewers in their homes.

  I’ll have to be more careful in the future.

 Ekthros is more dangerous now than he was just a few hours ago.