Loving the Forbidden Prince

Chapter 159  Countdown to Peace - Part 15

AYLETH

The morning of the day of the Signing was perhaps the most viciously slow that Ayleth had ever experienced. As if the Goddess had slowed her hand on the spindle of time and was forcing Ayleth to wait, to wait, to wait…

But finally, finally, as lunch was served to all the royals in their chambers so they might finish readying for the historic event without revealing their gowns, bristling with gems and crystals, the hour that they were to move to the amphitheater finally approached.

Ayleth's ladies had been tittering and hissing for the past hour while her hair was dressed and her gown prepared, but when finally the maids had lifted it over her head—a silk square over her hair to ensure the dress didn't mess the carefully set style—and the dress settled on her shoulders and hips, Ayleth sighed with relief.

In moments she and her parents would make the walk through the castle, behind her father's Cryer to announce their approach, to join the other royals in the center of the amphitheater where the people had gathered to watch.

A low hum had been growing all morning—thousands of commoners making their way through the city and gathering at the gates and alongside the road to the amphitheater, hoping for a glimpse of the world's most powerful people in their finery as they approached, then left behind the signing of the Peace Accord.

A momentous day, indeed. And yet, Ayleth's attention focused not on the signing itself, but on the feast and ball that evening during which the first of the festival's declarations would be publicly announced.

The moment when, for good or ill, they would finally hear about her love for her husband, and the union of their nations.

The door to her chambers opened then, and a servant stepped in, bowing low. "The Princess Ayleth of Zenithra is summoned by the King and Queen."

"Thank you," Ayleth said, waving away the maids still pinching at her hair and straightening her gown. Her ladies finally went quiet, like birds who had suddenly become aware of a cat nearby.

Ayleth stepped forward, towards the door, while her ladies gathered behind her. A moment later her parents stepped in and Ayleth was left breathless by her mother's cold beauty.

Both her parents wore the deep blue of the Zenithran flag, her mothers eyes sparked to jewels by the color, her blonde hair glowing with lush good health. The dress was extremely modest in cut—

the neckline cut straight across from shoulder to shoulder, hugging her mother's collarbones. And yet, it clung to her from shoulder to waist, slick and formed to her like a second skin, before flaring into a skirt so wide it gathered behind the frames of Ayleth's door on either side as she stepped through.

Her father, his stomach only just protruding, but the rest of him trim and fit, wore a suit of the same blue, the Royal Scepter in one hand, and the thick, gold chain of his rank strung from shoulder to shoulder, a sapphire as deeply blue as the midnight sky, hanging from its center, as large as a bird egg.

Ayleth curtseyed to them for the formality of the event, and they received her humility with nods of their heads.

"Are you ready, Ayleth?" her father asked, his voice deep and solemn.

Ready? She was ready to gallop out of this room and down the corridor and throw herself into Etan's arms, signing be shitted upon! But she only inclined her head and clasped her hands at her waist. "Yes, Father," she said sweetly.

Both her parents gave tight-lipped, dry smiles—as if they knew her thoughts—but neither corrected her. Instead, they turned back into the corridor and positioned themselves at its center, surrounded by their court who had all dressed in their best to follow the royals, and were waiting along both sides of the corridor. Ayleth caught eyes with Falek who waited outside her door looking tense and stern, but nodded and smiled at her when she stepped into the hallway.

Her father's Cryer—a pompous old man who still wore the old-fashioned white wigs that had been so fashionable when her parents were young—rushed around positioning people and giving instructions for how they were to follow or conduct themselves in the approach to the signing.

Then, when he saw her parents, his eyes lit up.

"Majesties! Please take your positions and we will ensure everyone knows their place so we can begin."

A few minutes followed of hurried instructions to the Royals, and hissed warnings to everyone else, until the Cryer stood back and nodded.

Ayleth's parents stood a few feet apart, their chins high and dignity clothing them as surely as their silks.

Ayleth stood a few feet behind them, centered between them, the point to their triangle. To her sides and behind, the highest of each of their noble Courts followed, trailing back in lines to the lowest of Ayleth's ladies in waiting.

They made quite the crowd, but they were orderly and beautiful, and the people would be excited to see them all.

As the Cryer took his position several steps ahead of her parents and stood, one hand on his own lapel, the other flattened against his back, he tipped back his head and bellowed, "Make way! Make way for Zenithra! Make way for the King and Queen! And for the Princess Ayleth!"

Then he began to walk, and as they had been instructed, each of them followed apace.

As they strode through the halls of the castle to the courtyard outside, then down the road to the amphitheater, Ayleth wondered where Etan was, and whether he was as nervous as she.

She swallowed hard and kept her chin high as they stepped out of the castle walls to a roar of cheering and adoration.

The people of Zenithra had turned up in such numbers, they lined the road all the way to the Amphitheater.

Ayleth waved and blew kisses, beaming at their smiles and their excited cries.

These were her people. She and her parents were about to walk them into peace—a treaty so certain it would assure prosperity for all of them for at least a decade.

She loved them and wanted the best for them, each of them. And as they cried her name and threw flowers at her feet, Ayleth prayed they would seek the best for her, as well, when they heard her news.