The rambunctious air put on by the large gathering of individuals wealthy and poor alike had quieted down to solemn respect as the ceremony was now under way. It was a joyous occasion to see what was once a young girl now become an adult and achieve the ranks of Queenhood, but it was also at a traumatic cost due to the loss of the King, her father, only a little more than a month ago. Although they had already carried out his funeral it was still fresh in everyone's minds despite attempts to liven things up with fancy decorations, confetti, alcohol, and an invitation to everyone around the kingdom to take part in the celebrations; the lucky ones able to fit inside were swarming around the royal gardens, open to the public for today, as she took the stage on the balcony above. Although evident that they would create quite a mess down there, it helped alleviate some of the tension by allowing them to go wild for once. Forgot all of the troubles both behind them and ahead for a brief moment.
And so the eighteen year old Aribelle tried her best to hold back tears for her departed father, smiling for him as she kneeled down in front of their kingdom's flag; large and flowing up on the wall of the castle above their heads. It had a blue background and a radiant silver circle in the center flanked by a pair of silver eagle wings.
At this point in the ceremony it was normally the previous king or queen who would bring the crown and place it on the successor's head, but due to his death the crown was brought instead by his wife, her mother; an elegant peach haired woman with pale skin and a fair face, dressed in a flowing white gown glittering with jewels. In this kingdom it wasn't the King's wife who was Queen or vice versa, but instead whoever was born into the royal family, if achieving the thrown, was King or Queen depending on their gender. Their significant other didn't get such a title in marriage but was often still highly respected, as was the case of Lady Ildrean. She held a plush purple pillow containing a picture of King Wildred standing tall and proud behind the royal crown, an expensive silver and blue headpiece with many jewels. It had been with the royal family for many generations. What was once her father's was now her's as of this day. It all felt so surreal. After all, she had only found out about her ascension to the thrown a bit after her father passed away. She had older siblings, three in fact, who would have gotten this title before her. It was so much to take in upon finding out their news of declining the throne, all for various reasons. Although she was slightly frightened at her newfound responsibilities and didn't believe she was entirely ready, she decided that she would do her best to become a Queen to make her father proud. To make her entire kingdom proud.
"Do you, Lady Aribelle Grandhelm, accept your father's crown in exchange for serving our great Kingdom of Estoria, which are forefathers have spent many years and much bloodshed to build into what it is now, so that you may continue our legacy and make Estoria even greater than what it was before?" An elderly man wearing priest robes questioned her. He was the highest member of the Estorian Church, a position that granted him some unique powers such as carrying out this ceremony.
"I do," she answered after taking a deep breath to calm her nerves.
"Then as of this moment, the 7th day of the 9th month of the 889th year on the Estorian Calendar, the royal crown has passed from the late King Wildred Grandhelm to his 4th child, Queen Aribelle Grandhelm!"
There was much applause and roaring of the audience as the crown was removed from it's resting place and placed on top of hear head. It was heavier than expected, almost making her head fall down into her chest, but her neck muscles managed to correct this imbalance in time. Perhaps this was foreshadowing of the heavy burden that was now hers. Hopefully she could handle it. If not, well, at least she would have many new people who she could hopefully trust to put her on the right course.
She got out of her kneeling position. As a queen she would not be expected to kneel so easily; only to the flag on certain ceremonies. She than turned to face down to the gardens below and gave a speech, her voice shaky during parts and stopping to pause to compose herself or remember the lines that came next, but luckily she didn't mess up too badly on the speech she had been planning for a week. It was a relief when she got through it and the crowd clapped for her. Not that she was shy, but she fully expected to go bumbling around and forget her lines, embarrassing herself in front of everyone in her first moments as Queen. Her mother was such a better public speaker than her. Aribelle stole a glance behind her, smiling when she saw her mother clapping as well, a look of approval on her face. Guess she didn't do that bad after all. But than again someone's mother would think her child was perfect even if they got up there and started babbling like a drunken chimpanzee, so this didn't tell her much.
She went back from the ledge so that a few other royals could take her place and give their own speeches. This lasted for a couple more hours, turning what was a lunch when everyone arrived to a late dinner feast now that the entire ceremony had come to a close. Aribelle let out another sigh of relief now that everyone was over as signified by a group of trumpet players sounding out their majestic tune. Now all she had to do was shake some people's hands, talk to them if need be by exchanging pleasantries, and then stuff her face with all the best foods that had been prepared especially for this day. Her meal would be with a more select group, although still large, while the rest of the routy crowd would go to another dining hall to eat their complementary meal. Well, their taxes had paid for it, but it still felt good for them to get something tangible out of their hard earned money.
Her stomach growled due to thinking about all of the food that awaited her. Hopefully that wasn't too unladylike, and hopefully nobody had heard over the loud noise of their surroundings. She glanced around before continuing on her way. Guards, high ranking members of royalty, advisors, close associates, a few religious figures, and her mother formed the group that was making their way to the royal dinning hall, but there was still plenty more people around in the meantime, causing their progress to be slow going despite it not being too far from their current position.
"I'm so hungry. Just let me eat already!" She thought to herself, although kept a smile on her face all this time. "So the burdens of being Queen already start for me. All I need is one little sweat roll...or more..."
And so the eighteen year old Aribelle tried her best to hold back tears for her departed father, smiling for him as she kneeled down in front of their kingdom's flag; large and flowing up on the wall of the castle above their heads. It had a blue background and a radiant silver circle in the center flanked by a pair of silver eagle wings.
At this point in the ceremony it was normally the previous king or queen who would bring the crown and place it on the successor's head, but due to his death the crown was brought instead by his wife, her mother; an elegant peach haired woman with pale skin and a fair face, dressed in a flowing white gown glittering with jewels. In this kingdom it wasn't the King's wife who was Queen or vice versa, but instead whoever was born into the royal family, if achieving the thrown, was King or Queen depending on their gender. Their significant other didn't get such a title in marriage but was often still highly respected, as was the case of Lady Ildrean. She held a plush purple pillow containing a picture of King Wildred standing tall and proud behind the royal crown, an expensive silver and blue headpiece with many jewels. It had been with the royal family for many generations. What was once her father's was now her's as of this day. It all felt so surreal. After all, she had only found out about her ascension to the thrown a bit after her father passed away. She had older siblings, three in fact, who would have gotten this title before her. It was so much to take in upon finding out their news of declining the throne, all for various reasons. Although she was slightly frightened at her newfound responsibilities and didn't believe she was entirely ready, she decided that she would do her best to become a Queen to make her father proud. To make her entire kingdom proud.
"Do you, Lady Aribelle Grandhelm, accept your father's crown in exchange for serving our great Kingdom of Estoria, which are forefathers have spent many years and much bloodshed to build into what it is now, so that you may continue our legacy and make Estoria even greater than what it was before?" An elderly man wearing priest robes questioned her. He was the highest member of the Estorian Church, a position that granted him some unique powers such as carrying out this ceremony.
"I do," she answered after taking a deep breath to calm her nerves.
"Then as of this moment, the 7th day of the 9th month of the 889th year on the Estorian Calendar, the royal crown has passed from the late King Wildred Grandhelm to his 4th child, Queen Aribelle Grandhelm!"
There was much applause and roaring of the audience as the crown was removed from it's resting place and placed on top of hear head. It was heavier than expected, almost making her head fall down into her chest, but her neck muscles managed to correct this imbalance in time. Perhaps this was foreshadowing of the heavy burden that was now hers. Hopefully she could handle it. If not, well, at least she would have many new people who she could hopefully trust to put her on the right course.
She got out of her kneeling position. As a queen she would not be expected to kneel so easily; only to the flag on certain ceremonies. She than turned to face down to the gardens below and gave a speech, her voice shaky during parts and stopping to pause to compose herself or remember the lines that came next, but luckily she didn't mess up too badly on the speech she had been planning for a week. It was a relief when she got through it and the crowd clapped for her. Not that she was shy, but she fully expected to go bumbling around and forget her lines, embarrassing herself in front of everyone in her first moments as Queen. Her mother was such a better public speaker than her. Aribelle stole a glance behind her, smiling when she saw her mother clapping as well, a look of approval on her face. Guess she didn't do that bad after all. But than again someone's mother would think her child was perfect even if they got up there and started babbling like a drunken chimpanzee, so this didn't tell her much.
She went back from the ledge so that a few other royals could take her place and give their own speeches. This lasted for a couple more hours, turning what was a lunch when everyone arrived to a late dinner feast now that the entire ceremony had come to a close. Aribelle let out another sigh of relief now that everyone was over as signified by a group of trumpet players sounding out their majestic tune. Now all she had to do was shake some people's hands, talk to them if need be by exchanging pleasantries, and then stuff her face with all the best foods that had been prepared especially for this day. Her meal would be with a more select group, although still large, while the rest of the routy crowd would go to another dining hall to eat their complementary meal. Well, their taxes had paid for it, but it still felt good for them to get something tangible out of their hard earned money.
Her stomach growled due to thinking about all of the food that awaited her. Hopefully that wasn't too unladylike, and hopefully nobody had heard over the loud noise of their surroundings. She glanced around before continuing on her way. Guards, high ranking members of royalty, advisors, close associates, a few religious figures, and her mother formed the group that was making their way to the royal dinning hall, but there was still plenty more people around in the meantime, causing their progress to be slow going despite it not being too far from their current position.
"I'm so hungry. Just let me eat already!" She thought to herself, although kept a smile on her face all this time. "So the burdens of being Queen already start for me. All I need is one little sweat roll...or more..."
