March 27th - Coronation of a Queen
Coronation of a Queen
The time is right. She knows it without having to think about it. The signals are all around and she can smell the anticipation.
Yesterday she spent the whole day listening to the thud of the rain above her, but in her cozy room she stayed dry and comfortable. She relaxed till noon and was served lunch by one of the palace attendants. She took a walk after her repast, greeting family in the way that is their custom - by pressing foreheads together. A slow day for a princess, some light exercise, some basic - but nevertheless nourishing - traditional family meals, as well as countless conversations with family. Everyone else seemed to have a lot of work to do; there's new construction being performed on the palace, the farmers are filling up the storage silos with grain for the winter, her uncle took out a hunting party, and the military was dispatched to secure their borders after news of a dragon was reported on the southern border. The Queen, ruler of the kingdom, is pregnant in her chambers and making plans for the future.
So, she returned to her room where she greeted her sisters. She's not the only princess in the palace.
The princes live in the large room next door and show off for each other all day, gauging one another with mock battles and prideful displays. They're full of hope and anticipation, and they know that as soon as the rain stops and the sun is open above the palace that they'll finally have their competition to see which one of them is strongest. All the surrounding kingdoms will be there for the event.
The princesses stayed up late gossiping before finally going to bed. The sky clears that night and the moon is full. And though they can't see it in their windowless chambers, the princesses feel its pull. They rest. It's going to be a big day tomorrow. The time has come.
The morning dawns serene and the dew on the blades of grass quickly evaporates into fresh sunlight. The moment she wakes up, the importance of the day hits her first thoughts like an alarm and she's instantly alert, scrambling into preparation. Most of the other princesses are already up, smoothing out their lacy wings. There's little to do, but lots of movement. Attendants arrive with breakfast - honeydew on bread, and they eat together for the last time. It's a quiet meal, now that they're focused on something to do with themselves, and they eat without tasting - their thoughts filled with fanciful imaginings.
After the hurried meal, she and the other princesses, in an excited chatter, leave their room for the great hall. The princes are already there and milling about, leaning on the walls, communicating quietly in small groups; they become silent as the princesses enter. There's a heaviness to the air. She shares a furtive glance with a young prince she's known her whole life, but there's something new to the look - like a question that can only be asked on a stringed instrument. They all wait for the sun to perch itself overhead and for the queen to arrive.
As the time draws nearer, the whispered conversations fall away completely. Attendants flood into the hall with refreshments and prepare for the queen. The royals sip at the cool beverages and wait, waiting for the moment for which each of them was born.
The queen's royal attendants enter, marching in regal file, and lastly enters the queen, larger than the rest, a massive figure and a striking presence. At twice the size of the princes, they quake as she moves in the room, her long slender legs gliding across the floor, unhurried and insouciant. She says nothing, only raises her arms to mark the moment before turning around and leaving as quickly as she came. The royal attendants copy her gesture and follow her out.
The princes and princesses know it is time to leave, filing out into the sunshine above the palace.
She steps out. There are sentries that she passes, guarding the gateway - the humble above ground hill and hole that disguises the splendor of the underground palace. She blinks in the brightness, her beautiful black skin absorbing the heat. She feels charged and anxious.
All at once it begins. The princesses flap their wings and rise into the air. She ascends into a cloud of her sisters and the princesses from a hundred other territories as the sun beats the drum of midday clear blue. Every dominion has sent their young royalty up into the air. Into the clear sky the princesses hover, she amongst them. She's never used her wings before, but they effortlessly aspire, and she rises above the crowd. For a moment she has the peace of solitude and a stillness she has never experienced.
The princes from every region follow after two breaths of wind and the competition begins. She can see that the race is on below her. The first prince to reach the lowest hovering princess tries to attach himself to her but is knocked away by another. Others have chosen a higher mark. The boys are joyous in their pursuit, flying into each other, ramming each other, jockeying for a chance.
A prince that she does not know, from a different place, flies into her roughly. She feels uncertain and attempts to push him away, but he's persistent and grabs her from behind with his forelegs and mates with her. It lasts only seconds. She hardly feels anything, and only knows it's over when his wings go limp and he falls back, down, down, without the energy left for flight. He's already dead by the time he hits the ground. They all are. Every prince, successful or not, falls from the day into the green grass, their purpose accomplished, their program complete.
Slowly, she glides back to the ground. Reading the familiar scent trail to her palace, she finds her way home. Her sisters are with her again, but none of them talk. They form a close line and march up to the gate.
As she tries to enter, the sentries stop her and push her away. It's confusing and she approaches again. The sentries are smaller than she is and she pushes in, demanding access, but reinforcements are called and she's dragged out and left on the doorstep. The same is happening to her sisters, all of them pushing at the guards, trying to go home in vain. Eventually it becomes clear that they cannot win. They have been banished.
She walks into a world she does not know. Reaching back, she tears her own wings off, ripping them from her body. She feels terrified and exposed. She runs aimlessly, searching for a place to hide, but she finds no refuge, so she begins to dig.
She digs furiously, racing the setting sun, afraid of the night creatures that were once just exciting bedtime stories. Night comes fast, but she's worked hard and she's safe in a hole not much bigger than her own self. All night long she works, carving out a larger space. She continues into the next day and the next.
For days that grow into a week, with little rest, she digs and excavates the hole. It's no great hall yet, but it's a start. By the end of the week, she's built a small antechamber off the main room, and now she can't contain it any longer - the growing pressure within her. She starts laying eggs.
One by one they come till there's a hundred or more, neatly stacking them in the room. She's exhausted and she lies down for a while, but she needs to eat. Her last meal was before her maiden flight. There are no attendants here to carry in her meal, there's no food hunted from the fields by her uncle and his men. She realizes that she is going to starve.
The first egg is eaten slowly, guiltily, and with reverence, but it doesn't touch her hunger. She eats a second and a third, but craves more, needs more. She abandons her qualms and her thoughts are blank as she gorges herself, eating her eggs as fast as she can until the desire finally fades. 33 of her eggs are gone, but many more remain.
For days she hardly moves. Time passes without her noticing it. When her eyes are open, she watches the eggs, a hope blossoming in her chest, doubts keeping her immobile. Her head doesn't rise off the dirt.
Finally, she hears a faint sound and she rises to investigate, her legs shaking and weak beneath her. There's a quiet knocking in an egg, and then the sound is echoed in others. A chewing sound and then tiny antennae poke out. She touches her baby with her own antennae, enthusiastically cheering it on. They all begin to hatch out. Within hours, her children have all emerged and they crowd around her, waiting for guidance. They're born ready to work.
She will build a new palace under the earth. She has become a queen.