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meli-productions · 4 years

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Coronation (WIP)

The ballroom had been turned into a makeshift throne room, the head throne magicked into the sunbathed hall as to fit the crowd dying to see their princess return to her proper place than the dark hall that housed the thrones on their usual business.

As the household bustled to prepare for the arrival of others, gilding gold and silver and prepping for the feeding frenzy of the growing men and women on their way, the lady of the hour prepared with the help of her most consistent companion.

Eternity had been braiding Diana’s short hair, soothing the ever-tense shoulders of the woman as the rest of the slim household finished the rounds for her new coronation. Diana was quiet, fiddling with the ring on her finger, the necklace around her neck, anything that could twirl and take her mind away.

“Di,” said Eternity, leaning down and placing her chin on the bare shoulder. “You don’t have to look so worried. This is your home, your people, and they’re ecstatic to see you back—and now ready to take the next step.”

Their eyes met through the mirror, Diana’s soft chestnut cloudy with memories, “It’ll be a barer showing than what I ever expected my coronation to be…everyone’s just so busy now. Adulthood sucks.”

Eternity’s lips twitched up into a small, sad smile, “That it does, it’s why I took so long to grow up. But there will be some here—Kiara, Raquel and Pip, David, Estephania, the godfathers dropped by.”

“No Kendra, no Sperantia, no—”

Eternity turned her head and placed a soft kiss into her dark hair, “Don’t think about it. You’ve been doing so well.”

Diana gave a small smile of her own, “Every now and then I’m allowed to pine—if my godfathers taught me anything is that pining can go on for quite a few years. Now Eternity, I think it’s time to get my crown on.”

The woman made to get up, dislodging Eternity from her shoulder. She stood and the silver dress pooled around her and she looked like she was glowing. Her small smile widened and the corners of her dimples broke though the surface of her skin, lighting her up even further. She held out a hand for Eternity and, when she took it, gave it a quick squeeze.

“Go with your brother, I can do this on my own,” Diana squared her shoulders, the warmth dropping, “as it should be.”

Sunlight bathed the white and gold of the ballroom and illuminated everything, from the floors, to the people mulling around the edges of the room. They were careful to stay away from the golden carpet that had been unrolled to present the silver throne. At its side, on a pillar of white marble, sat the silver and sapphire circlet that would crown their princess into queendom.

Eternity strode in and wove through the crowd to where she saw her brother and the rest of the Myrrh kids that had shown up.

Not kids anymore, Eternity thought as she sidled up to her brother. He held a glass of honey colored liquid and when he noticed who’d matched him in posture and dress, he beamed.

“What’s up, little sis?” he said, squeezing her shoulder. “Come to hang out with the overstressed, underpaid, mortals?”

At his side a short, tanned woman snorted around her glass as she took another sip, “Couldn’t have said it better myself.”

“If the queen is an overstressed, underpaid young adult what hope is there for the rest of us,” chimed in the other man as he and his blonde companion walked over.

“Can you guys lighten up a little,” Eternity asked, “this is a happy occasion. Estephania, are you sure that everything is alright back in Myrrh?”

The short woman rolled her eyes and nodded, then she waved a hand towards the table of drinks where a round-faced young woman was talking with a plump man in tan and white, “Kiara, as the darling of Myrrh, took care of it. No one will realize that there’s anyone missing—especially not Diana.”

As Eternity looked around at the crowd, she was discouraged by how empty the ballroom looked. She’d seen the great parties that Diana threw in the past, when Lords and Ladies, Happily Ever Afters, and everyone that wanted to, could come and bask in the light of the castle.

Now, there were few HEAs and even less Lords and Ladies. Griselda, blind and using Rebekkah as a crutch, sat and waited along with the congregation of druids and wiccans, but still—a bare-bone crowd in comparison to what was expected.

“This is a sad little party, ‘Terny,” David said, leaning down, “Is everyone’s world in such disarray that they can’t come? Are they so busy that they can’t remember what this world means to them—to her? What about portals? Couldn’t we open a few more? Couldn’t we find—”

She honed her sharp green eyes on him, “Would that really be smart? Diana is happy right now. She’ll be glad to see you guys and even better—the godfathers are here. Their love will smother whatever else she’s feeling.”

They turned to the plump man that Kiara was still talking to and the man clinging onto him, sinuous and listening intently as the other two talked. It didn’t take someone who could actively see it to notice the aura of love that surrounded the two men. Estephania followed their gaze and let herself smile.

“It’s honestly the most refreshing bit of love I’ve ever sensed,” she said. “Makes sense that it helps Di.”

David still didn’t seem pleased with that answer, but didn’t get the chance to share his displeasure as the doors to the ballroom opened and in walked the lady of the hour. Diana was holding on to the arm of a tall, slim woman, her freckles darkened her already sun-kissed face and they walked down the golden carpet without interruption.

Diana was wearing a flower crown of small white and lilac flowers and the hand on her guide shook with nervousness. Her guide, in a silver circlet made of net webbing and seaweed crowning her golden curls, pet her hand and gestured ahead, smiling, as they walked up to throne where someone else had joined the train.

“Oh, good—goddess,” Pip whispered. “When did Lady Artemis get here?”

His girlfriend elbowed him, “Shush. Besides, who else would crown Diana?”

“I don’t know, Zeus?”

The others gave a thoughtful hum as Diana stopped in front of her mother.

Apart, the two moon beings had little in common, but face-to-face the mother and daughter echoed each other. Diana’s hair is darker, black where Artemis’ curls were dark brown, but their height and their round faces and their tanned faces were almost identical.

“Citizens and friends of Taltanasan,” Artemis said, sharing her bright, dimpled smile with the crowd. “Thank you for being here as we crown our dear moon princess, the youngest of my children. Today, she will cease being princess—and start being queen.”

She moved to the right side of the throne and Diana sank down, bowing her head, the dress pooling around her. Artemis allowed the woman that had walked Diana down to remove the flower crown before she plucked the crown off its pillar and moved to stand before her daughter.

“My dearest, Diana Artemis Selene Luna Phoebe, heiress of the title moon goddess and of Taltanasan, do you promise to continue to protect the citizens of Taltanasan, to honor your position and to do your duty to keep this land as beautiful and as peaceful as you’ve kept it till now?”

Diana let out a shaky breath, “Yes, Lady Artemis. I promise to protect my home as I have—with my life, heart, and soul.”

“Will you be its warrior as well as its patron, mother, and guide?” asked the blonde woman—“Britomartis, her stepmother,” Eternity said—as she placed the flower crown upon the pillar to the left of the throne.

“I will.”

“Diana, my moonbeam, will you be able to handle it?”

The crowd froze, the question not of a goddess crowning a princess, but of a mother asking her child if her heart can handle it. They saw Diana’s head tilt up slightly and then bow down, a sharp nod.

“I can’t make promises, mothers. My heart will fall and rise, love and sicken, but as I have done—I will always return to my home and my people.”

Artemis’ smile was sad when she looked down at Diana, “Then it is my honor—our honor—to crown you Queen Diana of Taltanasan.”

She placed the delicate circlet amongst Diana’s dark hair, stepping away as Diana stood up and turned to the crowd. The sheer white cape on her shoulders fluttered around and she glanced around, her eyes taking in the small crowd, but she gave a warm smile nonetheless.

“My people, thank you for being here for my coronation. I look forward to talking with you guys, and I love you all for being by my side today,” Diana said, lowering her head in acknowledgement. “I am honored to be your queen.”

With a snap of her fingers, the gown changed into something more her style, tight black breeches with boots to her knees and a crisp white button-up, the white cape remained around her shoulders. Around her neck was a milky white crystal that seemed to flash as she moved down the golden carpet.

“That’s new,” Estephania said, gesturing towards the necklace. “What do you know about that?”

“Opalite with a snake wrapped around it,” said Eternity, a small smile on her lips. “Representative of the men that saved her.”

“It’s the ring all over again,” David said. “Isn’t it?”

Eternity scoffed, “Stop that. Just—let her enjoy what she has.”

Diana seemed to be overwhelmed as the people of Taltanasan swarmed her, her smile tightened as the Wiccan leaders came and bowed, falling over each other to kiss her knuckles. Then the druids who kept their distance, but bowed low for the woman that revived their prophecy.

She greeted the Romani leaders like they were old friends, brushing the blinding eyes with her fingertips only for them to be brought down by Griselda’s shaking fingers. A sharp shake of her head and she and Rebekkah were off, the congregations of wiccans and druids following.

“Well, that just emptied the hall even more,” David said around his glass. “Eternity—”

“It’s fine,” she said, hand white-knuckling around the vial on her waist. “Look—it’s her favorite jumping at the chance to see her.”

Not much of a jump, but a young blonde woman with a pink dress did glide over to Diana who didn’t hesitate to pull her into a tight hug. When they pulled apart, Diana held her hands, pressing a light kiss on her forehead and beaming up at the man that joined them.

The light in her eyes sparked when the blonde woman said something and a genuine laugh bubbled out of her mouth, relaxing the shoulders of the Myrrh bunch. Then the woman and her partner disappeared from sight and Diana kept moving to the next group of her cousins, a new spring to her step.

It would be another hour before Diana made her way to where the Myrrh bunch stood, nursing drinks and now joined by a few more: Raymond, Devon, Zula and Hugh.

When she plopped down practically in Estephania’s lap, the woman struggled to wrap her arms around the newly crowned queen, catching her before she fell on her ass onto the marble floor.

“Pleasantries have been exchanged so now I can be stupid and get not-drunk with the rest of you almost mortals,” Diana said, dimple flashing as she turned her head to the side and glanced back at Estephania.

She magicked up a glass of honey colored drink and the group all glanced around at each other before Devon asked:

“Is that whiskey?”

She glanced over at him, smile curling away into a smirk, “My tastes are refined. Things none of you guys knew about my time on Earth. But please, stop looking so—like that. We’re celebrating. New year, new queen, and there’s a new baby on the way, right?”

Zula blushed as the attention turned to her and the conversation shifted more to Diana catching up with all of them.

Kiara kept studying the woman, looking at her with narrowed green eyes as everyone else talked. She sipped from her glass, dimple appearing and regressing with the conversation, finally moving off Estephania’s legs and deciding to stand, leaning on David’s chair as she laughed.

“My sweet Kiara,” Diana said after a while, “if you keep staring like that I’m going to think that I have something growing on my face.” With the attention now on her, Kiara took a deep breath and gave a little smile,

“Diana, we’re all dancing around a question and I think that it’s stupid to keep dragging it on. I know you’re happy but—if it’s just gonna be us, we need to have a plan. We need to know.”

And the spell around them was broken. The flash of dimple on Diana’s soft face faded, now replaced with a tight stretch that didn’t reach her eyes. She reached over David to put her glass on the table and then clasped her hands in front of her.

“What do you want to know about it, Kiara—any of you apparently?”

Silence danced over them, eyes of brown and a few lighter pairs, glancing around at each other before looking down at their hands on glasses. And Diana stood there, the patience of a woman who dealt with unasked questions on a daily basis, waiting until it was Kiara herself who asked:

“How’s your heart? What’s the deal with—with Joshua?”

Diana closed her eyes, a flutter of lashes, and she inhaled deep though her nose, releasing and opening at the same time with that familiar tight smile on her face that then softened to a humor-ridden smile, “My heart is healthy, I eat all the right foods and exercise right.”

When the group before her groaned at her joke she laughed and waved them off, “Sorry, you made it too easy.”

Then she sobered up and glanced around them, like a storyteller to an audience, “My heart is full right now with my friends and those I call family—but I know that the loneliness will creep in and I’ll remember that there’s not a love pressing into it like others have.”

She looked at the married couple amongst them, “Love that lasts for years and culminates to something greater than the sum of its parts,” then she turned to the other couple, “love that finds itself again and still remains blushing and steady.”

And as the four of them ducked their heads, Diana just smiled, the cusp of her dimple on her cheek, “But I’ve survived this long and I’ll keep surviving. Now, I have a distraction.”

David scoffed, “The godfathers.”

Diana turned to him and honed her eyes on him, the silver a sharpened sword, “What’s with the tone, David?”

He shifted under her gaze, the intensity something he was intimately familiar with, and he cleared his throat, “Well, I don’t know if it’s completely healthy, Diana. You’ve become—enraptured before, and with the amount of love that they’re involved with—and the way that you’ve been feeling—”

“He thinks it isn’t healthy,” said Estephania, not glancing up from her drink. “I think he’s wrong.”

The sharpness melted, “They were there in my darkest moments. They’ve seen the worst of me and they stayed, they helped me out and they helped me rebuild. They filled me with love and soothed the pain that my heart has held for a decade. They’re family—same way as you guys are.”

He ducked his head and Kiara picked up the silence, “And will they be around when your heart hurts again?”

“Maybe not,” she said, “but you know what? I’ll be okay…with or without them. Same as I’ve been okay with or without any of you.”

The silence dropped like a fog again, settling on their shoulders heavy and uncomfortable. Eventually, Raymond whistled and from his side, Devon added a quiet ‘low blow’.

She laughed, “I didn’t mean it like that. I meant it as it is: that I managed—barely—without you guys and I can do it again if I must. No jab meant.”

#my writing #personal writing #writing #taltanasan writing #diana writing #diana rodgers #taltanasan series #taltanasan

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