Hook sits, insistent.
“Oh, fine. Come along then.” I laugh, part nerves and part a joy I didn’t expect to know again.
I start running down the staircase, nearly tripping over myself. Luckily, I changed into my trousers so that when I do nearly tumble face-first at the bottom, I don’t end up with my skirts around my ears in front of nearby revelers.
“Wait—” an elf woman says “—you just—”
I don’t wait for her to finish. I begin sprinting. Hook knows, like always, where I am running toward. He charges through the crowd, barking and howling people out of the way, and I try hopelessly to keep up.
We make it to the tunnel entrance of the castle, blocked off by a row of knights. I skid to a stop before them. Hook rounds my back, keeping the encroaching crowds at bay.
“I…I need…” I wheeze and reach into my satchel. I didn’t leave the shop unprepared. I take a swig of fortifying drought I brought and stand straighter, breath caught. “I need to see the king.”
“You’re—”
“But you’re a—”
“Aren’t you?”
All the guards seem to talk amongst themselves at once. They’re silenced by a familiar voice.
“Let me through!” Rinni barks, pushing her way forward. She stops, blinking at me until a sly grin works its way across her cheeks. “You’re almost late.”
“Sorry to keep you waiting.” I smile. “I lost track of time on the other side of the Fade. Did I miss the coronation?”
“Not yet.” Rinni guides me into the tunnel. I hear the rumbling of a mass of people on the other side of the castle doors. Rinni opens them with a flash of her eyes.
I step into the castle and, for the first time, I see color. Tapestries of bright blues and vibrant greens stretch from ceiling to floor, hung along the wide columns that support the large entryway. More garlands of flowers are hung from the railings of the mezzanine.
Vases of flowers line the great hall behind the gathered crowd. Men and women of all colors and shapes are here and all their eyes swing from where the Elf King stands on the stairs—presumably having just been giving a speech—to land on me.
But his eyes are the only ones I focus on. His mouth is slightly agape. Shock has shattered his usual mask and he stares in a stunned silence.
I know there are important people here—lords and ladies. People of his kingdom, our kingdom, if he’ll let me share it with him. I know I’ve come before them with dirty knees and in what they’d consider pauper’s clothing. I know that I had one chance to make this first impression count and I ruined it. I have ruined Eldas’s years of planning, sacrifice, and suffering leading up to this moment. None of this has gone according to plan.
I didn’t even think of what I was going to say. So I open my mouth and say the first thing that comes to mind. I let my words echo to the top of the hall.
“King Eldas, I love you!”