197 What It Means To Be King

"Your Majesty, it's time to wake up," a lady-in-waiting announced as she entered the bedroom while ringing a handbell. 

Seeing that the curtains were drawn, the lady-in-waiting walked over to the window and opened the curtains; allowing the rays of sunlight to stream into the room. Seeing that the King was still under the covers, the lady in waiting let out a sigh. 

She walked up to the bed and pulled off the covers, revealing a young woman with long brown hair. Her hair was so long that it went past her waist. The girl squeezed her eyes shut as the light in the room made it hard for her to keep them closed. 

"There's no time to waste, your Majesty." the lady-in-waiting said as she rang the bell right next to the young woman's ear. 

This caused her to writhe in agony as her ears rang with the sound of the bell. 

"Alright, alright! I'm up!" she exclaimed as she sat up on the bed, letting out a yawn. 

The lady-in-waiting let out a sigh, "Such unladylike behaviour. You're a King for goodness sake. You need to keep those manners of yours in check."

The young woman shot the lady-in-waiting with a cold hard glare. The glare was enough to freeze you in place, even if the Summer Sun was shining down upon you, you would still feel the shivers down your spine. 

"How dare you speak to your King in such a manner," the young woman declared in a serious tone of voice. 

Despite the display of power, the lady-in-waiting did not waver. Instead, she folded her arms and rolled her eyes. 

"Is that all you've got?" she asked the young woman with one eyebrow arched. 

The young woman's serious expression soon dissipated into a koi smile, followed by laughter. That got the lady-in-waiting to laugh too. 

"Only you dare to speak to me like that, Tinee," the young woman said as she got out of bed and let out a yawn. 

"The same goes for you, your Majesty. You're the only King I know who has such terrible manners," Tinee, the lady-in-waiting, said as she put down the bell. 

Tinee helped the young woman into her morning dress. It was a corseted linen dress with puffed sleeves in shades of pastel pink. At the trim of the dress was a series of hand-sewn butterflies in flight. 

Once dressed, Tinee called in two maids to assist the young woman in combing and braiding her long brown hair. When they were done, the young woman's hair had been braided a single long braid that cascaded down past her waist. 

Tinee dismissed the maids as she herself placed the finishing touches on the young woman's hair. She pinned multiple flower crystal and butterfly crystal pins onto the young woman's hair. Once complete, she opened a small wooden box to reveal a beautiful flower crown. 

"You're ready for court, King Sylvy," Tinee whispered to the young woman. 

Sylvy turned to look at her lady-in-waiting with a baffled expression. 

"Court? What about my breakfast?" she pouted. 

Tinee shook her head as she folded her arms, "Do you know what time it is, King Sylvy?"

Sylvy glanced over to the clock that hung on the wall. She then turned to look out of the window. She turned back to look at her lady-in-waiting. 

"It's morning?" she said with a nervous smile. 

Tinee let out a sigh as she shook her head, "It's time for your morning court session. We have to go now." 

Sylvy let out a sigh and nodded as she dusted her clothes as she stood up from her seat. Taking in a deep breath, with Tinee leading the way, they left the room for the Throne Room. The guards at the door immediately got down on one knee as Sylvy exited her room. 

She simply nodded to them as she continued to follow Tinee who guided her down the hallway. From the opposite direction, a young kitchen boy was running up the hallway with a sandwich wrapped in brown paper in one hand. 

Sylvy, seeing the young boy, could not help but smile as he ran straight into her arms. Tinee, kept an eye closed on this scene. 

"Good morning Joeni! How are you this morning?" Sylvy greeted the boy as she picked him up. 

"Good morning King Sylvy! Here's your breakfast sandwich!" the boy said as he handed her the sandwich. 

Before Sylvy could reply, she could hear impending footsteps in the distance. She was all too familiar with who was coming towards them. Tinee knew too. She swiftly took Joeni out of Sylvy's arms just as they met Lady Yvon. 

Tinee immediately lowered her head and bowed, "Brighter days, Lady Yvon," 

Sylvy remained still as she greeted her mother, "Brighter days, Lady Yvon." 

Lady Yvon curtsied to Sylvy, "Brighter days, my King." 

With the sandwich in her hand, Sylvy and Tinee continued down the hallway towards the Throne Room. Instead of entering from the main entrance, they entered from the Throne floor entrance instead. 

The guards immediately opened the door for them as soon as they saw Tinee and King Sylvy approaching. Through the opened entrance, they could hear lots of chatter in the throne room. Tinee took the white lace parasol that leaned against the wall and opened it. 

As King Sylvy entered the Throne room, Tinee used the parasol to cover Sylvy, so that no one could see her face. The Throne chair was up on a raised platform, with shade curtains. This was so that no one could see Sylvy's face. 

As an unmarried woman of the Papillion Kingdom, Sylvy was not allowed to show her face to anyone other than the servants of the castle, her close family, friends and her advisors. By the time she was seated at the throne, all of the people in attendance had knelt down on their knees. 

"Brighter Days, your Majesty," they echoed in unison. 

Sylvy cleared her throat before she projected her voice, "Brighter days, my subjects."