The World of Tom Stafford by D.A. Sanford - HTML preview

Chapter 14: The Coronation

The day has finally arrived. It is the morning and I already hear Doris’s barking orders and yes, she is saying to everyone, including both Nadean and I “MOVE IT, MOVE IT, MOVE IT!” A drill Sargent at heart. She is in the zone.

“If you two don’t get up and have something for breakfast, you’ll just have to starve until the evening’s reception. Now get it in gear.”

I mutter “I am the king you know.”

“Doesn’t hold any weight today. I’m in charge.”

She claps her hands together a few times and says “You have only 20 minutes left to eat. Then you will need to bathe and get dressed.”

Sarcastically I say “I’m wearing my jeans today.”

If looks could kill, I’d be six feet under. Even though she does not need glasses, the glare is one of those tilted head, over the glasses, as she made laser contact with my eyes. I immediately felt a chill go up and down my spine. I pushed the button a little too hard.

“You do and you’ll do a live version of the story, the emperor’s new clothes.” she snaps back.

“Dang, power has gone to someone’s head. Alright, toast for breakfast then get ready. If I have more than toast, Lou will be all over me.”

Doris looks at me “What are you standing here for, MOVE IT. Now you can only have a half slice of toast. Dry. Buttering it will take too much time.”

I get to the kitchen, bless their hearts, the head chef comes over and hands me an egg, sausage and cheese on toast sandwich.

He says, “Doris has already been here checking to see if you had eaten. She left saying that you may have to skip breakfast altogether. I can’t have that. I made this. At lease it has some substance and you can eat it while going to your room to get into the royal attire.”

“You and your staff are life savers.”

I leave and now can casually go to my room. Doris saw me and it looked like she was going to take the sandwich, so I ran past her. Victory for portable food.

Lou was waiting. I was right. He had the, Doris is going to have my head, look. I told him that I would finish the sandwich in the bath. That will speed things up. If it will help, just soap me up and wash me off with the garden hose.”

That went over like a lead balloon. I choaked down the rest and got into the bathroom. I told the attendants that it was just a shower cleaning not a soak. Lou was happy when, after ten minutes, I was out and telling him that I was ready for dressing. I must admit, I do clean up nice. Still would like my jeans.

We were now ahead of the schedule. As just rewards, I had to wait for them to finish Nadean. With that we were now behind by ten minutes. How come she was not yelling at Nadean?

They come out of her dressing room. Without missing a beat, Doris states that extra time was built in for Nadean. She told me that I dawdle, so I needed to be time restricted.

We were seated into an open carriage and the procession slowly paraded to the ceremonial hall. Being told that this was to give time for the three royals to arrive and be announced. The people again lined the streets and cheered as we went by.

Broadcasting the event, we hear that the last royals have been introduced and shown to their special seats. The announcer said that they were now awaiting our procession to arrive. With that, we pull up to the hall.

As we approach, the red carpet is rolled out and the royal guard comes out in full regalia. They snap to attention as we stop. The guard commander opens the carriage door. I create a minor breach in protocol, I insisted that Nadean be helped out first, then I exited. I also insisted that I have Nadean on my arm as we walked in.

When we got to the front of the hall, I saw there were two throne chairs. One large and a slightly smaller on what will be my seated right. Both were facing the assembly. Here is where the protocol must take over.

Since I was the one being crowned as king, I was escorted to the throne by the royal guard. Behind me is Nadean being guided, hand on the guards fore arm. I was seated for the coronation. Nadean was brought to a position where she is standing on my right and just behind.

Gar, as chamberlain, would be the officiate. He steps in front of me and then begins.

“Thomas Stafford, do you swear that you will do only that which is in the best interest of Seaden?”

“I do.”

“Thomas Stafford, do you swear to defend and protect your subjects of Seaden?”

“I will”

“Thomas Stafford, in ascending to the throne of King of Seaden, you have sworn to this assembly that you will carry out the duties of king. You will be held accountable for your actions towards the kingdom of Seaden. Will you now reaffirm that you willingly accept this crown?”

Gar holds up the king’s crown in front of me.

“I willingly accept the responsibility of King of Seaden.”

With that, Gar places he crown on my head saying.

“I now crown you King Thomas Stafford, King of Seaden, Long live the king.”

The assembled then shouts “Long live the king”

Nadean is now escorted, by Gar, to the smaller throne and is seated.

Holding the queens crown in front of her, he asks her

“Nadean Stafford, will you support your king as his queen?”

“I will” with tears in her eyes

Gar places the crown on her head.

“I now crown you Queen Nadean Stafford, Queen of Seaden, Long live the queen.”

The assembled shout “Long live the queen”

Then there is a cheer for us as we stand, wave to the assembly. I am given the Royal Septer. Then we walk together down to the carriage. This time we are supposed to walk with her hand on my forearm.

Our procession now weaves throughout the entire city. We traveled every main road and there are no gaps in the crowds. There must be every citizen in Seaden here in the capital. The obvious reason is that the last king was my ancestor. That was over one hundred years ago.

As we weave our way to the reception, the audience is able to take a direct route to the castle. They have plenty of time. The three royals made their way back to the castle to change into their reception inaugural ball. For one person, it afforded time to make a side trip.

King Percian managed somehow to slip away from his escort and was caught as he was trying to get into a very restricted research area.

A guard that found him as he was breaking into that area. He was arrested and brought to the guard house. They put him into a holding cell. When the captain of the guard came, he recognized that the culprit was the king of Pacifica. The king was escorted back and remanded to the Royal Guard who escorted him to his suite.

King Percian informed his staff and the castle guards that they would be leaving immediately. Diplomatic immunity is here also. By the time we made it back to the castle, he was already heading towards the boarder. I was informed as I entered my private area. I knew something was off with him.

I have Gar get the other two kings for a brief meeting.

“I wanted to inform both of you that our over friendly Gil was caught trying to get into a highly restricted area. He was able to slip his escort. As soon as he was returned to the castle, he packed up and is now heading for the boarder.”

“I can’t think of a reason other than the fact that the idea of sending the signal to get the surface people to return home originated in Pacifica. It makes me wonder just what they are up to.” King Galintine remarks.

King Shaffer adds, “He has a lot of generals as his advisor. I think that we all need to tighten our restricted areas. May we borrow your communications King Stafford?”

I allow them to contact their countries with their concerns and security tightening.

Meanwhile the guard that lost his king is trying to explain how this happened. There is now questions about the simple fact that either he is not as well trained as he should be or his loyalty lies elsewhere.

I need to leave it to the guard unit. I can hear Doris’s yelling “WHERE IS HE!!” I better take the back way to my room. She catches me. Maybe I need to have her teach the guards her secret.

Unlike the previous day’s banquet, which I thought was over the top, I have been told that tonight’s ball will be one for the history books. We will first have a grand entrance into the hall. Wearing the crowns, I will be dressed in the absolute finest outfit. Red velvet, trimmed in white. Wide gold belt with a jewel encrusted sword. A royal cape that almost touches the floor. To top it all I am to walk with the golden staff. All I can say is

“I look like Santa.”

Nadean is in a very elegant dress that accentuates her figure. She has lace everywhere, but not in an over powering way. There is a simple elegance to it. She has a train that touches the floor. It has a small hand hold that she can easily grasp allowing her to walk and dance without tripping on it. I must say that she really is a Queen.

Finally, Doris is starting to breathe. Our escort guards have signaled that it is time to go to the hall. We walk the short distance to the hall, all the staff line the corridor. As we near each, the males bow deeply and the female’s curtsy.

We reach the doors. This time there is a herald. He has a very deep baritone voice that projects the fact that you must remain silent and pay strict attention.

“Lords, Ladies, Kings and Queens you are to rise.” He shouts “Announcing the arrival of King Thomas Stafford and his Queen, the Lady Nadean Stafford. All hail their majesties.”

To the polite applause, we slowly walk to the head table where there are chairs for us.

They project the we are the most important people in the room. To my left are the king and queen of Alandia. To my right is Nadean. To her right is the king and queen of Tridinia. Both sets of royals are seated in grand chairs but they are slightly less prominent than the ones we are in.

Notably absent is a chair for the king of Pacifica. The gossip mill has already spread the fact that he has left the country under questionable circumstances.

We talk more than we eat. More often than not there will be someone that will toast us.

“Here’s to the king and queen. May their reign be long and fruitful.”

“Raise your glasses, all hail the king.”

On and on they went. What they did not know was, when those toasts were made and we drank, Nadean and I were both drinking juice that looked like wine. It just would not look right to have us drunk from all the toasts. I was informed that the other royal couples do the same.

After the meal, the tables in the center are moved and the orchestra begins to play.

Having taken a short couple of lessons on ball room dancing, Nadean and I were to be the first to dance. Only after we danced for a minute, did the other two royal couples join. After that the other guests started to but only if they wanted to.

Some did not dance. Like the surface formals, these were an opportune time to make contacts. Mostly for business but also for time to make allies.

When we left the dance floor, we stood to greet the audience. There was a constant stream of guests wanting to shake my hand and politely “butter me up.” Nadean received a lot of cheek kisses for the ladies and hand kisses from the gentlemen.

It slowly wind down. Before we left, I asked both kings to excuse us. Knowing that both would be leaving in the morning, I said that we would be there to send them off. Then the herald announces our departure.

The guests applaud but you can tell that there were more than a few that wanted to leave but it would have been seen as an affront if they left before us. It is the same shame that would be on them if they arrived after we came.

We get to our rooms, only to find Doris there and she is more than slightly tipsy. She had real wine there for us to have to celebrate. With no shame, she raises her glass.

“Hail the king” and downs the whole glass.

We laugh almost hysterically as she comments,

“I had to make sure that it was not poisoned. It took a lot of tasting”

We hear a knock on the door. I open it and there was Jim.

“I thought you were going to deliver the wine and snacks then come back. I waited but now I find you drunk in the royal chambers.”

“She had to find out if it was poisoned.” I tell him while I was laughing.

Doris then tells Jim,

“What the hell are you talking about. This is Tom and Nadean. They know I worked my ass off to get this done.”

She raises another glass and downs it.

I hear liquid dribbling on the floor, I think Nadean laughed too hard.

Jim collects the now passed out Doris and carries her off to their rooms. Funny thing is, now there is no wine left. Just two empties. What a very large capacity she has.

We settle into a joy full night.

The next morning, we are at the outer doors, two carriages are waiting for their passengers. We talk to both departing couples, thanking them for their visit.

“I hope that both of you can come here on a less informal visit”

Both said that they would like us to come and visit also.

We walk them to the carriages. Then we hear yelling and the sound of running footsteps. It was King Percian. I thought he would be back in Pacifica by now.

“King Stafford, my servants stopped me at your boarder and through me out of the carriage. They told me that since I was caught, they no longer had any use for me. I’ve been deposed.”