The Sinful King (Naughty Royals 1)

Unlike his coronation, mine was to last a few minutes. They’d go through the necessary steps, give me communion again, and replace my tiara with a crown. My palms were sweating as I answered their pledge to remain faithful to my King and the country of France. It was an antiquated system, no doubt, but in the name of tradition, it served its purpose. The archbishop lifted my tiara from my head along with the veil attached to it. The crown I was to wear was brought out and I couldn’t help my soft gasp. The crown Elias wore today was gold and large, with diamonds and emeralds surrounding it and a cross sitting at the top of it. The one they were holding out to me was similar, but had golden birds and diamond leaves. It was smaller than my husband’s, but seemed to carry even more jewels than his. It had a small cross sitting on top of a big diamond-encrusted ball. I lowered my head slightly as they placed it over my head, and brought my gaze back to the archbishop as he blessed me.

“Vive la reine.” The archbishop smiled.

I smiled back, tears trickling down my face. I wiped them away quickly and stood when I was supposed to, this time facing my husband. He took my hand in his and led me out of the cathedral as our guests cheered for us. As the doors opened for us and security scrambled to their places, Elias led me outside, still holding my hand tightly. He put an arm up and waved, and I put my free hand up and waved, laughing as people cheered. We’d rehearsed this, but this was different. The cameras were rolling and the people were surrounding us. I could no longer pretend that this was just between my husband and me. It really was for the world to see. Elias let go of my hand and turned to me. I turned to him, still smiling but confused. This, we hadn’t rehearsed. He was supposed to kiss me and we were supposed to walk to the carriage that awaited. Instead, standing in front of millions, billions of people including those watching from across the globe, King Elias bowed to me, and loud enough for everyone to hear, he said, “Vive la reine.”

I tried to swallow back tears, tried to remind myself that this was tradition and traditionally monarchs showed no emotion, but it was no use, emotion won and the tears trickled down my face. Elias grinned widely, straightening and bringing his hands to my face, his thumbs wiping my tears.

“Long live the Queen. May she always be by my side, not one step behind,” he said against my lips.

“Long live the King,” I replied just as his lips met mine and he kissed me for all of the world to see.