Be My Princess

Following the nuptial benediction was the Coronation Ceremony.

Additional chairs had been set in the throne room to seat the dignitaries and guests after the seats where the Sama family was sitting alongside the queen mother and facing the ten high-ranking members of the High Council.

All the royals had donned their leopard-skin cloaks and respective crowns while the members of the High Council were proudly wearing their antelope skin sashes.

"His Highness, Crown Prince Angel and his royal consort, Princess Kat!"

Angel led Kat along the red carpet until they reached the bottom of the throne stage. They curtseyed to the king and queen, then Angel left Kat's side to gain his throne.

George Chang stepped on the first level and made the introductory ceremonial speech before opening up a scroll from which he started to read out loud the rights and duties that befell the Crown Princess of Ruund.

"Princess Kat, do you agree to everything that is stipulated in this royal decree on what will be your rights and your duties as the Crown Princess of Ruund?" The king solemnly queried once the royal secretary had finished his reading.

In a blink, Kat's eyes slid towards Angel who was looking at her with a proud smile, then went back to the king.

"I do."

"Do you understand that you will be held accountable to the Throne and to the uRuund people in accordance with everything stipulated in this royal decree?"

"I do."

The king smiled then signalled the royal secretary to proceed.

"Princess Kat will now repeat after me: I, Kat Yav…"

"I, Kat Yav…"

"Royal Consort of Ruund…"

"Royal Consort of Ruund…"

"Oath before God…"

"Oath before God…"

"And before my king and my queen…"

"And before my king and my queen…"

"To serve the Throne of Ruund and its people…"

"To serve the Throne of Ruund and its people…"

From where she was standing, Charlotte looked at her daughter solemnly making the Royal Pledge with tear-filled eyes. She was feeling truly overwhelmed at the sight her little princess who had now grown up to become the crown princess of Ruund. In nostalgia, she started to recall all the endearing moments she had shared with her daughter from the moment she was born. And though she was genuinely happy to be giving her away to her marital home, letting go was proving to be much harder than she had thought.

After the pledge, one royal officer placed a footstool in front of Kat while another one brought a tiara bearing the carvings of the Rukan resting on a leopard printed velvet cushion to the royal secretary. George Chang took the cushion from the officer and presented the tiara to Pastor Elisha who held it up and declared a blessing over it.

The crowned royals then stood up and stepped down from their thrones while Kat kneeled on the footstool. The king took the tiara from the minister's hands while Angel took a leopard-skin cloak brought by a third royal officer. Together with his mother, they passed the cloak on Kat's shoulders, and the queen pinned it on the front with a golden brooch bearing the royal emblem.

The king then came to stand before her, holding up the tiara. And as he slowly lowered the crown towards her head, he solemnly declared: "I, Mwant Yav Angel the Second, king of Ruund… before God, the Throne and the uRuund people, crown you, Kat Yav… Crown Princess of the Ruund Kingdom!"

Angel helped Kat up, and she curtseyed before the king, then the queen, and finally her husband. The latter took her hand and walked her up to the throne next to his while the king and queen also regained their respective thrones. They then all turned towards the assembly that stood up, curtseyed then applauded and cheered when the royal secretary proclaimed: "People of Ruund, your crown princess!"

"You did great," Angel whispered in her ear after everyone sat back down.

Royal dancers and chanters presented a celebratory performance in the honour of the new crown princess before time was given for the guests to bring their gifts to the newly married couple. After that, in a ceremonial procession, the king and queen walked out of the Throne Room, followed by the newlyweds, the queen mother, the Sama family, the high-counsellors and finally the assembly. The procession progressed to the entrance of the Central Palace where the princely carriage at which were harnessed Tornado and Alizés was ready to take the princely couple on a tour of Musumb to greet the populace.

⁂

"His Highness, Crown prince Angel, and Her Highness, Crown Princess Kat!"

The Chimangat's loud announcement caused everyone in the ballroom to look towards the entrance as Angel and Kat made their entrance.

After the long tour of Musumb that they had spent waving at the cheerful crowd of uRuund citizens that had come from every part of the kingdom, standing along all the streets marked on the itinerary of the princely carriage that was published on the day before, Angel and Kat had gotten about an hour to rest and change before joining the reception in the ballroom.

Kat had already come to understand why Francis had called his birthday celebration a low key event after attending Angel's. But if the crown prince's 25th Birthday Celebration had been able to give the young woman an experience of a proper royal event, their wedding reception seemed to present her with an even greater one. The turquoise and cream theme she had chosen had been perfectly harmonised in the overall decoration of the ballroom. Table cloths, napkins, ribbons, flowers, centrepieces, cake… Even the outfits of the servants and the orchestra were aligned to the theme. The decorator had even succeeded in enhancing the beauty of the already astounding interior design of ballroom through her work.

On top of that, the wedding reception had a white-tie dress code; so everyone had changed to the finest and most sophisticated – and not to forget expensive – outfits she had ever seen, giving to the whole reception an even more glamorous outlook. Kat herself had changed to a cream ball gown with a Queen Anne neckline while Angel had passed on a full white-tie outfit with only a turquoise lapel flower pinned to his black tailcoat as complementary accessory.

The couple progressed in the aisle left between the tables while guests stood up and curtseyed at their passing, and reached the main table where they curtseyed before the royal elders. There, Kat realised with delight that her family had been placed at the main table with the royal family for the occasion.

Per wedding reception custom, the festivities started with the newlyweds' first dance. Given that every step of the princely wedding day was aired live on the broadcast channels that had been granted coverage of the whole event, the entire kingdom together with the guests in the ballroom were able to perceive the intensity with which Angel and Kat looked at each other as they swayed to the rhythm of the waltz played by the orchestra.

The father-daughter dance followed right after that, then the dance floor was finally opened to the rest of the guests while the servants started to cater the different courses of meals.

"How could you prefer our birthday tradition over this?" Michael asked his sister when the food had been brought to them.

Kat smiled at her brother's remark. Seeing how Michael had been very much dazzled when he had attended Angel's birthday celebration, she had expected him to raise that argument.

"You might have a different opinion, but I will always prefer a fun time with my family over any party – no matter how prestigious – with people I hardly know. No matter how dazzling this all is, it would still feel a bit dull to me if you guys were not here."

"I'm with Kat on that," Joseph added. "Even if my Rose and our soon to be born son are now a top priority in my life, I don't think I will fully enjoy all the big moments of our life if I cannot share them with my family."

Michael nodded. "I have to admit that you are both right about that." He conceded.

"The attachment you have for each other is really praiseworthy," Isabella commented on the youngsters' exchange. "I hope you will develop the same kind of attachment towards the royal family now that you are one of us, Kat. In fact, I think that it's really a good thing that your family is relocating to Ruund; both our families will thus have more opportunities to interact with each other, and maybe our family will be able to learn from yours on how to reinforce our bonds."

"Say what?" Kat let out in astonishment. "You are all relocating here?"

"You did not tell her?" Isabella asked at the address of Charlotte.

"We wanted to surprise her with that… so we were waiting for the best moment to tell her." Charlotte explained to the queen mother.

"Oh! It seems like I've ruined the surprise." Isabella said apologetically. "Sorry about that."

"It's okay," Charlotte replied. "The king and queen arranged for it." She then told her daughter.

"Actually, we just went along with our son's suggestion." King Angel II explained.

Kat looked at her husband. "It was your idea?"

Angel smiled. "Over the time I've spent with your family when I visited you in Likasi, I came to realise how attached you all are to each other, and also how sad you've been feeling at the idea of having to live far away from your family. So I thought of a way to bring your family closer. Thankfully, they all agreed to it. Being the family of the crown princess normally elevates them to the social rank of nobility, so they will all be living in the upscale neighbourhood of Musumb closest to the Royal Estate."

Kat was truly overwhelmed. Looking into Angel's eyes, she was reminded of the promise he had made to her on the balcony of her West Wing bedroom after he had professed his love for her.

~ It might be very difficult for me to tell you this as much as I should; but I will always find a way to show that to you… ~

"I really don't know what to say… Thank you."

"I'm already enrolled in Musumb Institute of Technology," Michael announced.

"I'm starting a private practice in Musumb, and I'm also officially taking over the position of Royal Family Physician as the current one is retiring," Joseph added.

"And I will be the curator of the soon to be inaugurated Throne History section of the Rusangu Retu Museum where artefacts like those displayed in the Heritage Hall will be exhibited." Charlotte finished.

"Wow!" Kat let out before leaning towards Angel. "I know that the curator of the Congolese History section at the museum will be very happy to hear the news." She said loud enough to be heard of her mother.

Angel chuckled and nodded while Charlotte looked at her daughter with a slight frown.

⁂

Kat emerged from the bathroom and was immediately welcomed by a soft melody played on the piano. She walked to the study and leaned against the doorframe while Angel switched to deeper notes as soon as he locked eyes with her. Kat closed her eyes and let the melody tunnel its way to her heart. She then reopened her eyes and looked at her violin lying on top of the piano. An accompaniment to Angel new creation was already forming in her mind, but she had to refrain herself. Right now, she just needed to listen to what her husband had to say to her.

The melody was at first soft and gentle then passionate and ablaze as it reached its peak; all of it an expression of the emotions she had been able to see in his eyes since the moment he had professed his love to her. Yes… those were indeed his unspoken feelings expressed through musical notes. And that particular way of expression of his was stirring up in her the urge to express the feelings she herself was sometimes too bashful to utter or show.

Angel's eyes stayed on his wife until he reached the end of his composition, and did not detach from her when he left his seat, came to stand before her, and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"This is how I've been feeling since the moment you accepted my proposal." He said tenderly. "And just like the notes of this melody take a deeper tone as it goes on, so do my feelings for you grow deeper by the passing days…"

Hands placed on his chest, Kat could perceive Angel's heart thumping really hard as he spoke. She slowly lifted her heels and placed a kiss on his lips. "I love you…" She let out shyly. "Thank you for expressing your feelings in such a beautiful way. It gives me the strength to express mine…"

As the day of her wedding had drawn closer, Kat's excitement at the idea of becoming Angel's wife had been increasingly battled by her apprehension of their first night. She had set her mind on abstinence for so long that the thought that she would have to bring down all the mental barriers she had held up so far, mixed with the thought that she would be treading on uncharted ground, had gradually filled her with a dread that was now dampening her passion. But as she looked into her husband's brown eyes, she felt her dread starting to dissipate. Words needed not to be uttered; just the love that she was reading in his eyes at that moment was enough to insufflate courage in her.

Strong of that, Angel slowly brought his hands down, undid the belt and pushed the robe off her shoulders. Without breaking their eyes connection, he gently slid his hands along her arms then took her in his arms and carried her to the bed where he delicately laid her before retaking possession of her lips with an ardour that finished to rekindle her own passion.

⁂

Kat slowly emerged from her sleep, and a blissful smile immediately traced on her lips when the memories of the previous night started to flood her mind.

She closed back her eyes, turned on herself and stretched her arm to search the other side of the bed. Her eyebrows creased when she noticed that it was empty, and she blinked her eyes open to scan the room. Her eyes soon landed on the three handmaidens battling to keep a straight face and she quickly sat up, holding up the sheet to cover her naked body.

"Jane…?"

The maids had come early in the morning to prepare the ceremonial bath and found Angel already awake. He had stayed in bed looking at Kat sleeping until the maids had finished their task in the bathroom, then instructed them to wait until she would wake up as he headed for the bathroom to prepare himself. Kat had actually woken up right when the maids had come to stand next to the bed after finishing to set up everything she would need in order to prepare herself before joining her husband.

"Everything has already been prepared for the Scented Bath Ceremony, Crown Princess," Jane explained. "The crown prince is waiting for you in the bathroom, and we have set here everything necessary for your preparation."

Kat nodded. "Thank you, Jane."

The maids curtseyed, and Kat waited until they had left the bedroom before sliding out of the bed. On the upholstered bench at the foot of the bed were set a silk robe, a flask of the perfume she had made and everything necessary for morning ablutions. She quickly freshened up, then donned the robe and took the flask to the bathroom where Angel, who was already in a bath sprinkled with white and pink rose petals, welcomed her with a smile as soon as she walked in. His blazed gaze stayed on her all the while she was removing her robe and as she slid into the hot tub, causing her body to heat up as the memories of their first night resurfaced in her mind.

Kat opened the flask and poured the perfume in her hand. "I hope you will like it…" She said hesitantly as Angel moved closer.

After she had been presented as the crown prince's fiancée, Kat had been prepared for all the ceremonies that would take place on her wedding day and after. For Angel's scent, she had carefully selected three different scents that all evoked to her the nature Angel always hid behind his usual stoic demeanour. The fiery passion that transpired while he played the piano, the strong love he had for Tornado, and the tender warmth she had discovered in him when they were at the waterfall.

She had mixed up the three scents in different dosages and reiterated the operation several times until she had been able to obtain the result that satisfied her. She knew Angel had no choice but to accept whatever scent she would create, but she hoped that he would truly like her creation.

"You made it… it's enough for me to like it." Angel replied.

Kat rubbed her hands against each other to spread the perfume then applied it on her husband's skin, starting from his neck and going down to his chest.

When Angel closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, Kat looked at him expectantly. "How is it?"

In all response, the crown prince grabbed his consort by the waist in and kissed even more ardently than he had done the night before…