Total pages in book: 119
Estimated words: 116396 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 582(@200wpm)___ 466(@250wpm)___ 388(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 116396 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 582(@200wpm)___ 466(@250wpm)___ 388(@300wpm)
My first week as king was spent doing mostly nothing. I went into my study to find something to do, but right now, there wasn’t much. Rebuilding the Capital was my biggest focus, but until it was finished being cleared of the rubble and broken stones, there wasn’t much I could do.
So, I had no idea who had come to visit me. “Send them in.”
Commander Brutus left, and a moment later, he returned with three visitors.
The first was my mother.
I stared at her from my seat, the same seat my father had occupied every single day, and our eyes locked for a long and deep moment. All the pride was written on her face. All the love written in her tears.
I came around the desk and embraced her.
She squeezed me tightly. “My son…” She cried in my arms before she pulled away and cupped my face. “I’m so proud of you. Your father is so proud of you.” She gave me a kiss on the cheek before she stepped aside so my brother could greet me next.
“Ivory told us about the coronation.”
“You came all the way here for that?”
“Wouldn’t miss it, brother.” He circled his arms around me and clapped me on the back. “I know Father is gonna be watching tomorrow, grinning from ear to ear.”
I clapped him on the arm. “I hope so.”
“You avenged him. The Rolfes took back their legacy. Because of you.”
“Because of all of us.”
He stepped away, and Elora came next.
“I’m really sad that I won’t see you anymore, but I’m really happy for you.” Her hands moved to mine, and she stared down at them. “You were the Forsaken King…but now you’re the True King.”
I brought her into my chest and embraced her. “King or not, I’ll always be there for you. You’re always welcome to stay here with us. Both of you.”
“Thank you.” She pulled away and let me go. “Might take you up on that offer…”
When I woke up the next morning, Ivory was gone.
I got out of bed and moved down the hallway, but I stopped when I saw something on the wall that hadn’t been there before.
It was my father’s portrait. The one my mother had found in the basement. The dust had been brushed away, and the paint still looked brand-new. My father’s authoritative eyes stared back at me, as if he were there in the flesh.
My mother’s portrait was beside his. She’d always been a beautiful woman, but in her youth, she reminded me of Elora. Utterly breathtaking. Another portrait hung next to it. It was a portrait of the four of us.
It should make me sad, but it actually made me smile.
I’d have another portrait painted like this soon, with my wife and children. It would grace these walls forever, capturing us in a happy moment in life, a moment before we passed on with time.
Ivory appeared in the hallway, wearing a full-length gown with jewels. “I was just about to wake you up.”
I looked at the portraits again. “Did you put these up?”
“Yes…” She crept forward. “I hope you don’t mind. We can put them somewhere else—
“
“No. I want to see them every day.”
“Oh good.” She came to my side and stared at the pictures with me, of the perfect family I’d once had. “I’m excited for our own family.”
I smiled. “Me too, baby.”
We stared at them a moment longer before we broke apart.
“You need to get ready,” she said. “Coronation is at high noon. You should see the crowd that turned up for you.”
After I bathed and put on the uniform the seamstress created for me, I strapped my sword to my hips and left the bedroom. Through the castle I went, the same walk feeling different now. The staff was lined up and ready to serve me, and when I approached the first window, I saw the enormous crowd below.
There must be one hundred thousand people.
It was the first time I’d seen a crowd that size that I didn’t have to fight.
A stage had been built at the bottom of the hill for the coronation to take place, and I walked down the path with my hand in Ivory’s. The sounds of the crowd grew louder as we approached. Once they could see me, the cheers rang out.
I’d taken back my land, taken back my people, and now it felt like home again.
When I stepped onto the stage, the horns sounded, and the music stopped.
My mother was there, holding my father’s sword by the hilt. Her eyes were misty but strong, and she couldn’t resist the smile that broke over her lips as she regarded me. When I stopped in front of her, I kneeled, and she looked down at me with a shaky breath. “Huntley Rolfe, I name you King Rolfe, Rightful Heir to Delacroix, the True King of Kingdoms. Take this sword and protect us with your blood, sweat, and tears.”