I could hear the murmurs of people in the chapel, the excitement in their voices, the anticipation. I could sense the trigger-happy photographers waiting to pounce on the doors when they would first open. As things started to settle down, the High Priest approached me and gave me a few directions for the ceremony.
Then, it began. The High Priest and his ensemble entered first. Several minutes later, my parents were directed in. I think there were more cameras going off then than when his abdication was announced. Just before Eleanor and Elias went in, my younger sister hugged me and said "I love you".
My heart was pounding through my chest. My hands got sweaty by my side as an official guard handed me the Sword of Illéa to hold on my walk down the aisle. A deafening silence ensued. Then the trumpets blared. The chapel doors opened. And I walked inside.
Everywhere I looked, smiles adorned the faces of the people I loved most. I saw Jessica, Melanie, Tanner, and Galen on my right, and Noah on my left alongside other guest my parents invited. As I moved closer and closer to the altar I saw my cousins, my aunts, and uncles: Étienne and Céleste with their parents Dauphin Charles and Princess Anne; Prince Mathieu and my aunt Princess Henrietta; Amber, Loren, and Eugenia further ahead, my great-uncle Kaden beside them, and their parents on the other side; Petyr making faces at me to the dismay of his dad. My disappointment of not seeing Magnus, Elissa, or Ingrid lasted but a moment when I came before my parents and grandmother, who had flown in directly from Swendway after unsuccessfully trying to convince her daughter and grandchildren to attend.
A guard took the Sword of Illéa away as I bowed to parents, probably for the last time. The High Priest beckoned me forward, and I went to my knees as he used the Sword to place on either of my shoulders to begin the ceremony.
It seemed to last a lifetime, including the part where Eleanor was sworn in as the Heir, but I knew it was nearing its end when a weight fell on my head, my cue to stand, take the scepter and orb from the High Priest, and turn to face my subjects.
"Her Royal Majesty Queen Emilia Koskinen Shreave of Illéa. Long live the Queen!" announced the Priest, followed by a plethora of cheers and the commencement of another piece of music. I began moving down the aisle, nodding, smiling at anyone whose eyes I caught. When my eyes landed on a band of boys to my right, I almost choked, realizing that these were my Selected. There was an empty spot in one of the pews where the boys stood and bowed, and I wondered if one of them bowed out of the whole thing already. Better for him, probably. When I turned to my friends, their genuine smiles gripped me. They bowed extra low, but I knew they didn't have to. I knew they did it on purpose. I could see Galen and Tanner trying to suppress laughs. Only Noah, who had since went to stand on their side, rolled his eyes and gave a small, almost nervous, nonexistent bow, before I stepped on the threshold of the chapel doors that would lead to a foyer looking to the outside of the Palace.
When I reached that threshold, I was floored by the amount of Illéan flags flapping crazily, the cheers and whistles as I acknowledged them. There were posters too, but I think their messages were too swallowed up by the pounding in my ears telling me that I had did it. I waved to the crowd as my brother and sister appeared beside me, Elias hand in Eleanor's own. My mother and father soon appeared too, and my father gave me a peck on the check as he held on tightly to my mother. I could only imagine how difficult this must be for him, but if I looked just even a little nervous or unprepared, things could blow up in my face. Eleanor gave me an encouraging smile as we waved for a little while longer, before stepping back inside and heading to the Women's Room, where official photographs would be taken.