ELEANOR TAL YIN

"All hail Her Royal Majesty, Queen Eleanor of Exon!" The forerunner called out in a loud voice. Everyone in the vicinity drew themselves up and checked their attire, wanting to look their best in the presence of the newly crowned queen.

Queen Eleanor accepted the coachman's hand and stepped down from the horse carriage. She waved away the umbrella he held out and looked at the crowd. There had to be hundreds, or maybe even thousands waiting out in the field.

She dipped her head politely at the crowd who had cleared a spacious path for her, and walked in between two tall officers dressed in ceremonial white. The field was muddy, as it was drizzling lightly after a heavy rain. What bad luck, Eleanor mused to herself as she squelched through the still wet grass and soil.

Her escorts had offered to roll a long, expensive carpet along the field so that she wouldn't have to dirty her formal black mourning dress or kitten heels. However, she had refused, wanting to create a good first impression for her new subjects.

After all, what better way to identify as one of her own people than walking through mud and getting her clothes soiled like everyone else? It certainly helped with public perception and she wasn't going to pass up a good opportunity like that.

The crowd was silent, with no more than a few whispers going through the crowd as they watched her every step, lowering their umbrellas when they saw that their queen was braving the rain. She could feel the eyes of every man, woman and child staring at her, while trying to remain respectful of their monarch. At long last, she reached the place where her parents had been buried. Two large gravestones were placed at the head of their graves, which stood out from all the rest. This graveyard was reserved only for members of the Royal Exon Family, the kings and queens of generations past.

Here, the crowd was of a more distinguished nature. Dukes, counts, barons, lords, senior military officers, high society members and foreign dignitaries stood silently, dressed to the nines, holding umbrellas over their heads due to a light drizzle. They lowered theirs when they realised she didn't have one, and their formal clothes began to soak up the rain. Everyone tried to hide their discomfort, remaining packed together and silent in the presence of the queen.

Eleanor looked to the side and saw that there was a temporary shelter that had been constructed for the riflemen who bore their polished muskets. From what she knew about the military, the gunpowder couldn't get wet or the muskets wouldn't be able to fire, thus the need for shelter for the soldiers. She noticed the Colonel looking to her for the go ahead, and she nodded in approval.

"Ready!" A voice boomed and the soldiers, dressed in their standard muddy red uniforms and already waiting for the order, gripped their muskets tighter.

"Aim!" The soldiers smarty rammed the butts of their muskets to their shoulders, taking aim at the field beyond.

"Fire!" A deafening volley of musketry crashed out in unison. Smoke filled the air but quickly dissipated as the rain continued to fall.

"Thank you." Eleanor nodded at the soldiers in gratitude once the echo had finally left her ears and they bowed to their queen in the most parade ground manner they could muster, which was frankly impressive.

She turned her attention to the two gravestones in front of her, and walked closer, the mud squelching beneath her feet. The names "King Ivan Tal Yin" and "Queen Bernice Tal Yin" were engraved deeply in the large gravestones. Her father and mother. She turned, and at the side of the two gravestones stood another. On it was written the name "Princess Deirdre Tal Yin". Her sister.

Eleanor shook her head sadly. Her older sister Deirdre had died years ago, which meant that she was the only remaining child of the Tal Yin family, making her the heir apparent. And unfortunately, her parents had died only a few days ago, and the crown had fallen upon her head.

The news had come to a shock to everyone, and initially the plan had been to establish a Regency Council to maintain stability and govern the kingdom while Eleanor grieved. However, she had refused, telling everyone that she needed to take control and prevent things from falling into chaos.

Oh, how things had changed so much in such a short time. Eleanor gazed at her parents' tombstone, eyes watering. Now she was all that was left of the Tal Yin name. She collapsed to her knees, staining her black mourning dress, but she didn't care. Ignoring everyone around her and throwing royal etiquette out the window, she broke down sobbing uncontrollably in front of all the dignitaries and nobles who were watching her with growing discomfort.

This went on for an unknown amount of time. She didn't know how long. When she had no more tears left to shed, she stood up, refusing the help of her escorts, and attempted to dry her eyes with her hand, which was already soaked to the bone by the rain. Eleanor looked up and around at the people before her.

"Thank you all for coming." She said, her voice quavering as she tried to project it. Then, with a heart throbbing sob, she turned away and walked away from her family's graves. The sooner she was away from that wretched field, the better. Eleanor walked slowly back the way she had come, flanked by the two tall officers, whose white ceremonial uniforms were drenched and no longer smart looking. In fact, they looked downright ridiculous now that the rain had done its damage. Not that they could do anything about it, and neither could she.

Her own dress was crumpled and soaked in mud and rain, making her look anything but regal. As she walked back through the crowd of Exonians, she endured the shocked gazes of her people who had evidently never seen their new monarch in such a sorry looking state before. Perhaps there was no precedence for something like this.

Nonetheless, Eleanor climbed into her horse carriage, soaking the leather cushions, and did her best to squeeze the water out of her hair as the carriage was pulled back to the castle located in the heart of the Capital of Exon.

###

"I take it things went as planned, Your Majesty?" Lieutenant Dolan, the head of security, asked as he watched Eleanor step into the castle, still dripping wet and trailing mud all over the red carpet.

Eleanor chuckled. "You could say that."

"The people bought it?"

"Of course. In fact, the rain helped to sell the role of the humble queen." Eleanor kicked off her now brown kitten heels which were caked in mud.

"Fantastic, Your Majesty." Dolan said.

"And I thought that crying at my parents' grave would've been dramatic enough." Eleanor scoffed. "The rain drenching me, collapsing into the mud and refusing shelter, I couldn't have delivered a better performance."

"I'm sure, Your Majesty."

Eleanor pushed her red hair out of her face and smirked. As the newly crowned Queen of Exon, she knew she had to set a first impression that sat well with her new subjects. And what better way to do it? She had only planned to express her utmost grief at her parents' passing, but now surely after her first appearance as queen, she had won the respect of the Exonians.

"So what now, Your Majesty?"

"Now that I have them in the palm of my hand," Eleanor smirked at Dolan. "We move on to Phase Two."

Author's Commentary:

Hi guys! While waiting for the third story to be finished, I have worked on a short spinoff story about Prometheus, the mysterious masked mercenary. He'll be appearing in Book 3, and I thought it'll be nice to learn more about him. Please do check it out, as I will be uploading it soon and notifying everyone with a post within this story for you guys to check it out Till then, take care and stay safe during covid 19!