The Times They are a Changing... but Some more than Others
It had been a month since Queen Mzuri announced her intention to retire. Although it was a cold day, which was hardly surprising considering it was January, it was also sunny. Thousands of people from both the Tree of Life and abroad flocked to the church near the royal palace to watch their new King and Queen being crowned, and many more flocked to the field beneath the palace balcony to see King Malik and Queen Janna's first public appearance as rulers of the Tree of Life. The people were delighted at the prospect of a young couple (Malik was Janna are around twenty-four at this point) on the throne. This would be the first time since Malik's father was alive that the King and Queen ruled as equals and the first time ever that the King and Queen married out of love rather than out of duty (though, as we know, not the last!).
In the palace, Janna's ladies-in-waiting were helping her prepare for the coronation. Because the new Queen was naturally beautiful, only a touch of makeup was needed for her face. As Janna stood up, one of the ladies smoothed a crease from her dress, and another made sure that the Queen's cape was secure. Janna was now ready. Just then, Malik appeared in the doorway, and Janna felt her heart skip a beat at the sight of her husband in his regal attire, which consisted of a tunic, trousers, boots and a cape similar to his wife's. The King and Queen smiled at each other before Janna addressed her ladies. "You can leave now," she said pleasantly. The women did so, leaving Janna and Malik alone. The Queen walked towards her King, who extended his hand to her. "Are you ready for the coronation, my King?" she asked, silently admiring how handsome he was. "Yes, my Queen," he nodded, planting a tender kiss on her cheek. With that, Janna took her husband's hand and let him lead her out of the room.
At the church a few minutes later, a member of the Night Pride gave a signal that the ceremony was about to begin. With that, Queen Mzuri, now the Queen Mother, rose from her seat and walked towards the altar. She removed the Queen's tiara from her head and placed it on the cushion next to the cushion that the King's crown, which hadn't been used in nearly three years, was on. Outside, Malik and Janna prepared to enter the church. "Are you nervous?" Malik asked his wife. "Slightly," Janna admitted. "But I'm sure I'll be fine,". "Of course you will," the King smiled, taking her hand. "And know that whatever we do as monarchs of the Tree of Life, my angel, we'll do it together and support each other in a way only a couple can do. And this? This is not a ceremony to crown a King; it's a ceremony to crown a King and Queen,". Janna smiled; Malik was so good to her. "Thank you, my love," she uttered. "Do you want to go first or should I?". "I'll be a gentleman and let my lady go first," Malik bowed slightly. Chuckling, Janna gave a small curtsy.
A few seconds later, a member of the Night Pride opened the door of the church, saluting the King and Queen as they stepped inside. Everyone bowed as they passed, while Janna saw Heather give her a wave and an encouraging smile. When they reached the altar, Janna got down on one knee and lowered her head as the Royal Mjuzi took the ornament containing the royal paint and anointed the Queen on the head with it. Following this, the Mjuzi returned the ornament to the altar, took the Queen's tiara from its cushion, lifted it up and placed it on Janna's head. Queen Janna got up and allowed the Mjuzi to escort her to her throne. She gently sat down on it, crossing her legs and putting her hands on her lap. It was now Malik's turn. He got down on one knee, and the Mjuzi anointed his head with the royal paint, signifying his spiritual entry into kingship. The Mjuzi then took the King's crown, lifted it up and lowered it onto Malik's head. The King rose and allowed the Mjuzi to escort him to his throne beside his wife's. Taking a deep breath, Malik gently sat down, putting one of his hand on one of the throne's armrests and taking the Queen's hand with the other.
"People of the Tree of Life," the Mjuzi declared. "It is my honour to present Their Majesties King Malik and Queen Janna!". Smiling, Malik and Janna viewed their subjects, who chanted "God Save the Queen! God Save the King!". Janna briefly glanced at Queen Mzuri, who clapped her hands and uttered "God Save Their Majesties". "Yay, King Malik!" Heather cheered enthusiastically as she applauded her brother and sister-in-law. "Yay, Queen Janna!". There was only one person in the church who wasn't celebrating the King and Queen's coronation. Can you guess who that was? That's right; Princess Hilah. She sulked and folded her arms, and Adesh took note of the way his wife was behaving. After Malik and Janna made their first public appearance as King and Queen, dinner was served in the palace.
After dinner, there was a ball. Malik escorted Janna to the centre of the ballroom, and the couple started to dance the waltz. "This is a lot like the dance we shared on Christmas Day," Janna mused. "Yeah, it is. Except there's a lot more people here," Malik noted. "But you're the person I need the most, my amazing wife,". Janna gave a shy giggle as she and her husband kissed passionately. Some people who were dancing stopped and looked admiringly at their King and Queen. "They dance so beautifully," one courtier uttered. "They're so perfect together!" another mused. "They're so in love," a third one noted. All of it was true. Hilah on the other hand, who was sipping a glass of wine, was not happy in the slightest. "Obsequious morons," she thought to herself, doing all she could to not shatter the wine glass that was in her hand. Just then, Adesh came over to her. "What do you want?" she asked through gritted teeth as she put her wine glass on the nearby table. "Maybe we are making progress," Adesh thought to himself. "When we first married, she didn't care at all about what I want,".
Adesh cleared his throat. "Well," he said. "I want to talk to you,". "What do you want to talk about?" Hilah asked, still sulking. "Well," Adesh began, but he was interrupted by his mother coming over. "Adesh, my dear son," she said. "Would you care to dance with me?". "Okay, Mother," Adesh smiled before addressing his wife. "I'll tell you later,". With that, the Queen Mother led the prince to a dance. "And just my luck," Hilah scowled. "Here comes Adesh's brat of a sister,". Heather came over to where Hilah was standing. "Hello, sweetie," she said, forcing a smile. "Hilah, I don't know what you're putting my brother through," Heather stated. "But I'm begging you to stop,". "I'm sorry, Heather, but I have no idea what you're talking about," Hilah lied, though she could feel sweat running down her face. "Ever since you two married," the preteen explained. "there's been a big change in Adesh. He's become a lot quieter, he never leaves the palace anymore and he rarely smiles. I don't know much about what happened, but I know that you're behind it. So, please, Hilah, start being nice to my brother; he deserves to be treated a lot better than the way you've been treating him,".
After Heather left, Hilah suddenly felt very worried. If this was what a twelve-year-old girl knew about her treatment of her husband, it scared her to think what his older brother, who was approaching his twenty-fourth birthday, knew. What was more, now that Malik was King, he had the authority to punish her. If the new King was to find out about the way she had been tormenting and abusing his younger brother, she would be in very serious trouble. She decided to go to her room to think. "And now," the herald announced. "A fencing match will be held to honour the beginning of Their Majesties' joint reign,". "Oh, wonderful," Malik said to Janna. "I love a good fencing match; the only thing better than watching one is participating in one,". The King considered participating in the fencing match, but he decided against it, preferring to spend time with his love.
That night, the King and Queen entered the royal chambers for the first time. When they closed the door, Janna gazed into her husband's loving, brown eyes, a seductive smile forming on her face. "I'm so happy to be sharing everything with you, my Queen," Malik uttered. "You're so special to me,". Janna could tell that he meant every word of what he was saying. "I don't know what I'd do without you in my life," she whispered. "I love you with my entire body, my King,". The two kissed passionately. "You know," Janna went on. "I've just had a very good idea,". "I'm ready and willing to listen to whatever Her Majesty has to say," Malik declared. "Well, why don't we recreate our wedding night?" Janna suggested. "But only if His Majesty gives his consent,". Malik smiled, admiring his beautiful wife. "I think that's a great idea," he admitted. Janna took out a flower that she had picked in the garden on their way back to the palace, and she adorned their bed with its petals. Malik dimmed the lights to provide a romantic atmosphere for them. They slowly began to undress each other, kissing and caressing every just-exposed area. Eventually, Janna lay on the bed under the rich canopy, and Malik positioned himself on top of her. The King and Queen united as one, enjoying every second they spent together; the couple might have physically been in the royal chambers, but their souls, minds and hearts had travelled into somewhere much more enchanting; into a world of love.
Meanwhile, Hilah lay in her bedroom. She still hadn't come any closer to obtaining revenge on Malik and Janna, and she was extremely frustrated at herself for that. What was more, she could feel Adesh losing his patience with her, and if she didn't act, it would only be a matter of time before he snapped and revealed her treatment of him to everyone. "If the King and Queen were to die," she thought. "Adesh and I would automatically take the throne,". However, Hilah was firmly against killing people directly; she wasn't stupid enough to get blood on her hands when someone else could do it for her. Adesh was far to nice to even consider committing murder; all the manipulation in the world couldn't convince him to kill his own brother and sister-in-law.
Then the bitter Princess had an idea. "What if Adesh and I had a child that could be groomed to murder Malik and Janna for us when he's grown up?" she thought. "Yes, it would take a bit of time, but good things come to those who wait and to those who hate,". Hilah then realised that she now had to choose between getting revenge on Malik and Janna and tormenting Adesh; she could no longer do both. For obvious reasons, she needed Adesh in order to have a child, and she wanted that child to believe that its parents were in a loving relationship. Being a pragmatist, Hilah decided to continue with her plan for revenge and stop tormenting her husband. "That way," she thought. "No one will suspect that there's something wrong with the relationship between my husband and me. And who knows? Adesh might be useful in helping me take down the King and Queen,". With that, she hopped out of bed, put on her dressing gown and went to find Adesh.
Adesh was in his bed, looking at his wedding ring. "I love Hilah," he sighed. "And I know that, somewhere in her heart, she loves me, but we can't go on like this. I need to tell her that I want to terminate our marriage,". As a Christian, Adesh saw marriage as being sacred; something to be taken seriously. However, since he was in an abusive relationship, he decided that an exception should be made and that he and Hilah should divorce. His thoughts, however, were interrupted by a knock on the door. "Adesh, it's me," the voice declared. It was Hilah. "Come in," Adesh said, getting up and sitting on the edge of the bed. Hilah came in, wearing her hair in a ponytail and her dressing gown over her night dress.
"Hilah, we need to talk right now," Adesh declared, adding an air of authority to his voice to try and get his wife to listen. "Indeed we do," Hilah smiled as she sat next to her husband. "Hilah, ever since we were married," Adesh explained. "You've made me feel like a wounded animal. Well, I won't put up with your treatment of me any longer. I married you because I thought you were a good person, but, obviously, I was wrong. If you ask me, the best thing for both of us is to-". But Hilah cut him off. "Is to turn over a new leaf in order to save our marriage," she declared. "No," Adesh said firmly. "That's not what I was going to say at all,". "I know," Hilah stated. "But I'm sure that my suggestion is what you really want, husband,".
Then, playing the part of a loyal and loving wife, Hilah ran her fingers through Adesh's hair and planted a kiss on his cheek before saying "I know I haven't been a good wife so far, and I understand if you're upset or angry at me because of that, but I want to change. I choose our marriage; I choose you,". "Do you mean this or are you just messing with my head?" Adesh asked, raising an eyebrow. "I swear upon my life that every word is true," Hilah nodded. "I promise to be a faithful and affectionate wife to you from now on, husband. I want to make our marriage prosper, and I want to have a child with you,".
By now, Adesh was convinced and removed any thoughts of separation or divorce from his head. "You mean have a family together?" he inquired, wanting to make sure he heard her right. "Exactly," Hilah nodded. "If you cherish me in a way that I know only you can, Adesh, then I'll give you all the love, respect and obedience that a prince like you deserves. And one more thing; I would greatly appreciate it, husband, if you never told anyone about the mistakes I made in our first nineteen months of marriage; I've learned from those mistakes, and with your guidance, I have become a better person,". "Of course not," Adesh nodded. "That's in the past; I want to focus on the future. I love you so much, my wife,". "I love you too, husband," Hilah nodded. "Now, should we try for a baby now?" "I thought you'd never ask," Adesh beamed. With that, he pulled himself on top of Hilah as they started to do it for the second time in their marriage. While it wasn't super romantic like Malik and Janna's lovemaking, it was definitely a massive improvement from last time. Adesh would never find out that his wife had ulterior motives to her supposed change of heart.
Meanwhile, in the royal chambers, the King and Queen lay together in the aftermath of their lovemaking, enjoying the warmth of each other's naked bodies. "Thanks for making today such a wonderful day, my angel," Janna uttered as she pulled back Malik's hair that was falling into his eyes. "Well, it takes two to make a day special, my darling," Malik stated. "It wouldn't have been the same without you,". Then, Malik kissed Janna on the head before she lowered her head and kissed his chest, just like they did on their wedding night. "Now, we better get some sleep," the King declared. "We've got a busy day tomorrow, considering that it's our first day of exercising power together,". "I think you're right, love," the Queen nodded. A minute later, the King and Queen were fast asleep, cuddling each other in a place where only they could visit.
To be continued...