Disclaimer: I do now own Snow White & The Huntsman

Chapter 5 – Hail to The Queen

Snow's words had the effect of shocking everyone in the room, though it was Greta who recovered first. She led Snow out of the room to take her to get dressed leaving the men to their devices.

"I need a drink." Eric muttered some moments after Greta had shut the door behind her and Snow. Grabbing his shirt off the floor, the Huntsman yanked it over his head and headed out of the room. He didn't head to the great hall, however, but to the nearest pub. It was there that William and the dwarves found him hours later, still nursing his drink, though when William went to pay for a private dinning room the proprietor told him Eric was still on his first drink, having barely taken a few sips in the hours he'd been there. With Beith and Coll's help, William got Eric up and into the private room where they could all discuss the matter at hand.

"Now what is all this about?" Beith asked when they were finally alone. William had come to him and asked the dwarves for help with Eric, but had told them no more.

"Snow wants to make Eric her King." William told them. The dwarves were silent for a moment until his words sunk in, at which point all, save Muir who'd arrived with a contingency from the Duke's castle but an hour ago, burst into laughter.

"Him? King? Ha!" Beith laughed before they all grew silent upon seeing the serious look on William's face, and the still dazed look of the Huntsman. "You're serious."

"Indeed I am." William confirmed, as if it was necessary. "She says she will not be parted from him. Either he will become her King, or she will abdicate in favour of joining him wherever he may go."

"No wonder he's completely out of it." Gort said, waving a hand in front of Eric's face and getting no reaction.

"Truthfully I don't see what the problem is." William continued, shooting a look at Eric, and making the dwarves wonder if his next words were said in truth, or to bring Eric back to the land of the living. "He would not be the first commoner our sovereign married, the people, both the common folk and the aristocracy, will accept him in time, and I think he would make a great king."

"A great king?" Eric all but breathed as he whirled to face William. "A great king?! I'm barely a half decent huntsman, how could I possibly be a king, let alone a great one?" Eric jumped up and began to pace. "I'm a selfish bastard, I've never put anyone before myself, forget an entire kingdom. I'm drunk half the time or more, I'm not educated, nor have any manners, I'm not a noble who has an idea of what he's doing, I wouldn't be able to lift a single finger to help her, I wouldn't know where to start…"

"You done?" William asked.

"There's a million more reasons why I would not make a good king!" He snapped back.

"Perhaps, but none of them truly matter. Nor do any of the ones you've already named."

"How could you possibly say that?!"

"Because it's the truth." Muir answered for William, speaking up for the first time. "You say you have never put another soul before yours yet that's all you've done since I've met you. You've put our Princess ahead of you, following her, protecting her, without thought to yourself. Your instincts are true, Huntsman."

"He's right." Said William. "Your instincts are true, and that is something you cannot learn, but everything else is. And Snow will be learning a lot of it right alongside you."

"She's the Princess. She knows how to run this kingdom, it's been ingrained in her since birth." Eric countered.

"Not exactly. Trust someone who was there with her from birth. Apart from courtly manners and a basic education she knows nothing of running a kingdom. She had just turned seven when Ravenna took over the kingdom and from that moment on any learning stopped. And now the kingdom is entirely different, anything she might have learned is irrelevant. All she will know to do is to draw on what few memories she has of how things were and see if they can be applied to how things are now. Other then that she's learning from scratch."

"And as to your other reason of being drunk half the time and being a right bastard, we can help you there. It'd be our abject pleasure to keep you sober and to put you in your place when needed." Beith said with a smirk.

"Get the feeling we won't be needed much for that, what with the Princess around." Nion added. None of the dwarves could argue with that.

"Look, we came here to make sure you were alright and ensure you're seeing both sides, not simply thinking you're not good enough." William said. "And to make sure you don't run." He added as an afterthought. "Whether you stand by Snow's side as King or not is between the two of you. And you do need to talk to her about what you two will be doing next, for she's made it clear it will affect the both of you." His face hardened then. "I meant what I said about running. If you leave her I will hunt you down and make your death slow and painful for breaking her heart." Clasping Eric on the shoulder, William's demeanour changed and he stood and went to the door, intent on leaving him with the dwarves, though he turned back just before exiting. "For what it's worth, once the shock and fear of the unknown wears off, I do think you will make a good king."

oo00o0o00oo

"You'll make a good king." Greta told Eric the following day as she joined him in the great hall. He'd returned to the castle the previous night, unable to stay away from Snow any longer, and the two had spent the night together with no talk of future plans, merely enjoying their time together now. He'd woken in quite a good mood, leaving Snow to Greta to get ready, only for the lady's maid to come in search of him an hour later and ruin his good mood.

"You're the second person to say that, but I don't see how either of you are right." He returned.

"We're right because you belong with the Princess." Greta said simply. "She told me about White Hart, and you waking her from Ravenna's spell. She has been chosen to bring life back into the land, but she can't do it alone. You too have been chosen, to stand by her side and help her. You compliment each other well, and while one of you deals with lords and politics, the other can deal with more pressing everyday matters. I've talked to the dwarves too, and Muir says your instincts are true. You can't tell me that your instincts would let people continue to suffer as the kingdom is slowly rebuilt when the power to help them is being handed to you." Eric groaned as she made a fair point, and truthfully one he hadn't thought of. He'd thought that being king meant being sequestered with lords all the time, trying to appease them and dealing with the intricate politics of court where there were a thousand ways to insult someone with a single word, not helping the common folk. He may have been a selfish bastard before Sara, and after Sara before Snow, but the person he was with them, the person he wanted to be, helped people. Sara had done all she could to make the lives of the people in their village better, and he'd helped wherever he could. And now with Snow, he'd helped displace an evil queen after only knowing her two days. His Princess was prepared to hand to him power beyond anything he'd had before, she trusted him unquestionably with it, and it was power he could use to better the lives of the people he'd once helped, and not just from his own village, but everywhere. He knew from experience that the people were starving, homeless, had no jobs, no security, were losing all they had, and even dying, at the hands of those they'd once called friends for those friends had no choice but to steal or kill if they didn't want to starve and die themselves; and here he was being given the power to help see an end to all that.

"You know I'm right." Greta said, seeing that her words had had the effect of making him think, which was truthfully all she'd hoped for. The Princess would convince him in the end, but there was no harm in helping her along by having him contemplating it all already.

"Perhaps…" He grunted noncommittally, though he could picture it now. He and Snow working together to help those most in need, he doing most of the planning, having more experience in the people's needs then she, then happily standing back and allowing her to appear as a guardian angel to them as they were brought out of starvation and poverty; not caring himself for the adulation they would be showered with. He wanted to help people, but there was no chance of him appearing out of the darkness like a beacon of hope, being all smiles as they handed out coin and food where needed, saw villages built up again, kissed babies and kept the people's spirits up. Snow had that part covered, her innocence and purity fit the part well, while he was more likely to get in fights with lawless people until crime went down, or be covered in muck while doing some hard labour, his gruff nature shining through all the while.

"Just know that any excuse you give for why you shouldn't be king, I can find two for why you should." Greta added, rising from the table and giving her seat to Snow, who'd sought Eric upon entering the hall.

"Look, Princess, your maid just had a chat with me, and William and the dwarves did earlier as well, I still don't know-"
"I'm not here to talk about that." Snow said, reaching over and grasping his hand. "I just came to be with you. I know I grew up here, but…this is all new to me." She confessed. "And the only time I can remember being more scared then I have these last two days is the night my father was killed. The battle against Ravenna didn't scare me as much as everything the Duke has been going over with me, and everything I still need know. My head and heart are reeling, and you're the only one who seems to be able to calm me."

" 'Calm' you?" He chuckled. "I don't think anyone has ever said that I've calmed them before. Infuriated them, driven them to madness, but never calmed them."

"Shut up." Snow muttered, earning a more hearty laugh. The two sat and talked for most of the evening, through dinner and after as well, Snow staying at a lower table with Eric rather then claiming her rightful place on the dais. No one approached them, not even their friends, though all smiled seeing the two together. They were the cause of many turned heads throughout the evening, the men and servants who littered the hall naturally taking in the sight of their Princess, though her interactions with this man drew its own attention. Most of the men present had been there at the Duke's castle when Snow had awoken and so had seen the kiss between them, and those who hadn't were quickly filled in, all drawing the same conclusions. For their part, Snow and Eric were completely oblivious to the attention given to them, fully lost in each other.

"Shall we, Princess?" Eric asked as the evening drew to a close. He offered her his hand as he stood, smiling when she accepted it, though Snow couldn't help but correct him, bending his arm at the elbow and lacing her arm through his in the proper courtly manner of escorting a lady.

"We'll make a gentleman out of you yet." She quipped, earning a playful growl, as they walked from the room.

"You're not going to try and stop them?" William asked his father, the two having abandoned the dais as well, leaving it empty when Snow wasn't there.

"What's the point?" Hammond asked, sounding far from pleased, though William did detect that he wasn't as displeased as he had been the other morning. "The whole hall's talking about them, it'll be all over the castle by morning, especially since the two left together. Some will hold to the belief that he's merely being courteous and will leave her at her door, though none will truly believe it."

"And you no longer care to try and stop the gossip?" Beith asked.

"I intend to see that she is crowned Queen." Hammond said, having reached his decision on this matter. "If that means I must also see him crowned King, then so be it."

"Allowing the people to know they are together will only help in that regard." William added. "They will get used to him as the man she loves that by the time of their coronation none will be surprised that he stands at her side."

"Knowing what goes on between them will see to it that all expect him to become King," The Duke agreed. "For they will expect nothing less of their sovereign's husband. That I will not budge on!" He added, looking to his son and William knew he was expected to help in this regard. "He will marry her, and preferably before she gets with child. I won't see her disgraced by being used then abandoned with his bastard."

"He will never abandon her." Muir spoke up sagely. "They are destined, White Hart has blessed their union."

"Muir's right." Duir said. "White Hart appeared to her as he's appeared to none before her. Then Eric wakes her from the curse. It's all the proof I need."

"Aye." The other dwarves all said in agreement. The Duke nodded. He still wasn't sure if he believed in all this, in White Hart, though his son swore to seeing the stag, but he'd grown to trust these people, and he certainly trusted the Princess, so if the fairy stories were good enough for them, then their belief in them was good enough for him.

oo00o0o00oo

Word that Ravenna had been defeated at the hands of King Magnus' daughter spread throughout the kingdom like wildfire over the following days. The entire kingdom rejoiced at the news of the evil queen's defeat and that Princess Snow White was alive and well, all accepting her as their soon to be Queen without hesitation. The days that followed Ravenna's defeat saw the darkness that had settled over the kingdom lift and the change that simple fact brought was enough to set things in motion. People no longer lived in fear, many came out of the woodwork, wherever they had been hiding, and joined in the celebrations. The castle was a hive of activity. Ravenna's greed saw to it that the kingdom's treasury was filled to the brim, having taxed the people out of food and home, and it was unanimously decided that money would be used to set things right.

They began with the town bordering the castle, repairing it where needed and bringing many of its people in to the castle itself for work, all in preparation of the coronation, for which a date had been set two months hence. Snow had protested, knowing how much money must be going in to the coronation and wanting it to be used instead to help the people reclaim their lives, not for a show of riches and pageantry, but Greta explained to her that not only would such a show lift many spirits, especially of those who would attend, those being the people in positions to help others, but the great amount of work involved gave way for many jobs, which the people sorely needed. Snow relented and patiently went through the hours with a seamstress for not only her coronation gown, but also an entire wardrobe fit for a queen. She wasn't the only one getting new clothes, Greta, the dwarves, Anna and Lily and their people, who had arrived at the castle a week after Ravenna's defeat at Snow's behest, and especially Eric all received new clothing; the seamstress paying special attention to his clothing. Not long after word spread of Ravenna's defeat did word spread of the Princess' love for a huntsman. Every tale, different though they may be as they passed from person to person, all told of their love, and all left behind a single question: would the royal wedding take place before, or after the coronation? It wasn't a question of if, but when.

Eric had not actually said that he would accept being King, but his actions spoke louder then any words he could say. He'd involved himself in matters of the kingdom, this having the added bonus of being by Snow's side all day, giving insight where he could and asking many questions. He found that this wasn't very different from Snow. She'd told him, of course, that this was all new to her, but seeing her listening, asking questions and advice like he was rather then instantly knowing the answer and coming up with brilliant ideas, really drove that fact home. They trusted Duke Hammond's judgement and learned as he patiently taught them. As more lords arrived they too joined in the discussions, offering their own ideas and Eric found that he was very good at telling when one of their ideas were meant to benefit them, not the people. Hammond had told them that there were a couple such self-serving lords who had survived like him and were left from King Magnus' reign. He assured them that they weren't bad people, they wouldn't do anything detrimental to the kingdom, but they would put themselves above everyone else, and Eric was very good at spotting them, though it was Snow who had the finesse to call them on it without calling them self-serving pricks, as Eric was want to do.

As the first month after Ravenna's defeat came to an end, the castle had settled into a semblance of normalcy, though it was still far from normal for Eric.

"Here you are, my lord." His young valet, Joshua, said as he handed him a chain of jewels set in gold, commissioned for him by the Duke.

"Uh…thank you." He said awkwardly. This was only the third day of him having a valet, and Eric was definitely not used to it. He'd dressed himself for twenty-seven years, but apparently a lord did not do so, though he had to admit, having someone care for all his new finery was a blessing, for Eric was prone to throwing his clothes on the floor, knowing he'd be wearing them the following day, but now he had a whole wardrobe, not just the one set.

"Will there be anything else my lord?"

"No, thank you." Eric muttered distractedly, looking in the mirror and trying to determine just how ridiculous he looked.

"You look very dashing." A voice said from the doorway. Both men whipped around to face the newcomer, one smiling, the other instantly bowing.

"You highness." Joshua murmured to Snow. She walked into the room and bade him rise.

"Thank you, Joshua, for taking such good care of him." She said with a smile, forcing the boy's own; whenever Snow smiled others did too, she had that effect on people.

"It's my pleasure to serve his grace." The boy assured her before bowing out of the room.

"I meant what I said." Snow told Eric as she came up to him and fixed the jewelled chain that hung over his shoulders and halfway down his doublet. "You do look very handsome."

"I'll never get used to it." He muttered. "Nor to being addressed as 'your grace' and 'my lord.' " He was addressed as such out of courtesy, everyone knowing he would one day be King, not due to any sort of title he bore. He'd refused any sort of title, though Snow had wanted to give him one, ultimately saying that he was going to be King soon, the first time he verbally acknowledged that fact, and didn't need another title to make his head even bigger.

"Well you won't have to be used to it for long. Soon it will be 'your majesty' and 'sire.' " Snow joked, chuckling at his unamused expression.

"That's not funny."

"To the contrary. The reaction it elicits from you is quite funny." Eric growled playfully and hauled her up and over his shoulder, ignoring her squealed protest as he carried her to the bed and dropped her on to it, climbing up to hover above her before she could escape.

"What are you doing?" She laughed.

"Eliciting my own funny reaction." He responded and immediately set about tickling her. Snow shrieked with laughter and tried to get him back, though eventually gave up.

"That was not funny." She said before she could stop herself.

"To the contrary." He threw her own words back at her. Then, unable to help himself, he bent his head and brought his lips to hers. They kissed for a moment before Snow pulled away, ever the one to have to show restraint, though she suspected Eric didn't do so on purpose.

"People will be waiting for us." She mumbled.

"Let them wait." He kissed her again and began to hike her skirts up, bunching them around her waist.

"We're supposed to be getting ready for the day, not taking our clothes off." She protested weakly.

"Who's taking anything off?" He asked, releasing himself from his breeches, though by no means did he actually remove them. "Just rearranging a bit." Snow couldn't help but give in, her weak protests going out the window. The two lost track of time and stayed sequestered in Eric's room long enough for Greta and William to come in search of them, they being the ones the two were supposed to meet first that day, only to stop short at the sounds emitting from the room.

"Really?" William groaned. "Can they not keep their hands off each other?"

"They're in love." Greta said as if that explained it all.

"In love or not they have duties to attend to." William grumbled. "Not to mention my father will kill him if she becomes with child before they are married, for which a date has not even been set yet. Given how often they go at it it's a miracle that particular confrontation has not yet happened."

"It may happen sooner then you think." Greta said after a moment.

"W-what?" William stuttered.

"I am not entirely convinced she is not with child." She admitted.

"Dear god." He muttered, letting that news sink in for a moment before turning to the task at hand. "Alright knock it off!" He yelled through the door as he banged his fist on it. "You have two minutes to make yourselves decent before Greta and I come in and tear you two apart!"

"You wouldn't-" Was heard through the door, but William would hear none of it.

"Oh I would, make no mistake!" He threatened. They could hear Eric cursing as he stumbled about the room before yanking the door open and giving his best murderous glare to William.

"You brought this on yourself." William said, not intimidated at all as he pulled Eric out into the hall, letting Greta enter the room to tend to Snow. "Fix your doublet." He instructed, seeing it was entirely out of place, though mercifully his breeches weren't.

"Here." Greta said holding out Eric's jewelled chain as she and Snow, who looked quite embarrassed at being caught, appeared in the doorway. William grabbed it from her with a quick thanks and threw it at Eric, making a score as it landed around his neck, before the Duke's son took off down the hall, fully expecting Eric to follow him.

"So may I take it that you two have set a date for the wedding then?" William turned to confront Eric when after leading outside to the courtyard that belonged to Snow's mother, the same one with the apple tree he and Snow used to climb.

"Why do you ask?" Eric asked wearily, still quite annoyed at having been disturbed.

"Well I just assumed with the way you two go at it you'd want to make an honest woman out of her before she made a father out of you. Not to mention that my father will flay you alive if she has a child before she's properly married." Eric didn't hear that final comment about the Duke, his heart having stopped upon hearing the word 'father.'

"She…she is…" Eric could not get the words out though it was not hard to guess what he was trying to ask.

"I don't know." William admitted. "Greta says there's a distinct possibility." Eric groaned, sounding pained, and dropped down onto the stone bench that stood under the tree. "Evidently you haven't thought of that possibility." The Duke's son ground out, feeling more and more put out with his future King. "Her I can understand not knowing of such things, she was locked in a tower for ten years and was far too young to know of such things beforehand, but you have no excuse! You're a grown man who by his own words has gotten around. You had a wife! How could you be so stupid as to not think of it? Have you even been taking any precautions? And what's more, she is not come tavern whore, she is soon to be our Queen, she deserves far better then a careless tumble between the sheets!"

"Alright!" Eric growled, jumping to his feet and looking down at the shorter man. "I get it, I haven't done this the way I should have."

"No really?" William snarled sarcastically.

"But where is this coming from? You've known for nigh on two months that we've been together and have said nothing since that first day. Is this jealousy speaking? Has it been eating away at you since that day that it's me she chose?"

"No." William said plainly, looking Eric in the eye. This conversation had been a long time coming. "I gave up on that when I saw how much she loved you, when you woke her from Ravenna's curse."

"But you love her."

"I will always love her. But not in that way. I will not deny that I grew up believing she would one day be my wife, a fact that my father and King Magnus not only didn't try to dissuade, but actually encouraged. When I first learned she survived I thought only of getting her to safety, though yes, I thought things would be as they once were between us. But I realized pretty quickly they can't be. We've changed too much, and she loves you." Eric stared him down but saw nothing but truth in his eyes. "I willingly give her up, give up any claim I may have had to her, for her happiness. Though I retain her friendship and I will join my father in flaying you alive if you don't do right by her." William then walked off, forgetting whatever business he had with Eric this morning, and leaving behind a thoughtful former huntsman.

oo00o0o00oo

Eric said nothing to Snow about what William had told him about Greta's suspicions. He knew that the lady's maid would say something when, and if, it became necessary. He did, however, take something else William had said to heart and asked Greta to explain to Snow about such things as pregnancy and babies, knowing that William had been right that being locked in a tower for ten years, and being too young before that, would pretty much ensure she knew nothing about any of it. He was quite relieved when Greta laughed and said that she and Snow had had that discussion when Greta first learned they spent the night together. His heart was quite light after hearing that news, knowing that all the times they'd been together since that first day, she'd known of the possibility of her getting pregnant and still she willingly, and happily, came to him. Although they'd not spoken of it, the two future monarchs had thought on the subject of children separately, both deciding that while they wouldn't try for a child just yet, they were quite happy with the way things were right now, and so if a child was conceived then they'd welcome it with open arms.

So, it was with no true surprise that barely a week before the coronation, and nearly three months since Snow and Eric first met, did Snow tell him that she was with child. After a momentary shock his reaction was one of jubilance and Snow could not have been happier that it was. Knowing what Duke Hammond's, and William's, reaction to this news would be, the two determined the wedding date before they even went to see them.

"But five days from now is the day of the coronation." Hammond said when they told him the date.

"Need we even ask why the rush?" William asked, glaring at Eric, though both he and Snow noted the playful tone to it.

"I am with child." Snow confirmed, placing a hand on her still flat belly.

"Congratulations to both of you." Muir said to them, the dwarves having naturally been included in this conversation. The dwarves mimicked Muir's words, as did William and the Duke, the two unable to deny they were happy for them, especially as even before the child had been confirmed they'd set a date to be wed, Hammond knowing it was largely to appease him.

"But why the day of the coronation?" He asked.

"Why not?" Snow asked in return. "Everyone will be here, it will cost less then hosting a royal wedding some months from now, and I'm already almost three months gone. If we plan an actual wedding I'll be big with child by then, and how will that look?"

"People will know you were with child before you married whether you marry in five days, or five months." Hammond said.

"Yes, but there will be less talk of it if I do not spend the next few months visibly pregnant yet unmarried." The Duke couldn't deny that fact and as he was the one usual on them about minimizing scandals he could hardly argue. The castle grew even more busy and frantic when they heard that the coronation would also be a wedding, all were determined to make the day absolutely perfect. Those five days flew by for Snow and Eric and before they knew it they were being dressed in their best, the clothes specifically designed for this day, and were led down to the great hall, all attendees were already inside. Eric was led to an antechamber off the side of the dais where he would enter from and await Snow at the alter as she entered from the main doors on Duke Hammond's arm, he taking the place of her father. She looked beautiful in a deep red gown with delicate embroidery and a white veil flowing behind her. Whether the ceremony was short or long, neither Snow or Eric could tell you, so lost in each other were they that the archbishop who performed the ceremony, and would also perform the coronation that followed, had to prompt them to day 'I do.' When it was over, when they were finally declared man and wife, Eric bent down and kissed her soundly, the two pulling away wearing silly grins that did not disappear until absolutely necessary. The cushioned stools that were brought in for them to kneel upon and receive the archbishop's blessing were removed and replaced by the two thrones that belonged to Snow's parents. It was a last minute change to bring in the second throne, for Eric was not originally to be crowned this day for he could not be until they were married. The thrones were identical, the King's throne no larger or more ornate then the Queen's as Snow's parents had ruled together as equals. It was something she and Eric intended to do as well, and Snow knew there would be some surprise when it was Eric that wore her father's crown and not she. It was well understood by all that Eric had no claim to the throne save for being Snow's husband, and so many believed that Snow would wear her father's crown and rule as Queen Regent while Eric sat at her side, King in name only. Snow knew that should it come down to it she had that power to supersede Eric, for whether the title of King was technically higher then Queen or not, it was she that was the heir to the throne, but she fully intended to rule as her parents had, together, united in all things regarding their kingdom. As far as Snow was concerned it mattered not who wore what crown, but she understood that to many it did, and allowing her father's crown to grace Eric's head and not her own would go a long way towards presenting that united front.

"In the name of all that is good and just in this land I crown you Queen!" The archbishop spoke, placing her mother's crown atop her head. Eric stood off to the side smiling softly as the day many had waited for came to pass. Snow stood from the throne, the branch of the Evertree clasped in her hand. The Evertree stood in her mother's courtyard, the tree she and William used to play in, and had been there for as long as any could remember, long before the castle was built. The very branch Snow held was said to have been used to crown the first King of Tabor, the blossoms on the branch said to have never withered over the hundreds of years since. After walking enough steps so that the ermine trimmed cape she wore would not get caught underfoot, Snow turned and handed the Evertree branch to one of the attendants as Eric came forward and knelt on the cushion before her. His own ermine trimmed cape was placed about his shoulders as the archbishop handed Snow her father's crown. The church had the power to crown the new King or Queen Regent, but it fell to them to crown their spouse.

"As Queen of Tabor, I crown you King." She kept it simple, though that was all that needed to be said. Eric felt the crown be placed on his head and with it the weight of the kingdom, though one look at his beloved saw half of that weight disappear, knowing they were in this together. He stood and turned to face the crowd, clasping her hand in his before taking a tiny step back and doing something he had discussed with no one.

"Hail to the Queen!" He called out, drawing a confused look from Snow, though both Hammond and William smiled from the sidelines, seeing that he was learning the game of politics. Snow made a show of their unity by giving Eric her father's crown, declaring them equals, while Eric's call of hail for the Queen, not waiting for others to hail them both, told the congregation he would defer to her if necessary.

"Hail to the Queen!" The entire assembly followed his lead. Then, to his surprise, they did not stop there.

"Hail to the Queen! Hail to the King! Hail to the Queen! Hail to the King!"

A/N - And there you have it! Hope you enjoyed it and thanks for reading!

Review please!