Luckily, I had at least half the day to myself. So I walked around the gardens with T'Challa and James, enjoying the soft weather and warm sun. Tonight, however, there would be a colder wind. Hopefully I would be inside the cathedral before it arrived.
Not being able to stop myself, I had a go at swinging my new sword around like I was some sort of fairy tale heroin, until I almost cut off my own feet, and T'Challa and James no longer let me handle it. Then they took turns, and showed me how it was done. Seeing as they were both highly skilled fighters, they knew how to handle a weapon.
I used these last moments of freedom to feel as normal as I could. Now there wasn't a crown on my head, literally or figuratively. For now, I was "just" a princess.
We had an early lunch. That way, the preparation could start early. Once more Janson went over all that would happen and all I would have to do. I nodded, not really listening; we had gone over this dozens of times the past two months. I could probably fall asleep, and my body would still do all that had to be done.
Getting me into the coronation gown was quite the adventure. It was the most intricate, beautiful and frightening dress I had ever seen. Intricate because of all the different pieces of fabric sewn together, and the many silver and golden patters embroidered on both the skirt, sleeves and torso. Beautiful because of the deep purple colour and the soft, flowy fabric. Frightening because of the long sleeves and the wide, billowing skirt with long train. It just screamed, "trip on me, trip on me!"
The moment I would step into the cathedral, someone would wrap the official cloak around me, before I walked up to the Bishop, who would perform the crowning.
Though first, I would leave the palace in a golden carriage, gorgeously decorated with gold and silver ivy.
I was staring at this wonderful vehicle when footsteps woke me from a panicky daze. 'Hey, I have to go.' I nodded. T'Challa had to sit inside the cathedral before I arrived. Immediately I recalled a similar good buy, only three months ago. I forced the memories down. Tears were not something I could use at the moment.
'Good luck, Elissa. You are going to do great.'
'Thanks,' I sighed, already practising my "I'm fine, but not really" smile. T'Challa hugged me, making sure he didn't ruin my neatly styled hair.
'Look at you,' T'Challa looked at me melancholy. 'My little girl, all grown up.'
I curtsied. 'When we meet again, we can play chess in real life.'
He chuckled softly. 'Then we both will be missing a piece.'
'Well, then I can never stand checkmate, can I?'
Continuing my déjà vu, James helped in the carriage after T'Challa had left. This time, I wasn't hidden behind tinted windows. I wasn't only fully visible, I also had to smile, and look regal. The horses didn't go very fast; this was nice for James, who had to walk beside the carriage on the street, but it meant that I had extra time to be exposed to the gaze of hundreds, perhaps thousands of people.
Many of them were wearing purple, and waving flags, and yelling, and grinning, and waving, and some were even singing. The streets had indeed been decorated in the most fascinating and impressive ways, raining from knitted flags and tapestries hanging down from houses to gorgeous illustrations on facades. Everywhere I looked, the flag and symbols of Marerra shone, colouring the streets even more purple and gold. The sun, that was already setting swiftly, cast a red and gold glow on the whole.
The people all seemed happy. However , I couldn't help but wonder how some of them really thought of me. An eighteen year old girl, becoming their official head of state. There must be many people that objected.
My stomach contracted when I thought about all those people in the cathedral. Because those wouldn't be celebrating a national happening. They would be attending the initiation of a young girl into their ranks. And I knew exactly how many of them thought about me; they had made it very clear.
My gaze went over the crowd, not seeing a single face. They were only small specks, skin-coloured dots against a sea of purple. Then I looked at James. He nodded reassuringly. I tried to draw some courage from that kind gesture.
Suddenly, James' eyes flickered to somewhere in the crowd. His entire body stiffened. Then everything happened too fast.
James' first jumped into the carriage, dragging me down. I shrieked, but not loud enough to drown out the loud bang that erupted. Many people started screaming. And running; as a major tide wave, the crowd came into motion, scattering in a frenzy. The fences that had separated the mass and the road, were trampled. More shots rang out, and I realised I was laying with my head on the ground.
'Highness, are you hurt?'
It was James' voice. He sounded urgent.
'I- no. I'm okay, I guess.'
'Good.' There was a short moment in which I could hear the rampage. 'I need you to come with me. I'll count down, and you need to run. Understood?'
'Yes, yes.' I nodded dazed. I had to run. I got that.
'Three… two… one…'
He grabbed my arm, and pulled me from the carriage. While we waded through the hysteric crowd, he used his body to shield me, and simultaneously made sure I was running faster than I had ever done in my life.
Breathe, I thought. Breathe, I had to breathe. The moment I thought that, I gasped. Oxygen seemed to return to my brains, and I could think more clearly. There was a small alley up ahead. We made it to the alley. We made it past it. Until the screaming and running footsteps seemed nothing more than background noise.
One particularly loud gunshot made me look back. Immediately I regretted it; a limp, lifeless body fell down. It fell in a weird, diagonal way, as if they had jumped before the bullet hit them. Then it struck me; that bullet would have hit me. That person jumped, for me.
Apparently James had noticed this, too, because he inched even closer to me. He took me down many alleys, turn after turn, until it dazzled me. I couldn't remember how long we had been running, and in which direction, until the sun lowered behind the invisible horizon, and darkness came upon the city.
The once festive looking streets became deserted, and everybody fled into their homes. The silence that followed the dark was eerie and gloomy. A couple times we almost ran into dark figures carrying heavy weaponry, which we could only avoid. Other times we ran past dark silhouettes laying in the dark. The moon revealed itself during a few of those moments, gleaming light off the familiar uniforms of police agents and royal guards. It would have stopped me dead in my tracks, if James hadn't made sure I kept going. The images of corpses had burned themselves on my retina.
Eventually we had to stop, I thought. We couldn't run forever. We would run into the people that had done this.
Whoever they were. Whatever they wanted.
But for now we ran, while my thoughts whirled, and my heart beat louder and louder.
The night became thicker, and shadows grew. Saluport, the once bright city of Marerra, had become a ghost town.
