- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The Glass Horse:

Coronation Day
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The handkerchief in my hands is made of fine, blue cloth, with silver lace edges and the Conté crown and sword emblem embroidered on each corner. Earlier this morning it had been pressed smooth by one of the palace maids and laid out carefully with my grand outfit for the day's event. The dress is perfection, each flounce and drape exactly in place. So much cannot be said for the handkerchief. I have been twisting it in my hands for nearly a quarter of a bell- rolling it into a tiny ball, flattening it out, and then rolling it up again. I am very nervous.

I, Princess Lianokami, daughter of Prince Roald of Conté and Princess Shinkokami of the Yamani Islands, am turning eighteen today. Most of the noble girls my age are hosting coming-of-age cotilions, or graduating from finishing school, or marrying their handsome young knights. I am attending my own coronation.

Since the death of my beloved grandfather, King Jonathan IV, the throne has laid in trust for me. It's been nearly a year since we lost Grandfather. My Uncle Liam has been acting as my regent. Today he will pass the crown to me in an official ceremony that will make me not only the first woman to solely rule Tortall, but also the youngest monarch in over four hundred years.

I've been training for this my whole life. My father declared me as his heir when I was a baby, so I grew up knowing the weight of the crown would be mine one day. I studied all the usual subjects: dancing, art, etiquette. I also learned interesting things, like history and mapping. When I was ten, I became a page, and I was knighted last Midwinter- another first for a princess in the kingdom. After all those years of preparation and two rounds in the Chamber of Ordeal, I should feel ready to assume the throne, but I do not.

My name, like me, is a blend between Yaman and Tortall. I am truly named for my great-grandmother, Queen Lianne, but my mother wanted to keep some of her native roots in the family, so they added a Yamani suffix to create Lianokami. My full name- the one that will be declared before the kingdom today- is Princess Lianokami Thayet Omiya of Conté. I was told that my father chose Omiya because it means gift, and he told my mother that I was the greatest gift he had ever received.

I wish he had known that I was followed by a son, not that I think my Da would have prized Kazuhiko over me. My most precious memories are from before my brother was even born, and they all involve my father.

One May Day, he erected a May pole in my playroom, strewing hundreds of flower petals across the floor. How we danced!

When I was four, he taught me to skate on the frozen river and we spent each day of that Midwinter on the ice- for as long as Grandmother would let us, that is.

The year after that Da taught me to read, using a book of fairy stories as my textbook. Things like that made my early childhood very happy.

I was six when Mother and Da told me that I was going to have a baby brother or sister. I felt ecstatic about my impending siblinghood, and my parents were overjoyed. Da was always cuddling my mother, bringing her tea, or rubbing her swollen ankles. We should have known that things were too happy.

My father loved his early-morning rides. Nearly every day he went out alone, meandering through the Royal Forest on his gray mare, Storm. Now that I am older, I understand how precious that time must have been for him, with no advisors or supplicants to interrupt his thoughts and dreams. Like father, like daughter. I also love to take my mare out just as the sun is rising, but I don't go out very often. Mother doesn't like it.

One summer day, Father never returned from his ride. It was Lady Knight Keladry, or Auntie Kel, and I called her, who found him. He had been thrown from his mount and hit his head on a rock. The healers said later that he was probably gone before he even knew what had happened- a small mercy, I suppose.

It was the most painful time in my life, losing my dear father. There were two happenings that pulled me out of my misery. First, my mother gave birth to my little brother on the day of Da's funeral. Kazu and I were nearly inseparable from the moment we met.

The second thing that helped me cope was when Auntie Kel took me aside and gave me the precious gift of a tiny glass horse.

""Your father gave me that for my first Midwinter in the palace," she had said as I unwrapped it. "It looks just like my horse, Peachblossom, and it's always made me smile. I hope it can do the same for you."

It did make me smile, and it still does. For the last twelve years the glass horse has sat on my desk. I treasure it, knowing that my father once held it in his hands.

"It's time, Lia," Kazu says now, pulling me from my memories. I put the blue handkerchief back in the pocket of my gown, pausing just a moment to wrap my hand around the little glass horse. Hiding the horse in my pocket, I felt like I was carrying a little bit of my father around with me.

My brother holds out his arm for me. He is a page now, but as a member of the royal family, he had been relieved of serving duty for the coronation. Instead of the stiff, red-and-gold tunics that the rest of the pages wore, he is dressed in deep blue that matches his eyes. He looks much like I remember our father, and with his I can see glimpses of the handsome young man he is growing up to be.

The coronation is a blur. I hear trumpets as I enter, and then my name is called, and I ascend to the dais in the Hall of Crowns. My brother leaves me there and takes his place next to our mother and Grandmother Thayet.

Mithran priests join me, and I say the vows I have practiced repeatedly. Uncle Liam walks towards me, holding a crown on a velvety pillow.

My crown. It is finally time to apply my years of training and preparation. I was given time to nap after my Ordeal of Kinghood, but I could hardly sleep, thinking of how I will always try to lead Tortall with the same wisdom and justice that my grandfather did- that my father would have shown. During my long vigil last night, I had secretly resolved to always be a queen that my father could be proud of.

I hold on to that now, as Uncle Liam places the heavy crown upon my head. I keep my face and posture still, but inside I am panicked. For a split second, I think to run away, take off into the woods and never come back.

Then I hear the announcement: "I present to you, Lianokami Thayet Omiya of Conté, Queen of Tortall. Long may she reign!"

The crowd cheers- none louder than my brother- and the noise is deafening. I finally allow myself to look out over the crowd, to see all the people who are here to see me become their queen. It's humbling, and I feel the weight of my responsibility all over again.

Out of all the people in the crowd, my eyes meet with Auntie Kel's. She has proud tears in her eyes, and I know she is thinking of my father. I can't look at her for more than a few second, or I will succumb to emotion as well. Instead, I match her deep nod, and smile.

I will keep my promise. I will be a queen that the Conté line can be proud of.

AN: This is a major rewrite of my story from 2006. I was inspired to work on this when I was watching King Charles's coronation on TV. There are a lot of changes from the original story- Tammy hadn't even divulged Lianokami's name yet when I wrote it. There's more coming this time. I am planning to explore Lia's feelings as she learns of her grandfather's death, and that got me thinking about her responsibility to marry and provide an heir to the throne. If you're reading this, thank yo- I hope you enjoyed it!