Royal Meets Rogue
Chapter 29: Coronation

Ares

“Alpha!” Atlas yelled running up to me.

“What is it?” I asked as I finished putting on my robe.

“Tell him.” He said looking at one of the butlers.

“Tell me what?” I growled.

I do not have time for this. Today is Athena’s coronation and I’ll be damned if something happens today.

“A man approached me today.” He said, not looking at my eyes.

“And?” I asked getting annoyed.

“He said that he and his friend wanted to watch the coronation.” He explained. “I told him no, only people who are invited get to come.”

“Keep going.” Atlas urged.

“He offered me $500,000 to let him in.” The butler confessed.

I growled and balled my fists. “What did you say?”

Why would someone pay that much money to watch? I mean I get it, being able to watch someone officially become a queen would be really cool, but still. Why now? It’s been known for a couple of weeks about this ceremony.

“I denied his request.”

I sighed as I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Why am I just now hearing about this?”

“I-I was scared to tell you, my King. I knew you were going to be upset.”

“You think?” I growled. “Today is Athena’s coronation. That man could have something planned and possibly hurt her! You are lucky you said no.”

“I would never do anything to jeopardize Queen Athena, my King.” The butler bowed.

“What did he look like?”

“Tall, pretty built, brown hair, and brown eyes. He was definitely a wolf.” He said without missing a beat. “His friend, I have no idea. The man that asked me was alone.”

“Get out of here.” I growled loudly.

The butler jumped and quickly ran out of the bathroom.

I sighed and banged my head against the wall.

“My King.” Atlas said. “I would advise against that.”

“I know. I’m just angry.” I admitted.

“I’m sorry you didn’t replace out sooner.” He apologized. “I saw him acting nervous and I could tell something was wrong. I finally got him to spill and that’s when we came here.”

“Thank you, Atlas.” I smiled and rested a hand on his shoulder.

“You are quite welcome.” He bowed. “What would you like me to do?”

“Hold that thought.” I said as I held up a finger.

‘Jason and Achilles. Come here.’ I mind linked the brothers. ‘I’m in the master bathroom getting ready.’

‘On our way.’ Achilles linked back.

A couple of minutes passed and the brothers walked into the room.

“What’s up?” Jason asked.

“Today has to happen. It can’t be postponed.” I said sternly as Atlas nodded. “I want more patrol out and I want guards posted at every window, door, crevasse, everything.”

“Yes, my King.” Atlas bowed before turning around and leaving.

“Whoa.” Jason said with wide eyes. “What happened?”

“I understand its Queen Athena’s coronation, but don’t you think that’s a little excessive?” Achilles asked carefully.

“Someone came to one of the butlers this morning and offered to pay to get into the castle today and watch.” I explained.

“They what?” The brother said in unison.

I nodded. “Today has to go as planned.”

“Yes, my King.” They nodded.

“Most importantly, Athena cannot know about this. I know lying to her isn’t good, but we can tell her later. Right now she has to think that everything is okay and that the heavy security is normal.”

“Our lips are sealed.” Jason said.

“I want you two to stay with her at all times.” I ordered. “You two don’t let her out of your sight and stay on high alert.”

“Copy that.” Achilles nodded.

“Thank you.” I sighed in relief. “Get some other trusting guards to join you. You guys will escort her everywhere she goes and she is to not be left alone.”

“Uh.” Jason said awkwardly.

“What is it?” I asked confused.

‘Now what?’ Zeus growled annoyed.

“What if she has to go to the bathroom?” Jason finished.

‘Okay, I take that back.’ Zeus said.

“Get a female to go in there with her. But check the bathroom out first. Make sure no one is in there.” I commanded.

“You can count on us.” Jason said as they both bowed and left the room.

I sighed and leaned against the wall. This is going to be a long day.

~*~

Athena

The past week has been nerve-racking. Perseus and I have gone over the whole ceremony I don’t know how many times and I still feel like I don’t know what to do. We’ve practiced the oath multiple times as well and I’m worried about messing up.

But today is the day. The coronation.

So here I am currently getting dressed in a big bathroom and I’m surrounded by multiple ladies. One is doing my hair, one is fixing the dress, and another is messing with my boots.

But oh my gosh, the dress. The dress is absolutely gorgeous. It was a long, bright red dress that pooled around the tall black boots that I was wearing. It had long sleeves that were detailed with gorgeous white stitching. The neckline was low, exposing a big portion of my collarbone. The collar of the dress was quite high, almost reaching my earlobes.

I looked down on the sleeves and around my abdomen at the red jewels.

“Those are actual rubies.” The lady said that was fixing my hair.

“Are you sure I should be wearing this?” I asked, laughing nervously. “This seems a little too expensive for me.”

She laughed softly. “Nothing is too expensive for you, my Queen.”

The lady fixing my hair nodded. “The dress seems like it was made for you.”

‘I feel like they are just saying that because it’s kind of their job.’ Artemis joked.

I looked at the giant round ruby that was right on top of my sternum and it was surrounded with tiny diamonds. This dress really is gorgeous.

“So this is the tiara that you are going to wear until Perseus puts the crown on you.” The lady explained as she set it on top of my head and fixed my hair around it.

The tiara was stunning. It wasn’t large, but it also wasn’t small either. It was a gold tiara and it had diamonds around the bottom of it and also surrounding the teardrop-shaped rubies. Then a large diamond sat on top of the rubies and on both sides of it. If the tiara was this pretty, I can only imagine how the crown is going to look.

“It’s beautiful.” I said breathlessly as I stared at myself in the mirror.

“You should see the crown.” She winked with a smile. “Just be careful. The crown has silver on it but it’s hard to reach, so you should be okay. The diamonds cover it.”

“Why would they make the crown silver?” I asked laughing.

“I honestly have no idea.” She giggled. “But you’ll be wearing these white gloves, so you’ll be good.”

“What about Perseus?” I asked as the lady tilted my tiara a little bit.

“He’ll be wearing gloves too, my Queen.” She smiled in reassurance. “It looks professional but we do it so we don’t touch the silver.”

I sighed in relief and nodded.

I touched my diamond earrings and smiled. I’m so glad that I decided to get them done last week. They are still a little sore but thankfully the redness has gone down and you can’t even tell that they are new.

“There.” The lady smiled as everyone stepped back. “You’re all done.”

I turned away from them and looked in the mirror. I gasped as I saw myself.

The dress fit me perfectly and the light amount of makeup really highlighted my features. They painted my nails red this morning to match the dress and the ruby necklace matched my tiara and also the dress perfectly. The black boots with gold buckles felt nice on my feet and helped give me a little height, so hopefully, I won’t step on the dress. The train of the dress was long and flat and I’m hoping it won’t catch on anything.

“It looks amazing!” I praised. “You guys did a really nice job.”

They bowed and gave me big smiles. “Thank you.”

We were interrupted by a knock.

“Come in!” I called out.

The door opened and Ares walked in.

And damn did he look good.

“Holy shit.” He said breathlessly as he stared at me.

“We’ll leave you two alone.” They giggled as they bowed and walked out, closing the door behind them.

“Holy shit.” Ares said again.

“You already said that.” I laughed.

“It’s just.” He paused. “Wow.”

“So, I look okay?” I asked with a smile.

“Okay?” He said. “I wouldn’t use that word to describe how breathtaking you look. They did an amazing job.”

“I’m nervous.” I admitted.

Ares smiled as he walked up to me and held my hands. “You will do great. And Apollo told me to tell you that if you are nervous, just look at him and he’ll make a funny face. I would do it myself, but I have to look professional.” He said rolling his eyes which made me laugh.

“Tell him I said thank you.” I smiled. “Which I probably will look at him because I’m getting stage fright already.”

“It’s okay to be nervous.” He said softly. “But you got this. I know you will do an amazing job. Just think about all the food we get to eat afterward while we celebrate.”

“Literally the only reason I got out of bed this morning.” I admitted.

“I know.” Ares laughed. “You look incredible.”

“Thank you.”

“Gosh, I want to kiss you.” He groaned. “But I don’t want to ruin your makeup because it looked like those ladies spent a lot of time on it.”

“You have no idea.” I said.

“Come on.” He smiled as he held his arm out. “Time for your coronation.”

I wrapped my hand around his arm and we walked out of the bathroom and down the hall.

I am so nervous for this. What if I mess up? What if I trip? Oh my gosh, that would be embarrassing.

‘Don’t psyche yourself out!’ Artemis laughed, yelling at me. ‘You are going to do great. I know you will.’

I sure hope so.

“Okay, this is where we have to part.” Ares said as he grabbed my hand. “I’ll see you on stage. You guys got it from here?”

“Got it.” Jason smiled as Achilles gave me a thumbs up.

“You got this baby.” Ares smiled as he opened the giant doors and walked into the room.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I got this. I can do this.

“You look so pretty.” A voice said from behind me.

I jumped and turned around to see Hecate.

“Hecate.” I smiled, close to tears.

“No. You can’t cry.” She said as she pulled me into a hug, careful not to mess anything up. “Don’t you dare cry because then I’ll start to cry and I’m an ugly crier.”

I laughed and nodded. “I won’t.”

“I always knew you were a queen.” She smiled. “Look at you.”

“You need to stop before I really start to cry.”

“Okay, I’ll stop.” She laughed. “They wouldn’t let me in the room because you had to get ready so I thought I would catch you before you went out there.”

“Really?” I groaned. I would have loved to have her in there with me.

“It’s okay though.” She smiled. “You are going to rock this. I’ll see you out there.”

I waved to her as she disappeared through the same doors Ares went through.

“You got this, my Queen.” Jason smiled.

“You’re going to kick ass.” Achilles cheered.

“You’re right.” I said, nodding to myself. “I’m going to do great. Let’s do this!”

Jason and Achilles smiled and each gave me a high-five before opening the giant doors.

My eyes went wide as I stared at everyone in the room.

Okay. Maybe not.

“You got this.” Jason whispered.

I took a deep breath and stepped into the room.

Perseus smiled brightly as he saw me and stood up. “Everyone rise!”

Every single person stood up and turned to face me.

I took one step and continued to walk down the aisle, up to the stage with Jason and Achilles right behind me.

I made it to the bottom of the stage without falling and Ares walked down the steps to meet me.

“Thank you.” He said quietly to Jason and Achilles. They both bowed and took their seats in the front row along with the other guards that walked with me. “Are you ready?”

“Not really.” I whispered.

“Great.” He smiled. “Let’s go.”

We walked up the steps and stood in front of Perseus. Once we got there, Ares kissed the top of my hand walked over to his throne and sat down.

“You may sit!” Perseus said to everyone. “Ladies and gentleman, we are here today to witness Miss Athena Polias officially become Queen and our Alpha Queen.”

I smiled as I heard everyone cheer and Ares winked at me with a proud smile.

‘Why does it sound like the opening to a wedding vow?’ I asked laughing.

‘I don’t know but I can’t wait for that day either.’ Artemis answered.

I rolled my eyes and focused back on Perseus.

“Miss Athena Polias.” Perseus started. “I will read you the oath and you will answer.” I nodded my head in understanding and he smiled. “Will you solemnly promise and swear to govern the wolves of this great land belonging to the Royal Blue Moon Pack, the surrounding areas of the human peoples and wolves, and of your possessions and other Territories to any of them belonging or pertaining, according to their respective laws and customs?

“I solemnly promise so to do.” I answered seriously.

"Will you to your power cause law and justice, in mercy, to be executed in all your judgments?”

“I will.”

"Will you to the utmost of your power maintain the Laws of the Moongoddess and the true profession of the Gospel? Will you, to the utmost of your power, maintain in the Royal Blue Moon Pack established by law? Will you maintain and preserve inviolably the settlement of the law established in the territory? And will you preserve unto the Elders they’re committed to their charge, all such rights and privileges, as by law do or shall appertain to them or any of them?

“All this I promise to do. The things which I have here before promised, I will perform, and keep. So help me Moongoddess.”

Perseus smiled as he closed his small book and nodded to me in approval. “Now it is time for the crowning!”

I looked to my right and saw three men walk towards us. The one on the left held an empty pillow, but the one on the right held a pillow with a giant crown and that crown was probably the most beautiful and breathtaking object I have ever seen. My eyes went wide as I saw the size of that. I’m almost positive I’m going to fall over from the weight of that thing.

The one walking in the middle of the two held a giant sword in his gloved hands.

Apollo was right. That sword is stunning. The jewels really shine on that thing.

“If you would please kneel.” Perseus said politely.

I watched as two ladies ran over to me and both took one of my hands. They helped me kneel down slowly and safely. I’m really glad too. I’m pretty sure I would have ruined this dress.

“Thank you.” I whispered to them. They both bowed and ran back to where they were standing before.

“As I remove your tiara and place the crown on top of your head.” Perseus announced as he carefully took the tiara off my head. “The title of Alpha Queen will be yours. As will the responsibilities and duties of being Alpha Queen.” Perseus said as he carefully grabbed the crown with his gloved hands and put it on top of my head. “Everyone please rise and welcome your new Alpha Queen!” He finished speaking as he took the sword and tapped it lightly on both of my shoulders.

“Hail the Alpha Queen!” Everyone cheered as I rose back up with the help of the two ladies. I stood there nice and tall with the crown set on top of my head.

I saw Ares rise from his throne and walk over to me. He held out his arm and I wrapped my hand around it with a smile. “Are you ready to eat?”

“You have no idea.” I groaned laughing.

“Come on, my Queen.” He winked as we walked down the stairs.

I smiled and nodded at everyone and they continued to clap and cheer for me. I honestly don’t think I’m ever going to get used to this.

We made it out of the room and Ares kept walking with me in tow.

We soon make it to the ballroom and my mouth watered at all of the food.

“Oh my gosh.” I said drooling. “This is heaven.”

“We have a wide variety of food.” Ares said as more people started to enter. “Chicken, turkey, beef, a bunch of different styles of potatoes. And I might have asked for a surprise dish for you.”

“Is it sushi?” I asked smiling.

Ares chuckled. “I know it’s not proper coronation food, but I know how much you like sushi. I couldn’t resist.”

‘I love him.’ Artemis swooned. ‘I love him so much.’

‘I do too.’ I admitted.

“Thank you.” I said as I pecked his lips.

“Time to eat.” Perseus whispered to me as he walked to the microphone. “Everyone please sit as we are about to eat. But of course, the King and Queen will go first.”

“Yes!” I shouted as I lifted the bottom of my dress up and ran over to mine and Ares’ designated table.

“Wait up!” Ares laughed as he ran over to me.

“Hurry up slow poke!” I smiled as I pulled my chair out to sit down.

“Okay, Apollo.” He teased.

“I heard that.” Apollo huffed.

Ares snickered as the waiters came over and placed plates in front of us.

“Thank you.” I smiled as he took the cover off my plate. “This looks delicious.”

“I second that.” Hecate nodded as she stared down at her plate.

“What kind of soup is this?” I asked as the waiter placed the bowl next to the plate.

“Beef barley stew, my Queen.” The waiter answered.

I picked up my spoon but paused. “Wait. Do I have to wait for everyone to get their food?”

Janus laughed as he too picked up his spoon. “Do you know how long you would have to wait if that was the case?”

“I was just trying to be nice.” I mumbled, sticking my tongue out at him.

Janus stuck his tongue out and started to eat the stew.

The food was delicious and I’m so full right now I think I might explode.

“May I have this dance?” Ares asked as he stuck his hand out and bowed.

I giggled and nodded my head. “You may.”

Ares wrapped his fingers around mine and pulled me out on the floor. He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me close, causing me to circle my arms around his neck.

“You look beautiful, Athena.” Ares smiled as he rested his forehead against mine.

“Thank you.” I blushed.

“I love you.” Ares said softly. “More than you could ever imagine.”

‘I’m going to faint.’ Artemis said happily.

“I love you too, Ares.” I whispered back.

Ares gave me a big, bright smile and pecked my forehead. “You have no idea how happy I am to hear that.”

I smiled and closed my eyes as we swayed to the music.

And at this exact moment, everything is perfect.