Gabriel put a hand over his wife’s arm, gently silencing her. “Let’s hear what Alexander thinks.”
Every face at the table turned to Alex, and silence fell.
Holy fuck. His father had essentially just handed overofficialcontrol of family discussions to him.
He glanced at his father, who gave him a slight nod and a smile.
Alex cleared his throat and shifted slightly in his seat. “I think, on this one very rare occasion, that Ethan is right. Anda should sit with him.”
The silence held for another moment before Ethan broke it. “What did you mean ‘rare’ occasion? I’m right all the time.”
The rest of the table broke out in conversation and rebuttals, and the chaos that was their typical family dinner returned.
Rebecca grasped his hand under the table and squeezed it, understanding what a massive moment that had been. Alex couldn’t say he was looking forward to mediating their sibling disputes, but he was glad this moment was over.
twenty-one
ALEXANDER
Alex tugged at his sash, adjusting it one last time before everything started. After much discussion, the abdication and coronation ceremonies had been pared back significantly and would occur back-to-back on the same day. It would be a long day, and he would be a king at the end of it.
He looked at his wife, who was adjusting parts of her outfit too. She looked beautiful, but also nervous. Maybe one last kiss before everything changed for them. “It’s your final chance to kiss a prince.”
She chuckled as she finished adjusting her dress, then turned to him. “It’s my final chance to kissmyprince. Prince Alexander, oh how I love you and, when you’re finally king, I’ll tell you how much I love you then too.”
He’d been able to hold back emotions thus far, but hearing his wife say those words almost undid him. Another change was added to the list now—he would no longer the be prince she fell in love with, and she wouldn’t be the princess either. It was another stage of their relationship too, and it would be too easy to forget that. Hecouldn’t—no, hewouldn’t—let their relationship suffer with the change in titles and responsibilities. They were changing together, not apart, and they’d both work to ensure that continued.
“I love you, my one and only princess.” He kissed her hard and long until they heard a knock on the door.
“Your Highnesses, it’s time.”
When they pulled apart, she smiled and rubbed her thumb over his lips. “You can’t become king with my lipstick on your face.”
He could, but he understood what she meant. The pictures needed to be impeccable. This wasn’t merely another ceremony. This was a moment in Valleria’s history, and everything needed to be perfect. After he wiped off her lipstick, and she got a last-minute reapplication of hers, they began.
The abdication and coronation ceremonies were set to take place in the renovated Grand Ballroom. An elevated dais with a formal-looking table and luxurious chair had been set up on one side, where Alex stood waiting.
His father arrived and everyone else stood as well. Several world leaders were there—including the U.S. President and his husband—and so far there had been no security issues.
His father stepped onto the dais, and Alex could tell he was holding back emotion.
Alex reached out and grasped his father’s hand, then kneeled and lowered his head to it in an old-fashioned gesture. “I live to serve you, my King, and my country. Long Live King Gabriel and Long Live Valleria.”
His father squeezed his hand and Alex stood. He was wearing his military uniform, a special one designed for today, and his father was in a similar one as well. A dark purple sash was across each of their chests, with a series of broaches and medals pinned to it.
His father cleared his throat. “It has been my very great honour to serve Valleria and its people for the last nearly forty years, but it is now time to step down. I, Gabriel Alexander Louis Santoro di Valleria, hereby abdicate my role as king, and pass the managementof Valleria to Alexander Robert Louis Santoro di Valleria. Long may he reign, and Long Live Valleria!”
“Long Live Valleria!” many in the crowd, including Council members, repeated back, though some said it with less enthusiasm than others.
His father sat and signed the official abdication documents, then Alex signed the ascension documents confirming his role as king. They stood again as his father pinned one of his broaches—a special one featuring Valleria’s coat of arms, and which the monarch typically wore—onto Alex’s sash. Technically, Alex had become king when he signed the document, but this was one tradition his father had wanted to keep.
It hit Alex hard in that moment that his father never had this ceremony. He had become king after death, and his father hadn’t pinned the broach on him. Alex wondered if his father felt this moment was as surreal as he did.
After the broach was secured, they gave each other a kiss on each cheek. Then his father knelt on one knee, took Alex’s hand, and said, his voice breaking slightly, “I live to serve you, my King, and my country. Long Live King Alexander and Long Live Valleria.”
“Long Live Valleria!” the crowd once again shouted.
His father stayed down a moment too long, and Alex worried he was about to have another heart episode, but he eventually stood.
