Page 8 of Royal Resistance

With trembling fingers, I push my chair away from the table. My father watches me with concern etched across his face. I’ve never felt so helpless, like I’ve lost something important. Like I’ve lost myself.

And there is absolutely nothing I can do about it.

“It’s done, then,” I say quietly, and leave the room without another word.

3

Magnus

Ibecome King of Laandia eight months later.

My father suffered a heart attack and died peacefully in his sleep. I can be glad that he didn’t suffer, but the last six months have been a mess of meetings with Laandian officials, world rulers, and lessons in everything a king would need to know.

I still don’t feel prepared.

Dad did everything he could to teach me what he needed, along with his chief advisor, Johanne Crow. His death was sudden, but not unexpected. Dad came to Germany to find out my decision because of recent heart scares. He made the changes that he needed to, but he wanted things settled just in case.

I tried to make the most of the time I had with him.

My brother still hasn’t forgiven me for picking the throne over my band.

He’s here tonight at the Coronation Ball.

Earlier today, I was crowned His Majesty King Magnus Christian William Mackenzie Erickson, by the Grace of God and the Will of the People, Lord of the Sea and Sky, Warden of the Northern Coast, Heir to Leif the Founder, Protector of the Realm, and King of Laandia.

The titles had been a surprise.

“That’s a lot of words,” I murmured to the Archbishop of Laandia, after he handed me the crown. King Leif had crowned himself, and the tradition continued with my father, and now me.

“You already had one title removed, sir.”

“I was hoping for more,” I admitted, just before I set the crown on my head.

The titles had been a surprise, but not as much as the crown.

The circlet is brushed gold, edged with delicate oak leaves to honour the forests that cover the country, with alternating sapphires and diamonds—the colours of the sea and the winter sky.

I expected the crown to sparkle—and not feel so heavy as I placed it on my head.

The Coronation Ball tonight is supposed to be a celebration, but it’s difficult to get into the party atmosphere. While I have been grieving my father for the last few months, knowing that the end was near, it was still a shock that he is no longer here.

My coronation had been a somber ceremony.

I don’t know how it can be anything else, since I wear the crown because my father is dead. The cheers of Long Live King Magnus are heard because King Euan is no longer living.

I lost my father, but Laandia has gained a new king.

It’s difficult to connect the two.

While the ceremony itself was full of subdued pomp and circumstance—or as much as the people of Laandia can stand—the Coronation Ball will be a party.

The ceremony signified the passing of my father, and the ball will celebrate the future.

My future.

In the ballroom of the castle, chandeliers hung from thick oak beams cast a warm glow down on high round tables covered in white cloths. Floor-to-ceiling windows overlook the garden and, past that, the ocean at the bottom of the cliff. Flowers are everywhere.

Crystal flutes line the bar, ready for the champagne to be poured.