Get to Work

The coronation was set in motion as the camera crew filmed Katherine take her steps to officially become the Queen while only a select few had the honor and privilege to view the historic event in person.

In Titanus' short lifespan, Katherine was the first to take over her lands due to the King and Queen being murdered and kidnapped. Her parents, Charles' parents, and the current King and Queen of Selene had all taken over their crowns when the previous leaders of their prospective lands died of sickness or old age.

That was the main reason why she was also now the youngest ruler at the age of twenty-three.

Knowing that while she made her way across the velvet carpet made the objects in her hands feel much heavier than they were. They symbolized something treacherous to her now, something she was not sure she was proud to hold under these circumstances.

Her coronation would always have a stain on it because of that. Becoming Queen did not feel like something to celebrate.

Obviously the few people who were present were watching her, but there was a pit in her stomach that made her feel uneasy about who was present.

She shot her eyes to the crowd right before she passed them, in order to find the culprit of her uneasiness, and her eyes immediately found Charles. He was looking at her with what looked like a sense of pride, and he gave her an encouraging smile and nod.

Katherine kept an expressionless face and moved her eyes until she found Jasper. His visage matched hers, and she felt a coldness from it. She was sure it must have been because he was on guard to make sure she was safe.

Once she passed the small group, the only person left in her sightline was the priest who would initiate the process of her officially becoming Queen.

Keeping her head high even while she went up the couple of steps to the stage, she made it to the priest and bowed before him, letting her head fall forward.

"Do you, Katherine Mors, solemnly swear to uphold your duties as the Queen of Helios under the Kingdom of Titanus, so help you God?" he asked her.

"I, Katherine Mors, do solemnly swear that I will serve and bear my allegiance to Titanus as the rightful Queen of Helios. I vow to govern my people and maintain the laws in order to preserve the Kingdom that our fathers and forefathers have created, so help me God."

When she heard the priest move, she remained on her knees but brought her head up to see that he had the oath ready for her to sign in a contract. He took the orb and scepter from her and gave her a pen to sign her name.

She wrote her name as big as she could on the line provided, and when she was done, the priest took the pen and paper and placed them to the side.

He picked up the crown and started to make his way back to her.

The crowns of Helios, Eos, and Selene were unique because they were forged from the metal of weapons that were used to defend the families in the founding of Titanus. The crown of Helios had six points that came to sharp edges, and studs that held each point to the base that wrapped around the head. Below the base, metal was shaped to appear like bones to represent the old Americas that were destroyed to form Titanus.

Katherine tried not to wince at the heaviness and coolness of the metal when it was placed on her head.

She turned and faced outward as the priest said, "All hail Queen Katherine Mors of Helios, long may she reign!"

The small crowd, as well as the staff who were present, all repeated after the priest.

Her heart flipped in her chest when she saw all of the eyes staring back at her, but she tried to calm her nerves by breathing in long breaths through her nose.

She stepped down the two stairs and walked back down the purple carpet.

Once she made it to the end and the cameras were cut, she sighed in relief and immediately removed the heavy crown from her head and held it under her arm.

She had thought the difficult part was over, but she had not anticipated everyone coming up to her to congratulate her after the ceremony.

After the sixth person showered her with compliments and well-wishes, Katherine could feel the bile coming up in her throat as if she needed to vomit. Did they not remember why she had become Queen today? She could not help but feel sick knowing her mother, the rightful Queen, was still out there being held captive.

What if the rebels were watching the coronation and showed her mom? Would she think that Katherine had forgotten about her and was happy no one was in her way so that she could take the crown for herself?

These thoughts bounced around in Katherine's head and she did her best to smile and nod at everyone who came up to her even though she wanted to cry and run to the nearest bathroom to relieve her aching stomach.

"Excuse me," she said after she dealt with a few more people before she ran down the hall to the bathroom that she knew was closest.

She gagged for a bit, but since she had not eaten anything all day, nothing was able to come up. She felt sweat cover her body, and knew that her face must have been beet red from exertion.

Feeling spent, she leaned against the cold tile on the wall and slowly slid down it until she was practically laying on the floor.

A knock came at the door, and Katherine panicked when she realized she had not locked it as she was in a rush to find a toilet.

Before she could ask for a minute, the door opened and Charles stepped in and took in the newly crowned Queen on the floor.

He did not say a word, and Katherine was too tired to be embarrassed or care at all what state she was in; he walked over to her and sat down next to her, but in a spot where he could directly look at her.

"You did it," he said in a voice filled with admiration. His chocolate eyes swirled with many emotions, and it almost made Katherine feel guilty.

He thought too highly of her, and she knew that she would never live up to the way he seemed to view her.

"Next time it'll be you," she said in a voice that sounded stronger than she felt.

"But at least I'll have you there to help me through it when that day comes," he said with a small laugh as he ran his hand through his brown curls.

Katherine's face twisted in confusion because at first, she did not know what he meant.

But then it dawned on her and she immediately felt the need to retch again, so she leaned in towards the toilet as she gagged.

Their marriage.

More than likely, by the time Marcus died and Charles would become the King of Eos, he and Katherine would already be married, so she would be present at his coronation because it would be a coronation for her as well.

It seemed like Charles was still planning on marrying her after all, despite his talk of friendship.