Make Your Move Katherine

King not Prince?

“Miss Katherine?”

Kat opened her eyes staring at the people in front of her. She was waiting for the tablets she took to take effect for the massive drumming inside her head. Why does her head hurt so much? Did she drink so much last night that she forgot?

‘What brand was that…Crap?’

“Head Miss,” Julie reminded her as she got up from the vanity chair and walked to the door. Kat smiled tightly and raised her chin waking out. Oni, her helper and the 'Cold One' had done a fantastic job in accessorizing her. Her long black hair hung mid-way down her back, clasped halfway by a butterfly clip and her short bangs fell just over her eyebrows.

Marie was looking at her with her hands clasped as she admired the long simple black dress she wore- obviously adjusted by her of course. Long sleeves that fitted snuggly on her slender arms and ended just under her knees. White flats were on her feet with a black tip to match her dress. Oni, placed a gold chained strapped purse over her shoulder, “Lipstick and powder Miss Katherine.”

Tch. I need my cell phone not ‘lipstick and powder Miss Katherine.’

Marie had informed her that she would be adjusting all her clothing from now on. Everything that she would wear as from now would be inspected and adjusted by her.

Julie guided her again, into the throne room, and Kat heard a booming voice announcing her arrival, “The future Queen is here.” Oscar was standing near an altar-looking thing chatting with some distinguished-looking people and turned to look at her. He was dressed in a black blazer and jeans with a white undershirt and shoes to match the clothing she wore, Kat observed. He wore a brooch like hers too.

And the heathen was smiling.

She scoffed and gritted her teeth, walking into the brightly lit room. “Bow when you reach him, “Julie reminded her again like yesterday. Kat smiled and did a slight head tilt as Oscar took her hand and they faced the room full of people. The three men he was speaking with walked back to join the others.

“Ladies and gentlemen- I give you your future queen and my soon-to-be wife, Miss Katherine Turner.”

There was a loud round of applause and she smiled at the crowd, doing another head tilt forward as instructed. She could see from her peripheral view Oscar was smiling at her for the crowd. “These are my ministers, I’ll introduce you to each member personally, shortly.”

It was as if last night’s incident never happened- but she remembered slapping him. She remembered the woman too.

“I need to call my parents,” Kat whispered as she took in the décor of the bright room. Everything was mostly gold. There were huge statues on the right of the room by what she supposed was the front doors to the public and knights in full armor along the entrance. Weapons were on display just as expected from the millions of books she read. The carpet was red from the door straight up to maybe ten steps on average- she felt Oscar’s hand on her elbow nudging her to face the open room.

It was everything you would expect to see in a throne room and more for our imagination could only assume what we read about for we never actually see inside a king’s palace or in Kat’s case …a castle. What is the difference anyway- a moat? And Kat didn’t know if there was any here.

“Shut it. After the wedding,” he gritted his teeth and turned to the crowd and smiled.

“King Julian- what about the drought?” Kat's eyes swerved to the man who had asked the question and she frowned.

King?

“Let’s not talk too much politics right now, Mr. Rice. Why would you bring up our country’s problems when I am having a private moment that I selected to share with you?” Oscar returned and the older man shrunk back. He then placed his hand on the small of Kat’s back and guided her further into the room and to the back.

King. Not Prince?

“This is my throne, Katherine,” and Kat stared at an actual throne. A huge golden chair with a red cushion on it that was the size of a single-seater couch, “That is yours when we marry.” He pointed to the chair some six feet away from it, in the corner facing the throne. It was smaller in size but held the same framework. Feminine. Both had arms that were covered in the same red cushion with a jagged top at the backrest.

Kat gulped. She was expected to actually sit there? There was a murmur or overlapped voices and an announcement of some sort followed.

“When you are queen there will be a ceremony of placing the chair next to mine, directly after the wedding,” he informed her then guided her through a door to the back of another hugely decorated room. Giant chandeliers hung overhead, just like the other rooms only this one had to be the official dining room of some sort, for there at the center back stood a massive table with. And on both ends of the table, two other larger heavily laden tables, which stood parallel and both were more than thirty feet long Kat guessed.

The room was crowded with both men and women, dressed finely, and Kat noticed while all were by their chairs, none were taking their seats.

Odd.

She took in the exquisite room- hall and her mind awed. Simon used to describe his books like this but never could her mind ever have come up with this. A red velvet humongous curtain with gold and patterns with what she supposed was the country’s coat of arms at the center in gold marking, hung on the wall, behind the shortest table that Oscar led her to. The ceiling was so high that Kat felt four more floors could have occupied the space above their heads.

Beautiful gold pictured frames and gold-colored candleholders and flowers decorated the entire room with its’s beautiful looks as well as smell. In fact, everything seemed to be gold and polished into shining to Kat and too bright- the room.

“The master of the household department took a week to plan this,” Oscar informed her when he saw her admiring the massive room. “We call her, Miss Seed.”

She looked at him and smiled for she knew it was expected of her, feeling the stares of the people around. A week? He knew she would be here a week ago? Or did he plan on kidn*pping someone else?

“Are you in pain? I saw you frown earlier,” he whispered to her, looking down at her flat heels and Kat frowned. Was he pretending to be concerned now because people were here? Kat was too embarrassed to even say she was hungover, so she smiled tightly instead.

“I told the nurse to visit you every day-”

“I don’t need to be pumped up for a few stitches. I dismissed her yesterday for I welcome my regular medication. It shows me that my body Is healing,” she hissed and Oscar stopped when he reached the center of the table and a chair was pulled out for him and then for her. The other guests took their seats after Oscar and her sat down. Even his chair, she noticed was higher at the back than the rest.

“Lunch is served,” a stewardess announced and the room was filled with servers who began to serve the meals. Murmurs were heard from all around bur nobody picked up their utensils until Oscar started eating first.

Kat looked around the room then back the man who seemed to be in his comfort zone and heard the rushing in her brain- King! She was going to be married to a king?

‘Queen- yes …they are referring to me as Queen…what is happening to me? Why can’t I think properly?’

“Your Majesty, she’s stunning.”

“Adorable.”

“Oh, what a handsome couple you make.”

“How long have you known each other?” a woman asked Kat kindly, “I’m married to the minister of social welfare… Mrs. Silver.”

Kat smiled and bent her head slightly, still staring at the silver utensils in her hands that she hadn't used yet. before answering, “In school actually. But huh…I never thought he was King.”

“Oh…childhood sweethearts. How lovely,” the woman gushed. “King Julian always said he would marry for love and not who his father chose. Of course, we didn’t actually think he would do it.”

Little do they know whom he really loves.

Oscar smiled at them from his end of the table and raised his glass to toast. Kat would not take another sip of alcohol for her headache was now easing and she raised her glass of water. Oscar didn’t even notice.

“To the love of my life,” the King boomed.

In the following days, Kat spent her time learning ‘proper etiquette’ by a Miss Moon and was not permitted to leave her chambers unless it was mealtime- in which case Kat had opted to have most of her meals in her room. She did not see her fiancé since that night but was now getting dressed to go, as Oni put it- ‘shopping with the love of her life’.

As if. Kat hated Oscar- back then and even more now.

“Take these and those there too,” Oscar instructed Julie and Kat protested.

“I don’t need all this,” Kat protested looking at the beautiful dresses Oscar had picked out for her. All conservative …of her organs. Was he intentionally doing it for attention? They were being followed by a large group of cameras and he played the perfect King role very well.

While Kat loved to dress a little daring she didn’t think as future queen it would be appreciated by the …what did you call them?

‘Subjects? Followers- no that was i********:. Kingdom…ers?’

She sighed.

“Julie take these- my wife and I need to talk,” Oscar smiled warmly at the handmaid and Julie grabbed the dresses with the help of the attendant and walked out of the changing room.

Kat hated when he referred to her as ‘wife’ but she knew he was playing nice in front of Julie.

His smile immediately left his face and he grabbed her hand pulling her to him roughly, “Listen, I have an image to maintain and a country to f*cking run. I’ll be damned if I let some urchin ruin it for me.”

Urchin?

“Why not marry the love of your life? Why me?” Oni's childish words came out of her mouth.

“I don’t have a choice, do I? They chose you,” he growled and Kat remembered what the minister’s wife has said at lunch. He had vowed to marry the woman he loved. Who was the ‘they’ that had chosen her?

“You will wear them. In fact, choose one to our luncheon tomorrow.”

The newspaper headlines the day after the first luncheon- ‘Is she fit for Queen dressed like this?’

The second luncheon out in public- ‘Does the King really want his future Queen dressing this way?’

The day before the Royal Wedding- ‘Which head is the King thinking with?’

Of course, Kat never saw them for she wasn’t allowed out of the Castle but she did observe the hostile way in which the staff was looking at her, mumbling to themselves.