Her mother had always said that the white crown that usually sat upon her head was heavy. Even though it didn’t look like it was she had always been told it was as far back as she could remember. Looking upon the white circlet with its icy fleur de leis she felt an icy stab of terror at the thought that someday this would be hers.
“What are you thinking about?” a voice asked her from behind making the dark-haired girl almost jump out of her skin.
His voice sent a chill down her spine. One that was very much welcomed by the young princess who stood in front of her mother’s crown. Edgar had been Princess Bellatrix’s bodyguard since she’d been old enough to need one. But it wasn’t until recently that the Princess had started to see Edgar in a different light. A more romantic light.
“Edgar!” she exclaimed, putting her hands on her hips with a pout. “I’ve told you time and time again not to startle me like that.”
“I know you have,” Edgar chuckled, smiling as he stood beside his princess, “but it’s so fun to see the look on your face.”
“Not funny, Ed.” She turned back to stare at the white crown which looked like it was floating above the cushion it was supposed to be resting on. If one looked close enough though they could see the strings holding it to the top of the case it was in. “What will happen if this it? This time my mother real does….”
The Queen had taken ill recently and this time it had seemed much more serious than the other times. The queen was almost pale that was how bad it had gotten. But she was a strong woman and seemed to be holding on for something. But no one had figured out what that something was. No matter how many times the queen was asked the answer was never given.
“You will become the wisest queen in all of the realm,” Edgar told her, smiling and taking her hand.
“What will happen to us?”
Edgar’s smile slipped from his face. It was obvious that he hadn’t thought about this matter much at all. A queen couldn’t very well marry a common bodyguard. A queen was expected to marry a handsome prince and turn him into a handsome king. But Bellatrix had never held any attraction to any of the suitors her parents had set in front of her. She had eyes for only one man and that was the man beside her. Holding her hand and trying to think of something comforting to say.
“I don’t know, Bella,” he said, kissing her hand gently. “I know this much though. No matter what happens I will always be here to protect you from all dangers. You are my Princess and that shall never change.”
“But what if it must change?” Bella asked agonized over the fact that she could potentially have to give Edgar up for the crown.
Bellatrix’s mind went to her two younger sisters. They’d both chosen such different paths for themselves. Andromeda had chosen to marry for love and although the family didn’t like her husband Ted much it was allowed. Narcissa had chosen to marry the man that had been chosen for her. Lucius Malfoy. A duke of a nearby kingdom. Lucius only wanted a way to get closer to the throne though and Bellatrix knew that.
“But surely there must be a way….” she mused to herself quietly, earning a concerned look from Edgar. “If only we knew what mother was holding out for?”
“Perhaps she is holding out for her eldest daughter to finally settle down and marry someone?” Edgar asked, watching the princess out of the corner of his eye. “Is it too late to ask you to accept my hand in marriage?”
“But Edgar you’re a….”
“I know what I am,” Edgar said, turning her to look him full in the face. “I know that nothing will ever change that fact. But I also know this. I love you Bellatrix Black, Princes of the Black kingdom and you love me too.”
“I do,” she whispered. “But the people will expect me to marry someone of the class as mine. There was an uproar when Andromeda married Ted. Do you think that we need more of an uproar now that the throne will be switching hands soon?”
“The uproar was more due to the fact that they married in secret,” Edgar said, knowing for a fact that was certainly the case. “Everyone loves a bit royal wedding. It’s a chance for the people to feel like their princesses are one of them. Just a girl getting married to a guy as everyone else does in the kingdom.”
Bellatrix nodded. She had heard a couple of castle maids talking about Andromeda and Ted’s marriage in hushed tones. No one seemed happy for the two no matter how happy they were for each other.
“We wouldn’t make that mistake,” Edgar said, not giving up on his notion that this was what the queen was waiting on. “We would give them a big wedding, a spectacle if you will, that would rival the biggest grandest feast ever held in any kingdom.”
She looked back at the crown seeming heavier by the minute even though it wasn’t sat upon her head yet. She was going to be queen and the kingdom would be expecting her to give them an heir or heiress. She couldn’t very well do that if she didn’t have a husband. And here was Edgar asking her to be his wife.
Her head was spinning as she looked up at Edgar’s face. All the love he possessed was shining across his face making his sparkling blue eyes glitter rare gems. It was then that the cold of the room made it necessary for them to step closer together. Which didn’t help the spinning of the room and the weight of the decision that was in front of her. The weight of the white circlet with its fleur de lies looking more and more like a circlet of thorns than anything.
“I do want to marry you, Ed,” she said, looking back towards the entrance to the throne room beyond which lay a room with the dying queen in it. “But do you think that mother and father would approve the match?”
“There’s only one way to confirm or deny that and that is to go and ask your parents for their blessing,” Edgar said, drawing her closer to him and holding her the way she always dreamed that he would hold her.
Bellatrix nodded, taking one last at the crown strung above its scarlet cushion. The white stood out harshly due to the cold bleakness of the room and the scarlet cushion. Holding her head up high and Edgar’s hand, she led the way to her mother’s sickroom.
Queen Druella had once upon a time been as beautiful as her daughters were. With shining raven hair just like Bellatrix’s own. But the sickness that was eating away at the poor woman made her look sickly and pale. Her once prized raven hair that would bounce about her shoulders in ringlets hung loose and limp against the pillows behind her.
With the help of a young servant woman the queen laboriously sat up in her bed. She smiled upon seeing her eldest daughter walking through the door. Then her eyes traveled over to Edgar and she cocked her to the side in confusion.
“Cygnus,” Queen Druella called out, causing the king to jerk to his feet with a cry of surprise.
“What can I get you, my love?” he asked, looking towards his wife not noticing his daughter and her bodyguard standing in the doorway.
“I believe that our daughter and Edmond, was it?” she looked towards Edgar for confirmation on his name.
“Close, my Queen,” Edgar said, smiling as he drew closer into the room pulling Bellatrix with him, “but it is Edgar.”
“Edgar,” Queen Druella said, nodding. “I’m sorry, Edgar, my mind seems to be slipping today.” She looked back up at Cygnus “I believe that our daughter and Edgar have something that they would like to ask us.”
Cygnus looked around once more finally noticing the two of them standing in the room’s center now. “Oh, I didn’t see you two,” he said, noticing the way that the two of them were holding hands. A smile formed on his face as he realized that for the first time in months since her mother got sick Bellatrix was smiling and looked happy. “Well, go ahead and ask.”
“Sir, Madame, I would like to ask your permission to marry Bellatrix?” Edgar said, taking a step closer to the royal couple. “We love each other very much and I would do my utmost to make Bellatrix happy for the rest of her life.”
King Cygnus looked like he was going to answer with the same answer that Bellatrix had expected him to. A stringent no. But her mother quelled that answer by looking up at Edgar with a smile.
“Of course you may,” she said, looking up at Cygnus’s face. “They seem happy Cyg and that is what we want for our children, isn’t it?”
After a moment of thought, King Cygnus nodded his head. “Yes, you may marry our daughter,” he said, not looking as convinced as his wife. “But it won’t be in secret.”
“Of course not,” Edgar said, smiling as he hugged Bellatrix happily. “We don’t want to cause an uproar.”
“Agreed,” Bellatrix said, smiling happily with the knowledge that she would be subjected to no further suitors by her parents.
It was a few months after Bellatrix’s wedding to Edgar Bones that the crown was passed on to a new king and queen. Not because the old ones had died. No, the queen ended up making a recovery and was nursed back to health by her husband and maidservants. The old queen and king had abdicated the throne to their daughter and new son-in-law. As the ivory circlet of fleur de lies was placed upon her head she could help to think, Heavy is the head that holds the crown. But I don’t have to bear that burden alone now.
And they all lived happily ever after. The End.