Running With Lions

"Time to get up, your highness."

Lavin's lady maid had pushed open the curtains on the fifteen-foot windows that had a view of the courtyard.

"It's not yet six o'clock, Violet," Lavin grumbled, wrapping the blankets tighter around her as she turned her head away from the sunlight.

Violet scoffed most unpleasantly. "I've been up since four. I believe it is I who should be complaining."

"You should be ashamed at how you speak to royalty," Lavin responded lamely, nearly asleep again.

Violet laughed haughtily. "How will I explain your being lazy to His Majesty on his coronation day?"

Lavin exhaled loudly as she threw the covers off her. "Fine. Fine! I'm up. Are you happy?"

"I'll be happy once you're bathed, dressed and downstairs."

Lavin glared at the older woman and then smirked. "One day, I'll wake you up before you wake me up."

Violet cracked a smile, shooing Lavin into the adjoining bathroom. "Be quick. Your hair will take hours to do."

"How you exaggerate!" Lavin called behind the closed door.
___

Lavin sat on a cushioned stool while Violet brushed her damp hair.

"You know, I can do that myself."

"I know," was all Violet said as she continued on.

Lavin sat idly in her seat trying not to fidget, feeling like a child again. Amalienborg Palace was her home for most of her life and being back made her feel so young and so unlike herself.

Life in London was so different than life in Copenhagen, in this palace -- or any palace for that matter.

In London she was free to make her own choices, dress how she wanted -- more or less with just a handful of bodyguards by her side.

Now, back at home, she felt suffocated.

It took an hour for the resident hair stylist to turn Lavin's great head of hair into a masterpiece. Her hair had been twisted and wrapped into a low chignon.

By eight thirty Lavin had eaten a light breakfast in her room brought up by a handsome footman and by eight forty-five she was in her dress. Actually, gown would be a more proper word for it.

"Aren't you excited?" Anna, a young and new lady maid said as she fussed with the hem of Lavin's gown. "This is the first coronation you've ever been to."

Violet had gone now; she excused herself sometime before breakfast to help Lavin's mother's lady maid get Temperance into her coronation gown. Temperance was to be Denmark's new Queen Consort.

"Yes, I am excited," Lavin replied, running her hands over the soft satin fabric of the bodice admiring her figure in the tall mirror.

"If I may, you don't sound all that excited."

Anna stood now and Lavin smiled sadly.

"In truth, Anna, I'm not. With my father becoming King that means I've been promoted to Crown Princess. This means I'll have to give up my life in London and return here indefinitely."

"Are you worried about your relationship with Prince Harry?" Anna asked boldly.

Lavin eyes widened and Anna immediately began apologizing.

"No," Lavin answer, trying to calm Anna down. "No, Anna. It's fine. I was just caught off guard."

"You don't have to answer it, your highness."

Lavin didn't answer Anna's question, instead she walked towards her vanity eying the pieces of jewelry that had been laid out the night before.

"What time is the car arriving?" Lavin asked, picking up the first pearl-drop earring and glancing at Anna through the mirror.

Anna stammered, wringing her hands together. "I'll go find out right away, your highness."

With Anna gone, Lavin placed the heavy diamond and pearl earrings in her ears and then put on the great pearl necklace.

She sat in the stool now, staring at the tiara which was sitting in its blood red velvet carrier. It was the Pearl Poire Tiara that her grandmother particularly favored in her youth.

Lavin took the tiara carefully in her hands and placed it on her head. It sat perfectly on her blond hair but made her head feel ten times heavier than normal.

She looked in the mirror and sighed. Lavin couldn't deny that she looked like a perfect image of a princess.

She turned away from the mirror and slipped into a pair of neutral pumps that matched her dress and wouldn't even been seen.

Anna was back. "The car is picking up you and your brothers at nine o'clock sharp."

Lavin looked to the wall clock. "I guess I better get going then."

Lavin picked the small clutch off the vanity, walked the length of the bedroom, through the door and right before she passed Anna Lavin stopped.

"And to answer your question: yes, I am worried. Distance is what did us in the first time around."
__

The coronation of King Frederik and Queen Temperance took place in Rosklide Cathedral.

It was a grand affair but by no means as lavish and extravagant as coronations of their ancestors.

The entirety of the Danish Royal Family was there along with some of the British, Swedish, and Moroccan Royal Family members.

Lavin stood beside the king's coronation throne where her parents sat awaiting their new titles and the crown. Ben stood beside the queen, Alex standing next to him.

The Lords had presented the bishop with the Regalia. First the sword, the orb, and finally the two crowns.

The bishop laid the first crown, the queen's crown, atop Temperance's head. They performed the oath and then moved onto Frederik.

"Sir, is your Majesty willing to take the Oath?" asked the bishop.

"I am willing," Frederik answered.

"Will you solemnly promise and swear to govern the Peoples of Denmark according to their respective laws and customs?"

"I solemnly promise to do so," Frederik replied.

"Will you to your power cause Law and Justice, in Mercy, to be executed in all your judgments?"

"I will."

"Will you to the utmost of your power maintain the Laws of God and the true profession of the Gospel?"

"I will."

The bishop then presented Frederik with the Crown of Christian IV. It saw proudly on his head, sparking in the sunlight that filtered through the large stain glass windows.

King Frederik stood with the Sword of State in his hand. "The things which I have here promised, I will perform, and keep. So help me God."
___

After standing for almost an hour on the balcony that overlooked the circular courtyard of Amalienborg Palace listening to shouts of "Long live the King" and "God save the Queen" a party took place in the biggest ballroom within.

Lavin snuck away as soon as she could. She had been wearing the heavy pearl tiara all day and her head was throbbing.

As soon as she was back in her quiet room she took it off and placed it back on his velvet perch. The earrings were next, then the necklace and finally the shoes.

She was about to take off her gown when a knock came from the door.

"Oh, who could that be?" she muttered to herself before she answered.

Upon opening it she saw that it was Harry.

"Hello," he said, bowing very low. "How is the new Crown Princess of Denmark. His tone playful.

"Get in here!" Lavin pulled Harry inside her room, shutting the door quietly behind him.

Harry kissed her quickly on the lips. "Still hiding, are we?"

"I suppose," Lavin said. "Although, one of my maid's seems to think otherwise." She shook her hair out, feeling immediate relief. "So, I'm pretty sure others have their own ideas as well."

Lavin saw Harry's reflection smirk. She shook her head with a smile of her own.

"Come here," Harry beckoned.

"Let me slip out of this dress," she told him.

"Let me."