Lucky Charm (Reverse Fairytales Book 2)(41)
I didn’t wait for his answer.
“Hello, fellow people of Silverwood,” I began. My voice boomed out across the grounds. Almost immediately a thousand eyes turned towards me. “The gates will be open shortly for the interview. I’m grateful to you all for coming out to see me today and to support both Cynder and Luca. I appreciate that tension is high, but the aim of this is so that we can all live together in peace. I’m going to instruct the guards to open the gates now, and I would appreciate it if you could all make your way to the stage area calmly.” I pointed to the barriered section below me, just behind the area for the media. “There is enough space for everyone and those at the back can see us all on the big screens.” I turned to the huge screen behind me that turned on as if by magic as I spoke.
“Please leave your differences behind as you come through the gates and let’s have a wonderful afternoon together.”
I nodded my head to the guards at the gates. They pulled back the lock, and the gates opened. I held my breath to see if my words had gotten through to them. At first, there seemed to be a massive rush, but as the area within the barriers filled up, I noticed that people were being kind to each other. Pushing was at a minimum, and there was plenty of purple mixed in with the other colors being worn. I’d done it. There was no fighting, no riot, just a large group of people out to see their royal family. I gave a huge smile as hope flooded my chest. It was a small step to the unification of the kingdom, but it was a start.
I felt a little better as I made my way back up the driveway. The crowds behind me were still noisy, but it was cheering as opposed to the aggravated tones they were using earlier. Not only were the Magi and non-Magi standing together peacefully, they were doing it because of me. I couldn’t help but give myself a little grin as I entered the palace. Unfortunately, I came face to face with two extremely angry men.
“What do you think you were doing?” Luca hissed. “You could have been killed. Turner told me that you disobeyed him.”
“Disobeyed him? I’m the queen, and I’m the one who gives orders to Turner, not the other way around.”
“When it’s a question of your safety, Turner is in charge. Do you hear me?”
I’d never seen Luca so angry before. I wanted to argue with him, but we were due to head down to the stage at any minute.
“I’ll talk to you later about it!” I replied, using the same tone he had with me. Luca glared at me and stormed past me to the front door. I’d wanted to walk down the driveway with my hand in his, but so much for that idea.
“Are you ready to go?” I asked Cynder, who was standing just behind Luca. I was concerned that he would be nervous. Unlike Luca and I, he was not accustomed to standing up and speaking in front of such a huge group of people. I hated that I still felt nervous for him after what Leo had told me, but it was a habit I couldn’t seem to shake.
“The guard wouldn’t let me out until the sirens were shut off,” he said. His voice wasn’t as angry as Luca’s had been, but I could sense the frustration in it.
“I was fine,” I protested.
“I wasn’t able to protect you. Do you know how that makes me feel?”
He walked past me and followed Luca down the driveway. Now I had both men angry with me, not to mention Turner who was standing silently by the wall but glaring at me sullenly all the while.
Tears pricked the corners of my eyes, but I refused to let anyone see. I dabbed at them carefully so as not to mess up the make-up and headed down the driveway to the stage by myself.
The Interview
Both men were standing at the side of the stage when I got down there. Neither was speaking to me, and yet, they kept a healthy distance from each other too. Luca’s jealousy infuriated me. I knew it was going to happen. How could it not, but he was the one that started all this. He’d invited Cynder to stay here. I was also angry with Cynder, but couldn’t show it in front of everyone. With the current high level of emotions between us, it was certainly going to make an interesting interview.
Marybelle was already on stage warming up the crowd. The screen showed highlights of the competition last year and the interview when I said that I was going to marry Luca, no matter what.
I watched Cynder’s reaction to it, but he remained stoic. Not a trace of nerves showed on his face as he watched Marybelle and my “story so far” as it was being called. A quick glance out into the crowd told me that, so far, everyone was behaving. I’d already ordered extra security for the event, but so far, it wasn’t needed. That, at least, gave me peace of mind. This show was probably the most important of all those that had come before. Everything else was to get the people involved in the royal life and to increase our popularity, but this was to mend old wounds and bring a new peace within the kingdom.
Marybelle had the crowd worked up well. There were equal amounts of cheers and boos at the mention of both men, but, at least, they were in good spirits. I was reminded of a time when I was a child that I was taken to a pantomime, and we were encouraged to cheer for the good guy and boo for the bad. Only in this case, there was no good or bad guy, just two men thrust into an awkward situation which they were both enduring for the sake of their land and people.
Marybelle continued until she’d whipped up the crowd into a complete frenzy and then she announced my name. I pulled myself up straight and walked right past Luca and Cynder onto the stage.