Long Live The King (Peaky Blinders)

Tension and Thrills

(Tommy's P.O.V.)
2 months ago me and Polly recieved a formal gilt-edged invitation for a baquet to celebrate the King's birthday, which is held a day after Trooping the Color. This grand dinner was not just about magnificent food and sparkling chandeliers; it was a glimpse into a fascinating world of diplomacy and tradition. Polly and I had gotten the privledge to see the grand dinners with our own eyes. Wearing the most expensive ball gown and suit either both of us have ever worn. A gift from the King, which of course had been accompanied with a hand written letter joking about how we wouldn't fit in otherwise. I glance around the people, wanting to know what for crowd this actually was. Ambassadors and high commissioners from the foreign missions in London, as well as past Prime Ministers, the Archbishops of Canterbury and York and other public figures. Me and aunt Poll stood out like a fox in a henhouse. But luckily slightly less due to being dressed in the expensive suit and dress. We all stood waiting before we would be called to the ballroom from Buckingham Palace. Polly and myself had carefully mixed ourselves with some of the other invitees, making polite conversation. But then my ears caught something rather interesting. It was a rather direspectfull conversation with a threesome that stood close the group me and Polly where talking with. My ears catching their entire conversation about His Majesty the King, which contained mockery and pure diresepct. In my eyes their conversation was classed as treason. "Well his royal highness is in an unnatural posistion, don't you think?" The woman had continued. She didn't even bother using the proper way of addressing Nicholas's title. His Majesty is used for a King, while his Royal Highness is used for a Prince. Even one of the other two commented on this. "Why are you talking about him as if he is the Prince?" The man questioned the woman who laughed in return, "he is so young, he could still pass for a foolish Prince". Two of them laughed like cackling hens, while the third one looked around rather awkwardly. It was clear as day, he did not enjoy being in this sort of conversation. The two disrespectfull people continued on. "people like him are not suited to rule. He's to soft. It brings chaos to the Kingdom if the monarch doesn't forces and bring fear into his subjects. His father knew how to make everyone bow before him" the woman continued making the the old man snicker. I feel my jaw clench at how this man mocked his King. "It would've been in the best interest for the country if Nicholas was the one who had been shot instead of Edward" she tutted dissapointed, "or atleast be selfless and abdicate" the woman said rolling her eyes, "before he runs our country into the ground". Before I could even approach them, a member of staff walked in the room before calling out mine and Polly's name. I pushed the urge to call the gossiping couple out and followed the member of staff. Together we walked down the hallway towards the ballroom. The U-formed table was set with dazzling silver-gilt from the Grand Service and adorned with magnificent flower arrangements. Lavish displays of tureens, dishes, ornamental cups and fine English and Continental porcelain flanked the table. In front of it, stood a tall and proud King. Holding his head high, his back perfectly straight. Nick wore the most well tailored black suit I had ever seen, accompanied with a maroon tie that was held in place by a gold tie-clip. War medals adorned his chest. We stepped forward towards him. While Polly did a curtsy, I bowed my head "your Majesty". "Mr Shelby" Nicholas replied and gave a slight nod before turning his attention towards Polly "good evening, your Majesty". "Mrs Gray" he greeted, smiling a dashing smile with pearly white teeth. In the corner of my eye, I watched Reynolds walk forward, indicating for us to follow him. The King's-man and the King himself shared a glance with one another, before disengaging. As we followed Reynolds to our place he gave a nod, silently telling us we had done a good job. Before stepping back to the wall behind us. While we stood behind our chairs, waiting for all the other invitees to meet the King. Then came the gossiping couple. Walking painfully slow, clearly wanting all eyes on them, instead of Nick. Completely forgetting the basic rule of not upstaging the King. Especially at an event he hosts. Behind me Reynolds and another member of staff whispered about the couple. "No curtsy" Reynolds groaned, "didn't they get the protocol papers?". "Clearly they didn't read it" the other one replied, as annoyed as Reynolds. Months prior to this event, Polly and I had read the protocol many times that we could see the words in our sleep. I was so glad, that atleast we had done our meeting correctly. "Your Royal Highness" the woman greeted and extended her hand. "Good grief" Reynolds scoffed in a whisper. But Nicholas being as polite as always, ignored the wrong way of addressing him and greeted her back. But never reaching for her hand. Doing the exact same when the man greeted him "Your grace". "Your Majesty" the other replied to Reynolds in a hushed tone correcting the man. Even the invitees seemed to be uneasy when listening to them. Eventually everyone seated and we had a sort period of small talk with people beside us. Before Nick rose to his feet for his speech. He cleares his throat before beginning to speak. I had expected him to hold a piece of paper, something that would written up by a member of his staff or Reynolds for example. But he spoke straight, without a paper in sight. "Thank you all so much for coming to help me celebrate my 30th birthday, I really appreciate that you've all travelled to be here - especially Grandma Alexandra and uncle Eduard who have come all the way from Edinburgh. I would like to a say a massive thank you to all my members of staff for arranging this event. The hundreds of the royal household staff, including chefs, footmen, pages, housemaids and florists, who will undoubtedly have spent many hours carefully rehearsing their parts ahead of the final performance. The food all looks delicious and I know my chefs have gone to a lot of effort to excell themselves on this dinner" that was the introduction to his speech, thanking everyone for coming and also for the staff that worked their asses off to get the banquet ready. Then he went on to his next part the main content of the speech. "Every day is an ordinary day - we wake up, we get dressed, we walk, we return to our home, we sleep, and then we wake up again, and the process continues. Every year is an ordinary year. We start with lous fireworks, continue with explosibe projecrs, and end with an impressive countdown. Same life, same minutes and same routine to live along. But among those ordinary routines come a special commemoration of how our eyes opened to the big world and how our system joined in the cycle of fate. The date of my birth is surrounded by various family events, the most notable one is that I was born on the 10 year wedding anniversary of my grandparents. From that moment, 10th of march 1890, became an even more important day than it was before. My grandparents say that during my birthday the weather was exactly the same as at the time of their wedding. Another interesting fact is that my uncle met his beloved at the very same day. Even now my uncle still jokes about me being some sort of his luck talisman, that helped him to finally find the one he was looking for". The crowd laughs at his joke and I hear, what must be his uncle, call out "you're still my luck talisman". A smile appears on Nick's face, enjoying the shared memory with his uncle. "Back then I would not probably give that much attention to these details, but now when I think about it, I do not believe that it was just a coincidence. Coincidences happen, but not that many. There were just so many events, ni mayter how small or big, that happened in parallel with my birthday. I am extremely glad to be born on march 10th, because of these important events in my family" Nicholas looked around the room for a moment before finishing up his speech. I am glad to be a part of this new cycle in some way. Thank you for sharing this moment with me, and I am looking forward to hearing about your birthdays too". With a thanking nod, the King sat back down while many clapped for his speech. Then when he picked up his fork, everyone copied his move and began to eat.