Anything Could Happen

Chapter Thirty-Eight: The New King of Aulea

There seemed to be silence after Luis had spoken and Lionel almost wondered if this was some sort of sick joke; this was not what he had been expecting when he had been summoned to his parents' apartment.

The room was completely silent while everyone tried to work out what was going on inside of his head right now; he hadn't said a word in several minutes now since he had been told that he was King.

Celia shared a look with her husband, she could only imagine how much of a shock this had been for him especially since he had never wanted that responsibility.

Lionel was expecting to become a father in just a few weeks and this wasn't what he would need happening; this would thrust the small family into the lime-light.

"Leo?" Celia asked gently trying to snap him out of this, they needed to know what he was thinking; she could understand how much this could be upsetting right now.

She wanted to know what she could do to help her youngest son when he seemed distressed; she couldn't imagine how his brothers would take the news when the statement was finally released.

Lionel blinked staring at his mother, he had never wanted to sit on the throne and right now his thoughts were meant to be focused on the twins that Briana was carrying.

There had never been a member of his family that had turned down the Crown and Lionel was frightened about what this could mean now that he was in this situation.

"Lionel. There are things that need to be done," Luis stated doubting that the people would be willing to wait much longer, he had an address that needed making and plans for the coronation needed to be done as soon as possible.

Jorge was silent as he watched Lionel, he remembered what it had been like when he had become King and now it was his youngest son's turn to make such a move and he hoped that he was ready for what came next.

Opening and closing his mouth, Lionel tried to wrap his head around this and he knew that there was no way that they could break any tradition that his family had followed for generations.

"Okay..." Lionel whispered nodding his head, he wasn't sure what was going to happen but he knew that he couldn't just sit around; he dreaded to think about what his brothers were going to say.

Not only that but he was going to have to tell Briana and that worried him, she was doing well after the poisoning and the last thing that Lionel wanted to do was add any pressure onto her shoulders.

Luis felt relieved before getting his feet, they needed to get ready if they wanted to be prepared for Lionel's speech as he was officially presented to the people.

The new King and Queen would have to look perfect and soon they would hopefully have a little prince that would take over from Lionel when the time was right.

Lionel shook his head as he got to his feet, he didn't want anyone else breaking the news to Briana; he could only imagine just how well that would go down if he wasn't there.

He didn't look to his parents wanting to do this now and he wanted to get away from everyone for a few moments to further prepare himself for what was going to happen.

Leaving behind the apartments that belonged to his parents, Lionel moved to head back to his own apartments; he came to a stop as all the servants stopped what they were doing and bowed to him.

This was his life now and Lionel had hoped to retire to the countryside with his family once the twins were born; that was gone now and he would have to deal with everything that came with being the new King of Aulea.

***

Briana couldn't help but feel rather nervous as she took her seat at the Parliament, she could feel people watching her and she was relieved that she had Gerard watching her; he was there to make sure no one got too close.

She hadn't seen Lionel since they had arrived and Briana hoped that he was alright, he had barely spoken since he had told her that he had been elected the new King.

This wasn't what they had planned for and Briana knew that the people wouldn't have chosen him for nothing; they had to like him more than his brothers.

From where she had been seated, Briana could see the other members of Lionel's family; she was glad that she wasn't sat close to his siblings, his brothers looked far from happy right now.

Briana focused back on the front of the room, there were so many people there to see this speech and she wished that she could be stood by Lionel's side as he gave it.

The fact that she was heavy with twins didn't help and Lionel had insisted that his wife was protected if she had to be at such an event; he didn't want anyone getting too close to her.

"May I have your attention please..." Luis said looking around the room, this would be broadcast live around the planet and he was hopeful that Lionel would be prepared for what came next.

The room fell silent and the fact that had happened so quickly made Briana even more nervous; her brown eyes focused on the spot where her husband would soon appear.

"May I introduce His Majesty King Lionel the First of his name, King of Aulea, Lord of Cloriz Moons," Luis announced with a smile on his face, his eyes swept the room knowing that this had been a long time coming.

People would be pleased with the choice especially after how unpopular Matias and Rodrigo had proven to be; there was something that unsettled people about the two older brothers.

Titles had already been shared with Parliament about how everyone would be titled after this and Luis had been surprised with at least one title that had been granted to the others.

Lionel slowly stepped onto the podium and took a nervous breath, he forced a smile to his face; his eyes quickly seeking out Briana wanting to make sure that she was alright especially after everything that had happened.

She looked beautiful in her maroon maternity mesh embellished shoulder skater dress that she was wearing; it hugged her bump perfectly and Briana looked rather comfortable in it.

"I would like to first thank everyone that has voted for me," Lionel started trying to gather his nerves, he hadn't been prepared for this and he had no idea just what he was meant to say; he wished that he would have been better prepared for this moment.

Lionel could only imagine how annoyed his brothers were and he dreaded meeting with them for the first time when they had both wanted to be King more than anything.

"I honestly didn't know what to say but I endeavour to be the King that this planet deserves, I truly hope to do a service to the people of Aulea and of the Cloriz Moons," Lionel continued wanting to make the people proud of him, he didn't know what he would do if he managed to mess this up in anyway.

The Cloriz Moons were small domains that the family ruled that were located not far from Aulea; Lionel was sure that they would be all watching him to see just what sort of King he was going to be.

Not only that but Briana's pregnancy would be closely watched now since she was his Queen Consort and any child that she produced would have claims to the throne.

No one had any idea yet that she was really expecting twins and the first born would be the heir to such an important throne.