Chapter 213: Chapter 213

As the highest ranking noble in attendance, Captain Aileen Magoda had the honour of presiding over the coronation. Her executive officer Commander Una Magnel would be assisting, as would Lady Gwen Magniveen.

The Tullrohane's captain began by addressing both the princess and the crowd with a lengthy speech. Rebecca responded with her own memorized lines each time she was prompted by either Gwen or Magoda. The whole thing was all very stuffy and formal, exactly the sort of affair I knew our girlfriend hated. I didn't particularly like it either, but fortunately I didn't have to do much more than I was already doing. Then I made the mistake of glancing at Nyssa.

My sister was making faces at me, to try and let me know how bored she was. Or maybe she was just trying to distract me. Either way I was left blushing while I tried not to smile. I also had to fight to keep my ears and tail from giving away any inappropriate emotions. That only got harder when I remembered this whole event was being recorded from a dozen different angles, so the vids could be sent back to Vysalis-4 where they'd be seen by billions of people for years to come.

So I was probably just as relieved as Rebecca when we finally got near the end of it. Sarah and I stepped closer and took Rebecca's hands in ours, then we gently helped lower her to her knees. Normally she'd have been fine doing that on her own, but her right leg still wasn't completely healed yet. Then the two of us stepped back, while Magoda and Magnel moved closer.

"Princess Rebecca," the cruiser's captain asked, "Do you swear to serve the people of Vysalis-4 as their Queen, to honour our world, our people and our culture, for all time, and to the best of your abilities?" For more chapters visıt novel·fıre·net

Our girlfriend took a deep breath then recited the oath she'd been given.

"I, Rebecca Piper Magrethe, do solemnly swear to serve the people of Vysalis-4 as their queen for as long as I may live. I swear to honour our world, its people, and our culture, for all time and to the best of my abilities."

At that point Una Magnel produced the crown, which fortunately wasn't anything too gaudy. It was basically a circlet made of platinum, with a pattern of diamonds emeralds and sapphires embedded around its circumference.

The commander handed the crown over to her captain, then Aileen Magoda stepped forward and gently placed it on Rebecca's brow. She made sure to avoid the princess' scars, and the fine silver chain holding her eyepatch in place.

Finally she took a step back and announced, "Rebecca Piper Magrethe, daughter of Gabriel Piper Magrethe, grand-daughter of Isabella Bridget Magrethe, I pronounce you Rebecca the First, Queen of Vysalis-4. Please rise, and take your throne."

Almost everyone else in the large room spoke up at once, chanting "Long live the queen!"

Sarah and I stepped forward again to help our girlfriend to her feet. Then she took a step back, while Anya and Tracey scurried out of the way. As they did so the girls positioned the long end of Rebecca's dress ontop of the throne as if it were some extra padding for her delicate royal behind. Finally the new queen sat down, and looked over her subjects and everyone else in attendance.

That was our next cue, and everyone including Sarah and I bowed. Which I knew Rebecca hated, but she went along with it. For a moment anyways.

"Please rise," the queen began. "I have a little business to take care of, then we can get on with the celebrations. First up, Captain Nieves, Lieutenant Potier, Sergeant Bixby, and Corporal Yates, please step forward."

The crew of the Persephone all looked uncertain as they approached the throne.

Rebecca smiled at them and announced, "The four of you are hereby pardoned. Any outstanding charges are dropped, your criminal records are purged. You are each to be awarded a commendation for uncovering the Regent's treachery. If you wish to remain here in the frontier you will be honourably discharged from the Vysalis Defence Force. The MV Persephone will be left in your care, and you'll be granted a modest pension to take into your retirement."

Tanya and her crew exchanged some happy smiles. Then the Persephone's captain replied, "Thank you your majesty. We're honoured and grateful. And we accept your offer, we'd all like to stay here in the Gorath sector."

With that out of the way the queen moved on to her second order of business. "Captain Magoda, you and your entire crew have my deepest gratitude for all the assistance you've given to the people of Deveron-8."

"Third," Rebecca continued, "Every member of the VDF who participated in the defence of Ganvis or the action to bring General Sidex to justice will receive a commendation, and my personal thanks for their brave and selfless acts."

She paused there to glance left and right, at Sarah and myself. Then she reached out and took our hands in hers as she smiled, "Fourth, let it be known that these two lovely young women and I are betrothed. Amanda Voss and Sarah Holloway and I are in love. The three of us are together and have been for some time, but someday soon we will make that official."

After a deep breath she announced, "And finally, I'd like to remind everyone here and all the good people watching these proceedings back at home, my self-exile will continue for the foreseeable future. Lady Gwen Magniveen will remain my secretary and will manage things in my stead while I remain out here in the frontier. Having said that, I want you all to know that I will return to Vysalis-4 someday. That's a promise."

The queen glanced at Sarah and I once more, before standing up. Then she smiled to everyone else and stated, "Now let's get to the part we've all been waiting for. Let the party begin!"

Unfortunately the party turned out to be a lot less exciting than my girlfriends were hoping for. Or maybe there was another one somewhere else on the ship that was more interesting, but the affair we attended in the officers' wardroom was almost as stuffy as the ceremony itself.

President Arun was there with his retinue, and he made sure to thank Queen Rebecca and Captain Magoda in person for helping bring General Sidex and his people to justice. Arun was also grateful for the ongoing assistance the Tullrohane was providing in terms of port control duties.

After that Rebecca was expected to make small-talk with most of the Tullrohane's officers, especially the ones with noble family names on their uniforms.

Once again Sarah and I didn't need to do much more than stand around looking pretty, but we both did what we could to help our girlfriend stay sane. Mostly that meant getting her out of boring conversations when it seemed like she was starting to lose her patience with whatever self-entitled third-born noble son or daughter was trying to suck up to her at the moment.

In fact it seemed like the highlight of Rebecca's evening was when she finally got her hands on a bottle of Vysalis-4's best whiskey. And from the genuine smile on her face after the first shot, it was clear she approved. Especially after she drank a couple pretentious young nobles under the table by toasting a series of shots to the memories of Gabe and Queen Isabella.

Sarah and I were offered drinks as well, but we both abstained. As did Cammie, and Jenna too of course. Nyssa on the other hand was more than happy to accept all the alcoholic beverages she was offered, and it looked like Jaycee was doing their best to keep up with my sister.

Still, Rebecca definitely seemed relieved when Gwen discreetly let her know she'd spent enough time schmoozing and could safely escape the party. So the three of us quietly bid a few other attendees a good evening, then found our own way back to the royal stateroom. Although we weren't entirely on our own, the queen still had her two teenage attendants trailing along behind her looking after the end of her ridiculous gown.

The gown itself only lasted until we stepped through the doors into the royal chambers, then Rebecca began to peel it off as fast as she could. Much to the chagrin of her two young attendants. The girls did their best to help, although Tracey almost froze up for a moment when the weary queen slipped the crown off her head and placed it on the teenager's brow instead.

"Are we going to be spending the night here?" Sarah asked, as our girlfriend finished stripping down to her undies. "That bed in the royal chamber looks pretty damn comfortable. Or did you want to head back to the Demeter right away?"

Rebecca ran a hand over her face, then grimaced as she pulled off the fancy bejewelled eyepatch. The two attendants both looked away politely when that exposed all the nasty scars where their queen's right eye should have been. Meanwhile our girlfriend made another face when she noticed all the make-up she'd just smeared across her hand.

"I'm going to get washed up," Rebecca decided, "Then back into my normal clothes. If you two don't mind, I'd rather head back to the Demeter as soon as we've all changed into something more comfortable? Nice as this place is, I'd prefer to sleep in my own bed."

I smiled, "That's fine Rebecca. Sarah and I will get out of these dresses and back into our regular clothes as well, then I suppose I'd better round up Nyssa and Jaycee. Before my sister gets the two of them kicked off the ship. Or causes some sort of diplomatic incident."

"Um," one of the teenage girls nervously spoke up. She looked like she wanted to say something to the queen, but was almost afraid to ask.

Rebecca smiled at her, "What is it Anya? You can speak openly with me, I don't bite."

I gave Sarah a gentle elbow in the side before she could verbalize whatever naughty thought just crossed her mind. The girl looked anxious enough, she didn't need one of the royal consorts making things even more awkward with some crude jokes.

"Th-thank you your majesty," Anya mumbled. "I just um, wanted to say how much I appreciate you being so open about being attracted to other women."

After a brief hesitation she continued, "Knowing our queen is um, queer... That'll make things so much easier for similar folks. Same with um, Prince Gabriel, and everything Queen Isabella did after the prince disappeared. If not for your father's bravery and your grandmother's proclamations, people like me... I never would have had the chance to be myself."

Rebecca gave the girl a compassionate smile, and I found myself doing the same.

The queen reached out and gently raised Anya's chin so she was looking up at her then said, "I'm grateful for that too Anya. Always be true to yourself, and never be ashamed of who you are. If anyone has a problem with that, you can tell them the queen said so. And if anyone ever tries to put you down or hold you back because of who and what you are, let me know about it and I'll put them in their place."

"Thank you your majesty," the teen repeated quietly. She was obviously still nervous, but she also looked happy to know Queen Rebecca had her back.

After that her royal majesty disappeared into her royal bedroom, while Sarah followed me into the other one. We left our fancy dresses laid out on the beds, along with the jewelry. It took a few minutes to wash off all the make-up, then we both got back into our regular clothes again. When we were all ready to go the three of us headed for the corridor, but stopped when the other young attendant spoke up.

"Your majesty?" Tracey asked nervously. She gestured at the crown on her head as she commented, "I think you're um, forgetting something?"

Rebecca grimaced, "Oh right. Am I supposed to take that with me? Or should it stay here?"

"No idea," Sarah shook her head. "It kind of goes with your necklace though? Maybe they're meant to be a matched set."

As usual the boss was wearing that ring she got from Gabe on a cord around her neck.

"I think your majesty should keep it," Anya suggested quietly. "You um, you should wear it whenever you record any official messages to send back home."

The queen nodded as she reached out and took the circlet off Tracey's head, "That's a good point. Thank you Tracey and Anya. You two take care of yourselves. I'm sure I'll see you both again someday."

Not knowing what else to do with the crown Rebecca ended up sticking it back on her own head for now. Then the three of us exited the royal stateroom together. Sarah and the queen set off for the shuttle, while I went to round up the rest of our group before Nyssa got them all tossed in the brig.