Catrain was getting slightly irritated, it was around an hour before the ceremony and still no sign of the King in waiting, so without much hesitation, and a whole lot of an educated guess she opened the door to
Manius's bedroom and found her older brother still asleep, well he looked like he was still asleep but Catrain knew better than that, she walked to the en suite bathroom, returning moments later with a glass of water that she proceeded to throw on Manius.
"What the heck are you doing?" Manius asked
"Good you're awake." Catrain said "I was worried for a second there that you were going to sleep through your big day."
"My coronation, talk about a ba...ba...bad idea." Manius said, his stammer evident he hand a hand on his head "It should be you Cat."
"It doesn't work that way." Catrain said "Your the eldest this is your birthright and as someone once said great men don't choose greatness they have greatness thrust upon them." she sighed and sat down next to Manius "I believe in you, I always have, you know that. You, me, Adela, Robin and El we've always been there for each other and we're not alone these days, there's another four of us so you've got more than enough support and you know there are a lot of good people out there, some possibly over in the Cathedral right now. Now come on Your Majesty you need to have a shower, a shave and get dressed and all in a little around half an hour. So move!"
"I'm moving I'm moving." Manius said, he headed for the bathroom.
At the Cathedral Isabel had conversed with each group of guests as they had arrived, it was an excellent turnout so far she turned her attention back to the door as the Achkaerinese Emperor
Peter Azurewind and his sister
Esme, who was fresh from her duties at the Winter Games, arrived. There were introductions and then there was conversation before Isabel had to turn her attention to the next group of arrivals, it was getting nearer the time now.
"There's something in the water." Peter muttered to Esme upon seeing David and Freya as well as Finley and Cait, brother and sister seemed to be the choice in terms of who was turning up, Peter also had to smile if Joshua had brought Harper along they'd have had the full set wouldn't they? Still that wasn't about to distract the Emperor's attention from the sight of his Seaforthian friend.
"So that's Joshua Rhodes is it?" Esme asked
"Yep." Peter said "Fun fact the last time myself, David and Joshua were all in the same room it was the Conference Suite at Leonaise Arena."
"The football stadium?" Esme asked
"Yeah it was the end point for the parade during the CIS anniversary celebrations." Peter said
"Well this Cathedral's a major improvement." Esme said, Peter chuckled and made his way over to Joshua.
"I may not be able to offer the East Moreland beer bike from a certain stag night." he said with a sideways glance at David "But I hope after the ceremony you'll join me for a drink."
Now they were joined by another woman, this was
Natalie Keane, wearing a formal, flowing, ceremonial robe she had the responsibility of conducting what was shortly to take place.
"Good morning Your Majesty's, Royal Highness's, Lords, Ladies and gentlemen." Natalie said "I am Natalie Keane, I am the First Minister of Vafleon which in simple terms makes me an advisor to the Royal Family. I'm happy to answer any questions any of you may have regarding todays events but I should first explain the dual nature of the ceremony that will take place shortly. In the first sense it is a coronation, you are clearly as monarch's and close family of monarch's familiar with what that means so I won't go into details there except to say that this will be the coronation of King Manius as the ruler of Vafleon. The second layer of the ceremony goes beyond that it's the confirmation of the new King as the head of the Commonwealth of Eswen, this part is done in a very ceremonial way it's done by what's known as a standing vote, it sounds like a political process and technically it is, what will happen is that a motion will be put by the leaders of the other two nations within the Commonwealth and the people will be invited to stand to record their approval, it is the wish of Crown Prince Manius that the invitation to participate in this vote be extended to all of you, so at the appropriate moment if you wish to stand please do so. We have just under half an hour before we need to be in our seats so if any of you have any questions I'm happy to answer them."