Crowned with Love Read online

  He kissed both her hands then rose to his feet.

  “Now that is settled,” he said, “and I think that you have been through enough. I have a feeling that you did not sleep very well last night.”

  “How could I do – so?”

  “You will sleep now. Some food has been prepared for you and I have a woman in the camp who will look after you until Mithra arrives.”

  “You have thought of everything!” Giona exclaimed, feeling glad that Mithra would be with her.

  “I try to,” the Prince replied, “but you will forgive me if you are a little uncomfortable until we are back in The Palace which belonged to my father and four generations of my family before him.”

  As he spoke, he led Giona from the large cave where they had been sitting to a smaller one beside it.

  It was sparsely furnished, but there was a rug on the floor, a divan, which looked comfortable, a table with a mirror on it and waiting was a middle-aged woman with a kindly face who curtseyed as they appeared.

  “This is Maria,” the Prince said. “She has been with me since I was a boy and spoils me abominably! Is that not true, Maria?”

  “Everyone loves Your Royal Highness,” Maria said, smiling, “just as they’ll love the beautiful Princess you’ve brought us.”

  She said kind and flattering things to Giona all the time she was helping her out of her Wedding gown and into a loose kimono.

  Giona was so tired, and perhaps too the food and the glass of golden wine helped, that she fell asleep almost as soon as her head touched the pillow.

  *

  When she awoke, it was to find that Mithra was in the cave and her own brushes and combs were set on the table in front of the mirror.

  “Mithra! You are here!” she cried happily.

  “I’m here, Your Royal Highness, and very very happy for you.”

  She drew in her breath before she went on,

  “Now you will marry the real King, a man who is noble and fine and whom we all love and admire.”

  “You have been told that I am to be married this evening?” Giona asked.

  “It made me very happy, Your Royal Highness.”

  Giona sat up on the soft bed.

  “What happened after I left?”

  “First one footman after another arrived telling you to hurry, as Sir Edward was waiting. Then, as I packed all the things I thought you might need, Sir Edward came himself. He knocked on the door and when I opened it he asked, ‘what is happening? Her Royal Highness is already ten minutes late. The King will be very displeased!’

  “I looked surprised and I said, ‘but Her Royal Highness left here a long time ago, sir. Is she not with you?’

  “Sir Edward looked round the bedroom as if he could not believe what I had said. Then he shouted to the footmen and every equerry who was in the hall to look for you.

  “I could see them all rushing about The Palace looking into every room as I slipped down the stairs, as Captain Darius had told me to do, to where a carriage was waiting outside.”

  “I am so relieved that Prince Miklōs was able to get you away,” Giona said. “I was afraid that you might be punished if I had disappeared.”

  “I certainly would have been,” Mithra said darkly. “I feel sorry for the people in The Palace when the King realises what has happened.”

  “He will have to make some explanation to the congregation in the Cathedral before that,” Giona reflected.

  Realising that Mithra had no more to tell her, she got up, washed and allowed the maid to help her once again into her Wedding gown.

  Now for the first time she appreciated how beautiful it was and how grateful she was to Queen Victoria for her present, which she knew became her.

  Once again Mithra arranged her hair, put on the veil and the tiara that Giona was told had been worn by Prince Miklōs’s mother and grandmother at their Weddings.

  Then, as the sun was sinking crimson and brilliant behind the mountains, Prince Miklōs came to the opening of the cave.

  He was dressed very differently from the way he had been before, wearing now a uniform that Giona guessed was that of a Commander-in-Chief of the Army.

  There were as many decorations on his breast as King Ferdinand had worn on his, but he was bare-headed and she thought as he stood with his back to the sunshine that the light that came from him was not of this earth.

  It seemed rather to come from some Divine power that he exuded because of his vitality, his strength and his nobility.

  He came into the cave and asked in a gentle voice,

  “You are rested?”

  “I slept,” Giona replied.

  “I am glad. You are no longer afraid?”

  She shook her head.

  “Only a little – shy.”

  “I find that very attractive.”

  She looked at him in surprise and then realised that Mithra was there listening to them.

  Then he held out his arm.

  “Come!” he said smiling. “Our people are waiting for us.”

  With her hand on his arm they went out of the cave together and now, looking down into the valley which she had had a glimpse of when she arrived, she saw a blaze of light and realised that it came from flares.

  To her surprise the whole valley seemed to be packed with people.

  As they walked slowly down the rough road towards them, Giona saw that in the centre of an enclosure below them there was an altar on which stood a cross and a great number of candles.

  Standing in front of it was a Priest with a long grey beard wearing the hat and elaborate vestments that she recognised as being the mark of the Greek Orthodox Church.

  As if he knew what she was thinking, Prince Miklōs said,

  “I knew that as your father’s daughter you would not object to being married by a Greek Priest in the Greek Religion. Nearly all the Slavonians in this part of the country are of Greek origin and it is the way that I myself worship.”

  Giona glanced at him and then she said simply,

  “I know that my father would be very glad.”

  They reached the level ground and now it was easier walking over the soft grass.

  As they passed through the crowd towards the altar, Giona saw a number of men wearing the uniform of the Slavonian Army and knew that, as the Prince had expected, they had already deserted their Austrian Masters.

  The rest of the congregation were wearing their national dress, the women with flowers in their hair, the men with buttonholes and the children scattered flower petals in front of them as they walked.

  The Wedding Ceremony was then conducted by the Priest and it was a Service so sincere that he made every word he spoke seem beautiful, as if it came from God Himself.

  Then the whole valley sang in unison, their voices echoing up towards the sky that was now filling with stars. And it was so moving that Giona felt the tears come into her eyes.

  As if he knew what she was feeling, the Prince pressed her hand and she sensed that he was as deeply moved as she was.

  Then as the Service finished everybody started cheering and their cheers seemed to echo and re-echo amongst the mountains until the whole valley was deafened by them.

  “Now,” the Prince said, free of the solemnity at last, “we start our Wedding feast and I hope, Giona, you are feeling hungry, because I am!”

  ‘Tell me more about what you have been doing,” she asked as they sat down at a table which had been specially prepared for them.

  On it there were not only a number of candles but also some very fine goblets set with precious stones which she was sure must have belonged to the Prince’s ancestors.

  He had no doubt carried them with him when he had gone into exile as ‘The Invisible One’ to fight secretly against the Austrian régime.

  “I have been planning,” he said, “and I have been sending messengers down into the City to tell everybody where you were and that we are to be married this evening.”

  He glanced arou
nd him at the soldiers, who Giona thought had increased quite a lot in number since the Ceremony had started and added,

  “As I expected, the Army is in disarray, and without the soldiers to support them King Ferdinand and his Austrian Officers will not be able to make much of a stand against us.”

  By the end of the evening Giona was certain that this was true.

  All the time she could see more and more people arriving from the City and realised that it must have been a long and arduous walk.

  It was obviously because of their strong feelings of patriotism and loyalty to their Prince that they had undertaken it so late at night.

  The Prince’s people made them welcome with a generous supply of great barrels of beer and kegs of wine and her health and the Prince’s were toasted again and again.

  The Prince acknowledged every toast, making each time some appropriate and amusing remark as he did so.

  Although she was almost too happy to eat, Giona appreciated the blue trout caught in one of the silver streams in the mountains, the partridges that were indigenous to the country and the delicious fruit, some of which she had never tasted before. There was also golden wine, which the Prince told her came from the vineyards of Slavonia and had been planted first by his great-grandfather, the grapes of which had improved year by year.

  “We would be very foolish not to export it,” he said, “and I feel sure that here is one means by which we can improve the finances of the country, besides a great number of other enterprises that I have in mind.”

  Giona was certain that in everything he undertook he would be successful.

  When the dancing started, he said quietly,

  “Now I am going to send you to bed. You have had a very long and exhausting day and tomorrow will also be very tiring.”

  Giona wanted to stay and yet at the same time she knew that he was right.

  Because of what she had suffered at the hands of the King, because she had been so afraid and because she had lain awake the night before, terrified that Captain Darius would not be able to find ‘The Invisible One’ and she would be forced to marry the King, she was indeed very tired.

  She felt fatigue sweeping over her like a tidal wave and it was more and more difficult to keep her eyes open.

  The Prince half-carried her up the steep path back to the caves and, just before he reached the one where Mithra was waiting he stopped and said,

  “Listen, Giona, there is something important I wish to say to you.”

  She looked up at him and could see his face very clearly by the light of the moon, which was just rising over the highest peaks of the mountains.

  “What is it?” she asked a little nervously.

  “Don’t be afraid,” he said. “It is just that you have been so brave and generous enough to marry me before we have got to know each other, before we have had the chance to become friends. That is why I am going to suggest that from now on we explore first the possibility of friendship and companionship before I speak to you of love.”

  Giona’s eyes fell before his and she blushed.

  “You are very young,” he said softly, “and very very beautiful. It would be easy for me to say a great many things that tremble on my lips, but I feel somehow you might not believe them. I am therefore going to wait, my little Princess, until the right moment, and I think, because we are very closely attuned to each other, that we shall both be aware when that moment comes.”

  Once again he pressed her hand to his lips and she found it difficult to know what to say.

  This time he turned it over and kissed her palm.

  It was something that had never happened to her before and, as she felt the warm insistence of his lips, she felt something like a streak of lightning run through her whole body.

  Then before she could understand it, he had released her and, taking her into the cave, handed her over to Mithra.

  “Goodnight, my Princess,” he said as he walked away. “Sleep well and God bless you, for today you have saved my country and set it on its way towards happiness and prosperity!”

  With that he moved away while Giona was wishing that he would stay longer with her.

  Chapter Seven

  Giona woke with a sense of excitement and realised that this was a vitally important day, not only in Miklōs’s life but also in hers.

  At the same time she knew that there were dangers and despite the feeling of elation she was also aware that deep inside her was a fluttering fear that at the last moment when victory seemed within his grasp he might be killed.

  She would have been foolish if she had underestimated the fury of the King when he learnt what was happening and she was quite certain that his political advisers no less than the Austrian and German Officers in the Army would want one thing above all – the death of Miklōs.

  ‘Save him, God, please, save him!’ she prayed fervently as Mithra dressed her.

  She was so intent on her prayers that it was only when she was almost ready that she realised that she was wearing the Wedding gown that she had worn yesterday, and the tiara was on her head, but without the wedding veil.

  She looked at Mithra questioningly and the maid said,

  “The Prince said, Your Royal Highness, that it is how he wishes you to look. I had brought you a different gown, but this is far more lovely.”

  The Wedding gown was fortunately completely unsoiled and was not even creased, for the simple reason that it was embroidered all over with tiny diamantés which had prevented it from being crushed even though Giona had ridden up the mountain in it.

  In the light of the flares and the moon last night she had appeared to be dressed in silver.

  But now, as she walked to the cave where Miklōs was waiting for her, the rays of the sun enveloped her with gold and he seemed to be spellbound as he watched her coming towards him.

  “You are so lovely,” he sighed, “that I feel you cannot be real, but I know because you are clothed in gold that you are the Goddess of Hope and that is what you have given me ever since we first met.”

  Giona gave a little laugh, remembering how they had talked together in the dark and how acutely aware she had been of him even though she could not see him.

  “‘The Invisible One’,” she said softly, “is now no longer invisible.”

  He smiled at her and then helped her down the mountain slope to where in the valley below his people were waiting.

  The first thing Giona saw was an open carriage very much the same as the one she had driven in with King Ferdinand to the House of Parliament.

  As if he guessed what she was thinking, Miklōs said,

  “You are quite right, I stole it! Or should I perhaps say ‘borrowed’ it for this special occasion?”

  She laughed again at Miklōs’s humorous description of his daring and, as she stepped into the carriage, she found that the hood that was drawn back was piled with wild flowers.

  The same flowers encircled the horses’ necks and ornamented the box where the coachman and a footman were seated.

  She was surprised that there should be only two horses, until as they started she realised that they were moving slowly so that Miklōs’s followers, and there were a large number walking with them, should not be left behind.

  Some, it was true, were riding the kind of sturdy little pony she had ridden up the mountain on and there were outriders in the shape of four men on each side of the carriage, who were dressed as Miklōs had been when she first saw him, in the uniform of a Slavonian soldier without any badges of rank or insignia.

  She knew when she heard him speaking to them that they were his special friends.

  It was so early in the morning that the sun was not yet warm and there was a faint breeze blowing down the valley that made the air fresh and it seemed, Giona thought, as if they were drinking champagne.

  Certainly all those who were travelling with them were in high spirits and, as they walked along keeping pace with the horses, they sang songs that were, s
he was sure, part of Slavonian folklore and known to them since they were children.

  It was not a long time before they were joined by people running from the fields, the cottages, and the banks of the river.

  The women shouted greetings to Miklōs and then joined the crowd walking along behind them.

  As they drew nearer and nearer to the City, the crowd grew in numbers until the whole countryside seemed to be peopled with those who followed Prince Miklōs.

  It was only as they drew very close to the City and could see clearly its roofs and spires that Giona began to feel afraid.

  She imagined that by now King Ferdinand would have had time to rally his troops and, if he intended to fight, they would be manning the walls of the City and crouching on the tops of the houses ready with guns and cannon to shoot at Miklōs and his followers.

  Now feeling really frightened, she slipped her hand into his and, as his fingers closed over hers, she felt the strength and comfort of them and sensed that he was not in the least afraid, but confident that everything would go as he expected.

  If she had wanted to talk to him, it would have been impossible because of the voices around them singing the songs of Slavonia or cheering, as if only by making a noise could they express their happiness.

  Now they were drawing near to the massive gateway into the City and Giona looked with frightened eyes, expecting to see soldiers posted on it, with perhaps more waiting just inside with their guns at the ready.

  She could see people in the distance, but was not certain if they were soldiers or not.

  Then, as they were almost within the gateway, the horses came to a standstill and she looked at Miklōs, anxiously wondering what was going to happen.

  He drew her to her feet and, as he did so, riding out from the City came Captain Darius on a black charger.

  He galloped up to the side of the carriage and saluted Prince Miklōs before he called out,

  “Welcome! And that really is the right word!”

  The Prince drew in his breath and Captain Darius continued,

  “King Ferdinand and the majority of his entourage have already fled from the City.”

  “Where have they gone?”