The Serenade: The Prince and the Siren

by Hollingsworth, Suzette

  How does she keep from smiling? Again Nicolette stifled a giggle as she observed the Queen Mother, appearing quite stiff in an elegant blue silk gown and black mantilla.

  Don't make me laugh! Bubbles raised his hand as if he were toasting her, and she had to stifle a laugh.

  Who is that with Enrico? Ah, Ada Giachetti, an aspiring soprano. Married to? Nicolette couldn't remember. Ada had been separated from her husband for some time, but divorce was an impossibility in Italy. Enrico was clearly so in love with her.

  Nicolette felt a twinge of sadness to know she was leaving the world of opera. She reminded herself she would never abandon Music, her first love.

  Her eyes rested on Alejandro, standing before altar, whose back was to her. She quivered with anticipation.

  I shall be his wife.

  He was supposed to stare straight ahead but he glanced over his shoulder, his left lip forming a half smile.

  Her father squeezed her hand, as if he knew where her eyes rested, even from behind her veil. All of her life he had been able to know when her thoughts turned mischievous.

  Nicolette turned to glance at her father, who smiled back at her with a humility and warmth which surprised her. Lord Ravensdale still appeared shocked by the turn of events. He had not wished her to sing on the stage and had never anticipated it might send her down such a path.

  Who had? But, in the end, love had saved them all.

  Captain Lord Ravensdale wore the uniform of the 7th Dragoon Guards, the Princess Royals: a red jacket with his captain's insignia, black pants with a wide claret stripe down the sides, and black leather knee boots. His sword was in his sheath and he carried his tasseled steel helmet in his left hand.

  “Will you be quite happy, my darling?” She recalled his words from the prior evening as he tightened his hold on her arm. “I have thought for some time you were born to sing.”

  “Oh, yes, Papa,” she answered.

  I am singing in every moment. I could not stop if I wished it.

  When she reached Alejandro, her heart skipped a beat. Standing before her was her future husband. She gazed upon him in full ceremonial dress, his naval uniform with gold braids at his shoulders, a light blue sash across his torso and a red sash around his waist. He wore his military medals, the Order of the Golden Fleece looped across his chest, and at his heart the pendant signifying The Order of the Immaculate Conception of Vila Viçosa.

  He looked every inch a king. But he was so much more to her. He was a sovereign ruler. A man. A servant of the people. Her love. Her life.

  When Alejandro looked at her, all her fears that he wished a royal princess beside him dissolved.

  “The bond of marriage is a holy mystery…” Alejandro smiled at her, and she saw such joy in his expression, such disbelief that she had chosen him.

  “And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone.” They knelt before the Archbishop of Toledo in his full robes, who proceeded with the wedding ceremony and the mass.

  “Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.”

  “Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love.”

  “King Alejandro and Lady Nicolette, today you will embark on a spectacular and miraculous journey,” the archbishop began reverently, his hands on each of theirs. “You will see more pain and more joy over the course of your commitment to each other than most could ever imagine. You will be astonished and amazed. You will cry until you wish you could die. You will catch your breath in wonder. You will scream in frustration.”

  “You will be so filled with love that you think you could burst. You will serve, you will put everyone else before yourselves, your lives will have strict codes of behavior, you will rarely have a moment's privacy, and you will be on public display for the balance of your lives.”

  “And you will be able to do all of this because—and only because—you have committed yourselves to each other. Through God's intervention, you have met, and because one of you recognized something in the other of the Divine, you have been in each other's company long enough to discover that you have always loved each other.”

  “Your resolve to marry against every inclination and logical argument is your answer to love's call.”

  Nicolette felt her eyes watering even as she knew every word was true. It appeared the archbishop had been listening when they met.

  “May these rings be a symbol of true faith in each other, and always remind King Alejandro and Lady Nicolette of their love.” The Archbishop blessed the wedding rings.

  “I take this ring as a sign of my love and faithfulness in the name of the father, the son, and the Holy Ghost.”Alejandro placed the ring on her finger, and in that moment, by his action, she felt herself truly to be Alejandro's wife.

  Nicolette looked into Alejandro's eyes for regret, and saw only joy there.

  “I take thee, Nicolette, as my lawful wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part.”

  “Therefore, what man has joined together, let not man separate. I now pronounce you man and wife,” stated the Archbishop.

  It is done. There is no turning back. Divorce was not allowed in the Catholic church, and certainly not among royalty.

  Nicolette was overflowing with happiness.

  “…In remembrance of Me…” The declaration of their marriage was followed by a nuptial Mass.

  After the recessional, Nicolette placed flowers on the shrine of the Blessed Virgin Mary as the musicians sang “Ave Maria”.

  Once outside after the signing of the register, Alejandro and Nicolette returned to the white state carriage where they were driven slowly towards the Royal Palace by the eight plumed white horses.

  “Viva el Rey!”

  “Viva la Reina!” The streets were overflowing with jubilant well-wishers, slowing the carriage's forward movement.

  As Nicolette looked out the window of the carriage, she was startled by the joy and enthusiasm everywhere visible. There was a constant chorus of “Long live the king and queen!” as flowers flew through the air. Nicolette smiled and waved, having some difficulty taking her eyes from Alejandro but understanding her newly acquired duties.

  “We are traveling at a snail's pace, are we not, my love?” Alejandro laughed.

  “We are on display.” This she understood.

  “Despite all our fears, it appears the Spanish people are wildly in love with you.” He added softly, “As I am.” He posed his remarked offhandedly, but she could feel the pride in his expression.

  “I hope they shall continue to do so.” She had promised herself not to constantly worry about her acceptance, it was no way to live. But she was pleased to tease her husband.

  Her husband. She loved the sound of the word in her mind. She looked at the ring on his finger and thought it was the most sensual sight she had ever seen.

  “We are joined now, mi cielita.” He pulled her close to him in one brusque movement. “We are one. The minute I said I do I became a free man. I never again have to worry about how the Spanish people may view you, because there is no possibility of you separate from me.”

  Oh, how she had waited for this day, this night. His mouth captured hers and she felt herself growing warm. It would not be long now before she would truly be his.

  As he released her reluctantly from his kiss, she could see they were almost to the Royal Palace. Still pulled to his side of the carriage by his firm embrace, she looked through his window to see a huge floral bouquet being thrown from a nearby balcony, falling to her side of the carriage where she had been sitting.

  Boom!

  An instant later Nicolette heard a deafening noise and felt the carriage shake. All the windows shattered. She instinctively closed her eyes as she lurched forward.

  Un
able to see Alejandro in the thick black smoke enveloping the carriage, terror gripped her heart as she considered the horrible possibility that her husband of thirty minutes had been killed.

  61

  Death and Despair

  “Hell’s revenge cooks in my heart

  Death and despair

  Flame about me”

  “Der Hölle Rache”

  Queen of the Night's famous aria from Die Zauberflöte

  - THE MAGIC FLUTE by Amadeus Wolfgang Mozart

  “Alejandro!” Nicolette screamed. There was silence inside the carriage. She heard nothing but the deafening shouts outside the carriage, which was now clearly missing a wheel in the front from the tilt of the carriage. She couldn’t see Alejandro through the black smoke and she was afraid of what she might eventually see.

  Suddenly she felt beloved hands holding her face gently. His voice was anxious, almost delirious. “Are you wounded, Nicolette?”

  Nicolette closed her eyes momentarily as they welled up with tears, now streaming down her cheeks.

  He lived.

  “Nicolette! Answer me! Are you hurt? Are you in pain?”

  “No, I am not hurt.” The panic in his voice astounded her. She must regain her composure for Alejandro's sake. “Are you?”

  “No, the bomb fell on your side of the carriage. If you had not been leaning towards me…” He was breathing heavily. Quickly he grew stern. “But now is not the time. I must get you to safety.”

  There may be another attack. He didn’t say the words—he wouldn’t want to frighten her further—but she heard him think them.

  He leapt outside of the carriage, while Nicolette found herself pleading. “No! Stay in here, Alejandro!” But her voice came out in a whisper, though in her mind she was screaming.

  “Bring the second carriage. Hurry!” She could hear Alejandro ordering up a new carriage. She recalled the second carriage which always accompanied the royal carriage.

  Alejandro returned, taking her hand and leading her to step outside the damaged carriage.

  She was wholly unprepared for the sight which met her eyes. All around them were bodies, body parts, and blood. In front of Nicolette were disemboweled men and horses. One of the white horses who had pulled their carriage lay on the ground with its legs severed and its stomach ripped open, his great purple plumes lying in a mass of red blood.

  Oh, no! This cannot be happening. It was more horrible than anything she could ever have imagined. Never had she experienced such violence and hatred. Never had she wanted it to be this real.

  And she was in the middle of it. The intended target.

  Was it an accident that the bouquet had been aimed for her side of the carriage? She looked at Alejandro. Even worse, what if it had been intended for him.

  It must have been.

  Nicolette looked back at their recessional carriage. It was completely destroyed except for the metal frame of the seat they had been sitting on.

  The smell of the dead and dying filled the air. Nicolette struggled to keep her stomach in check. Her eyes darted from one travesty to another, the crying and the screams deafening.

  Even as Alejandro held firmly onto her hand and her waist, she slowed her pace, her heart breaking for those who were suffering.

  A bleeding foot soldier was holding feebly onto her other arm, barely able to stand. Once aware of his presence, she somehow managed to find her voice. She turned abruptly to him, commanding authoritatively, “The king will attend me. Attend to yourself, you are wounded.”

  Ever mindful of his duty, the foot soldier looked to the king who nodded in agreement with his queen. The attendant bowed before departing with a noticeable limp.

  Almost simultaneously, King Alejandro's doctor rushed to her side, and Nicolette finally found her operatic voice, fury rising in her that the suffering were being ignored in favor of hovering about the uninjured royal couple. Sternly she commanded in perfect Spanish with a firm wave of the hand, “We are well. Attend to the injured. Especially the children.” The words caught in her throat even as she formed them.

  “The King and Queen have been bombed!” A boy began running through the crowds and yelling. “The queen says to care for the wounded.”

  They stepped over bodies and the head of a bugler, the bugle still in his lips. Not far away lay a civil guard, his legs severed and bleeding freely.

  Even as Nicolette issued her first command as Queen, she spotted an injured child. She moved to walk towards the child in her twenty-pound wedding dress. Alejandro pulled her firmly to his side, giving her no option of misdirection, as he rushed them to the second carriage as swiftly as he could given the bodies in their path.

  “Hurry, my love,” Alejandro pleaded, clearly not wishing to speak the words. “We do not know if another attack is planned or not. These people are serious to be willing to do something so beastly.”

  Of course, it would be foolish not to have a secondary plan. There would be a look-out to insure the target was killed and someone in place to complete the job.

  She covered her mouth in terror; the thought was inconceivable. She looked back at the child, hesitating.

  “If there is a second attempt, it will be safer for the child and everyone here if we leave," the king added, his voice shaking, even as he motioned to the royal doctor to help the child.

  “Oh, of course,” murmured Nicolette. She glanced about at the devastating carnage. It had never occurred to her, not for a second, that someone would wish to inflict more destruction having seen this.

  She was numb to her own well-being, but she wished to protect the living, most notably among them, her husband.

  “Alejandro!” She hadn’t thought she could experience any more terror. Glancing at Alejandro's chest, she saw blood seeping through his shirt. She covered her mouth to keep from screaming. “You've been hurt!”

  “No, my love, it's just a scratch.” He pointed to the medal of Our Lady of Conception, now severed in half. She felt herself swoon.

  Alejandro had been struck by a fragment of the shell on his chest.

  62

  May I present your Queen

  “Breath of my life

  And beating of my heart

  My soul's only delight!

  Let me mingle

  My tears with yours!”

  - La traviata by Giuseppe Verdi

  Firmly holding his queen’s arm, Alejandro prepared himself to catch her if she fainted.

  He was stunned she did not.

  He could have picked her up and carried her, but it would help her to overcome the shock if she physically moved through the flight from danger, his military training had taught him.

  Alejandro swallowed hard. He was torn between making every haste and minimizing his bride’s anguish. Fortunately the weight of her dress made the difference in time between his two options minimal.

  Alejandro aided Nicolette in stepping into the new carriage. Taking his eyes from her face, his stomach heaved as he saw that Nicolette's wedding dress was covered in blood.

  He anxiously studied his bride for signs of injury. “Tell me the truth, dearest love. Are you wounded?”

  “It is too early to say. I do not think so, outside of my heart.” She shook her head, dazed.

  One of those mangled bodies might have been Nicolette. My love. His heart was breaking thinking of the likely outcome they so narrowly avoided at the same time he mourned for those dead and dying.

  She is life to me, she is everything. Without her, he might as well be one of these bodies. Alejandro shook with relief. For the first time in his life he felt thoroughly and completely selfish.

  Once situated in the new carriage, as they moved forward, Alejandro kept his eyes open for some sign of the instigator.

  “Are you well?” He motioned to a nearby body guard walking along beside them.

  “Yes, your highness,” the man replied, tears welling up in his eyes. “I beg your forgiveness, your highness…”

/>   “Have you lost someone?” Nicolette asked.

  “No, your majesty,” he replied, clearly shaken.

  “I have a very important mission for you. Can you perform it?” Alejandro asked of the guard.

  “Yes, your highness.” He nodded with determination.

  “Bring news of Esteban and the bride's family to me in the palace as soon as possible regardless of the time. Do not allow anyone to stop you.”

  “Yes, your majesty.” The man nodded and turned immediately to his task.

  “My family,” she sobbed. “How could I not have thought? Oh, I am a selfish monster!” Nicolette gulped.

  “Shhh! It is natural. You are in shock. Rest your head on my shoulder, my love. Close your eyes.”

  She rested her head but she refused to close her eyes, still glancing out the window. “They are looking to us,” she observed, curious and bewildered. “All the people are watching us, seeing how we respond to these monsters, looking to see if we have been defeated.”

  “Yes.” He nodded, impressed with her understanding even through her despair. “The world is watching. The instigators are watching. They wish to know if they have frightened us, if they have made at least a chip in the coffin of the monarchy.”

  “Look, Alejandro!” Her head shot up in surprise. “The people are waving at us and shouting.”

  His arm was tightly around Nicolette's waist as he studied the crowds from the moving carriage, desperate to know the whereabouts of the attacker.

  Where is Esteban? Terror gripped Alejandro’s heart. He saw no sign of Esteban even as he made haste to remove Nicolette from the scene.

  “I fear I shall never sleep again,” she whispered, her heart pounding.

  “You will. It is over.” But Alejandro knew it would never be the same again. This life they might have had together, the love they would have shared was forever tainted by this beginning.