How to Catch a Queen (Runaway Royals #1) - Alyssa Cole Page 0,118
joy in their lives.
As the applause died down, Sanyu opened his mouth and began to sing.
“Sanyu II! Even fiercer than his fa-ther!
Our prince! One day our mighty king!
Enemies! Of Nja-a-a-za—
Sanyu II, he will vanquish you!”
The crowd picked up quickly and began to clap as he sang, cheering when he finished and attempting to move into the second verse, but Sanyu held up his hand.
“I hate that song,” he said, his voice booming through the sound system. “Hated it, rather. My entire life it seemed to mock me, reminding me that no matter how hard I tried, I would never be as great a king as my father, the mighty Sanyu I, breaker of chains, who built this kingdom with his bare hands and held it together through sheer will. Because I was weak.”
Sanyu had his contacts in, so he could see the crowd growing uncomfortable. This was not the kind of speech a king of Njaza gave—but he was king of Njaza, so now it was.
“After becoming king, I had to grapple with many things, in addition to the loss of my father. Like the fact that our country is isolated and our people have fallen behind other nations. Our economy has flatlined, innovation and industry have dried up.”
He could hear the confused chatter of the crowd, and he paused for his words to sink in, and then continued.
“I thought I wouldn’t be able to be a good king, because to do that would require change, and a strength I didn’t think I possessed. But I’ve learned something over the last few weeks. I am not your former king. I am Sanyu II, and I am even fiercer than my father—fiercer in my love, fiercer in my hope for Njaza’s future, fiercer in my desire to not only protect my subjects but to make sure this kingdom provides the best life possible for them. I am fiercer because I am my father’s legacy. Because he made sure I was.” He paused, licked his lips and gathered his thoughts, sifting through them for the thing that felt right. “I hope to never know war or strife as my father and all of our elders did, to never have true enemies to protect this kingdom from, but I know I’m strong enough to face all that is to come. And I know that, with the help of you, the people of this kingdom, I will do everything I can to ensure Njaza’s future is one every citizen can be proud of, and every subject can be part of.”
He looked out at the crowd, knowing that last bit was perhaps corny but having been unable to come up with something more rousing on the fly.
The chatter continued to grow louder, and then applause broke out, and then shouts of support. Sanyu watched as his people cheered—for him—and he smiled. He didn’t allow himself to get too excited as the ovation of the crowd continued without cease. This was phase one of the speech, and this time he wouldn’t disappoint Shanti or his subjects who were relegated to the sidelines by what he’d thought was tradition.
“I’m not particularly long-winded, so that’s all I have to say for today. Now, if our audiovisual team is all set, I’d like to try something else new, a speech live from—”
A movement in his peripheral vision caught his eye and he turned to see Shanti gliding across the stage toward him. She, too, was clad in ivory, though she wore the traditional Njazan dress of a cropped top and a wrapped skirt of many layers.
“—live from this stage,” he said, holding out his hand toward Shanti. “As you know, today is also the four-month anniversary of my marriage, and I would like to formally introduce my wife, our True Queen, Queen Shanti.”
She clasped his hand in hers as the crowd applauded, her red-painted mouth stretched in a smile and mischief in her eyes.
“What are you doing here?” he whispered as he pulled her into a hug. “You’re supposed to be at the Royal Unity Weekend.”
“I thought it more respectful to be in Njaza when speaking of Njaza,” she said. “I also wanted to see you.”
“And?” he asked, squeezing her closer to him.
“And I didn’t trust the AV team to handle this since they’ve never done it before,” she admitted. “Sorry! But Queen Ramatla sent a crew so that this will be streamed to participants at the conference as well.”