The Unseen

[Eternity]

A world caught in morning twilight. A black carriage drawn by two of her horses rolls across the castle grounds. The entire land mourns and it is in this mourning that she finds a liberty  seldom known to her before, and never known to her after. It is a rare and precious freedom that they know without knowing, and see without seeing.

The flags of his heritage and home flew at half mast, welcoming her before the others. They will be here later, much later in the day. Now was not the time for their grief. She would not join them in their sorrow, but she would stay for their joy. That was the way of her life, resonating with the celebrations of lives in which she was unknown, unfelt and unrecognised for all eternity. 

The carriage came to a stop outside the private chapel in which Her Majesty’s Most Devoted Consort lay in wait for her, the single most important person he would meet today, as they all did on their last day on this Earth. She stepped out of the carriage, clad in black. Eyes framed in dark shadows, face veiled. Hidden under a hat, away from prying eyes.

The Royal Guard nodded at her as the chapel doors creaked open slowly. She slipped in, unseen by anybody else and the doors closed behind her with a mighty thump which echoed in the dark, but only for a moment before she is left to her duty and privilege undisturbed.

Her footsteps filled the empty void around her as she approached the casket. Symbols of his heritage and naval service adorn the flag which hangs over the box. The Duke of Edinburgh’s sword lays across the top of that, his service cap and finally a wreath of white roses and lilies hand picked by his beloved. 

She reached for the sword with a black gloved hand. The tips of her fingers delicately trace the steel for a few moments before she withdrew to remove one glove and touched the royal emblem on his cap with gentle fingers. Flashes of a handsome young man’s life come to her, disjointed and incoherent until he settled on her face, the face of his great love.

Oh how his heart aches for Dear Elizabeth, especially now.

Her soft green eyes absorbed his grief first, darkened their shade a moment, before they shone brighter once more a moment later. Sparkled with a pure, undying love, cultivated over seven decades. The intensity caught  her off guard. Her breath faltered a moment as she took in his most prominent emotion in all its glory. She’d felt nothing like it before, wasn’t even sure it existed. But here, now, she felt it consume her, like something out of a fairytale. 

Tears streamed down her face as she smiled.

True love did still exist in this world, even in times as dark and uncertain as these. 

She knew it now, she felt it restore a little more of her humanity. The warmth of it filled her heart as she bowed her head and spoke softly unto the spirit of the fallen who would soon be shepherded home, leaving behind a legacy of enduring love that she’d never forget as long as she lived. 

“For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen but on what is unseen. Since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal,” she said softly, her heart brimmed with a new princely love.

A great love, worthy of them both, for she deserved no less.

A love that would last beyond him, and beyond time itself. She embraced it for the first time in decades, determined to never let it be forgotten. Never forgotten, only shared, as only the greatest love should be.

She withdrew herself to the shadows and sat in a cross-legged vigil, reflecting on a life and love she’d been told was beyond her, but they were wrong. She could still feel. She could still understand, even if they could not. Even if nobody else ever understood what she felt, she would in time.

Oh how her heart aches for Dearest Abigail, especially now.