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The Palace of Westminster .

T oday was the day.

She watched him from the viewing balcony as he sat beside the Viscount Melbroke in his formal parliamentary robes waiting for the queen to arrive.

He had always been sinfully handsome but over the past months watching him grow into his title she could see there was an added air of regality to his perfect posture, his stillness regardless of the bustle around him.

The way he tilted his head to catch a comment from the Viscount, his eyes taking in every corner of the room.

It was the first time he attended the opening of Parliament, and the first time in her life had been in London past the month of July.

As Leo had asserted, he would not be an indolent member of the peerage, but seeing him here ready to take hold of the full extent of his powers moved something in her.

“What do they have that boy wearing?” Naomi asked and Regina laughed, hugging her arm.

There were always horror stories about mothers-in-law but she had to admit she and Leo’s mother had become fast friends.

Regina had insisted on her being close by from the very beginning.

As a result Regina had taught Naomi to shoot and fence, and Regina’s mother and Naomi had bonded over the most amusing things like using spices in food and the correct way to make tea.

Now she sat with her to watch her son take his seat in the halls of power.

True political power. Her head had to be spinning.

“Those are his formal parliamentary robes. He won’t have to wear them every day but he does today.”

“They are a bit much are they not?”

“At least he doesn’t have to wear a wig.”

She hummed in agreement. “That is a mercy. Grown men wearing a sheep’s ass on their heads, is that meant to inspire confidence?”

Regina choked back another laugh.

Naomi patted her hand and sighed. “I keep waiting for something to go wrong. For them to come and say he isn’t supposed to be here.”

Regina rubbed her arm again. “Mmm.” That was a sentiment they could all agree on.

“You are sure everything is in order?”

“Yes. He received his writ of summons from the chancellor and that gives him the right to be here. All he needed to do was present it, take the oath and he is a member of the house of lords. There is nothing else to be done.”

They were directed to stand and her Majesty, Queen Victoria entered.

She was… tiny. Almost ridiculously so. Outside of that there was nothing particularly extraordinary about her appearance.

There was however a singular energy around her.

The speed with which she entered and took her chair.

The cadence with which she spoke, pulled Regina’s interest.

She couldn’t say exactly what it was she expected from the figurehead of a country which was responsible for so much pain in her homeland. Perhaps she had expected a chill in the air, or a sternness. This diminutive woman was almost jolly. What did that mean? Does it even matter?

She turned her attention back to Leo as he glanced in her direction. When his eyes locked on hers, her heart began to race. He smiled and warmth flooded her body.

No it didn’t. Whatever that woman’s government had taken from Regina Leo had given back.

Her name, her culture, her freedom. That was her husband.

He had given her the room and the acceptance to come into her own and be more of herself than she had even been before.

Her hand rested on her stomach, guarding the secret she would soon share with him.

Now she would stand with him on this alien journey and ensure that he developed into the fullest version of himself.

The warrior, the statesman, the father and the lord.

Et Fin.