Chapter 12
Later that morning, after washing and redressing a suit pants - a few sizes larger than normal, a shirt with the sleeve cut to accommodate the irritating fixator, a large jacket with his left arm not in the sleeve, and socks and shoes.
Nurse Tarryn wheeled Max, accompanied by Carolyn walking alongside him, dressed elegantly with her tiara, to the Knights Hall at 10am, for a special audience with the Queen.
Carolyn's parents and other specially invited guests, saw them enter. Upon arrival, Max felt so out of place and seriously self-conscious. He was about to beg out of it, when Princess Amelia and Prince Johann approached him directly and welcomed him to Denmark.
Princess Amelia leaned down and bestowed a kiss on his cheek, and whispered. "You look perfectly fine, don't worry." Smiling, she straightened up again and moved to allow Prince Johann to step forward.
The Prince then bowed deeply to Max, astonishing everyone. He then shook Max's hand, saying out loud: "I am truly honoured to be in your presence. As there is nothing I can say nor do, to thank you for saving both my daughters' lives. I will forever be in your debt."
Tears started to leak from most of everyone's eyes, including Max's.
The future King and Queen then moved aside, standing next to Clementine. She smiled at Max, looking gorgeously, and she mouthed 'thank you' to him. Carolyn patted Max's shoulder.
They all then straightened, as the herald announced, "Her Royal Majesty, the Queen of Denmark" in English. And the old queen entered the Hall.
She, with her family and special guests who stood, all curtsied or bowed accordingly, to the Queen who entered and slowly walked up the aisle, approaching Max.
The Queen smiled deeply, nodded acknowledgement as she walked up the aisle.
She stopped in front of Max, and lifted her hand towards her son. He stepped forward, took hold of her hand, and the Queen did something that no monarch has ever done before. She lightly dropped into a small yet formal curtsey, bowing her head a bit at Max for a moment. Then she rose and turned, and spoke for all to hear..
"Maxwell James Peters. It is I, who should bow to you in thanks. For the Lord sent you, not only to save my granddaughters, but to also be the one true love of my granddaughter, Princess Carolyn, who has been searching and praying for years for."
She released Johann's hand and turned to take a small case from the Chamberlain. Turning back to Max, she said: "I, Sophia Margretha Adela, Queen of Denmark. In the presence of all here today, am honoured to award this to you,, The Order of the Elephant. Which is only bestowed to only special people who have selflessly served the Danish Crown. And, the last foreign recipient was none other than your late president, Nelson Mandela," she told Max with a smile.
"So. I am honoured to bestow this Order unto you, for your selfless act of heroism in saving my granddaughters." She handed over the velvet case to Max.
Max, in shock, carefully laid it on his lap and was about to open it, when she turned to the Chamberlain to claim the special jewelled sword. The Queen then asked Max to bow his head.
Max quickly bowed his head as best as possible while the nurse behind him, covertly held onto him from behind, preventing him from falling forward.
"I, Queen Sophia of Denmark, in the presence of all here today, hereby knight thee as the Protector of the Danish Royals," and she taps his left then right and left shoulder again.
She steps back and says, "Arise, thy Honourable Count Maxwell James Peters, Protector of the Danish Royals, Honourable Knight of the Order of the Elephant."
Chamberlain takes the sword back from the Queen as everyone in the room claps.
Carolyn leans over and kisses him on the cheek, whispering, "Welcome, my lord."
After a few photos taken by the palace photographer, Max shook so many hands, his arm was aching terribly in the end when Carolyn declared it was time for him to depart, as he needed to have his meds.
After quickly leaving the Hall, they headed back to their suite, where he was glad for a bit of respite and pain meds.
Nurse Tarryn checked his vitals and noted a rise in high blood pressure and declared Max was to lay down for a bit to rest.
"My Lord, how can I be of service to you" grinning Carolyn asked with a twinkle in the eyes.
"Leave me be, woman. I need my rest and my future love, not some wench that seeks gifts I cannot bestow," he teased, laughing at her and lifted his right arm to invite her to lie with him for a bit.
"Sorry my love. But I have been requested to see my parents as soon as you are settled, for a meeting. I will be back shortly." She kissed him and quickly left him before he could think of grabbing her.
Nurse Tarryn smiled and left the room too with the door ajar.
After about two hours' rest, Max was invited to join Carolyn and the family, in their private dining room for a light lunch, and later they left for Sorgenfri Palace.
Upon arriving, Ashley rushed out to hug them as they were entering the Palace's south wing. Signing frantically away, so fast that even Max had to slow her down.
After spending a bit of time with her, she was taken away for an afternoon nap and Max was begging to relax in the new inviting lazy boy chair, which he discovered was specially ordered for him.
Happy and relaxing, Carolyn and Selene discussed business, including what would be happening the next few days, while the TV in the corner had a Danish news channel on, while on mute.
He suddenly stopped them and pointed to it. Selene un-muted the TV, and the news presenter spoke in Danish (which Carolyn translated for him).
"in special news today. Her Royal Highness, Princess Carolyn with her fiancé, his mother and his daughter arrived back in Denmark in the early hours of this morning which we regret to miss. But the Palace released this video recording of a special meeting between the Queen, Prince Johann, Princesses Amelia, Clementine and Carolyn, and honoured guests. Let's watch it."
And they played the video which was secretly recorded by the palace, and a Danish translation was displayed at the bottom of the screen. After the video, the news presenter was back on and said:
"It has been 20 years since the last time the Order of the Elephant was awarded. We, the news crew, congratulate and welcome Count Maxwell Peters to Denmark. The Palace released this announcement and video while Princess Carolyn and Count Maxwell travelled from King Christian VII Palace to Sorgenfri Palace where they will be staying. The Palace representative also stated the wedding between Princess Carolyn and Count Maxwell will be announced as soon as the doctor has granted his approval. Reason for this is that Count Maxwell had sustained multiple injuries during the incident while saving the Princesses back in South Africa, a few weeks back. And one of them is his spine and hip. We've also been informed there will be a special broadcast tomorrow morning, at 9am, from the Queen at King Christian VII Palace, which we will be crossing live to. We will also keep you posted as soon as we hear more. Onto other news…. "and Selene muted the TV.
Smiling, Carolyn stood up and turned to Max with a twinkle in the eyes. She was about to curtsy, when … "Don't you dare curtsy to me, babes," Max said with a smirk. "It is I who should do this to you."
Carolyn laughed and bent over him, intending to only kiss briefly, only to deepen the kiss. Selene, after a bit cleared her throat and was awarded with: "Spoiled sport, go get your own" from Carolyn who smiled.
Carolyn sits next to Max while Selene laughed.
Selene ignored her and said, "My Lord, the next few days are set aside for you to rest and regain your strength, per Dr van José requested. Also, Dr van José requested that you come into the hospital tomorrow afternoon, for another MRI scan and tests. Dr van José, with permission of the Palace, has arranged for the Air Ambulance to transport you, thus keeping the trip quick and making it easier to enter and exit the Hospital with almost zero media. It will arrive at 2pm. And you should be back by 5pm. He mentioned he wished to see if, and how soon he could implement the next stage of the repairs to your spine, so that you can hopefully walk at the wedding. But also asked me to warn you, that it can be delayed or worse. You could be wheelchair bound for longer or for life. But he assured me that he doubts it, as this would be the worst case scenario."
Grabbing Carolyn's hand, he said. "I don't care if I can't walk. But I will die if I can't marry this Angel." And tears filled Carolyn's eyes, she leaned towards him and said softly, "As am I, as am I."