Jayson twisted an arrow imbedded deep in the straw bale target and smoothed its sharp fletching. “Leland told me about some gossip he heard regarding Brexton Hills, and I’ve been investigating it for him,” he spoke nonchalantly.
Piper stared at him in both amusement and surprise. “I never took you to be the spy type.” She smirked at him. “Always a bit too loud and brash for that sort of thing.” She gave him a playful nudge with her arm. Jayson smiled, but did not reply. He continued to twist his arrows gently from the target, inspecting each one as he did so. “What sort of gossip has Leland been telling you?” she asked breaking the silence.
Jayson looked over his shoulder at the group of young archers. They had moved closer to their Queen’s target, no doubt in the hopes of learning something from watching her.
“I’ve got it all under control,” he said reassuring, and giving an obvious side glance at the archers. “Mind if I give it a go?” He held up the last arrow.
“Of course!” said Piper, thrilled to see Jayson with a bow back in his hands.
They approached the archery line again, and Jayson pulled the string of his bow taunt. He breathed out, letting a calm energy wash over him and released his arrows in rapid fire succession. Arrow after arrow hit the center target every time. When he had shot his last arrow and lowered his bow, the group of archers down the line applauded and whooped loudly.
He smiled at them, and gave a small bow of thanks. Before Piper could insist on him taking his bow and quiver back, a horn sounded somewhere in the distance.
“It’s the dwarves,” said Jayson matter-of-factly.
“Jack and Leo should be with them,” said Piper, and the two took off to meet the Dwarvik royalty and their friends.
They skidded to a halt a few minutes later in the courtyard just inside the main doors of the palace. Piper threw back her hood and walked gracefully forward to stand beside Valar, Leland and the other nobles gathered to welcome the Dwarvik representatives to the Queen’s coronation. Valar gave a side long glance at Piper and closed his eyes in exasperation.
Jayson and Piper beamed as Jack and Leo handed the reins of their ponies to the waiting stable boys. Fighting the urge to run and collide in a friendly hug, for they had not seen each other in nearly a week, Leo and Jack walked gracefully to Piper and Jayson, and bowed. Jack in the Dwarvik fashion, Leo in the elven style, and then reached to shake their hands.
“It’s so good to have you back,” said Piper, and she pulled Jack into a tight hug.
Queen Una and Princess Gemari were helped down from their ponies, and made deep bows in greeting to Piper.
“Empress Nefiri sends her apologies that she cannot be with us today,” said Una, her voice almost bored. “She had other duties regarding Princess Faeridae.”
Leo gave a discreet grin to his friends and a single nod, as if to say she would be safe. They had nearly forgotten that Princess Faeridae was to stand trial for her involvement with the Black Diamonds.
The formalities for greeting the visitors seemed to last a lifetime. But it seemed only a minutes that Piper sat in the chair at her dressing table, her beck-and’s pulling and twisting at her hair as they braided it into place. They laced her into her gown and washed her feet before slipping on her shoes. When Piper looked at herself in the mirror again, she hardly recognized herself.
The beck-and’s left her at the base of the tower stair. Here, her large contingent of guards led her through the palace halls to the throne room. Once again, the halls were empty, and the only sounds were the footfalls of the soldiers surrounding her. The eerie quiet was unsettling, and Piper pushed away the nausea she felt as they passed the spot where Taraniz and Dimitri had died. They reached the great, double doors of the throne room too soon, and Piper forced herself to breath slowly. They were shut tight, and she studied the carved red wood to keep herself distracted.
Without notice, the doors were thrown wide. The guards parted before her, and Piper stared down the long aisle. In balconies overhead sat the nobles of the Conclave in their traditional robes of office. The floor was packed with nobles and peasants alike. All eyes turned to her. She set her features into an emotionless stare and stepped forward, walking with the grace and fluidity her Gran had taught her as a little girl.
She had barely started down the aisle when thought her heart would completely jump out of her chest. Then she saw Jayson, Jack and Leo. They stood at the base of the dais to the throne. They smiled at her, and hardly looked like themselves. Jayson and Leo wore the immaculately embroidered tunic and hose of elven nobility, and Jack looked dazzling in his jewel covered Dwarvik attire.
On the first step of the dais behind the boys were Valar and Gran. She saw Gran dab at the corner of her eye with a handkerchief, and prayed she wouldn’t start crying herself. When she reached the halfway point of the aisle, Valar’s booming voice echoed off the domed ceiling to the populace below.
“Where once we were lost, hope has been restored. Where there was darkness, the light has returned.”
Piper kept walking, her chin thrust forward, and her hands clasped elegantly before her. Her guards had remained at the doors, and she walked alone. She stopped several feet from the boys. They all looked ready to cry as well. She knew if they did, she wouldn’t be able to stop herself. She quickly looked at the steps of the dais, blinking rapidly to hold her tears at bay.
“Eva Ruani,” said Jack’s gentle voice, but it could be heard throughout the entire room. The crowd that had stirred moments before was now silent and staring. “Do you swear to uphold the true and ancient elven laws?”
“Do you hereby swear to protect your people against the tyrannies of the world with vengeance and retribution?” asked Leo.
“Do you hereby swear to guide the elven peoples of Chartile with strength and power?” Jayson asked.
Piper ascended the three steps of the dais. She looked at Valar before turning to face the crowded room. This was where she was supposed to say, ‘I so swear’. Three simple words. They had even practiced it the day before. She knew what she had to do. What she had to say. She stared at the crowd before her, heart still thumping wildly in her chest.
A smile slowly spread across her face. Piper threw her arms wide and replied, “I so swear to govern the elven people of Chartile with truth, justice, and equality.”
The Conclave of Nobles began to stir in the balcony above, and the populace before her whispered excitedly.
“I so swear to protect the elven people of Chartile against misguided thoughts and actions. I swear to guard my people against hurt and harm, but always opting for diplomacy before war and revenge.”
One of the nobles in the balcony stood, but his neighbor pulled him back to his seat. The whispering continued throughout the room like an endless wave. The eyes that fixated on Piper yearned for more.
“I swear to guide my people with an open heart, and an open mind. For I am hope, I am love, and I am light. Will the people accept my oaths? Will you accept me? Will you accept Piper Romilly as your queen?”
The silence in the room was palpable. Everyone turned to stare at the balcony above, waiting for an answer from the Conclave. Jayson, Jack and Leo looked out at the room. They tried to keep their breathing steady and clasped their hands tightly together to keep from fidgeting. They kept their faces calm so as not to betray the panic they all felt. Though it was anything but, they tried to show this had been the plan all along.
Finally, the noble who had pulled his friend to his seat moments before, stood. “Hunter’s Ridge swears fealty and loyalty to Queen Piper Romilly.” he shouted.
“Sutton Low swears fealty and loyalty to Queen Piper Romilly.” Another noble stood to join the first.
“Sparrowmoore swears fealty and loyalty to Queen Piper Romilly.”
Like a chain reaction, every noble in the Conclave stood and swore their fealty to Piper. The populace on the floor began shouting their family names in loyalty and fealty. It was only when Gran h
eld out box to Valar did the room quiet again. He lifted a golden crown from a green, velvet pillow and held it aloft for the crowd to see.
“Will you ever stay to a plan?” he whispered to her with a smile. Piper stepped to the top of the dais and stood before the elven throne. It was carved from the only tree trunk in the entire room. Like the trees in the library, its boughs spread out across the ceiling, enclosing the room beneath its limbs and entwined branches. “Then in the name of love and light, the elves of Chartile do crown thee, Queen Piper Romilly.”
The crown sat on her head, cold and heavy. She felt its weight like the weight of the oaths she had just created. Valar stepped back, and the crowd erupted into cheers and applause. The sound was almost deafening. Piper smiled and breathed a sigh of relief.
She moved to sit on the throne behind her. An arrow struck the arm of the throne through a trajectory where her head had been moments before.
“Long live Queen Taraniz!” someone shouted from the crowd. More arrows rained down on the dais, and the people in the crowd below covered their heads, some trying to run for the great double doors.
The guards who lined perimeter of the room were lost in the chaos of the terrified citizens. Jayson saw movement behind a tapestry to his right. He drew his sword, and ran into the stampeding crowd.
“Jayson!” his friends called after him, but he was gone.
“Everyone, into the courtyard!” Piper called over the screams and cries of her people. “Leland! Take Leo and get the Conclave into the antechamber. There are only two doors in there. Jack, find Queen Una and Princess Gemari, and get them in there as well.” Piper turned to the closest guard. “You, find the palace healers. Escort them to the courtyard in case there are any injuries.” They all nodded to her, and took off in different directions.
Piper swore under her breath for not having at least a dagger concealed on her somewhere. She hurried down the steps of the dais toward the main doors. A strong hand gripped her arm, and she turned, ready to give her assailant a face-full of fire. Valar locked eyes with her, and attempted to pull her towards the rear antechamber with the Conclave.
“Majesty,” he said. “We must think of your safety first. You are no good to your people dead.”
Piper glared at him, and pushed his hand from her arm. “What kind of Queen am I that I run and hide at the first sign of trouble, after everything I have been through? My people are afraid, and they need me.”
Valar watched as she took a sword from one of the guards at the door, and pointed to the antechamber. He took off at her request, and Piper consoled the people as they rushed past her. One woman flung herself into Piper’s arms, crying. Piper dried the woman’s eyes with her sleeve, and encouraged her onward.
“What is she doing?” Valin asked worried as he rushed to join his father.
“She is being the kind of queen we have never had,” he replied.
Jayson ran along the dark tunnel he had found concealed behind the tapestry. His suspicions of disloyalty amongst the palace guards had been confirmed, and the time had come for him to make an example of these rogues.
A door slid open somewhere ahead of him, and closed again quickly. He heard the lock snap shut, but it did not slow his pace. He approached the door and reached out with his magic, sensing the mechanisms in the lock. The tumblers slid aside easily, and he kicked the door open, his sword held out at the ready. The hall was quiet, but he knew better than to believe it was nothing. This was the way to the stables. He crept along the passage, skirting close to the wall. His heart pounded in his chest. The sound of pounding hooves raced past the window beside him. He cursed loudly, and ran ahead toward the door to the stables.
“King Jayson of the Hill,” said the stable hand as Jayson flung open the door wide. The man was on the floor. His nose had been broken, and his arm had been cut.
“Who was it? Did he say where he was going?” Jayson asked the man frantically. He pulled the man to his feet but did not loosen his grip.
“No, my King, but he took one of the horses meant for the Lord of Hollycrest. It seemed deliberate, sir. A beck-and came a few hours before the Queen’s coronation and requested it be tacked and ready for the Lord’s departure immediately thereafter.”
Jayson nodded and rushed to the grain room. He pulled his old bow and quiver from an empty grain bin and headed for the main doors. He had left it there before leaving for the coronation. His suspicions had been confirmed, and he was grateful for his increased intuition since the incident with the Kings.
“There are healers in the courtyard. Take care of those wounds. Tell no one what you have seen here.”
The stable hand nodded to Jayson and took off through a side door that lead across the paddocks.
Once outside, Jayson closed his eyes. He sent a wave of his energy out, searching for the man he now tracked. He could feel the panic of the crowd of people in the courtyard. His heart beat in time with those of the guards patrolling the borders of the palace. There were horses converging to a single game trail nearly a mile away. They seemed to come from all around the palace and carefully avoided the guards as they went.
Jayson opened his eyes, but kept the connection he felt tethered to his stomach. He slung his quiver and bow across his back and opted to hunt his quarry on foot, rather than horseback. With a mischievous glint in his eye, Jayson took off silently into the night.
When the aftermath of the battle with Duke Noraedin had begun, everyone’s concern had been for Piper, and rightly so. She was to be the next Queen of the elves of Chartile. She had taken a traumatic blow seeing both her sister and lover die before her eyes. The pain Jayson had felt when he had killed the guard had gone unnoticed. Jack and Leo, who had special connections to the Dwarves, were busy helping with political negotiations and preparing for Piper’s coronation. Jayson felt alone.
It had been a lonely night sitting in the little tavern in Hollycrest, a tiny village less than a day from the Elven Palace. Jayson had needed to get away. He needed to think, to find some way to cope. Several young men sat in a dark corner of the tavern. Jayson heard them discussing how they might steal into the palace to kill the would-be-Queen, Eva Ruani. Try as they might, their drunken tongues were not nearly as quiet as they likely thought. They were sympathizers to Taraniz’s original cause of uniting all the races of Chartile under one rule. Jayson listened, then slipped away unseen to report to Leland.
Now, Jayson walked the dark path back to Hollycrest. The tiny fireball in his hand guided his way. He hoped that after the weeks of planning and spying, the weeks of torment he had silently endured, his debt would finally be repaid. At least in part. The guard he had killed had only been trying to protect his Princess. Jayson still didn’t know his name.
The panic finally ceased once the people at the coronation were in the fresh air and the wounds of their friends tended. There were only a few moderate injuries from the rain of arrows that had descended on them. The rest were minor, and easily treated. Piper had addressed them, and the crowd broke apart, either opting to go back to the quarters of the nobles they served, or to head home. After nearly an hour, Piper marched into the antechamber where the Conclave of Nobles and the Dwarvik royalty were safely taking refuge.
“What in the name of earth and sky is happening here?” demanded one of the nobles before she had even covered the distance from the door. “If this is how you will protect your people, then you have much to learn, little girl. Harpy’s Point—”
Piper held up her hand to silence him.
“I thank you for your kind words of wisdom and encouragement,” she began, and the noble blushed scarlet. “I can assure you, I knew nothing of this, and wish to defer to my Captain for the answers we all seek.”
Leland cast his eyes downward, his shoulders drooping slightly. “I suppose this is what I get for putting my faith in a plan concocted by a child,” he replied.
At once, everyone turned to look at Leo and Jack. The
y stared wide eyed and confused back, and Jack threw his hands in the air.
“Not us, man,” he said.
“Some weeks ago, King Jayson came to me having overheard of a plan to kill you, Your Majesty,” said Leland. Murmurs and whispers moved up and down the group, but Piper looked at Leland unmoving. Jack and Leo recognized the look at once, and remained quiet. “There are still those who are loyal to Taraniz. They were never under her control, but simply agreed with her ideas. Jayson wished to go after them immediately, but… Your Majesty, it was my idea to wait until the coronation. I thought we might be able to apprehend more of them at once. It was foolish of me. I admit, I haven’t had to think for myself in so long, what with Taraniz, or Noraedin, or whomever it was controlling me. I admit that I am not yet fully myself.”
“Then you should have never continued as Captain!” someone shouted, and the room erupted into chaos. Piper remained quiet, staring at the man before her. Leland would not meet her eye, and she realized he couldn’t have been much older than she was. Leland had mentioned Taraniz had killed the previous Captain for disobeying her orders. His actions were certainly foolish, but she knew her own mistakes in the coming years would be many.
“We all make mistakes,” she said to Leland. “This is a new era for us all. No one was seriously injured. We were lucky.”
She turned to address the crowd before her, but they did not notice. They argued and yelled over each other. Una sat in a chair along the wall, her arms folded before her and shook her head in disbelief. Piper clapped her hands together loudly, using her magic to amplify the sound. The nobles covered their ears and turned to stare in surprise.
“Thank you,” she said politely. “As I said to Leland, no one was seriously hurt. Mistakes will happen. It should be our job now to ensure that any of these rebels are found and brought to justice. I encour –”
“So it’s true,” breathed one of the nobles close by. “You as well. You do have magic.”
Chartile: Prophecy Page 30
