บท 281: The Coronation
Blue and white banners adorned the palace and flapped outside in the breeze. The balcony was the outfitted with all manner of royal finery to accept the participants in the coronation. Below, nobility and commoners waited for the ceremony to begin.
Dressed in a fine gown of blue and white, Brinn, disguised as the princess, took her place in the seat on the balcony for the coronation. Earlier, the terrified ladies-in-waiting could only tell her that Alvar had been dragged from the room after being knocked unconcious and that the guards commented that he was heavier than he looked. They had no idea where he was nor how to find him. So she was forced to attend the coronation without back-up and blind to the situation.
She fingered the lace of her gown idly, but really she was sizing up the two guards standing on either side of her throne. They were wide but not tall and smelled of dirt: obviously gnomes. Brinn could probably take them out and leap to the ground hoping for the best, but even she knew that with everyone pursing her, she was unlikely to escape.
Even if she did, who knows what Cafer, Baak and Xander would do to their other captives. The pirate captain did not seem like one to make idle threats. Brinn was stuck.
She glanced over her shoulder at the raised platform with two rows of seats. The Council minus Zan were neatly situated in the chairs on the far side of the balcony. Brinn and Nanny locked eyes. Each was asking if the other was ok. Gentle nods were exchanged but not much else could be communicated from the long distance.
Nanny's brow was furrowed with worry. Brinn was about to use her wind magic to ask a question when the guard to her right interrupted.
"Turn around and face the crowd!" He said gruffly.
"No!" Brinn answered defiantly. Without being able to see Nanny's response, the question would be useless. Brinn could not guarantee that she would hear the woman's whispered response over the deafening crowd below.
"Turn around before I make you," the guard warned with a growl. He popped his knuckles to intimidate her.
"You would lay your hands on the princess?" Brinn glared at the gnome. She crossed her arms in challenge.
"I will have to put my hands on you if you do not TURN AROUND." He emphasized the last two words and flexed his fingers to reach for her head.
The elf scowled at him, but complied. 'Perhaps I should have let him put his hands on me,' Brinn thought. 'Then the crowd would see I am being mistreated.'
But a riot might get innocent people killed and the crowd below seemed a mix of those loyal to Alaron and Aurora. She guessed that some were here just to see Mairwen. They would be disappointed and not even know it. Brinn looked at them as smiled as she thought the real princess would.
Xander and King Baak took places on their own elevated seats behind her.
"Nice day for a coronation. Wouldn't you say, Your Majesty?" Xander asked his companion with amusement.
Baak laughed heartily, "I would say it is nearly perfect..if only there were a little less sun." The king shielded his eyes. "Give me a cave any day."
"What say you, Your Highness? Is it a good day for a coronation?" Xander asked the woman in front of him.
'Better day for hanging a pirate captain,' Brinn thought. Instead she responded only slightly less abrasively. "I would turn around and address you properly, Captain, except these two goons here have forbidden it. The weather is lovely but a coronation is not the proper activity for such fine weather. Perhaps we should postpone. I will talk to my brother…"
Brinn stood slightly before the two guards' not so gentle hands helped her back into her seat. The woman contained the urge to fight back. She needed to bide her time for now.
"Feisty! What a good quality in a future wife!" Baak commented.
Brinn gripped the arms of the throne until her knuckles turned white. She silently wished for both Baak's and Xander's demises to be particularly painful.
A fanfare of horns played from the entrance to the balcony as Cafer entered with Alaron. Encouraged by the guards, Brinn stood to welcome the new Emperor. She curtsied as Alaron neared the front of the dais, hoping to catch his attention.
Alaron did not look her way. His eyes were glassy and unfocused, and his face was relaxed and expressionless. Brinn guessed, correctly, that Cafer was still drugging him.
The crowd below had a mixed response. Some cheered, some clapped politely and still others stood and watched silently. This was not the typical venue for a coronation and everyone knew it. Cafer had selected this spot so as many people as possible could witness the spectacle and solidify Alaron's reign.
The advisor had the carefully seated the nobility on the ground below the balcony with the commoners forced to stand further back. Gnome, pirate and other guards dotted the crowd just in case anything should go wrong. Cafer was paranoid after his last time addressing the crowd from this particular point. It was time to face that fear.
"Welcome, all, to Emperor Alaron's coronation!" Cafer announced. "As we begin a new era, our new Emperor thought he would like for all of you to witness this momentous occasion."
"Glory to the Emperor," the crowd gave their reply. While the nobility seemed uncomfortable with the change of location, the commoners were excited to be part of what was usually very private.
"Before we can crown the new Emperor, we must deal with one tiny detail. Empress Aurora must renounce her claim." His long white sleeve dragging along the ground, Cafer swept his arm wide to welcome a dark-haired woman with blue flecks in her eyes. The crown with the Fate's symbol was on her head. Clad in a dress of blue and dark grey, the woman walked slowly to the side of Cafer and inclined her head with a smile.
Brinn's eyes narrowed. The walk of the woman pretending to be Aurora was wrong. Everything about her was close, but too practiced to be natural. 'The Semblance Stone!' The elf scanned the crowd below. She had noticed Ravenna's absence, but assumed the woman was among the nobility since she was not among the Council. It turned out that she was neither place. Now the spymaster knew why.
"Empress Aurora, do you renounce your claim to the throne and acknowledge Alaron to be your rightful heir?" Cafer asked the fake Empress.
Ravenna nodded and took the crown from her head, handing it to Cafer. Then she stepped forward and curtsied to the ground before Alaron. He looked down at the woman with slight interest but nothing more.
"Let it be known to the Empire that Aurora has renounced her title as Empress and named her son as the heir."
"Glory to the Emperor!" the crowd answered as Cafer held up the crown.
"Are they buying this nonsense?" Brinn mumbled. The guard hushed her with a nudge of his elbow. She elbowed him back.
"Now for the coronation of our new and glorious ruler." Cafer helped the boy to sit on his throne at the front of the balcony and Ravenna stood beside him looking like a doting mother. The sight made Brinn sick. Cafer began the ritual. "Do you, Alaron, swear to uphold the Empire of Valiant with honor and dignity, pursuing justice and defending Valiant against her enemies?"
Alaron did not answer immediately. His eyes were trained on the glorious crown and the Fates' symbol etched upon it.
"Say I do," Ravenna prompted him in a whisper. The Council heard her and the members exchanged glances. Their suspicions were quickly becoming confirmed.
"I do," Alaron answered quietly without emotion.
"Louder, my boy," Cafer prompted.
"So everyone can hear," Ravenna added.
"I DO!" Alaron yelled. His face never changed from the neutral expression.
Cafer nodded and placed the beautiful golden crown on the boy's docile head "With this, I crown you Emperor of the World and everything on it."
"Glory to the Emperor! May he reign forever." The crowd said in unison.
A commotion broke out among the Council. Ezer tried to keep Birger in his seat, but it was no use. "I will not be silenced," the red-hair Councilman said to those around him. "STOP!" Birger cried over the crowd. "This is all a lie! That is not the Empress. Empress Aurora is not here. That woman is an imposter, making Alaron a fake Emperor." The Councilman leapt from the back row and went running full force at the pretender and Alaron. "Down with the Fake Empress and Emperor!"
Cafer stepped away from Ravenna and intercepted the incensed Councilman with the blade of his knife. Ravenna saw the gnomes strange upward thrust into the man's gut with a dagger that looked strangely similar to one she had only heard described before. Birger slumped over onto Cafer as the light began to fade from his eyes.
"Glory to the Empress! Long live Empress Aurora!" the Councilman screamed with his last full breath.
Brinn jumped from her chair. "Birger!" Ignoring the guards who were trying to stop her, the elf pulled the Councilman away from the gnome and laid him down across her lap. Those below could not see her as she covered the wound on the man's abdomen and tried to stop the bleeding. Cafer had been quick and precise. Nothing short of a miracle would save Birger now.
"I couldn't just let them profane the Empress. Someone needed to stop them," Birger whispered to Brinn. He reached up and touched her face. His skin was deathly pale.
"You did the right thing," she told him gently.
"Then I can leave in peace," Birger closed his eyes. His shallow, ragged breathing came twice more before ceasing entirely. He was gone.
Ignoring them at the far front of the balcony, Cafer hid the dagger back in his garments and finished the ceremony. "Fear not! The Emperor and former Empress are safe from the attempted assassination. Now Emperor Alaron will be receiving his well-wishers, tribute and pledges in the throne room. Please make an orderly line as directed by the guards. Glory to the Emperor!"
"Glory to the Emperor!" the crowd responded, though their effort was lacking. The people milled about for a moment before beginning to form a line. Cafer left them to their task.
"He is dead," Brinn said flatly. Her hands and clothes were covered in the man's blood.
"He was going to attack your brother," Cafer responded. "I was protecting the new Emperor."
"Birger was right though, this is not my mother," Brinn looked angrily at Ravenna. The former Duchess could not argue. Her mind was elsewhere.
"Take Birger to the infirmary until arrangements can be made," Cafer ordered two guards. They hauled away the body, but not before Brinn gave him a kiss on his hairy read head.
"His blood is on your hands, Cafer," Brinn spat, holding up her own red palms.
"He wasn't the first, and he likely won't be the last," Cafer answered with venom before regaining his composure. "Get cleaned up, Your Highness. You are needed in the throne room to attend your the well-wishers. Make sure she gets there," the last words were to the two guards that had attended the princess during the ceremony.
Ravenna was stunned by the entire course of events. She watched as the advisor went back to escort Alaron to the throne room. The old woman forced herself to snap out of the daze. Catching up with Cafer, Ravenna caught his attention. "If you are no longer in need of the Empress, I would like to change also. It might be good for me to mingle and boost morale among the nobility after what just happened."
"Good idea," Cafer agreed. "I will see you soon."
The former Duchess practically ran to her chambers and removed the semblance stone from her wrist. She then called her attendants and changed her robes before heading out again. But instead of going to the throne room, she went to the infirmary. There was a nagging suspicion that she just could not let go.
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