28. Prime Apparent Mancella Amaryllis Cliff
|DAY OF ASSURANCE|
|DAY OF ASCENSION|
The next morning, in the minutes before dawn, when the night is just starting to turn gray, I walk through the front gates to meet my people, and a confused hush goes over the gathered crowd. Torchlight casts distorted shadows. The streets are stuffed with people waiting to see me become the Seconde, some even spilling up and down the cliffside, or perched on outcroppings of rock to witness this historic moment. I can feel them squinting at me in the dim light, trying to make sense of the picture before them.
They expected to see me marched out on the arm of my father. But I walk alone. Instead of the black, twisted glass corset my father picked for me, consistent with my reputation as a brutal killer, I wear a simple lace dress. Instead of the dark, animalistic makeup I was supposed to have painted across my features, my face is bare. And instead of the surly scowl they are accustomed to seeing me don at official events, today I wear a small, confident smile.
The Captain begins reciting her vows, with her soldiers echoing them from atop the walls behind me. Only the vows she recites are those acknowledging a Prime instead of a Seconde. When the crowd realizes this, there are whispers. I feel people shift. Rumors, theories, and suppositions skate up and down the cliffside. But when the Captain kneels before me, everyone and everything goes silent.
It’s time for my own vows.
I can hear my father’s voice, drilling me on the vows he composed.
Like the glass trees of Prime Elod, I vow to be mighty and unbreakable, both a stalwart defense and a deadly weapon.
“Like the glass trees of Prime Elod,” I start, stretching my arms to indicate the glittering forest around me, “I vow to be rooted and reflective. Both a stalwart defense and a testament to beauty.”
As long as I am Prime, I pledge to reign in glory, and to make the renown of the Cliff Realm my foremost concern.
“As long as I am Prime, I pledge to serve in humility, and to make the well-being of the Cliff Realm, and every person within it, my foremost concern.”
After giving me a soft smile of approval, the Captain opens a steel-plated box and offers me a crown nestled in a bed of velvet. But instead of the weighty glass crown my father commissioned, adorned with sharp, wicked points that mirror the glass pines towering on either side of me, the crown she offers is a circlet I braided out of starsprouts.
Behind me, dozens more of the tiny blooms sparkle delicately from the lawn, breaking up its harsh uniformity with tufts of light. Their pointed petals stretch joyfully toward the sky, and as the sun rises behind me, the blooms catch the colors of the sunrise and display them back, creating a breathtaking kaleidoscope of orange and pink pinpricks dancing throughout the grass.
After striving for so long, the flowers finally get to see the sun.
And so do I.
I lift my chin high.
Then I place the crown on my head.