Chapter 22 Jess #3
A saucer-sized silver pendent depicting the scales of justice beneath a crown consumed the center of her chest.
Minister Parto looked down and offered a comforting smile.
“Your Majesty,” she bellowed for all to hear. “Your Royal Highness, Lords and Ladies, Honored Dignitaries, and guests, the King is dead. Now comes your Queen. Rise and face her.”
As one, the assembled nobles and dignitaries turned from facing the opposite benches toward the throne. I rose and, with a guiding hand from the High Priest, ascended the four steps, turned to face the crowd, and sat.
In that moment, looking out at the nobles, my nobles, the entire world settled onto my shoulders. I suddenly felt its weight pressing against my chest. I placed a calming hand to my stomach and sat up straight, just as my mother had taught me, breathing slowly and deeply.
The High Priest rose, stepped around the throne, and lifted the crown from its velvet pillow with both hands.
He turned toward the east and bowed with the crown raised above his head.
“I present to you Queen Jessia, your undoubted Queen. All you who come this day to do your homage and service, are you willing to do the same?”
Those now facing the vicar cried aloud with one voice, “Aye, we will serve. HAIL, QUEEN JESSIA!”
He turned toward the south and repeated his call, then the west, and finally the north, each time receiving an even louder reply, as if each set of nobles sought to outdo the others in their public pledge to their new sovereign.
The High Priest bowed to Minister Parto and stepped back to allow her to step forward. Parto faced me from the side, bowed, then spoke.
“Madam, is Your Majesty willing to take the Oath?”
“I am willing.”
“Will you solemnly promise and swear to govern the Peoples of the Spires according to our laws and ancient customs?”
“I will.”
“By the Spirits, and before these witnesses, I beg Your Majesty, rise and make your pledge.”
I stood and drew one final breath of freedom, then spoke in a clear, unwavering voice.
“I, Jessia of House Vester, do pledge to lead, serve, and defend the Crown and its people from all threats within and without, without fear or favor, affection or ill will. I pledge to do right to all manner of people after the laws and usages of the Kingdom. To the people and the Spires,
be it long or short, my whole life is yours. By the Spirits and the Spires, this is my pledge.”
Minister Parto bowed low and stepped back into her spot behind the throne.
The High Priest stepped forward, raised the crown, and bowed once more.
“The crown of the Spires! Come all and look upon its majestic favor. Spirits, we beg your blessings on this crown and the brow beneath it. Sanctify this symbol and our servant, Jessia, upon whose head we place this sacred relic, that she may be filled with royal majesty, abundant grace,
and princely virtue.”
He moved to stand facing me, bowed once more, then carefully placed the crown on my head.
As soon as his hands lifted, brilliant Light swelled from both the crown and the ring I now wore as sovereign.
The High Priest shuffled to the lowest step and fell to one knee as the magic swirled around me, bathing me in an otherworldly glow.
The crowd’s collective intake of breath echoed through the chamber just before the magic flared one final time and exploded outward in a sea of sparkling shards above the heads of the awestruck nobility.
The High Priest dared not rise, but bellowed, “HAIL, QUEEN JESSIA.”
The crowd rushed to mirror the priest’s pose, falling to their knees with heads bowed, and echoed again and again, “HAIL, QUEEN JESSIA!”
For the first time since entering the Temple, I allowed my eyes to roam about the chamber.
Kendall beamed up at me, calling out in his squeaky, preteen voice.
I gazed across the visiting dignitaries and nobles, and my heart both raced and swelled with pride.
My father had raised me for this moment, for the day I would succeed him.
I always knew he would miss my coronation, as it was rare to succeed a living ruler, but I still smarted at his absence in my moment of glory.
The vacant seats beside Kendall underscored other absences I felt.
I found Keelan again, kneeling along with the others. Even on his knees, he towered over those around him, and I caught him stealing a glance. He winked before returning his head to the correct position.
He winked at me! Right after I received the crown!
I tried to ignore the beginning of a mental debate over whether to be amused or annoyed with the Guardsman. What remained of my Privy Council was to my right behind the Royal Pew. A sea of nobles spread beyond. All were bowed low, only plumed bonnets and backs visible from my vantage on the dais.
Then my eye was drawn to a singular figure in the back of the Temple nave. Brown robes glinted in the light just enough to make me notice.
Why isn’t that man kneeling like everyone else? And those robes . . .
There was something familiar about the man. I knew but couldn’t place it.
His posture? The set of his jaw? His shoulder-length hair?
Something was so familiar.
And then I knew—and my breath caught.