6. Chapter 6
six
I took a steadying moment before stepping out onto the second floor of the castle. When I made my way onto the balcony, the sight of the crowd stretching before me on The Isle took my breath away.
I’d seen crowds here before. Curious crowds. The night of the Procession of Spirits, we’d had onlookers, though just a few. I’d been to the full moon ceremony with the gnomes and the Wish Festival, and none of that compared to what lay before me tonight.
People lined the river on either side. So thick were the throngs, the crowds pushed into The Forest on the west side of the island as everyone strained for views of the castle. I watched as several people waded into the shallow riverbanks, craning necks in my direction.
People were dressed in all sorts of beautiful clothes of all colors and fabrics. Children clung to parents’ hands. Faces shone up at me, expectantly.
Lily nodded at me, then she smiled as she moved to the center of the balcony.
For all her talk about still being new to the island, she had quickly made herself a staple.
Everyone knew Lily the Mixologist. Everyone trusted her.
I wasn’t sure there’d even been a doubt that she should be the one to kick off the coronation ceremony.
“Welcome, Islanders,” Lily said to the gathered crowd. “Thank you for turning out to support Alessia Wells as she becomes our next Fae Queen. Most of us, all of us probably, never thought we’d see the day. A day when a Fae Queen would return to take control of her court. The Court of Isles.”
Lily turned to me, gestured for me to come to her side. She clasped my hand in hers. When she next spoke, her voice cracked with emotion.
“I, for one, am so grateful and proud to be standing here next to her. This has all been so sudden, trust me—I know. For centuries, it was assumed the Fae Queen bloodlines were extinct, but Alessia has single-handedly proven to us that she is the true heir to the Court of Isles throne.”
Lily nodded, glanced my way, her eyes locking on the crown before meeting my gaze and giving me a reassuring wink.
“Not only has she visited The Glade where she’s communicated with her ancestors, but she’s passed the three trials laid out by them to unlock her powers.
Alessia is not only a Fae Queen, but the next Triune Queen, which means she can command all three of the natural elements typical of Fae Queens, instead of only one.
” Lily’s hand squeezed mine tighter. “She’s held the Procession of Spirits.
She banished the Furies. And she will be the one to carry us out of the Darkest Lord’s evil clasp before it’s too late.
All it requires is trust from you. A Fae Queen’s strength comes from the trust and loyalty from her court.
So please join me in welcoming Alessia officially to the throne. ”
A roar of applause went up from Lily’s speech. Even though I was pretty sure the applause was mostly for Lily and her rousing words and excellent delivery, when I stepped forward into the lights shining down before the throne, there was an unmistakable increase in the volume of the cheer.
Elle stepped forward then. She’d been selected to moderate the giving of heartbeats portion of the coronation. Not only was she part Fae, but she was part of the Ranger program as well, and often hosted their large events.
She made a show of silencing the crowd, reading from the notes that I’d put together from my Fae manuscripts along with the research she’d done from the Ranger archives.
Together, we’d created what we thought was a fairly accurate representation of the way this ceremony had run in the past. All we needed it to do was work.
It didn’t need to be fancy; it just needed to be effective.
Elle explained how it would work in her lilting voice, and it seemed like she practically had the crowd mesmerized. She was the perfect choice for this segment of the evening.
“As you all know, this is voluntary,” Elle said. “By effectively giving one of your heartbeats to the queen, she will carry a piece of you with her until the end of her days. It is the start of a beautiful bond that will last a lifetime. Personally, I am honored to be a part of it.”
Something skittered through the crowd, a sense of uncertainty. Elle picked up on this and gave a soft smile.
“We don’t believe this to be dangerous. However, it’s been centuries since it’s been done, and all we have to go on is our research.
We wouldn’t ask this of you if we didn’t think it was of the utmost importance.
And remember, above all, it is voluntary.
There is no punishment or judgment if you should choose not to participate. ”
The crowd fell silent. An uneasiness slid over the mass of people like a cloud.
This was the part where it became real, irreversible, irrefutable.
I stood in front of the throne, with Rangers on either side of me.
Millie stood in the background but nearby.
Lily and Elle stood to the other side, clearly visible.
Silas was a shadow a few paces behind me.
Without further preface, Elle opened the book before her and started reading the introduction to the giving of heartbeats piece of the ceremony. When she got to the incantation, she gave a reassuring glance my way, then raised a hand to silence the crowd once more. She began to read:
“With breath of dawn and blood of flame,
I offer heartbeat, soul, and name.
In trust, in truth, in shadowed light,
I bind my soul to yours this night.
One beat to keep, one beat to give,
So you may lead, and we may live.”
Elle paused for a long moment. Then she gestured for me to step forward.
I did, feeling the moonlight shining against my hair.
The flicker of hundreds of candles that had been lit on the second floor of the balcony moved around me like an entity.
The wind whipped at my dress, and it moved ever so slightly, fluid against my body.
As Elle nodded, I looked out over the crowd. She began to speak, but this time it wasn’t her alone. It was hundreds, maybe thousands of voices. One by one, they raised their hands as the incantation began.
The words repeated themselves, growing in strength and volume and power as they repeated the incantation three times.
On the third time, as the words finished, there was a collective gasp.
I watched as several members of the crowd lurched forward as if they’d lost a breath.
A look of surprise spread across the crowd.
More than one person clapped a hand over their heart, as if they could viscerally feel this bonding experience.
They must be able to feel it because I could feel it. I could feel the collective heartbeat as it rushed toward me, nearly bowling me over, not through physical force but by the sheer magnitude of the emotion that came with it. Gratitude. Love. Protectiveness.
I could feel the fear and terror as it slid into my veins like my own blood. I breathed in the uncertainty and exhaled the worry. I blinked, and I could see hope glittering in the eyes of every person in my court.
Then I said my part. My voice was clear, clearer than expected, considering I felt shaky and overwhelmed.
“ I take this beat, this vow, this flame,
And hold it fast in heart and name.
Bound are we, by thread unseen—
I to my kin, and you to your Queen .”
The second I completed my part of the ceremony, I caught a glimpse of my crown in the water below. A small bead of light zipped around it, and then the entire thing illuminated, turning into a white-hot glow that warmed against my skull.
I could feel the connection between me and my court cementing into place. I could feel every single one of the people gathered here before me, and I could feel who had given their heartbeat and who hadn’t.
The difference was incredible. It was like I had a bowl full of marbles before me, and the people who had bonded themselves to me were bright-colored, intricate, almost translucent so that I could see every detail all the way through.
The people who hadn’t—I could still feel them as they moved through my court as a part of it. But they were like black stones. Hard, cold, solid. I couldn’t see inside of them, feel them, connect to them, except to identify they were there.
But the others—those who had bonded themselves to me—I could see in rich colors and vibrant detail.
I could feel happiness and sadness and hope and alarm.
I could feel their collective heartbeats as if I held a baby bird in my hand and could physically see its heart beating against its chest—so vulnerable.
In that moment, I understood I had the power to destroy this island if I ever chose.
I also knew I would die before I ever made that choice.
“Thank you for your trust in me.” I gripped the railing with knuckles as white as the marble they were made of. “I will serve this court until my dying breath. You have my word.”
It was everything I could do not to collapse before I made it to the throne. As if sensing my shakiness, Lily and Silas stood beside me, but they didn’t reach out, as if sensing I needed to do this part alone.
As I finally sat for the very first time on the throne that had been gifted to me by my bloodline, I felt a weight on my head where the small circlet had been.
Lily gasped beside me. “Alessia.”
It took me a beat before I caught my reflection again.
My crown had changed, morphed into something new and magnificent.
Still with the cerulean gems that represented the Court of Isles, it had grown to a more traditional crown size.
In addition to the blue crystals, it now held blindingly clear diamonds and green emeralds that sparkled in the light of the candles.
The gems of all three elements: the symbol for the Triune Queen.
Before I’d even had time to realize what was happening, a new cheer had risen, “All hail Queen Alessia, Queen of Isles!”