Chartile: Prophecy (41 page)

Carefully, Piper opened the door to the
tower stair, but did not step out. The air around her began to
shimmer. She could feel the temperature dropping, and she shivered
beneath her hood. She moved slowly and tiptoed quietly into the
corridor, keeping to the wall. She made her way into the library
and halted immediately. Yet more nobles gathered there, whispering
amongst themselves beside the bookshelves. She continued along the
outer walls of the library. Jack would have called it a
ninja-stealth-walk, and she had to stifle a giggle at the thought.
There was a door to her right that led from the library out to the
gardens beyond. Piper knew the door creaked horribly. She removed
the magic she used to conceal herself, and forced the remaining
energy toward a large stack of documents on the table beside the
cluster of nobles. The pile cascaded to the floor, and the nobles
dropped to the mossy ground to retrieve the fragile parchment.
Piper slipped out the door and ran to the training yard.

She fought the urge to throw back her hood
as she went, and bask in the warmth of the sun that filled the
small clearing. The trees surrounding the elven palace were the
largest and tallest trees in the forest. They hid the palace well
but did not allow for much sunlight to filter through. For Piper,
who had been raised at the base of Mount Kelsii, it was almost as
suffocating as a prison cell. She took a deep breath, breathing in
the fresh autumn air. It was her favorite smell in the entire
world. The heat of the sun warmed the dying leaves, and it sent
pleasant chills down her spine.

A few archers had already assembled
themselves at the shooting range. Every guard was to be on stand by
and at the ready during her coronation, and she assumed these young
men were getting in some practice before hand. She took the target
at the far end of the field away from the other archers. She
stabbed a few arrows from the quiver into the ground and lined
herself up. The first few were slightly off, but by her last arrow,
she had hit the center target a handful of times.

Setting her bow to the ground, she looked up
and down the line to make sure it was safe to retrieve her arrows.
The group of young archers turned quickly away, and resumed their
stances rather untidily.

“
I don’t think anyone ever
expected their Queen to be such a good shot,” said a voice behind
her. She turned, ready to deny to whomever this stranger was that
she wasn’t the Queen-to-be. A familiar freckled face grinned at her
slyly. It was Jayson. She smiled and hugged him as he
approached.

“
I haven’t seen you for
two days,” she said as they both traipsed onto the field to
retrieve her arrows. “Where have you been? I admit I was worried
you would not be here today.”

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 held 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.”