It was late by the time Coulta's spouses returned from the banquet. Exhausted, they all went to their own beds except for Wildas, who slipped into bed with Coulta and almost immediately fell asleep. Coulta was only vaguely aware of this, being mostly asleep himself, but he unconsciously moved closer to his husband.
Sometime later, just before dawn, he awoke from a nightmare in which he watched Teeya slowly starve to death while she screamed at him for abandoning her until she was too weak to do anything but glare. He was powerless to help, unable to pick the lock on her cell for which he could find no key, and discovering that his magic was somehow useless.
Careful not to wake Wildas, he slipped silently from bed and walked to the window. It was open to let in the cool, early summer air, and he leaned against the sill to watch the sky begin to lighten. There was no smoke in the stars tonight; Varin was dead.
Varin is dead.
"What's wrong?" Wildas asked, stepping up behind Coulta and slipping his arms around him.
Coulta turned to face him. "I need to go to Arren."
Wildas let him go, a puzzled look on his face. "Why?"
"I need to know what happened to Teeya."
"I could ask my cousin," Wildas offered. "He reported that most of the staff remained to serve him even when he told them they were all free to leave if they wished to."
"Where else would they go?" Coulta scoffed, stepping away. "None of them knew any other life. He had complete control over them."
"I'm only trying to help," Wildas said calmly.
Coulta took a deep breath and nodded. "I know," he whispered, turning back to Wildas. "But I need to see her. If she's alive, I need to assure her that I never meant to abandon her after all she had done for me." The thought of finding her dead filled him with so much anguish that he didn't even want to speak of the possibility.
"I'm sure she'll understand." Wildas moved close and put his arms around Coulta again. "Just wait two days after the coronation, so you don't look like you're running from court. Rohan and some Guardsmen will have to go with you. And, if she agrees, bring her back here. You said she's a seamstress? We're always in need of more of them here."
Coulta fought the lump in his throat as he nodded. "Thank you."
Wildas kissed him lightly. "Back to bed. There's still a few hours left to sleep, and I plan to use them. I wasn't expecting that banquet to last so long."
Coulta returned the kiss, then followed his husband back to bed.
Coulta woke the morning of the coronation to find Myri standing over him with a handful of herb leaves.
"Now," she threatened, "you can get up and take these herbs in your tea, or I can force them down your throat. Either way, you're not leaving this room without consuming them. It would reflect poorly on me if you collapsed today."
He groaned and sat up, rubbing at his face and marveling at the fact that he still hadn't grown a single hair of stubble since he'd shaved the day before the battle. The marks on his skin really wanted to be seen, apparently. "Tea is preferable," he relented.
Less than an hour later they were all dressed in finer clothes than they had worn even for their wedding, all silk, velvet, and lace. Coulta felt somewhat uncomfortable, despite the fact that his outfit was, thankfully, black and shimmering silver. The silk cloak he had to wear was too much for the already humid weather, and Anil had ordered him to keep his hair down, making it even hotter – and they hadn't even left their rooms yet. For the first time he wondered if he would eventually faint like everyone seemed to fear he would.
He was also without a single weapon, which added to his discomfort.
Wildas was dressed very handsomely in an outfit of deep blue silk, with more intricacies than Coulta's outfit. His chestnut hair was pulled back to show the mark on his neck. Anil and Myri were dressed in similar gowns of a lighter shade of blue, trimmed in lace. Anil's dress had a slightly lower neckline to show some of the mark on her chest, and she wore lace gloves. Myri wore no gloves to show off the mark on her hand. They both glittered with gems and even had strings of pearls in their hair.
Shelton and Yvona joined them in Wildas's room as soon as they were all prepared. Shelton wore his decorative violet sorcerer's robe once again, while Yvona wore an elegant blue gown very similar to what Anil and Myri wore. And, for the second time Coulta had seen, they both wore their jewel-studded crowns. Shelton also carried a highly polished wooden box.
Yvona stepped up to Anil, removed a glittering diamond necklace, and fastened it around the younger woman's neck. "You look beautiful," she said quietly, and Anil hugged her.
She then moved to where Myri stood, and gave her a glittering gold bracelet from her wrist. "And you do, as well," she said as they hugged.
Coulta turned his attention to Shelton as the sorcerer approached him. He removed a simple gold necklace from around his neck and fastened it around Coulta's. On the chain was a violet stone, and Coulta could feel the magic in it.
"A small gift of magic," Shelton explained. "Not that you're likely to ever need it."
"Thank you," Coulta said with a nod.
Shelton returned to where he had set the box, and removed something from it. He walked up to Wildas and lifted the heir's right hand. Coulta had the feeling he was witnessing a symbolic ritual as he watched Shelton place a ring on Wildas's hand, where Wildas had been wearing his heir's ring until that morning when he had removed it and stored it away.
"This was your father's," Shelton explained. "And his father's. And his father's. Back to Caolan. Now it is yours. Wear it well and in their memory."
Wildas only nodded.
They rode out of the castle gates a few minutes later in a royal procession that included many of the slightly more distant relatives Coulta had only recently learned the names of. At the head of the procession was a riderless warhorse carrying only Shelton's wooden box tied to its saddle, and being led on foot by two members of the Guard who had been promoted for their actions during the battle. Rohan had explained how difficult it had been to choose who would lead the steed. It was one of the greatest services a Guardsman could perform, and it was an honor to be chosen.
Behind the riderless horse rode Brother Pelles, then Shelton and Yvona. Yvona carried a box similar to the one ahead of them, but much smaller. Then came Wildas and Coulta – who had been relieved to see Quiver alive and well – followed by Anil and Myri, then Deandre's other children, then his siblings and their children, along with standard bearers for every household within the royal family.
Guardsmen lined the streets to keep the crowd in line, but Rohan rode among the procession. Everywhere people called out Wildas's name, along with Deandre's. But Coulta felt like everyone was looking at him, and he felt uncomfortably exposed. He missed his ability to hide the marks on his skin. Apparently his spouses' marks weren't being noticed quite yet.
There was already a crowd gathered at the platform where the ceremony would take place by the time they got there. It was made of stone and set atop a cliff outside the city.
It was also where the royal dead were burned when their lives ended. It hadn't rained since the day of the battle, and the wind had hardly stirred since then either. Despite the fact that Wildas and Shelton had been the ones to sweep the last of the funeral pyre off the cliff, Coulta was all too aware of the fact that he was among at least some of the ashes of the late Grand King when he took his place kneeling on the platform. He could see the importance of uniting the new Grand King with the old, but it was still discomforting to know that a body had been burned ceremoniously where he was kneeling.
"This day," Shelton began, standing in front of where Coulta knelt with his spouses, and looking out at the crowd, "you will witness the crowning of your new leaders."
The crowd cheered.
"These four," he went on when the crowd quieted, "have been blessed by the gods themselves."
"They have!" Brother Pelles called out in agreement from his place on the platform.
"They will rule justly!" Shelton went on over the crowd. "Their authority is not questionable!"
When the noise died down, he moved aside so that Yvona could be seen as she walked up behind Myri, placing her hands on the kneeling woman's shoulders. "Lady Myri of Windwick, do you take the title of Queen?"
Myri lifted her head. "I do."
"Then wear this crown and become Queen Myri of Ryal," Yvona declared as she removed her crown and placed it on Myri's head.
Myri rose and Yvona knelt in her place. "I am Queen Myri of Ryal," she said with conviction, gazing out over the crowd.
When the cheers quieted, Yvona rose and picked up the smaller box she had been carrying. She removed a crown from it and took her place behind Anil. "Lady Anil of Windwick, do you take the title of Queen?"
Anil looked up. "Yes, I do."
"Then wear this crown and become Queen Anil of Ryal."
Yvona placed the crown on Anil, who rose and declared with emotion, "I am Queen Anil of Ryal."
Cheers filled the air as Yvona knelt in Anil's place, and Shelton waited for the crowd to grow quiet again before walking up behind Coulta. Coulta felt his growing anticipation peak when the sorcerer, his mentor, put his hands on his shoulders.
"Sir Coulta of Arren," Shelton said, sounding almost proud, "do you take the title of Second King?"
Coulta lifted his gaze to the crowd before him, watching in total silence. The only sounds to be heard came from shifting horses and standards moving in the slight breeze.
"I do."
"Then wear this crown and become Second King Coulta of Ryal."
The crown was surprising light and fit him perfectly. He rose to his feet and, even though he had prepared for this, he still felt a strange sense of wonder at the idea that the crowd was yelling and cheering for him. Myri and Anil smiled at him.
"I am Second King Coulta of Ryal," he declared.
Brother Pelles brought the wooden box to Shelton, who took a crown from inside it. This crown was larger and more highly decorated than any of the others, and Shelton held it reverently as he took his place behind Wildas.
There was a catch in his voice when he spoke. "Prince Wildas of Ryal, do you take the title of Grand King?"
Wildas looked up at the expectant crowd. "I do."
"Then wear this crown and become Grand King Wildas of Ryal."
Shelton had hardly finished speaking and the crown had hardly touched Wildas's head when the crowd roared. When Wildas got to his feet, Shelton knelt where he had been. The cheers doubled, and continued for several minutes, until Wildas walked to the edge of the platform.
"I am Grand King Wildas! And as your Grand King, I declare this a day of celebration!" he called out, causing even more chanting and cheering. If anyone really wondered about the black line on his neck, they were too happy to care.
But it wouldn't last long.
"People have started wondering," Rohan reported during the celebratory banquet that afternoon. He was speaking quietly, bent between Wildas and Coulta at the elevated table in the Great Hall. "I overheard Lady Kristyn even suggest Coulta has a disease that he's been spreading to you and Anil. No one seems to have noticed Myri's hand yet."
Wildas sighed. He'd been trying not to listen closely to any of the talk around him for just this reason. He glanced across Coulta to Shelton, who, as the former Second King, still had an honorary seat at the table with Yvona. They had discussed just this possibility days ago, and Shelton nodded.
Then Wildas looked at Coulta, who met his gaze and nodded. They'd come up with a story that they thought would satisfy most of the court and allow Coulta to keep the curse private. Wildas found himself praying for it to be believable as he stood up from his chair.
He waited until everyone in the room noticed and fell silent, which didn't take very long, especially because many people had been talking about him anyway. Once the room was quiet he began, "I've been told that many of you are concerned about this -" he motioned to his neck "- and I wish to clarify what is happening before false rumors are passed around.
"Second King Coulta has a rare form of magic that cannot be prevented from transferring partially to us. For some reason that magic has marked his skin and also marks ours. Queen Anil bears a mark over her heart, and Queen Myri on her right hand."
He glanced at Myri and she held out her hand as if expecting everyone to be able to see it. He didn't care if no one could for the moment.
"I know you must be wondering why this is evident now, but not before the battle. The answer is that Coulta's magic was changed by the spells he used to aid in our victory on the battlefield."
The muttering increased again, and based off of what Wildas heard, the story wasn't being accepted as easily as he had hoped.
"Magic never works like that," someone complained. "It doesn't just change."
"It sounds like something evil," someone else added.
"But Shelton wouldn't have allowed him so close to the prince if it were," another voice argued.
This was becoming a large mess rather quickly. They'd been hoping that most of the court didn't know much about magic and would accept whatever was told to them. Wildas looked to Shelton for help, but Coulta stood up beside him at the same moment that Shelton did. And, to Wildas's shock, he began to explain the truth.
"Yes, what happened, whatever it was, did change my magic. Because I was cursed, cursed for the actions of my father before I was even born. And when I killed Lord Varin to save Grand King Wildas's life, the curse was broken. This makes my magic very powerful, but I cannot control when I share powers. These marks have been on my skin since the moment I was born, but I was able to hide them before. Since my magic was changed, I can no longer do so."
The Hall was filled with shocked silence, then more mutterings, this time of fear. It seemed that no one truly understood how curses functioned or that they weren't evil.
"Do you question my judgment?" Shelton demanded, his voice practically echoing off the walls above the mutterings of the nobles before them. "Do you truly think I would let someone dangerous into this city, let alone marry into power? Would I have accepted someone evil as my fellow court sorcerer and replacement on the throne? Has he not proven himself to you by this point? It was he who discovered that our city was surrounded and warned us. He saved all of your lives by assisting in ending the battle. There is nothing evil about this man beside me, who now sits where I once sat and wears the crown that I myself once wore."
His voice quieted slightly, as if he had just realized the room was silent, though it had been since the moment he'd started speaking. "It is not always right to fear what you don't understand, and very few of us in this world understand curses. Put aside your fear and trust me. I have spent far more time with Second King Coulta than anyone else since he arrived – except perhaps Grand King Wildas – and there is nothing evil about him. He was the victim of a cruel and jealous sorcerer who cursed him for his father's actions before he'd even left the womb.
"If you still have your concerns you may speak them to me at another time. We are celebrating now, and I won't take any more time to explain something that I need not explain again."
He sat down again, and both Coulta and Wildas followed. It had been years since Wildas had seen Shelton angry, and he certainly was now. At least there were no more complaints or questions for the remainder of the banquet.
