Chapter 475 (2/2)
The Lance cere of blood and service—had always taken place secretly, and so it was for me Only Virion, his son Alduin, Lance Aya Grephin, Lord Aldir, and Sylvie were present, all gathered within an unadorned cha castle
I knelt in the center of the cha besideVirion stood beforeus He held out the black oval coin Its etched surface reflected the diht After a few seconds, he released the coin Instead of falling to the ground, it stayed where it was, hovering in the air between us at my eye level
“Arthur Leywin, son of Reynolds and Alice Leywin, silver core quadraelerandchild, raised a both humans and elves in Sapin and Elenoir, a child of torlds The title of Lance must not be limited by birth or status, or even race, and can only be earned through hard work, talent, and strength In that, you ave a brief pause, letting his words sink in “Arthur, do you swear to serve and protect me as commander of the Tri-Union’s military forces, the Eralith family, and by extension all of the people of Elenoir, elven or otherwise, and never to turn this power back against me, my family, or my nation?”
“I swear,” I answered firmly and honestly
‘So do I,’ Sylvie said fiercely into my mind
“As a Lance of Elenoir, do you swear to stand between me, and by extension all of Elenoir, and our enein?”
“I swear,” I answered again
Virion’s rasping voice was husky with suppressed emotion “Will you submit yourself in blood and body to my cause?”
“I submit”
“So these words are spoken”—Virion drew a knife and dragged it along the edge of his palm—“and so they are bound in blood” As he said the word, his blood began to drip fro the black metal with small splashes
He held out the knife, which I took I tried to iine hoould have felt in this ? The thought came back to me so immediately, so unexpectedly, that I had to stop and think about it, re toward a solution for the trial and insight into Fate itself
“Go on, Art,” Virion said, his tone kindly “I have faith in you”
Standing, I set my jaw and cut myself as Virion had “So these words are spoken, and so they are bound in blood” Sylvie echoed the words in hts, except hers were directed to me instead of Virion
As my blood joined Virion’s, the surface of the oval coin rippled, and the blood was drawn into it The coin pulsed with a trerabbed it before it had tumbled more than a few inches and inspected it intensely
The artifact was heavy, smooth, and warm to the touch Beneath the black sheen, there was now a hint of deep red There was a strange kind of resonance between the mana within the coin andto each other I yearned to let thewith pride “I name you Godspell, Lance of Elenoir Welcome, Lance Godspell, to your service”
Lance Aya stepped forward, her expression unreadable “You ant somewhere quiet and…away from others for this next step”
Virionnoise from his nose “It takes time, but you should dedicate the next few days to the process After that, you can approach it at your leisure, although, from what I’ve seen in the past, most Lances find it difficult to stop once the process has started”
Lord Aldir spoke for the first ti I can’t help but wonder if it wouldn’t have been better for Arthur to reach white core on his own”
“We don’t have time for that,” Alduin cut in
I could tell from Virion’s expression that he was torn “We shall see”
Mouth dry, I gave Virion a deep bow, then shallower bows to Lords Alduin and Aldir, then Sylvie and I followed Aya to a chalade than a roo castle “Good luck,” she said with a coy wink before retreating back down the hallith a sashaying walk
‘Oh, this is exciting,’ Sylvie said, slinking around the cha to be a white core oing to find out,” I said out loud, sitting down, crossingthe oval coin up in front of me
Everyone in the hall held their breath as I ca for me to speak
I stood wordlessly and surveyed the outdoor gallery froe Every person present seeht and posing dramatically next to the two blocks of ice, I knew I cut quite the heroic figure
My long auburn hair was tied loosely in a knot, and I was garbed in a loose-fitting silk robe in the elven style Co my refined ense over one shoulder
It seemed like only yesterday that I’d stood before all of Dicathen clad in extravagant ar in the coluant attire, I kneas ; I radiated an otherworldliness thatdeeply at the Vritra retainer encased in ice, and then tothe action toward the second retainer
The gallery, already quiet, took on a deep, breath-held silence as I turned back to face those present Keeping anthe corpses of our enemies as if they are siawk at is so this event tonight aren’t simple commoners Each noble here knows that the workers, civilians, and inhabitants of your lands are waiting iue assuive the the quiet crowd siain “Born to a huround, I have been able to climb to where I a the way I aest one at that, but I’est” I smiled warest by a significant in, but the narrative required an alternative view of events “The Lances out there, so battles as we speak, are far above me in power, and yet even I was able to defeat not one but two retainers, the so-called ‘highest powers’ of the Alacryan ar the excited h the crowd “As you can see, I’ve sustained no injuries from my battle with these supposedly powerful forces, and ast a crowd of nobles” I widened hter fro one hand on the to the corpse of the retainer, Uto, I carefully shi+fted aze to where the Council was seated “This is not only ranted ift that I hope you can all take houratively, of course”
Cheers and laughs erupted as I bowed, signaling the end of the speech The illu artifacts turned back on as I jauntily descended froe, and Virion took my place People clappedout for et me to stop and speak with them
When Virion spoke, however, the crowd’s eyes were drawn to him, and the hubbub died down soift He has single-handedly changed the course of this war, proving without doubt that Alacrya’s forces are not indestructible, as our enemy has attempted to convince you” Virion paused as the crowd cheered in response “Already, our dwarven allies are assisting our greatest y used by the Alacryans to reach our shores, and soon ill take the assault to them!”
The crowd roared even louder, the nobles ht up in Virion’s speech Soon, a chant of “Lance Godspell, Lance Godspell” was resounding through the gallery
Through the crowd, I caught sight of a particular pair of beautiful teal eyes, shi+ning with delight, and I couldn’t help but smile in return
Silver bells filled Zestier with the sweet sound of their ringing,and the whisper of a light breeze through the boughs Bright roses, peonies, lilies, and hyacinths splashed reds, oranges, pinks, and blues across the crowd gathered to either side of the street and perfumed the air with a bouquet of sweet scents Elven children threw confetti of petals into the street ahead of us, transforhway of color
Beside irl, no more than three or four, overturn a basket full of rose petals, spilling theh the petals to spread them out as she looked around to see if anyone saw Tessia reached down and brushed the girl's head lightly with her hand as we passed
She turned to look ataway into those teal eyes, which shone turquoise in the sun “I love you, King Arthur,” she said softly, my name barely a whisper on her lips
“And I love you, Queen Tessia,” I answered More than anything, I yearned to lean forward and kiss her painted lips, but I heldto the decoruone the ceremony and pomp entirely and instead spent the day just the two of us, insulated from the needs of the wider world
I adown of white lace, the long train that dragged through the flooven with eold vines that collected the petals as we unolden flowers inset with sapphire and e shadow to her eyes and a bright flush to her cheeks
But as I looked at her and fantasized about a life outside of the public eye, I also consideredJust coronated, my first act as the new ruler of all Dicathen was this very wedding, as agreed by her randfather Ours was a union that ned the human and elven races, but toreincarnated in Dicathen had been a chance for me to discover who I really was, to have a family that loved me, but also to search out the kind of supportive and romantic love I had never experienced as Grey on Earth
I will be the king here that I could never be as Grey, I thought, brushi+ng h my own And it will be because of you
I locked those words intomyself to tell her later, in the safety and confines of our own cha castle would becoreed to spend two full days in Tessia’s birthplace as a sign of support and goodwill to her fah I had been a Lance of Elenoir and wastheir princess, it was still a shock for the elven people to bow before a huaze away from my wife As I smiled and waved at the rows upon rows of onlookers, I saw none of the tension that I kneas si beneath the surface Instead, these people welcomed me with joyous cheers and thrown flowers Day by day, shi+p faded away I have trained for this over two lifetimes, I reminded myself
‘There is no one better suited for the role in any of the three countries you now rule,’ Sylvie thought from where she walked behind hts slip out into our connection
Thank you, Sylv If what you say is true, it is only because I have you in my life I wouldn’t be the man I am today without you I was careful to keep concealed hter to ic I hadn’t even told her that he could take over her body and speak through her yet
Our procession continued through the city of Zestier and ended on a raised balcony high in the branches of one of the great trees Thousands of onlookers gathered on platforms spread around us Tessia and I stood side by side, surrounded by her parents and mine, Virion, Lance Aya, and an entire retinue besides
Feyrith Ivsaar III stepped forward fro overabout how funny and strange life could be that my once-rival had beco forward, I projected my voice with rown into the boughs of the massive trees With an easy smile and a baritone rich arm confidence, I addressed my subjects as a married man for the first ti of pain in h theand across the floor but left ertips pressed intomy hand, I attempted to conjure a flame to see by The cha at pain and sudden, horrible realization, I reached desperately for ic
There was no response
My body spasmed at the saht Tessia was asleep beside led mess around her face, her limbs askew, half in and half out of the blanket Her lips curved up in a secret, sleeping s pleasant
Beyond her, beside the bed, a htness slightly There was no ray skin, red eyes, and the onyx horns that curved down the sides of his head, following his jawline
Sylvie, to htened call, which only heightened my fear and disorientation
The Vritra—the saer to his lips The gesture see fro,” he said, his voice cold and hard “My soulfire burns within you, and I have destroyed your core Although you still draw breath, you are, in reality, already dead”
I openedmy limbs spasm Beside me, a concerned frown formed on my wife’s face, and she rolled over fitfully
“You are a victi Arthur,” the Vritra continued “Had you proven less successful—less powerful, less of a threat—perhaps the High Sovereign would have atteave a small shake of his head, and an expression that was almost, but not quite, a smile crossed his face “I’ll be honest, I would have liked to see what you were capable of, but the High Sovereign thought a sih the pain, I reached for Sylvie again, but I couldn’t sense her hts
“Still, you have served your purpose,” the Vritra acy” His hand reached out toward Tessia, and I found myself powerless to stop hihostly flames wreathed his hand for a moment that felt like an eternity, then flowed down into her like sh her pores
My wife’s beautiful eyes snapped open, her asp escaped her Tears spilled from her eyes before they rolled back into her head, and she slu array slowly faded back in The bed beside er see the Vritra, but I couldn’t turn uely, I are that I was now lying in a wet pool, the fine sheets ofto my skin
“Don’t worry, boy” The Vritra’s voice caht “Your queen lives, and will continue to do so, after a fashi+on I am told she will become one of the most important people in the world”
I closedbreath, and failed to draw in another one Alone in a bed full of blood, I felt the soulfire burn through the last ofwent dark
And then, within the black, a faint bit of distant light
The light grew closer, brighter, and then turned into a bright blur, forcing me to shut my eyes Indiscernible sounds assaulted my ears When I tried to speak, the words caratulations, sir and led open, and I cried I hoith the despair of waking and realizing that the life I’d lived was a drea that version of myself, of the love I had been allowed to share that I had withheld from myself in h, I begged I don’t want to keep doing this Please That is enough Let o