EPISODE 36: Coronation 3
-Edryan Queendom, Year 7291. Season: Central.
Laughter echoed through the many halls of my royal family's palace. Noble Houses, those with some sort of wealth or reputation, and more were gathered at the palace today. With leaders or representatives for all 33 high noble houses of Edryan present. It was a grand sight as young men, some the next head of their houses, fought against one another in pits of sand. Displaying their power in hopes of currying the favor of a noble lady who watched from the side. Yet the same occurred as young women battle against one another in shows of magic and skill. A tale as old as Edryan from when we were tribes and clans. New alliances between houses were being forged. A shift in the power of the Edryan Houses was underway.
“How the mighty have risen.”
I watched the proceedings from a balcony above. Overlooking the battle contest of my people. I took a deep breath and took in the atmosphere, listening to the sizzling of meat as large animals were roasted over bonfires. Some by the servants littered throughout the venue and others by the noble populace themselves.
I turned to face the ‘Little Greats’ with a smile plastered on my face. Behind me calmly sitting on the balcony edge with firelight reflecting off her droopy black eyes was Lily. She was a new tag-along I just couldn’t shake. Below mingling with the various families was Alexandria, the general of my army. Change was coming fast to Edryan, and the families were doing their best to stick as close to me as possible. My announcement earlier already was causing huge ripples throughout the country. For I had promised Edryans a high-speed traveling system. While the Mark of the Citizen would already be underway. Already dozens of families had pledged thousands of men and women to me. With even more offers for skilled and experienced generals. Renowned for their process of leading troops to victory.
“War is the Edryani’s oldest profession.
War was what we knew before we became Kings and Queens.
A Goddess and Demi-Gods.
War will prove your value to me.”
I gestured to my crystal chessboard that sat between our parties before I continued. “Come let us play a game of chess.”
My body blocked the firelight and much of the board was cast in my long shadow. Seemingly swallowing the pieces until I calmly sat. No magical lights were present this night. For tonight was a night of honor and tradition. The seven each stared at me with a mix of startled bewilderment alongside a host of other emotions. As the events took place and the Astral Realm revealed itself on the first day of Central, the ‘Little Greats’ approached me. With Madria and Amaya in the lead, the seven known prodigies, children born in hopes of matching me, sat under the night sky across from me. The smell of cooked flesh, competition, and smoke drifted into our noses. The sounds of laughter, combat, victory, and defeat make their way into our ears. Seven pairs of eyes gazed at me and the sleeping owlet on my shoulder while one pair gazed at the seven. Each dressed in the traditional outfits of their once tribes and clans, now Houses.
“Holy Prince…?” Lorde was the first to speak, confusion on his face but no traces of fear within. On a slightly higher balcony to the left of ours gathered our parents as they too made merry into the night.
“King,” I said pointing at Lorde. My finger traced its way from him who sat on the outskirts of the group to Selene Romus, who appeared startled as my finger landed on her next. “Queen.”
I didn’t stop there however and continued to point to different members of the group. “Bishop,” my finger landed on Madria. “Bishop,” as I pointed to Amaya.
“Knight,” I said to Helios who had protectively moved closer to his sister. “Rook.” Viviana Consus took on an interested look as my finger landed on her.
“Rook.” Blue flames licked Ade Oni’s hair as I ended at him. “A single piece is missing. Besides pawns, chess has 8 vital pieces.”
“The King who moves as if a pawn but remains the most valuable piece.”
My eyes met each as I spoke of the pieces on a chessboard.
“The Queen who is arguably the most powerful piece as she moves wherever is in sight.”
“The Rooks are straightforward and direct in their actions.”
“The Bishops move diagonally. One black, the other white.”
“The Knight are protectors. Serving the King and Queen.”
“There are eight of us here and one piece is missing.”
I reached forward to the chessboard on the table between us. Carefully selecting the knight closest to my side. I studied the piece carved of crystal. Detailed to the point of a knight riding on a posing stallion. Each piece held runes upon them that could activate the piece's movement with a single voice command.
“This is my favorite chessboard. I had it commissioned since I was three. Each piece is unique and is voice-activated. Tell me, do any of you know how to play chess?”
The question was directed at the group as I didn’t speak to any directly. Only looking from person to person as I spoke.
“…Yes Lawruthian,” Amaya said hesitantly, being the first to answer me. “Wh-what’s this about?”
“You’re not a pawn Amaya,” I began gesturing around. “Figure it out.”
My eyes met Lorde’s and then I turned to Selene as I asked the both of them. “Do you wish to play a game of chess?”
“Yes.”
Lorde answered for them before adjusting his seat. Moving toward the centermost position so he could move his piece. “Knight to C6.”
“What is going o-,” Ade Oni began but paused as Lorde held a hand up to silence the young man.
“The seven of you can compete with me together,” I said with a frown on my face as I moved my piece.
“Pawn G4.”
“Pawn E5.”
The game continued. Lorde played slowly but his movements were measured and careful. I was the one who barely waited for his piece to move before I made my next move. None spoke as Lorde played against me. None spoke until I did once again. “Check.”
Lorde’s brows wrinkled and he moved his rook to take my own. Behind him, the Little Greats each held a different expression. Madria looked worried yet her beauty didn’t diminish by a bit, I found her expression to be quite cute. Our eyes met and I winked in her direction.
“Check.”
Amaya was fidgeting, tapping her index finger rapidly on her knee. The sounds of the outside grew mute as the night continued.
“Check.”
Ade Oni’s fist was clenched while Helios Romus appeared thoughtful. No longer warmly guarding his sister who moved closer to Lorde’s side.
“Mate,” Selene whispered softly as Lorde’s King piece was knocked over.
A single knight and a few pawns were all that was left of Lorde’s pieces. On my side, all I had left was my king, queen, and a single pawn.
“You purposely left that knight, several times you had the chance to take it. Yet you didn’t even at the detriment of your own pieces… why?”
Lorde frowned as he asked me this question. He was not upset at his loss but more or less confused as to my moves. I smiled in response. Before once again pointing at each of them and saying what their position was. The attention of Lily had long since been drawn over to us. The woman was no longer watching the events below as she gazed toward us.
“There are eight important pieces on a chessboard…,” she said from her spot. “…and there are eight of you sitting here.”
“Yet there can only be one king and one queen,” I finished.
----------------------------------------
Lorde pursed his lips as his glacier-green eyes met those of the Holy Prince. Well…, this didn’t go as planned.Lorde’s thoughts quickly organized themselves as silence made itself known to the group. Perhaps we can still recover before it is too late.
“I believe there is a miss understanding,” Selene, who was on Lorde’s left, suddenly said. “Between all of us. A misunderstanding that can easily be rectified.”
“Can you place your life in my hands? Your hopes? Your dreams? Have you pledged to follow me as your parents did my mother?” Lawruthian’s eyes met Madria as he spoke the last part. Before the prince looked at each of them in turn. A battle of Intent took place that each of the Little Greats lost until the Holy Prince's gaze met Lorde’s.
“She has.”
The titled [Holy Prince of Edryan] pointed his thumb behind him and toward Lily. He didn’t doubt he’d ever be without Lily’s presence or that of another after her and Alexandria’s pledge. Their life was literally tied to his own. His death would mean the death of both his newly appointed spy and general.
Alexandria finally entered the stage as she calmly moved through the Little Greats to sit near me. It seems she had enough of showing her face to the party below. She did it as my representative as my interest were now her own.
Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.
“Thank you, Alexandria.”
“Lawruthian,” she said with a nod before turning her attention to Lorde and the rest.
“You’re asking us to pledge ourselves to you? To give you an oath as our parents did Queen Titiana,” Ade Oni nearly sneered. A tight frown upon his face.
“I’m not asking.”
The surroundings grew deadly silent. The very air seems to be still. A tightly woven atmosphere seemed to be woven around Lorde and the group. One that the youth did not enjoy one bit. Not even the sounds of the noble populace mingling below could penetrate the silence that surrounded the balcony.
“Edryan is undergoing a massive change that starts with or without you on my side. This is me giving you the offer to walk this unthreaded path with me. There is no more feeling me out. Now is the time to decide.”
Red-gold eyes seemed to pierce into Lorde’s own as they gaze at him and the rest of the group. I must react now!Lorde spoke quickly before Amaya, Ade Oni, or anyone else could. His mind whirled as he gathered his thoughts. I can still salvage this situation.
“A pledge is not something that is just created on a whim. Our parents had years of trust built between them before any pledges of the sort were taken. To pledge oneself to a [King] or [Queen] is a powerful thing. A pledge that cannot be broken unless by a divine being, perhaps altered if all parties agree. To pledge an oath to you through the magic of the world means tying our lives to yours. For your death to mean our death, for your rise to mean our rise. You are the [Holy Prince of Edryan] and that is no question, yet you have not given us the time necessary to build the trust and bond our parents and Queen Titiana built. This is not something we can decide immediately.”
Lorde could see the tides of the Greats shifting. Madria held her hands clasped together. A solemn but resolved expression appeared on her face. It was Lorde who kept Madria from acting out. Preventing her from fully falling into Lawruthian's side. Not out of a vendetta against the prince. Lorde wasn’t stupid but the Great Families of Edryan had their prestige outside of their loyalty to the Queen.
Viviana bit at her thumb nail as she leaned forward. Her eyes seemingly searched for something as she gazed at the Holy Prince. Yet the rest of the party held back, the words of Lorde strengthen their resolve.
“Well said,” Ade Oni began, only to be cut off as the newly titled Holy Prince spoke.
“Oh, then let us bet as the ancestors did. As our forefathers did, who quickly established themselves this way when time was not on their side. Let us combat in the Sands of Promise,” the Holy Prince said as he gestured to the ground below. Towards the sand pits in which the noblemen and women fought.
The combating between the noble house and various figures was near its height. It was too late that Lorde realized he’d fallen into a trap. Perhaps he could resolve this situation so the rest wouldn’t be implicated. Lorde opened his mouth to speak yet a powerful feminine voice spoke first. One that drew the attention of the entire venue.
“That sounds like a wonderful idea,” Queen Titiana spoke. “Will it be 1 vs 7 or shall each party face off individually?”
Shit. Lorde thought’s scrambling for a solution. From Amaya’s suspicions, the Holy Prince was close to that of a Copper Knight if not already surpassing that tier of strength in Attributes. If this was true, that meant the Holy Prince matched his current state at level 18. While Amaya suspected the prince was no higher than level 5. What a damn monster, Lorde couldn’t help but think while the seconds ticked away. The Holy Prince's skills were completely unknown but his basic combat abilities were not. Lorde could tell in his fight with Ade Oni, and the various sparring matches afterward, the Holy Prince constantly held back. Something he knew his best friend didn’t realize.
As the seconds ticked by no solution came to Lorde’s mind. One could not just rebuke the Queen of Edryan. Just as the young man resigned himself a voice spoke.
“Perhaps we should allow the students to decide amongst themselves,” Camilla Romus began.
Every gaze on the two balconies turned to Camilla. The mature Magi eyes flash brilliantly. White irises that turned into every color of the rainbow on their ends gazed toward Queen Titiana. If anyone could speak up for the little greats it was one of the leaders of the Six Great Families. It appeared Camilla Romus was giving them a way out. One that Lorde was grateful for.
“Magi-humans have always proven themselves to one another through competitions of strength, wealth, magic, and other intrinsic ways. That is a time of old and traditions have changed. Perhaps we should allow the new generation to decide how they wish to move forward,” Camilla finished.
“Well said,” Akeem Oni stated.
“Humph,” Vivianus Consus nodded in agreement.
“It is through tradition that the values of our ancestors have remained to guide us thus far. It is through the Wisdom of Goddess Madris that we broaden our views and correct our faults,” High Priestess Marna Gamal countered. Showing her stance on the issue below.
“It was tradition that made Edryan weak, falling to the weakness of wealth and other atrocities. Atrocities that we slayed the Old Powers for in hopes of establishing a new path for Edryans to walk,” Liana countered. Leaving Lorde grateful that his older cousin was standing up for him. Of the six only Margret Musa chose to keep her silence. Simply sipping on the sweet wine in her cup. It was clear that the majority of the Great Families wanted to give their youth a chance of their own. Yet the next voice that spoke shattered the illusions of the light from the end of the tunnel.
Shattered the hope building in Lorde and the rest.
“A path that has yet to do anything for Edryans besides leading them to me.”
----------------------------------------
All eyes turned to me as I spoke. My gaze landed on the strongest figures in the queendom. My royal family had made their move. No, I Lawruthian Imperius Koltius Edryani had made my move. The Little Greats were the most powerful scions in Edryan underneath me.
I needed them to step in line. The ten years Goddess Madris had given me may seem long, but I knew how precious time was and I was no longer waiting. Originally, I had been slowly getting closer to the Little Greats. A task I found no longer necessary as my prestige reached another height. A [Crowned Prince] would usually have a great gathering of people following them by the time of their announcement. The major houses usually choose to follow one prince or the other in support of the throne.
I have no competitors.
So why have no members of the Six Great Families pledged to follow me? When I’ve long since been recognized as the next ruler of this country. This was outright disrespect and disregard for who I was and what I represented.
“Tradition has led us to ruin time and time again,” I spoke drawing the attention of more and more Edryans. Pulling on my history of this country and its failings. Minerva snuggled against me tighter.
“We were once tribes and clans. Each with small territories that we fiercely guarded. As the Edryani clan met others. Joining with the Enlar, the Maar, and the Ahuum, the three ducal houses who betrayed Edryani,” I spat out before continuing.
“Traitors who grasp for more and more power weakening Edryan from within, we became Houses. Establish this great country as Edryans grew more and more prosperous throughout the eons.
It was my mother who broke tradition, crusading against the Old Powers, slaying her corrupted siblings, family, and the powers that followed them. It was my mother who led the change as Edryan is beginning a new age. A Golden Age! A Golden Age I plan to see prosper into a never-ending flow of glory.
The powers that tore Edryan apart from within are no more. It was her breaking that tradition that save this country and it is me establishing a new path, a new way that will guide us to new endless heights in this Golden Age of Edryan.”
“Yet the same families that followed her are now at a crossroads. One is to follow me as I build this Golden Age and the other is to fade into the annuals of time.
It is I, who was [Born to Be King].
It is I, who shall be the first on the battlefield to spread the glory of our Goddess.
Who amongst you will be the first to follow me?
Is it my faithful Drumians? The most renowned [Spell-Swords] in Edryan.
My outstanding Romus House? Who shows progress like no other in magical applications.
Will it be my Gamals? Leading us in the worship of our Goddess?
Perhaps it shall be the Consus. Ensuring our armies are fed as we march.
Show me who you are House Oni.
Let my Musa House clear the way!
To be the first to the show world the might of Edryan once again.”
Cheers were emerging from the surroundings as I let the passion enter my voice. The young leaders around me sat straighter when I called the name of their House. I turned to the noble populace below as I spoke, somewhere a mage had amplified my voice allowing it to make its way into the ears of every person in the royal palace. Roars and cheers came from the people below, my words igniting a spark in their eyes.
“It is I, who will begin this Golden Age of Edryan.
Even if I have to build it brick by brick.”
My aura swept out and over the closest citizens of Edryan giving them a surge of strength as the Aura of The Chosen made itself known.
[Chosen of Madris] has activated!
Effect 1:
The Greatest Gift
Gather the Faith of the People and convert them into attribute points.
You have been awarded 30 Attribute Points.
Dismissing the notification, I turned back to the member of the Little Greats and continued. Not allowing my momentum to falter in the slightest. I could see the conviction in Helios Romus’s eyes as the words I spoke seemed to resonate with him. Madria held her hands clasped together as she gazed at me. For the first time, I could see no hesitation in her eyes. Viviana Consus’s eyes were wide and held strong excitement as my aura swept over her. In Ade Oni’s eyes, I saw defiance but no blue flames were licking at his hair. Showing himself to be in full control. Selene Romus gazed at me expectantly, curiosity shown for my next words. Amaya’s fists were clenched, not in defeat but in clear wonder. Her mouth was slightly ajar. Finally, Lorde Drumian gazed at me as if this was the first time, he saw me for who I was.
My mouth opened and I spoke in the language of the world. In the language of runes, as all did when making binding pledges and contracts.
“I am Lawruthian Imperius Koltius Edryani – Holy Son of Edryan, and I ask that you follow me. I pledge myself to thee, to the Citizens of Edryan, for I will never lead you astray. For I will always lead from the front and fight. For an Edryan that knows no bounds. For only the sky will be the limit. I pledge myself to thee, Citizens of Edryan, for I will always uphold justice. For I will lead Edryan to heights anew. Where the Temple of Elysium will know Edryan, as the strongest. For the world will look to Edryan for guidance and leadership. I pledge myself to thee, Citizens of Edryan, for I was born to Guide and Lead. For I am blessed by our Goddess Madris… Born to the High Queen as one who talks like no other… One who does not walk amongst others, not because I am behind but because I am too far ahead. I pledge myself to thee, Citizens of Edryan. To never walk far without building the steps for Edryan Citizens to follow. To never look forward without opening the door back. I pledge myself to thee, Citizens of Edryan.”
I looked at the Little Greats each with mixed expressions as they gaze at me. The magic of the world bound itself around my heart. Ensuring that I would always follow the values of my pledge. Madria was the first to kneel and speak.
“I pledge myself to thee….”
You have received one level from worldly experience. The level is auto-assigned to:
[Hero of Edryan].
You have received one level from worldly experience. The level is auto-assigned to:
[Hero of Edryan].
You have received one level from worldly experience. The level is auto-assigned to:
[Hero of Edryan].
You have received +3 General Skill Slots.
End of Part 3