Page 33 of The Forgotten Throne

I opened my mouth to answer but I wasn’t really sure what to say. It would be a lie if I told him everything was fine, but I didn’t want him to worry or to make it sound like I wasn’t able to handle all this. Finally, I settled on just being honest. “There’s just a lot more than I expected to deal with. I’ve been so focused on just getting us here and safe that I hadn’t taken the time to worry about what happened next. I don’t know the first thing about running the inner workings of a castle or bringing on all new staff from a group of people I don’t know. My hope is that Helena will be able to help me sort this all out so I can worry about other things that no one else can help me out with.”

“Wisely said, Your Majesty,” Mathew said as he handed me a cup of hot tea. “This is a personal blend I make that seems to help me when I am feeling overwhelmed about things. Shall we wait for Helena to join us before we continue or would you rather us keep going?”

“There’s more?” I cried, my shoulders slumping as I fell back against the chair I was sitting in. “Fine, tell me what else I need to do.”

There was an awkward pause as if they weren’t sure if they should continue or not, but Lawrence took me at my word. “The day of the coronation you will need to get ready here since part of the ritual will be you needing to ride up to the castle and be announced. Once you enter the throne room, you will make your way to the front where the throne is and we will be waiting for you. This is where you will give one of the vows but we will help prompt you as a call and response type situation. Then you will be given the key to the castle and you’ll turn to the left and give your vow to the dragons, face center and give your vow to the people, then turn to the right and give your vow to Sheca as a whole and the gods who protect it.”

“Speaking of the gods...” Izel cut in. “I can’t say that I am familiar with which you are talking about. We never had a deity that we paid homage to back in Norden.”

“Hmm,” Eleazar mused, rubbing a hand over his beard. “It appears that we might need to make some adjustments on that bit since all of those who came from Norden won’t know what we are talking about. Now that the castle is open the Holy Place will be available to us and we can bring back our worship to its rightful place. We can teach them of our gods that they have forgotten but who have never abandoned them. Let us dwell on that for a day or two but if you would like books or information on the gods, then we can absolutely supply that.”

Izel motioned his thanks and that Lawrence should continue. He cleared his throat as he tried to remember where we left off.

“I believe I was facing to the right giving my vow to Sheca and the gods,” I offered, hoping it would help.

“Ah yes. Once you have completed all of that you will take your seat on the throne and we will place the crown on your head. The magic within the castle and what lives inside of you will meld giving you full control over everything within the castle walls. This is how the previous king was able to lock the place up as he did for his return. Without the key and your magic nothing would have gotten through that barrier,” Lawrence stated. “It might be best to have you enter the castle’s keep first just in case there are any other back up protection set in place.”

“Smart idea,” I agreed. “If it were me, I would put extra blockades up in areas where something important is residing.”

The older men all mutter their agreement only to fall silent once again to look over the men sitting before them until Mathew turned to me. “Then there is the matter of announcing your consort or consorts as it were...”

“Explain to us what needs to be done or is expected from this part of the coronation,” I suggested knowing this would be easier if I understood what was involved from the event itself. If I could have avoided the whole thing being a public display, I would have without a second thought.

“There will be a simple ceremony tying you together in the eyes of the gods and our people. It will be expected that from this point you will consummate the union in an effort to produce an heir for the future of your reign. That, of course, will happen later. It will just need to be witnessed by someone who can be trusted and isn’t attached to you such as a guardian or family member,” Mathew instructed, wringing his hand the whole time uncomfortable with the topic. “If you take more than one the act will only have to be confirmed with one of them and from that point on you will be left to do as you please for the rest of your rule. It is an old tradition, but it is one that the people feel gives them the most comfort knowing you will provide for the future.”

“I see, does this need to be decided in this moment or do we have time to talk among ourselves in the coming week,” I inquired. “We will just need to know a day or two before so that we might know how to plan our remarks for officiating the union.”

“Then that is when you will have your answer, I don’t feel comfortable giving that information before we have talked,” I said simply.

Thankfully Cole and Helena arrived, and we were able to put a pin in that topic for now. Just as I’d hoped Helena was exactly who I needed to help me with the details about the staff and the banquet. Working out what we could took up the rest of the morning and I couldn’t have been more relieved to have some of my list marked off. The plan was to break for lunch and then head up to the castle now that the weather had cleared and the sun was peeking out of the clouds giving us plenty of light to work from as we opened up the castle.

Chapter Twenty-One

The Dragon Queen Is Crowned

Now that we finished with what we needed to with the viceroy and Helena, I decided it was time to travel back up to the castle. I wanted nothing more than to hide away in the uncharted halls of the past and learn what mysteries it held. It didn’t take us long to saddle up the horses and ride up the road, the guys felt it was safe enough to let the horses cross the drawbridge if we did it one at a time so there wasn’t too much weight. It took a little bit to find the stables once we all crossed but when we found the smithy, I knew it had to be close. It was a long narrow barn with stalls on either side facing each other with a dirt aisle down the middle. Everything was in perfect shape not seeming to have aged a day so we unsaddled the horses and set them up in the stalls. They were bare with no bedding but it would work for now until we headed back for the night. Once we had the bridge fixed and it could handle wagons crossing it, straw would be brought up and the stall set to rights.

Standing in the middle of the courtyard I looked up at the sky with the sun beaming down at me warming my face. I took a deep breath in the crisp clean air filling my lungs, invigorating me.

“You look like you already belong here,” Abbott commented.

I tilted my head to look at him better. “Is it odd to say that I do feel like this place has been waiting for me? All I crave right now is to dive into its history ignoring all other responsibilities that are pressing in around me?”

“No, I wouldn’t say it’s odd, the fact that you are such a book worm is what’s odd,” Cole interjected, coming to join us. “Who knew a noble woman could be so enamored with the past and learning things the way you are. I always thought they would be more concerned about their dresses or dancing shit like that.”

“It’s the one thing my father did right,” I murmured, shaking myself out of my daydreams and walking up to the castle doors unlocking them and shoving the one side open enough to enter. “Best we light the lanterns now while we can still see what we are doing.”

Izel came up and handed me one already lit as if he knew that I was going to ask for it. “Figured it would be best for you to have your own so you can investigate things as you please.”

Leaning forward, I kissed Izel lightly on the lips. “Thank you.”

“Well shit if I knew that doing something so simple would get me a kiss I would’ve been the first to do that,” Paxton grumbled.

“Bold of you to assume you would get a kiss from our Queen being so new and shoving your foot in your mouth every chance you get,” Jade shot back. “Do us all a favor and think before you speak sometimes.”

Paxton looked ready to pounce on Jade but he glanced at me and shoved past Jade muttering to himself. That was an improvement, a small one but enough to show me he was trying to make an effort not to fight with the others. I followed after him into the darkness of the castle nave with its vast arching ceilings that with our feeble lantern light wasn’t strong enough to penetrate the darkness. On either side of the nave you could step up and there were benches for people who were waiting for an audience to wait for their turn. Glass windows that were at least twelve feet tall stood every few feet shuttered leaving us in a soft darkness. I approached one and was able to unlatch the first section of the shutters but to get to the last two I would need a ladder.

“Here let me help with that,” Dayson said behind me before he swooped in scooping me up to sit on his broad shoulders. I tried to hold in the yelp of surprise but it echoed around the empty space making the other chuckle. “Can you reach the latch?”