Page 28 of Veil of Vasara (Fate of the Five #1)
CHAPTER 28 – ELIAS
T he music rang through the hall as if floating in the air. The guests to Eliel’s Coronation were utterly still, entranced by his walk towards the King’s Throne. His cloak, the brightest and most luminous gold trailed behind him, far enough to leave at least five steps between us. I couldn’t see his face from here, but I could see the faces of the crowd, those who caught a glimpse of him, their eyes wide in admiration, awe, and reverence.
His steps were in perfect time with the melody, his movements as fluid as it. He went on as we, those who had accompanied him on his arrival, branched out and took our place at the front of the hall, next to the candidates here from each of the Five Kingdoms. To my left was Jurasa’s escort, to his, Maiwen, to hers Vasara’s entourage. To my right was Fargreaves, to his, Wayman. An aisle separated the remaining guests who were seated at the front, including the Albarsans from Audra as well as the representatives from Zeima and Kalnasa.
I took a look at their faces, at their reactions to Eliel. The girl from Kalnasa appeared utterly enamoured, her escort entirely emotionless. Princess Rhana smiled slightly, as if she were proud of him. The Albarsans however, the woman, Audra’s Princess I’d since discovered, looked nervous, sick almost. Her brother’s eyes roamed over Eliel’s attire multiple times as well as his sister’s obviously anxious disposition.
Eliel knelt before the High Priest, who brought the sacred text before him. He placed his hand on the paper, after which the High Priest spoke.
“Do you, Prince Eliel Arcon Solisan, son of King Elion Larius Solisan, the ninety-eighth Heir to Vasara’s throne vow, that you will dedicate your life in honour and service to the people of Athlion?”
“I will,” Eliel raised his voice to respond.
“And do you vow, that you shall uphold the teaching of both the Gods and your ancestors, that you will live by the tenets of divinity, sacrifice, justice, and virtue?”
“I will.”
Of all the people I knew, Eliel was the least devout, the least inclined to believe there were any Gods watching over us. These divine sacrifices always came to pass. That should have been enough evidence to convince him the Gods existed, but to Eliel, it wasn’t ‘a clear enough explanation to justify the existence of nine distinct celestial beings.’ I smiled a little to myself as I remembered the explanation he had offered a High Priest who’d been instructing us both as young men.
“Faith is the absence of proof,” the High Priest had said.
“Then it is not faith,” Eliel had replied, “But hope.”
“Hope and faith are similar,” the High Priest had protested.
“Your Gods don’t ask for hope,” Eliel had answered. “They feed off its absence.”
He had been fifteen then.
It was not that I agreed with him. I believed the Gods existed. Only that I thought them all to be selfish fucking sadists. That they not only fed off the absence of our hope but revelled in our anguish.
But then so too, did Kings.
Eliel removed his hand from the book. The High Priest was passed a small bowl, by another shepherd of the Church. In it were the dark golden ashes of a Chimera. Their ashes were kept specifically for this purpose, for noble ceremonies. They smelt rich, like the fumes after a small flame combined with fresh grass. The Priest drew the symbol of Vasara on Eliel’s forehead with the substance.
Audra’s Prince whispered something into his sister’s ear. She didn’t react. As he raised himself back up to his full height, his eyes caught mine for a brief moment.
The man to my left raised a hand to his mouth and swallowed. I had forgotten the smell of the ashes might be nauseating for those who hadn’t come across it before. Saying that, I had smelt far worse in battle. It seemed as if this man hadn’t. A wonderful choice of escort for Jurasa’s Princess.
I turned my attention back to the spectacle. A tension swarmed my body, encroaching on the entire space. This was the moment I had been dreading. Eliel’s plans grew ever more mysterious to me, and delirious altogether. I wished he would discuss these things with someone before he decided upon them.
It struck me then, that such a person should have been me. It was my own fault I had not been there for him. It was my own fault I had strayed so far, he felt I could not be trusted.
I should, I wanted to rectify that now but…it could be too late.
Although it was hard to say if Eliel would trust anyone.
I certainly didn’t.
I certainly didn’t trust this sacrifice was going to be anything minor. Eliel liked making statements. This was the perfect opportunity to do that, before all the Lords and Ladies and Gods knew what other titles were stacked like ants around the room, crushed into a tiny space, waiting with bated breath for their King to rise.
Why he had to sacrifice anything at all was beyond me. Whoever had come up with that idea I decided, was a fucking fool.
It certainly hadn’t worked for Elion, and he’d sacrificed a whole year of his memories.
Now that I thought about it, that didn’t sound too terrible. There were things I would have been desperate to forget. The year selected was random of course, but still, there was a good chance that whatever year the Gods selected, if such a sacrifice had been applied to me, some hideous memories would have been eliminated.
The music faded out, the choir and the instrumentalists slowly reducing their volume.
“Your Highness, have you decided upon your divine sacrifice?”
Eliel stood and turned around. Clad in his golden cloak, in his long, white and golden embroidered tunic, the high collar of which curled around his neckline, his dark red hair partially tied at the top, in golden thread that weaved throughout the rest of his strands…he truly did look like the King of all people.
He addressed those people now.
“For the blessing of the Gods upon my reign, and all the people under it, I, Prince Eliel Arcon Solisan, have chosen to sacrifice…”
He paused.
“My fertility.”
The hall, although silent before, felt as if death itself had come to watch. Not a single soul moved, or spoke, or drew breath, it felt.
Well.
He really should have discussed this with someone first.