Kingdom's Fall

Chapter 27, Part 1

Aiden sat down on the king's bed. It was hard to let Varion go. Queen Buloch's bed by now, he thought. Even if there was no-one else there to recognise it, the claim would have been made. The deal was done. Carolin held the throne, but in order for her to keep it she would have to play her part. The Earl would too, if he wanted to bring back his parents. If he can bring them back at all. It wasn't a thought that Aiden wanted to share. That they were even alive was doubtful; to hope that Einar and Siv could recover their former selves was bordering on folly. The demon was too strong, and yet he still held out hope. Her power is limited by the vessel that holds her. Beat the vessel as you would beat any other of your kind. Aiden put his head in his hands, and tried to think. Burn the body. Wash away the blood. They were simple enough directions, but he remembered how easily she had killed Varion, how strong that arm had been. Would steel even be enough?

We do not like rivals.

Aiden lifted his head. He would have his chance at her. He'd traded everything to make it happen. Whether it knew it or not, the bottled demon had given him the means to kill her. Steel would be enough. He was sure of it.

Of all the things that Kara had thought she might do in her life, crowning a queen was not one of them. Lady Buloch took the throne, but was unwilling to actually put the crown on herself. Kara thought it silly for her not to just do it and get things over with, but tradition or superstition were enough to stay her hand. Bad things happened to rulers who crowned themselves, Carolin said, although she provided no examples to prove it. It was important to her - important enough for her to sit on the throne and argue the point - and belatedly Kara realised that she was trying to build the legend, the story that would be passed down should they win. Even though it was in front of an audience of her own men, she wanted some semblance of ceremony to remain for them to gossip about. With Aiden absent on some sort of errand within the palace - something key to their success, he'd said and left it at that - and the Islanders reluctant to show any kind of deference to the Kingdom's new ruler, the job fell to Kara.

"It's lighter than I imagined." She spoke to Carolin in a whisper, her hands poised above the other woman's head ready to lower the crown. Carolin replied without looking up, her lips hardly moving.

"It's symbolic. Think of something to say and put it on my damn head."

Kara raised her voice, calling out the words as if calling out last orders. "I crown you Carolin Buloch, Queen over the North and South, the Kingdom entire! Friend of the Islands, Peacemaker, and First of your line!" Buloch made a strained sound that suggested Kara had overshot the mark. She lowered the crown onto the queen's head and stepped away. "All hail the Queen!"

"Hail!" The sound thundered along the hall, Kingdom and Islander voices joining in the same moment. Erlend stepped forward, approaching the throne with an easy, confident gait.

"Hail, Queen Carolin! I bring greetings from the Islands." The two of them shared a grin, and the queen inclined her head in formal recognition of the greeting.

"The Kingdom welcomes you. Hail Erlend, Earl of the Islands!"

"Now that you have your crown, there is something we must finish."

"There is." Queen Carolin raised her voice. "It is my command that the sea-wall passage be ceded to Islander hands, and such lands around it as are necessary for their good health and protection. Such transfer, and all taxes, levies, and reparations have already been discussed and the details are held with my officials in the north. This command will stand, even if the earl or I are killed before we see it finished, to protect both the people of the Kingdom and those of the Islands."