Noami And The Ten Chosen - Part Two : A New Reign

A Crown And A Head

I stood before the enourmous throne room, head held high, trying not to throw up in front of everyone. 

My friends had entered the enourmous room through a different doorway, and were standing at the thrones behind me.

Millions and millions of spirits there in this room. The gigantic white walls of the throne room were adorned with black banners, with the Royal crest in gold. Temporary balconies were installed on the walls for the Nobles, where they overlooked the entire room, and had a clear view of the ceremony. Spirits sat at rows and rows of pews, facing the thrones.

Guards stood in lines against the walls, wearing golden armour, along with the servers all dressed in colorful gowns and tunics, a band with the Royal crest tied around their arm or waists.

Lady Faiza, the previous advisor of the Spirit King, dressed in a large Victorian-style velvet gown led the ceremony. She didn't wear any jewelery, and the auburn hair in which used to rest her diadem was pulled into a simple bun. It seemed as if after she lost her title, she made little effort show off any wealth at all.

"Tradition is for the monarch to crown the new leader of the realm... -" stared Lady Faiza. Her voice boomed across the enourmous chamber as the spirits hushed to listen. "- but given the death of our beloved King, and with no other royal to pass on the throne, as the previous adviser and right arm, it is my duty to crown our new ruler." She turned to me, her electric blue eyes piercing through mine.

"Noémi Walkers. Do you swear to protect and serve this Kingdom. To protect the magic within the borders of this realm and to use its power wisely."

Just like you practiced Noah.

"I Noami..." I hesitated. Your real name. A voice whispered in my head. "I Noémi Walkers, swear to serve and protect this Kingdom. To protect the magic within and to use my powers for the good of of the Spirit World."

Lady Faiza turned to the crowd. "Our ancient Queen Diana has chosen her. The Spirits of the River of Life have chosen her. She is your rightful Queen." A roar thundered across the throne room as the spirits cheered. Faiza turned to me again. "I Lady Faiza, ancient advisor of the King and Enchantress of the Black Desert, herby crown you Queen of the Spiritus Mundi!"

The cheers were deafening by now.  Lady Faiza raised her arms and a guard walked over, holding a cusion. Resting on the plush velvet, was the crown. A thin golden band, incrusted with jewels and lined with gold  stars. The enchantress lifted the crown up gently, and walked to me. I kneeled, feeling my hearbeat accerate with every second. Lady Faiza started canting words in a language I didn't understand as she lowered the golden headpiece to my head. The entrie room started to chant too, all at once in multiple languages. I heard bits and pieces in Latin, but couldn't understand what the words meant. The chanting grew louder and louder, and I felt the cold metal touch my skin. I stood up shakily and looked at the throne room. The chanting continued. Then I suddenly understood. I don't know how, but I could understand what they were all saying. Not just the bits in Latin but the rest of the chant too, all the other languages.

In our Queen we place our trust
We give our home, our Kingdom
Our power become yours to guard
And our weapons will shield your realm
In our Queen we place our trust
One of our own you have become
Our scared lands will be your own
Our moon, our stars, our sun
In our Queen we place our trust...

The chanting continued. With every word they said, I felt myself getting feeling lighter and lighter. My eyes widened as a golden substance started appearing above the crowd. It seemed as if it was coming from the spirits themselves. As the chanting continued, the substance moved towards me, and it took everything in me to stop myself from running away. The subsance enveloped my body, and I could hear the sounds of the chanting fading. Slowly, the loud booming voices were reduced to only a hush whispering, until at last they stopped. As they uttered the last words of the chant, the substance surrounding my body disappeared, as if I had absorbed it. I felt strange. Somehow more powerful.

Lady Faiza exhaled. "The Kingdom has given you their power...their trust." her electric blue eyes gazed at me. "You are their rightful leader."
I swallowed and nodded.

"And now... -" Faiza paused. She closed her eyes tightly for a second before opening them. "The new members of the High Court." she stuttered. The spirits let out a loud cheer, ignoring the enchantress, who's face was slowly turning a shade of violet-red. Guess she really didn't want to lose her title.
I couldn't help but feel a little sorry for her.

"Step forward, Ryan Carter..." she had difficulty getting the next words out. "Royal advisor to the Queen."
Ryan stepped forward and Faiza placed a diadem on his head.

"Step forward,  Chloe Mattews... -"

And she continued with the others, placing on each of their heads a diadem. At last the new nine members  of the high court were crowned. I turned around and glanced behind. My friends all looked pale with their new crowns, but I could see them smiling tightly for the sake of the audience. 
Finally it was my turn to speak. Faiza turned to me with a look of utter defeat and sighed. She nodded her head and motioned me to speak.

My throat constricted as I stepped up. I opened my mouth, trying to remeber the speech I'd been practicing. The words never came out.

The next few seconds went by in a blur. Just as I had barely uttered the first word, I felt myself being thrown forward. An invisible force blasted from behind, and there was a sonic boom that left my ears ringing. There was the sound of shattering glass and confused shouts. I tumbled down the stairs and my head hit the floor, where thankfully the plush carpet cushioned my fall.

One second. Only one second of silence and shock, before the entire throne room desended into chaos.

Screams erupted from everywere, as spirits ran left and right in panic. Soldiers were trying to calm the crowd down, looking around in confusion and the Nobles standing on the balconies where screeching like banshees, demanding to be brought down. Still on the floor, I struggled to get up. The crown on my head was lopsided and I felt a sharp sting on my back as I stood. Ryan grabbed my arm and I turned to see the others on the floor, all struggling to stand, and looking just as confused. Ryan was trying to say something, but I couldn't hear him over the ringing in my ears and the screams around.

"ENOUGH."

The screams stopped midway and everyone turned their gaze upward. Aelius was in the air, eyes glowing. Lady Faiza was next to him, emitting a strage kind of energy. It seemed as if the two had cast a spell to stop the chaos.
There was still a faint rining in my ear, but I could hear Ryan's voice now.

"Noah...- Noah you're bleeding." he was still holding onto my arm. Confused, I raised a hand over my shoulder and touched the back of my neck. I felt another sharp, painful sting as my fingers closed around something hard. I blanched as I drew my hand back to see a piece of bloodstained glass. I dropped it, letting the small shard shatter at my feet. I looked at Ryan. He was bleeding too. His blazer was ripped at the back, and I could see spots of crimson forming on his white shirt.

"We need to go to the infirmar-" I was cut off by another shrill scream. An anguished cry pierced throgh the hall. We turned to the platform, where the scream came from. That was Raven's voice.

We rushed up the platform stairs. The scene before me made me stagger back in horror, hand over my mouth. The enourmous window, which took up the entire wall behind was shattered, with shards of glass scattered all over the platform. The thrones were all damaged by the blast. The others were all bleeding, but their attention wasn't focused on their wounds. Thrown through the now gaping hole in the window, sitting in the middle of the platform was a severed head. Raven was on the floor, sobbing while Mark stood next to her, mouth open, staring the floor. The twins were both crying, and Indigo, Jake, Jason and Elli were all watching open-mouthed, blinking as if trying to wake up from a bad dream. I felt tears prickle my eyes.

"Noemi! Noemi what happen-" Silver had appeared next to me and grabbed my other arm when she stopped short.

Luna, Carl, Aelius, Bethany and our parents joined us on the platform and blanched in horror. Luna let out a stiffled sob at the sight before us. "God help us...." she whispered.

Because the severed head on the floor infront of us, belonged to Celeste.