Prophecy, Book One of the Kingdoms of Chartile

Chapter Twenty-Five: Coronation, Part One

The morning sun rose warm that day when all the others had been cool and crisp. Piper sat up in bed, staring out the window of the tower. It was the day of her coronation. In a few short hours, Piper Romilly, born Eva Ruani, daughter of King Aramor and Queen Runa, would be crowned Queen of the Elves of Chartile. She took several deep breaths and turned to look at the dress hanging beside the newly repaired dressing table. It was her mother's dress that she had worn when presented to the Council of Elders at Mount Kelsii.

Valar had stepped up as her temporary advisor until she had time to choose his successor, and so Valin could return to his duties in Cannondole. He had insisted she wear something new for the occasion, but Piper put her foot down. She had declared a period of mourning for her people for the loss of their princess. Since her coronation gown was not a requirement for the mandatory day to day workings of the Elves, she refused to make them work on a new dress for her. It was Valin who had convinced her to let only the seamstresses who wanted to work on her dress apply some golden thread and embroidery to the gown. When she saw their eager faces, she couldn't deny them the pleasure of saying they had worked on the queen's coronation gown.

Soon her beck-ands would be up to help her with her hair and beauty paints. The tugging and pulling, and the oils and perfumes were enough to drive her mad. Piper pushed back her bed covers and hurried to the dressing table. She quickly tied her hair back and pulled on plain traveling clothes and a gray wool hood that fell past her shoulders.

She picked up the bow that rested beside her bed and slung a quiver of arrows over her shoulder. They had once belonged to Jayson, and she was bound and determined to somehow get them back to him. But right now, she wanted to be Piper one last time.

She crept down the stone steps and peeked out into the hall. It was bustling with nobles, guards and beck-ands, all excited and preparing for the day's coming coronation.

Carefully, Piper opened the door to the tower stair but did not step out. The air around her began to shimmer. She could feel the temperature dropping, and she shivered beneath her hood. She moved slowly and tiptoed into the corridor, keeping to the wall. She made her way into the library and halted immediately. Yet more nobles gathered there, whispering amongst themselves beside the bookshelves. She continued along the outer walls of the library. Jack would have called it a ninja-stealth-walk, and she had to stifle a giggle at the thought. There was a door to her right that led from the library out to the gardens beyond. Piper knew the door creaked horribly. She removed the magic she used to conceal herself and forced the remaining energy toward a large stack of documents on the table beside a cluster of nobles. The pile cascaded to the floor, and the nobles dropped to the mossy ground to retrieve the fragile parchment. Piper slipped out the door and ran to the training yard.

She fought the urge to throw back her hood as she went, and bask in the warmth of the sun that filled the small clearing. The trees surrounding the Elven palace were the largest and tallest trees in the forest. They hid the palace well but did not allow for much sunlight to filter through. For Piper, who had been raised at the base of Mount Kelsii, it was almost as suffocating as a prison cell. She took a deep breath, breathing in the fresh autumn air. It was her favorite smell in the entire world. The heat of the sun warmed the dying leaves, and it sent pleasant chills down her spine.

A few archers had already assembled themselves at the shooting range. Every guard was to be on standby and at the ready during her coronation. She assumed these young men were getting in some practice beforehand. She took the target at the far end of the field away from the other archers. She stabbed a few arrows from the quiver into the ground and lined herself up. The first few were slightly off, but by her last arrow, she had hit the center target a handful of times.