Not so Imaginary // On Hold // GxB Paranormal Romance

Part Seven | The Kingdom of Broken Promises

S E V E N 

The crown was silver and formed by spires of raw crystal. Even from the back of the room, I could see that it was beautiful. It also didn't look very practical. I couldn't imagine how it was going to stay on Ren's head. But then again, these things are never designed for function, are they?

Ren moved slowly down the aisle while his cloak dragged against the floor behind him. He walked with such practiced grace that there might as well have been music. It was a little transfixing, I have to admit. Everybody else seemed to think so, too.

Well, maybe not everybody. At the head of the room was an elevated platform, where a wizened old man stood in front of an empty seat and held the crown high for all to see. He glared around the room while everyone else was watching Ren. When his eyes fell on me, I thought I felt something like a jolt, and then Ren was at the front and whatever I had felt was gone.

"To the people of the Hall," the man began as Ren knelt at the base of the steps. "We are gathered here today to witness the rise of a new era. An era of power and prosperity, one where our foes will fall beneath us and our triumphs will be great..." It seemed like a rehearsed speech, and one where Ren knew all the cues. Yet he'd been so willing just an hour before to try to ditch it.

At last, Ren rose to the top of the stairs only to kneel again at the man's feet. He held the crown up one more time, then moved to place it on Ren's head. But before he could, someone from the front of the crowd stood.

"You will crown a hooded man?" said the one who had risen, "Remove your cloak or I will take it off for you."

I watched Ren still kneeling at the front as if he hadn't heard, wondering if this was all somehow part of the ceremony, but the rush of whispers swept through the crowd told me it wasn't.

"He's right, though," mumbled Attendant Eldrich by my side. When I glanced over, he was watching as intently as the rest of the crowd and showed no sign of moving to help.

If Ren didn't want to remove his cloak and hood, I knew there had to be a reason. "Why does he hide his face?"

Eldrich looked over at me with an expression that said he'd forgotten I was there. His face darkened as he said, "I can think of one reason. And it's not good."

At that moment, another stood from the crowd, "Let us see your face," she said. "We must know the eyes of our future king."

The little, old man who was leading the ceremony glanced between Ren and the crowd as one after another, they took to their feet. "Now, now," he tried, "Contain yourselves. We must proceed in an orderly manner. If you will--" He was drowned out in the rising voice of the audience, now entirely on their feet.

"So you want to see my face," said Ren, the room silencing as he spoke. He was still turned to the head of the room and away from the crowd, but as he began to stand, Eldrich lurched forward as if to stop him. Only, a guard with a staff held out his weapon in front of us and the attendant fell back into place.

"Then so be it," said Ren, turning around and pulling down his hood in one swift motion. I stared at what I saw. How could I not? His eyes--his eyes were bright red and softly glowing, like rubies reflecting the light.

The room was suddenly silent with this revelation, but that silence only lasted a moment. The breath before the storm.

"You're a murderer," accused the same man who had first risen, this time taking to the stage where all could see. "You have murdered another Morrir, and you have been marked for it! And yet you wish to become our king."