Dawn of Arcane Destiny

Chapter Ninety-Four

Drayce twisted his hands anxiously in his lap. Realizing he looked ridiculous, he smoothed them against his dress pants, but unconsciously started to twitch his leg.

A smaller, feminine hand took hold of his right hand. Some of his nervousness faded, but most still resided, his stomach twisting itself into knots. Drayce looked at Lillia sitting at his right hand and attempted a smile. She looked beautiful; her hair tied up, the braids woven through the golden crown on her head. Her teal dress accentuated her hair and green eyes.

"You look beautiful." He whispered to her.

"Thank you." She said blushing. "But this is all about you. Are you ready to become King?"

"I think you already know the answer to that." He said.

"No, actually I don't. You're so conflicted about it most of the time. I can't keep up with your whirlwind of emotion on this particular topic." She said.

"Considering that the end of the world could take place tonight, I'd say no not currently." Drayce said. Valloma was nearly finished with her speech, about the pride of Kamasia, yada, yada, yada. Drayce felt a pang of guilt at that thought. His aunt had been through a lot. He had scarcely seen her recently. She had gone to visit a friend in her mourning, since Drayce and Lillia couldn't provide much in the way of comfort.

Drayce looked over the crowd of people and saw their opinions written all over their faces. They were mad. While the political unrest had been dialed down, the hate was still there. Drayce was not well liked, and it seemed, would never be.

"The Crown Prince, Drayce Thorin Shalddwell, will now take the sacred oaths." Queen Valloma announced.

Drayce stood and walked over to her and knelt. This part was traditionally done by the former king, but on the occasion when the former king had passed, the responsibility fell to the queen.

Drayce looked up and saw Ella and Caelum holding Thorin and Roselen in their arms off to the side. I'm doing this for you, for a better life, for all of us.

"Drayce Thorin Shalddwell," Valloma said in a loud voice. "Do you promise to help and protect the people of this land to the best of your ability?"

"I do." He announced.

"And do you promise to uphold the law and the integrity of not only the monarchy but the land, representing not only you and the government, but also the people?" Valloma asked.

"I do." Drayce said.

"Finally, do you promise to do what's best for the well-being of Kamasia in all your actions, negotiations, and laws?"

"I do." Drayce said, sealing the deal. He squeezed his eyes shut. Of course that's only if I'm able to prevent death to all of us.

Valloma turned and was presented a crown which she, in turn, placed on Drayce's head. The burden was immediate and immense. The fate of his entire country was now his. For better or for worse.

He stood and turned towards the crowd. Some looked on passively, but majority booed.

"What rubbish!" Some yelled. "He won't do anything but burn this country to the ground!"

"I'd sooner die than support him!" Others yelled. "Kamasia is doomed!"

Drayce's mouth tightened. How little they knew. If they only knew that they were in deeper trouble than they could fathom, and he was their only hope of survival.

"All hail King Shalddwell!" Valloma yelled to be heard over the ruckus of the crowd. She bowed to him, most of the nobility followed, if only because they weren't stupid. Being brazenly obstinate to your king wouldn't be good for your standing in society. As far as Drayce could see, none of the common people showed any signs of respect. They continued to shout obscenities and objections that they knew, deep down, wouldn't be heard.

Drayce turned and took Lillia's hand pulling her out of her bow. It was untraditional and exactly his style. She looked panicked for a moment, but he saw she understood, that they couldn't do more damage than they already had, just by reputation.

She stepped forward, on his right hand, and stood with him, as the Kingdom of Kamasia wished them the worst.

***

Drayce stepped into his room, immediately ripping the opulent crown from his head. If he was going to be forced to wear a crown from in on out, he was going to have to get a simpler, less showy one. Unlike his uncle, he didn't like flaunting his power.

Drayce was shrugging his suit coat off when Lillia entered. The metals jingled together as he dropped it on the bed for his valet to pick up. "That was a tough crowd if I've ever seen one." She said as she sat in a chair. Relief registered on her face as she leaned against the plush back. It had only been a week since Thorin and Roselen were born, in Drayce's opinion she shouldn't be out of bed, but she seemed to be healing unnaturally fast.

"How are you feeling?" He asked sitting in the chair next to hers.

"Fine, just tired and sore. You won't be getting me dressed up again anytime soon." She said smiling.

"I honestly cannot believe you were well enough to go to the coronation." Drayce said, not bothering to hide the amazement in his tone. "It's only been a week."

She shrugged. "Actually, I've been thinking about that."

"Oh?" Drayce asked as he loosened his cravat.

"No one naturally heals this fast. Even with your speed healing, you don't heal this fast from anything, unless it's a minor injury." She said. "What if Keir's possession of my body has given me temporary powers?"

Drayce looked at her in shock. "Is that possible?"

"I don't know." Lillia said. "You said yourself, when we were at the gods' sanctuary, I used an energy surge."

"Yes, but that was when he was in active control." Drayce pointed out.

"But healing is a background thing. Your body naturally does it, just sped up. What if I'm just unconsciously using his power?"

Drayce blew out a tense breath. "I'm glad you're starting to feel better, but do you realize how messed up that sounds? This is exactly what I accidentally did in the Well of Tethoris, and we both know how that turned out." He said.

Lillia nodded. "Well obviously if this is the case, I can't control it anymore than you can control your speed of healing. That was simply my speculation."

Drayce took her hand and kissed the back. "We will find a way to fix this. I promise you, I will not let you meet the same fate my cousins did."

"You shouldn't promise things like that." She said evenly, but Drayce saw the shred of sadness in her eyes. She had already resigned herself to her horrible fate. Drayce wouldn't, he couldn't let that happen.

"I mean it." Drayce said. "Lilly, you have people that love you and need you. I'm not just going to let you slip away so easily."

"Loved and needed." She said, almost to herself. "A year ago, I would have never thought that possible. I've gone my entire life without knowing what it truly means to be loved." She turned her head towards him. "Thank you for showing me."

Drayce fought back an intense wave of emotion that welled up inside him. "Please. Please don't talk like that. Everything is going to be okay. You'll see. We'll all make it through this alive and well, and in a few months, we'll be able to look back and joke about our adventures."

She nodded. "I hope you're right."