It was a sound unlike anything she had ever heard before.
The voices were strong, skilled, and perfectly blended. It was not a song with words, just a series of chords and strains. There were no instruments to accompany them, but their voices replicated the sounds of a full orchestra, some low and throbbing, some high and piercing. It was soft, lilting, and the force of it grew and grew, swelling like a rainstorm of sound that washed across the courtyard of the abbey, ascending over the walls and into the streets. Maia could hear the sounds of the little ones, the children, among the others, and it stung her eyes with tears.
The choir’s music built and then ebbed and then built again to a crescendo more powerful and affecting than anything she’d ever heard. With the sound came the Medium. It was as if the singers had ensnared it with a spell, their voices a supplication that could not be denied. Maia stared at them in wonder and awe, experiencing a flood of unexpected emotions. The gathered crowd was mesmerized too, she could tell. The choir’s song had stilled the enormous city as if it were a child too wonder-struck to breathe. The feeling of the Medium permeated the throng, spreading to every soul who could hear the singing.
Maia glanced back at the Aldermaston, who beamed with pride and approval at those who were singing the coronation anthem. She stared at him in disbelief, understanding anew the importance of these people they had saved from destruction. She could not imagine what would have happened if the Victus had gotten to them first, silencing their music, art, poetry, and craft forever.
The choir finished singing, the end of their performance leaving pricks of gooseflesh down Maia’s arms. The Aldermaston smiled at the choir. There was no clapping or cheering. Praise would only have defiled such purity of music.
Aldermaston Wyrich gestured for her to kneel again. She did and lifted her face to him.
“Will you, Lady Maia, pledge to defend your subjects, maintain peace, and administer justice throughout the realm?” He smiled at her again, but now there was solemnity in his expression.
“Yes,” she answered boldly.
“Will you promise to the people of Comoros, your realms and dominions, to keep the just and licit laws and liberties of this realm and your dominion?”
“Yes,” she said. Now was the time. She shuddered with anxiety, but the dread in her heart had vanished.
Once she had risen from the pillow, the Aldermaston escorted her to the canopy held by four men who were part of her Privy Council—the mayor, the Earl of Caspur, Dodd, and Richard Syon. Suzenne waited behind them to help her disrobe.
She trembled with cold as Suzenne helped strip away her gown, leaving her in her chaen and chemise. She saw the men’s eyes widen as they took in the sight of the kystrel’s taint rising from beneath her bodice. Even Dodd’s mouth firmed into a small frown. Maia breathed deeply and then knelt once again before the Aldermaston.
Aldermaston Wyrich turned to the four men, his expression grave. “We allow you knowledge of this,” he said softly, “so that there be no deceit in the realm. The marks of corruption you see on her body were not chosen willingly; they were offenses done against her. She passed her maston oaths at Muirwood on Whitsunday. She is a queen-maston, not a hetaera.”
As he spoke, the force of the Medium jolted through the group, as palpable as it had been during the choir’s performance. Maia saw those holding the staves start to tremble, as if the meager weight of it were suddenly too heavy to bear. Tears trickled down Caspur’s cheeks. With a look of astonishment, the mayor flushed and turned away his gaze. Dodd continued to look at her for a moment, his expression changing to wonderment, and then shifted his gaze to Suzenne, as if to ask if she already knew. Suzenne nodded and smiled knowingly.
Richard Syon, who had long known the truth, gave Maia a look of tenderness and encouragement that warmed her heart and emboldened her. He was the one who had helped her the most. He had sustained her, taught her the ways of the Medium, and enlightened her with wisdom and the tomes of the ages. She respected him as a father.