“Your Highness,” said the deep, gravelly voiced Lord Maksim at her back. “We are thankful for this information, but what petition do you have?”
His countenance was as dark and stormy as his voice. He and Lord Rathbone were dear friends besides being high counselors together of the House. He was a no-nonsense kind of man, which also made his loyalty invaluable. He wasn’t a man to be persuaded to anything other than what was right and best for the land of Arkadia. She couldn’t be sure, but she hoped Rathbone had apprised him of today’s proceedings and that he was fully on board.
“Thank you, Lord Maksim. Here it is.” Lifting her eyes to the tiers of lords who held her fate in their hands—everyone’s fate for that matter—she said, “I petition this most reverent House to bestow upon me my birthright. To crown me as the sovereign Queen of Arkadia.”
Loud murmurs and grumbling swept the chamber. Lord Rathbone hammered the gavel several times as one of the lords in the lowest tier stood.
“Lord Hanson, you have the floor,” said Rathbone.
“Your Highness,” he began respectfully. “By what right do you ask for this petition now?”
“By what right do you keep it from me?”
She kept her voice level and steady even as her knees trembled. She needed these men behind her. To claim the crown wasn’t enough. She must have a kingdom behind her or it was pointless. She must not cower but show strength.
“Begging your pardon,” Lord Hanson continued, “but you have laid out before us that you have as much allied with the Black Lily, the exiled prince, and this Bloodguard.”
Friedrich raised his hand. “And don’t forget the exiled Duke of Winter Hill.”
Now the murmurings escalated to new heights. They obviously saw Friedrich and understood his reason for being here, and yet not until he made it quite clear where he stood did they react.
“As you can see, Lord Hanson,” she continued, stepping from behind the podium but remaining on the dais, her hands folded demurely before her, “factions of the Varis family are breaking away from the queen. But let me answer your first question.” Her voice rose, and she sensed an internal fire sparking to life, tingling along her skin like a magical mantel to protect her, to guide her. “I have the right to petition for my immediate coronation because I am Vilhelmina Dragomir, daughter of the just and rightful King Holland Dragomir. The blood that flows in my veins flowed in that of our founding father, my great-great-grandfather King Thormand Dragomir, who conquered this territory and claimed it for his people, the only kingdom still not under the tyrannical rule of the Glass Tower.” She spoke treason against the queen, and yet it felt more like victory. “As the last living descendant of Thormand Dragomir, I am your rightful sovereign of this great land, and I pledge my life to rule as my father did before me.”
Her voice had reached a fever pitch, roaring to the height of the dome. Lords lifted up their scepters and banged them on the stone, cheers swelling high.
“Hold!” Lord Grable of the Pierson Province stood and raised his hand.
Lord Rathbone hammered the gavel again.
“Your Highness!” The knocking of the scepters on the floor dimmed, giving this particular vampire lord due respect. “You are correct. You are our rightful sovereign. But is it your intention to force us into war against the Glass Tower? I admire the heart of the human army of the Black Lily and these few men of the Bloodguard, but this force of her vampire army along with King Dominik’s is too formidable.”
“My lord, I cannot and will not force anyone to do anything. I am not the tyrant Queen Morgrid.” She emphasized the last with vehemence. “But mark me well. War is coming. If you ignore this call, you will fall, just as the Black Lily will without the help of the Arkadians. You will lose more than your queen into the hands of King Dominik, for I can promise you I will die before I become his wife.”
She caught the slightest movement of Mikhail below her, his hands fisted at his sides. She continued.
“The queen will not be satisfied until she owns us all under the dark veil she plans to spread over our lands. Until our soil is soaked in the blood of your wives and sons and daughters. The blood of my people.” She pressed a fist to her heart. “Do you really want to wait until that shadow falls on your doorsteps—for it will should the Black Lily fail—and then you will wonder why you didn’t fight when you had the chance? When your queen asked you to.”
A hush fell upon them all. She waited, holding Lord Grable’s gaze. Finally, he lifted his scepter and raised it in the air, “Hail, Queen Vilhelmina!”
A cacophony of cheers and resounding echoes of Lord Grable reverberated in the forum, scepters pounding on the floor. Mina’s heart swelled with such love and pride she could hardly bear it. Then Lord Rathbone was at the foot of the dais, offering his hand near the steps. He had a square of cloth tucked under his arm. She let him lead her down to the hall floor while cheers continued.
He leaned in close. “Well done. You nearly had me swooning at your feet.”
“I find that highly unlikely.”
He chuckled before sobering his face for the crowd with a hand in the air. When they’d all taken their seats, he continued, “Due to the dire state of the land abroad and because a formal coronation would put our sovereign’s life at risk, we can afford no formal ceremony as Her Highness deserves. Therefore, we will proceed immediately.”
He unfolded a scrap of green silk embroidered with her sigil, the white dragon, the edges frayed from time.
“Here is the banner carried by King Thormand’s army into battle in these southern lands. The original banner that waved over the fields of victory for our people.”
He whipped it out and laid it upon the marble floor.
“Please kneel, Your Highness.”
She swallowed the lump of emotion lodged in her throat as he helped her to her knees. Lord Maksim was suddenly behind him, holding the silver scepter of the high counsel of the House. Apparently, he had been apprised of this plan somehow. Lord Maksim held the sacred scepter to the people of Arkadia. Automatically, she bowed her head as he recited a litany of words from the Arkadian Book of Order. It held the laws and rights of the people as well as the role of their sovereign ruler.
She heard hardly any of it at all, trembling where she knelt, realizing she’d done it after all. Mikhail was right. She was strong. Her voice was heard. And they believed in her. The responsibility of her new role was overwhelming and wonderful all at the same time. Destiny smiled upon her. She snapped back to what was happening when she felt the scepter touch her right shoulder.
“Do you promise to uphold the Arkadian Book of Order, to rule by law, justice, and mercy in all your judgments?”
“I solemnly promise.”
He touched her left shoulder with the scepter. “And will you uphold your oath of loyalty to the people of Arkadia, vowing upon your heart and soul?”
“I will.”