Chapter 55

Two Days Later.

I had a weird sense of deja vu as I woke to the bluish dawn light streaming in through the curtains across from my bed. We were back in the guest suite normally given to us in Vulkan Keep: all eleven of us.

Karalti was curled around my back in her human shape, snoozing softly by my ear. Suri was on the other side of the bed: apart from us, but within arm's reach. From the crook of her neck to her feet, she was covered in and surrounded by eight fluffy, puffy little hookwing chicks. The ninth, that Gar had officially christened Smudge but mostly called Puta, was with him in his reclaimed ship. The Strelitziahad proven itself to be as fast as he'd claimed. It had flown all of us back to Taltos in time for my confirmation as Prince.

I yawned, and carefully pushed myself up to sit. Even that tentative motion caused the little hookwings to start chirping like a nest of alligators. I snorted softly and checked the time, then carefully slid off the bed and went to the bathroom to clean and get dressed in the outfit that had been laid out for me - black and crimson trimmed in white gold, the colors of the House of Corvinus.

Suri was a light sleeper when she was sharing a bed, and the noise of me getting ready roused her. She blearily lifted her head as I padded back into the room, scattering baby hookwings to each side with peeps and squawks. "Urrgh. Time already?"

"We've got about an hour before we join the parade." I held my arms out. "What do you think?"

Suri groaned, and shifted among the crowd of baby dinosaurs. Like water, they scrambled and squeaked over her, balling up to press in against her body no matter which way she moved. After about an hour of tender maternal care - inclusive of throwing up a bunch of regurgitated meat - Cutthroat had nudged all her babies out of her nest, tucked her head under her tail, and gone to sleep for a whole night, leaving them for Suri to look after. The next day, the chicks were already up and walking, following their mother in a bumbling duckling line. The Stablemaster had advised Suri to sleep with the babies, and only give them back to Cutthroat to be fed. They would model their behaviors on whoever they spent the most time with, and the last thing the stables needed were nine more Cutthroats. Reinforcing hookwing pens was expensive.

"I think you look fucking amazing," Suri said, stretching and yawning. She was topless, and my eyes were magnetically drawn down to... yeah.

"Well, your face looks fucking amazing." I put my hands on my hips, and struck a heroic pose.

Suri's full lips quirked, and she arched a brow. "Then why are you staring at my tits?"

"Because they're awesome?" I nodded, still posing. Still trying - and failing - not to be too obvious about where I was looking.

"Oh, they are, are they?" Suri got a sly look, pushed her arms forward, and did a little shimmy with her torso. Suri was... well endowed, and her whole chest swayed from side to side in a way that had an immediate effect on Hector Jnr.

"Do you have any idea how awkward it's going to be to accept my crown or whatever the fuck while I'm having to walk like THIS?" I scowled at her, and pointed down. Firmly. "Unless the ceremony is like that... shit, what's that fucking game called? Quoits? The one where you try to throw a ring over a hook from a distance. The guy that manages to stick the crown over my cock gets a prize or something."

Suri burst out laughing, snort-giggled, and fell back to laugh even harder with her hand over her mouth. The chicks - and Karalti - began to chirp and groan in protest at the noise. Dinosaurian creatures apparently didn't like early mornings, no matter what species they were.

After carefully extracting herself out of the pile of chicks, Suri and I went to the sitting area and took breakfast together - Vlachian-style citrus tea, coffee, pastries, and open-faced sandwiches. I felt a strange sense of deja-vu as I listened to her getting ready in the bathroom. She was still getting dressed and Karalti just starting to rouse when there was a knock on the door. Admiral Lostra waited for us on the other side.

"His Majesty sent me to fetch you, Your Highness." Lostra was dressed in the full regalia of his rank, his breast decorated in badges. "Are the ladies ready, or...?"

"You go ahead. I'll catch up." Suri called from the bathroom.

Behind me, Karalti stretched and yawned.

"Not quite, but we'll be there soon." I blocked the door - Karalti always slept naked - and grinned at him.

"Ah." He smiled knowingly, and cleared his throat. "When you are ready, the procession is gathering at the southern gate."

"Got it. See you then."

Twenty minutes or so later, Karalti and I glided out over the castle. I drank in the sight of the city as we slowly spiraled down toward the parade that was assembling at the base of the road leading into the city. Taltos was a dark and beautiful place, built mostly from black volcanic stone. The steeples and golden domes and tall walls glittered in the light of the dawn as we swooped down.

"Always takes my breath away a bit," I mused to Karalti. The wind was icy through my nobleman's finery. Vlachian clothes were generally pretty sturdy, but they weren't made for flying.

"Same. I love this place." Karalti sighed softly, adjusting a wingtip as she gyred down toward her landing zone - behind the ranks of hookwings assembling around the royal carriage. "Taltos is the first home where I ever felt safe."

I frowned slightly at that. Thinking back... it was true. We'd spent Karalti's first month of life on the run from Ororgael and his cronies - the Mata Argis, functionally the Ilian revolutionary inquisition. "Yeah... we've come a long way since then. Weird to think Ororgael’s dead."

"Do you think he really IS dead? He was going on about Lucien not being able to kill him in any way that matters."

"Hard to say. He was so emeshed with Squalor and all that corruption shit... who knows?" I remembered his last words with a chill. What if he had merged with Squalor in the way Steve had meshed with OUROS? "For now, at least, he's gone. And that'll set Squalor back, no matter what. We have to take advantage of the weakness in our enemies' ranks, push forward while we can. If he somehow makes a comeback, well... we'll be ready for it."

Karalti's agreement was wordless as she touched down, neatly backwinging with almost no forward momentum. She flipped her wings along her flanks and padded into position at the rear of the procession. The Royal Coach bearing Ignas was flanked by three lines of Knights of the Red Star in front, and the Black Legion, Vulkan Keep's garrison, in the rear. I was glad to see that most of the soldiers of the Legion had survived Ignas’ purge. They'd been instrumental in arresting Janos and preventing his escape.

"Ready?" Karalti asked me.

"Yup," I said. "Let 'em know."

Karalti concentrated, and after a few seconds, Rutha stuck her head out of the Royal Coach window, smiling up at us and waving. The order was carried down the line... and off they went.

My dragon breathed in deeply, then threw her head back and let her Queensong peal through the valley, warbling off the walls and cliffs before she threw herself into the sky again. The torque pinned me against the saddle and sucked the air from my lungs - just before I began to laugh and whoop, clinging to her back as she rolled in the air, shooting over the gate and the street below. No matter how many would-be evil overlords we had to take out, no matter how shitty things got... there was still no better feeling in the world than this.

***

The last time I'd visited the Church of the Maker had been for Ignas' coronation. This time, I was the one who waited in front of the sacred forge as the High Forgemaster of Khors, Kaled Ferenz, expertly crafted the prince's coronet in front of the assembled crowd. The temple of Khors had no choir - the only music in the great domed church was the ring of the high priest's hammer against the glowing metal that was to become my crown. Because I was a prince, there was no throne for me. I genuflected on one knee as the Forgemaster worked, thinking about what I was going to say.

When the last hammerblow fell, Forgemaster Ferenz lifted the slim coronet in his tongs, then plunged it into the water at the end of the forge. It frothed and bubbled, and when he pulled it free, soft applause went up around the crowd. I looked back to see Suri in the front row of pews, dressed in the same scarlet ruby gown she'd worn when Ignas had been crowned in this same church. Karalti perched beside her in her black and blue monastic vestments of Matir. Rin had come, too, dressed in her crafter's best. Rutha, Simeon, and Masha watched approvingly from the other side of the crowd.

"The crown is forged!" The Forgemaster boomed, setting it down carefully on top of a scarlet cushion. "Make way for his Majesty, Ignas Corvinus II!"

Ignas rose from his place at the back of the hall, and to my surprise, walked unassisted down the aisle. He was in his full royal finery - cloak, crown, scepter and sword. His blindfold had been replaced by an ornate metal visor in the Mercurion style, burning with a crimson Blindsight sigil on the front. An honor guard of Knights of the Red Star followed him, and behind them, Ur Gehlan with five of the Knights who had defected to Myszno. These Knights of the Black Star had switched out their red lamellar armor for ebony lacquer. Ur Gehlan winked at me as they circled around, mixing with their scarlet-clad brothers as Ignas approached the altar.

The High Forgemaster took the scepter and sword from Ignas, and gently guided his hands to the coronet. Ignas took it, raising it high as he turned. It was a simple band of silvery metal with a single piece of ruby mana set in the center. The crowns of Vlachia were intentionally simple: well-made, but without any frills.

"It has been a long time since the Rite of Anda has taken place in this church," Ignas said, his dry, well-spoken voice carrying throughout the hall. "It is one of our oldest, and rarely used laws, created to ensure the continuity of strong rulership. Every Volod has the right to enact anda and name an heir who is not his son by birth, but who is sworn to him by oath and blood. Even so, it is a rare ritual, one not enacted since my ancestor, Lawislaw Corvinus the First, swore in Stepan Corvinus as his adopted son and heir. In doing so, he ensured the continuation of our line, and as we all know, Stepan ruled wisely and well for a lifetime.” He paused for effect. “Today, I confirm Hector Dragozin-Corvinus the First as prince of Vlachia under those same ancient laws. Rarely has a crown ever been so well earned. Hector, please stand."

I rose smoothly to my feet, and smiled as Ignas came to me. He smiled back as he placed the crown on my brow, fitting it to my head. Part of me wondered if it looked goofy with the Tuun hairstyle I wore, but the gesture was accompanied by applause and cheers from the crowd. Only once it had died off did Ignas speak again.

"The blood pact of anda was sworn in front of noble witnesses in the province of Myszno. And thus I hereby declare Hector Dragozin-Corvinus the Crown Prince of Vlachia, effective immediately." Ignas turned to the audience. "Do you, the people of Vlachia, accept this decree?"

The roar was thunderous. My face turned red as people got to their feet to whistle and cheer. I recognized some of them; others were nobles and priests or officers I had ever only seen in passing, or never met at all. But they had heard of what we'd done - not just me, but Suri, Rin, Karalti, Vash... everyone who'd helped to rescue their Volod and bring him back.

Once the noise stopped, Ignas patted me gently on the back, and bent down to speak softly. "And now, as we rehearsed."

I felt my chest swell a little as I stepped forward, made sure my throat was clear, and began to speak.

"Citizens of Vlachia, I humbly thank you all for this honor," I announced, running over the pre-prepared part of the acceptance speech - and the part I'd composed while waiting for the crown to be forged. "This day would not have been possible without the heroism of many here today, both those who helped to bring His Majesty back to Vlachia after his betrayal, and those who kept this nation running while chaos plagued the courts. Please acknowledge Karalti, the Black Opal Queen; Countess Suri Ba'Hadir, Journeyman Rin Lu, the Masterhealer Masha of Myszno, Rutha of Vasteau, and - in absentia - the Baru Vash Dorha and Istvan Arshak, steward of the Voivode of Myszno."

Suri smiled as she accepted her round of congratulations. Rin, her hands clamped over her winglet ears to drown some of the noise, blushed a vivid blue.

"But even though we have won the dragons of Ilia, and they now fight for us, the battle against the forces that would have brought Vlachia low is not over," I said, taking a step forward. "The threat of Ilia and Dakhdir remains. As long as tyrants hold positions of rulership in those nations, as long as they occupy Revala and other rightful sovereign territories, Vlachia is not safe.” I paused the way Ignas had done, giving the words time to sink in. “And so, in my first act as Prince, I will be leading an army of airships, ground troops, and dragons to Revala, where we WILL liberate the Second Fleet, restore Princess Sohvi to her rightful throne, and chase the Ilians back to Ilia. There is a war to end all wars coming - but I swear that the nations of this world will be ready when the Drachan return. We will fight, and we WILL win."

The applause was deafening - even louder than when I had been crowned. And as the Vlachians stood, eyes dark with fierce determination, I knew that we had picked the right country to stand with in the coming war against Squalor.

“I hope you can see this, Steve,” I thought, lifting my chin as I watched the officers stand. “I hope you know that I understand what you did. And what we now have to do.”