Chapter 2 - The Silence of the High Altar
The captain’s deep voice rolled across the vaulted marble like a crack of sudden thunder.
Noble women clutched their pearl necklaces in shock.
Men whispered frantically, their hands unconsciously dropping toward the hilts of ceremonial daggers.
Lady Victoria Langley remained frozen in place.
Her pale skin had turned the color of stale wax.
"Captain Rowan, have you lost your mind?" Victoria demanded, her voice screeching into the rafters.
She gestured wildly at Elena with a trembling finger.
"That girl is a scullery maid from the lower outer wards!" Victoria cried.
"She cleaned grease from the hearthstones only yesterday morning!" she added.
Rowan did not look up at the duchess.
He kept his armored knee planted firmly on the cold stone.
His head remained bowed with absolute military discipline.
"I know the Dragon Crest of King Alden when I see it," Rowan spoke clearly.
"I guarded his bedchamber the night the royal manor was burned by traitors," Rowan declared.
"Only one ring was forged from the red-gold of Mount Cinder," he continued.
"It was worn by the sovereign and passed to his legitimate heir," he said.
Elena stood perfectly still in the center of the nave.
Blood continued to trickle slowly down her cheek, dripping steadily onto the golden cloth in her hands.
She did not tremble.
The fear that usually governed servants had vanished entirely from her face.
"Tell me, Victoria," Elena said in a calm, melodic voice.
Her tone carried a quiet authority that cut through the whispering crowds with terrifying clarity.
"Does the Langley house strike every royal heir who walks these halls?" Elena asked.
Victoria scoffed, though a sharp bead of cold sweat formed near her ear.
"You are no heir, you insolent wretch," Victoria spat back.
"You are a thief who dug through the royal ruins to steal a dead man's jewelry," she sneered.
Princess Celestine rose slowly from the throne at the top of the dais.
Her ceremonial robe of heavy ermine dragged along the carpeted steps as she descended.
Her face was flushed pale with anxiety.
"Captain, please," Celestine pleaded, her hands clasped tightly against her chest.
"Today is supposed to be the day of our unity," the princess whispered.
"The kingdom is starving, the borders are unstable, and our people cannot bear another succession war," she said.
Elena turned her eyes toward Celestine.
There was no malice in Elena’s gaze, only a heavy sorrow.
"You were a child when the fire raged, Celestine," Elena said softly.
"You were told your elder sister perished in the flames," Elena stated.
"You were told the line of the dragon had ended with our father," she added.
The Great Hall gasped in unison.
Celestine froze on the third step of the dais.
Her eyes widened until they were almost wild with disbelief.
"Sister?" Celestine whispered, her knees visibly trembling beneath her velvet petticoats.
"My sister died in the eastern wing," she stammered.
"They found her locket among the charred bones," Celestine insisted.
Elena raised the Sacred Veil and draped it over her left forearm with practiced reverence.
With her free right hand, she reached beneath the collar of her grey dress.
She pulled out an iron key suspended by a frayed leather cord.
The key was blackened with old soot and bore the same dragon hallmark.
"They found the locket because Duke Langley placed it upon another child's corpse," Elena said.
The accusation hung in the air like a poisoned dagger.
Dukes and counts immediately turned their heads toward Lord George Langley, Victoria’s husband, standing near the balcony.
Lord George took a step back into the shadows of the alcove.
His hand twitched against his velvet doublet.
"Lies and treason!" Lord George shouted from the gallery.
"Guards! Arrest this lunatic before she defiles the coronation any further!" he commanded.
A dozen younger guards stationed at the outer gates began to unholster their weapons.
They took two steps forward into the aisle.
Captain Rowan stood up immediately.
He drew his heavy steel broadsword with a single swift motion that sang through the quiet room.
"Stand fast!" Rowan roared at the junior officers.
"Any man who draws steel against the bearer of the King’s Seal commits high treason under martial code!" he bellowed.
The younger soldiers halted instantly, exchanging terrified glances.
Rowan had trained every guard in the palace garrison.
Not a single man was willing to cross blades with their old captain over a noble's order.
Victoria was trembling with uncontrollable rage.
"You coward!" Victoria shouted at Rowan.
"You are committing our kingdom to slaughter over a piece of scrap metal!" she screamed.
Elena walked forward, her shoes making soft clicks against the floor.
She stopped three inches from Victoria’s face.
Victoria tried to maintain her aristocratic glare, but Elena’s gaze was unyielding.
"You hit me because you thought I was defenseless," Elena whispered directly into her ear.
"You thought power belonged to those who screamed the loudest in high halls," Elena continued.
"For twenty years, I have washed your floors, carried your refuse, and watched you steal this kingdom's wealth," Elena said.
"I know every secret passage in this palace," she added.
"I know which ministers took your bribes," she said.
"And I know where your husband hid the tax wagons meant for the starving orphans of the western valley," Elena whispered.
Victoria’s face drained of every drop of color.
She opened her mouth to speak, but only a dry rasp came out.
"Take your daughter and step away from the dais," Elena commanded.
"Or I will have Rowan read the treasury logs before this court draws another breath," Elena declared.
Victoria looked back toward Clarissa, who was now weeping openly into her emerald sleeve.
The proud duchess clenched her fists so hard her knuckles turned chalk white.
Slowly, under the watching eyes of the entire nobility of Eldoria, Victoria backed away.
She retreated step by step into the shadows beside her disgraced daughter.
Elena did not watch them leave.
She turned her eyes back toward Princess Celestine on the marble stairs.
May you like
"Sister," Elena said, stepping onto the first riser.
"It is time we finished this ceremony together," Elena stated.
