Varin, in front of me, resplendent in chain mail, turns his head, a faint smile on his lips. ‘It begins.’
Music starts playing beyond the wooden doors. Soft at first, the faint strains of violins. The sound swells, the melody twining around us. This is it. This is where everything changes.
Varin draws his sword, a whisper of sound, holding the shimmering blade upright in front of him. As my champion he goes first, clearing the way.
Michael is next, shoulders broad under white and silver livery, holding the Raven sceptre. As my lieutenant, it’s his job to hand it to me once I’m crowned. I wish it could be more, wish I could declare my feelings to the world. But Joaquin is in the crowd waiting beyond the doors, a place of honour as befits his status.
A guard approaches, holding a crown on a white satin pillow. It’s simple, a delicate circlet of diamonds, the Raven emblem on the front in black enamel, a huge diamond on the raven’s breast winking like a star. My mother takes it, putting it on for what I realise is the last time. Then she smiles at me.
As Raven, she’ll crown me herself. She’s the only one qualified to do so, and it signifies her power passing to me. I get a sense of the crushing number of centuries, the weight of history on my back. The feeling that I’m another bead on a chain, being moved along to the next position. The music swells to a crescendo, and the double doors open.
It’s time.
ChapterFifty
FIRST, LAST, EVERYTHING
I’ve watched old ceremonies of human kings and queens, flickering images of gold and jewels, of crowns and long processions.
This is similar, yet altogether different.
We’re underground, in a vaulted catacomb lit by candle lamps. These are for mine and Michael’s benefit only. No humans are usually at Raven coronations. I wonder what it would be like to be in the airy confines of a great abbey, light streaming through multi-coloured windows, instead of this gold-tinted darkness.
We weave our way through the jewelled throng, a carpet the colour of blood leading to a dais with a single throne. Guards in the liveries of all the different houses stand to attention on either side of the carpet, a wall of protection between me and the crowd. It’s like the Gathering again, times about ten thousand in terms of intensity.
What my parents are doing is unprecedented.
If there was ever another human child born to the house of Raven, those records have been lost. They were no doubt killed at birth, just as I was supposed to be. Even if they did survive, I cannot imagine a world where they would be elevated above all vampires in the realm. No one would have dreamed of such a thing. But my parents, my mother, dreamed differently.
And a human is about to take the silver and black crown for the very first time.
It’s surreal to be here, for it to be actually happening, after all the years spent dreading this moment. I wish I could hold Michael’s hand, his warmth an anchor in the chill darkness.
This ceremony, with its jewels and darkness and old traditions, is the price I’m willing to pay, so that humans everywhere can be free. I remember the artwork I saw, the beauty of ancient palaces and stone circles sheltered by wild mountain peaks. A network of cities, hidden by forest, protected by darkness. A place where the human spirit, in all its beauty, can flourish once more. I think of a young man, his bare feet dark with dirt. Another, dying in a blood-soaked meadow. A small girl who just wanted a book. I’m doing this for all of them. Taking this step so the cycle of death ends here. If it takes my entire life, I’ll change things, restoring the balance once more.
I am the last Raven. Last of the old regime. And I’m also the first Raven. The first to straddle both worlds, to truly understand what it means. And the one who’ll bring them together.
I make my slow way through the jewelled crowd, heads bowing as I pass. It could be a thousand years in the past. Yet, as I approach the throne, all I see is the future, and hope for what it might bring.
When Varin reaches the dais he turns, standing one step down and slightly to the left of my throne. His dark eyes scan the crowd, his sword still unsheathed. A show of power, and a threat.
Michael takes his place to the right, muscular arms holding my sceptre steady. It’s carved and gilded, the top a single huge diamond topped with a tiny ebony raven, wings spread and beak open, screaming to the world.
Then it’s my turn.
I ascend the dais, facing the huge silver throne etched with patterns of curving feathers, inlaid with ebony enamel. The high back is shaped like wings, curving down towards the arms, topped with a raven’s head, rubies gleaming in its enamelled eye sockets. My parents, standing to the left of the throne, both look as though they’re holding back strong emotion. I get it, totally. I glance at Michael. His gaze shifts to mine, just for a moment. But long enough so I know what he’s thinking.
I’m with you.
He is with me, thank darkness. As long as we’re together, everything will be all right.
I turn to the assembled throng.
Everyone is here, which is as it should be. I spot Stella and Artos Ravenna, Deryck Vindhof and a few other faces I remember from Versailles. Jennie De Corbeau is smiling, arm-in-arm with her handsome husband, their family around them.
Oliver and Jacques are also here. I didn’t want to invite them, but it’s all part of the show, even though it infuriates me to pander to them this way. Once I’m crowned, I’ll shut them down. I’ve no doubt Michael will stand with me in doing so.
My gaze flicks to Joaquin. He’s close to the dais, dressed inhis usual black, his handsome face impassive. Strange. Hisentourage are with him, also dressed in black, but Selene is nowhere to be seen. She doesn’t have to be here, but it’s odd that she isn’t.
