I resist the urge to smooth my palms down the front of my skirt. The black velvet feels heavy, almost stifling. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. My mother was supposed to be with me. It’s like a wail in my mind, tears threatening again. I push them back.
‘We’re assembled here tonight to bear witness.’ My voice is clear and doesn’t tremble. ‘And judgement. Rise.’
The crowd obeys. I observe them as though from a distance, as though I’ve found a small safe space in which to hide while someone else does this for me.
‘All who are here witnessed the events of my coronation.’ A slight tremor. Michael, Varin and Bertrand all move closer. ‘Raven is a family. One with close ties across the realm. There are names here tonight whose history goes back for more than a millennium. And others whose names, once spoken tonight, will never be heard again.’
Somebody sobs. I’m pretty sure I know who.
‘Ravenna.’ The sobs grow louder. I’ll ask Stella to leave if she doesn’t stop. ‘You stood with Mistral and, therefore, against your royal house of Raven. You are to be stripped of your name, confined to your estates in darkness, and?—’
‘No!’ A roar of protest. Stella has a younger brother. Tough shit. I had a mother.
‘Be grateful you’re losing nothing more than that,’ I snap. ‘You’ll find no friends here to defend you, should I change my mind.’
The room is silent. Waiting.
‘Mistral.’ The word echoes through the space. I try not to snarl, though several in the crowd respond that way. ‘Your line stands broken. No more will your name be held as part of Raven, no more will it be spoken. Your estates have been confiscated. And all who hold the name have been ended. Except one.’ Michael knows I’m doing this. We spoke about it as he held me on the bed in the gatehouse, sunlight gilding his hair.
‘My lieutenant is the son of Mistral. Yet he holds no affiliation to that house, nor has he for many years. Silence!’ The word is a whip-crack, cutting through the murmuring in the room.
I turn my head. ‘Michael, approach.’
He comes to kneel before me. Varin moves, smooth and lethal, his blade hovering above Michael’s bowed head. The crowd’s silence changes, becoming heavy, like a held breath. I hate that I have to do this, so much. But it’s the only way I can keep him alive.
‘Do you disavow any association with the house of Mistral, darkened be their name?’ Gods, I just want to be done with all this. Just want to kiss him and tell him it’s all right.
‘I do.’ His voice is deep, strong. ‘I revoke their name, and everything to do with it.’
‘And do you give up your role as my lieutenant, and any future claim to it? Knowing that you stay alive only at my pleasure?’
‘I do.’
‘Then I give you one gift, Michael, in recognition of your flawless service. And in memory of my mother, who loved you like a son.’
His head comes up slightly. Varin’s stance remains rock solid, but his dark eyes are on me. Neither of them knew I was going to do this. I wasn’t even sure I was. But it feels so horrible, stripping everything from him in front of a crowd. I want him to have something back. He saved me, after all.
‘Henceforth, you’ll be known as Michael Raven. Do you accept?’
He lifts his head, and there’s so much love in his stormy eyes that I almost gasp. ‘I accept, your Grace. It’s an honour to bear your name.’ He smiles, and my heart clenches in response. He’s my light in the darkness, the one who risked it all for me, over and over. The one who’ll help me change the world. I don’t need him as my lieutenant to make that happen. I just need him.
I nod to Varin. He steps back, sheathing his sword. ‘Then let it be so.’
Michael gets to his feet, then bows, deeply. He takes a position to my right once more. I lift my chin, glaring at the gathered crowd.
‘I did not wish to start my reign with blood and darkness. But I will do what needs to be done, for the sake of this realm. Like it or not, I am now Raven.’ I let my lip curl. ‘If?—’
The doors to the chamber fly open, crashing so hard against the walls that plaster rains down. Two figures stand in the doorway, holding a large chest between them. Both male, both armoured, both vampires. And both with the Scorpion crest on their layered breastplates.
Varin is already in front of me, sword out. Raven guards flash through the crowd, surrounding the two figures with a ring of silver and black. Everyone draws back, but no one leaves. I suppose they want to see whatever spectacle happens next, another disaster to gossip about. Fuck them all.
‘We wish to approach the throne.’
The entire room waits on my command. Do I kill them now, or wait to hear what they have to say? What kind of ruler do I want to be?
‘Let them come closer.’
The guards part to allow them passage, but stay close as the two warriors approach the throne with their bulky chest.
