Chapter 31: The Dais

The coronation hall was the same hall where I had said no.

The same gilt chairs stood in the same rows, and the same cameras were fixed to the same balcony rail, with their red lights on.

My brother sat in the front row in his first good suit.

He had come in from the Academy by the early train, and he gave me a small, fierce wave when I walked in.

I waved back.

The two seats beside him stayed empty. I had asked them to leave it that way.

The white-haired Councilor stood at the foot of the dais with the ancient ceremonial book open in his hands.

"The Crown asks the hall's leave," he said, "to seat a Luna beside the King."

"By the old form, a King's mate speaks the oath of the Rite. The oath binds her to the Registry's page."

"The King has asked that it not be read."

A ripple went through the hall.

Corwin stood at the top of the steps in his black coat.

He did not smile. He was looking at me from forty feet away with the whole of his face bare, and I could feel it through the mark.

"Linnet Ashworth," the Councilor said. "You may speak the oath in any words you choose, or none."

I climbed the steps.

My dress was dark green, and I had sewn every stitch of it myself, in the nights I should have been sleeping.

The mark showed above the neckline, a pale crescent on my shoulder. I had not covered it.

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