Chapter 6: Under the Crown

For a moment nobody in the hall made a sound.

Then King Corwin Castleton stood up.

He was taller than I had judged from the aisle, and he crossed the space between us.

The scent reached me before he did.

Pine, and cold iron, and something under both that I had never smelled on anyone.

My hands had been cold for as long as I could remember.

For one moment they burned.

Deep in my chest, something I had never felt before turned over and lifted its head.

I held the insignia out and kept my arm steady.

The King took it from my palm without touching my skin.

"Miss Ashworth," he said. "You understand what you are asking."

"I do, Your Majesty."

"Is this freely done?"

"It is," I said. "My fiancé has spent five years with my sister in Southbay. My parents knew it, and they let me go on waiting."

The word waiting went out through the microphone and into every camera in the room.

Behind me a chair scraped.

"Linnet," Garrick said. His voice was low and tight. "Not here."

"This is exactly where, Garrick. You asked the whole city to watch."

Father was on his feet in the front row.

"My daughter is overwrought, Your Majesty. She hasn't slept. We ask that the ceremony be allowed to pause."

"She spoke clearly," the King said, without turning his head. "Sit down, Councilor."

Father sat.

Mother had her hand over her mouth. Bridie was weeping into her sleeve, and the bangle slid down her arm.

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