He Took the Heirs' Emblems, Then Became Their King novel · Chapter 29 of 32
Chapter 29: The Passing Ceremony
The ceremony was held in the Hall of the Ember Seat, at noon, with six hundred guests and no chairs for the king.
"There is a chair," the herald said, nervously.
"There's a throne," James said. "A chair is for sitting."
"It is the Ember Seat."
"It has spikes on the arm."
"They are ceremonial."
"Everything here is ceremonial. I want to sit on something that was designed for a back."
The herald wrote that down, and decided never to read it aloud.
James wore the red robes of Phoenix, with the sleeves rolled back to show the bandage on his right hand.
He stood on the dais before the empty Seat, and the hall went quiet.
The Dean stood to his left, holding a cushion.
On the cushion lay nothing.
"The Seat of Ember," said the old woman with the braids, "has three locks."
She held up a gold key with a flame on its bow.
"The Passing Ceremony has been the same for four hundred years. The heir who would be king must receive the emblems of the clans. Not take them. Receive them, from the hand that holds them, freely given."
"Understood," said James.
"If any heir has doubts, he may say so now."
Nobody did.
"Grant of Skyreach," the herald called.
Grant walked up the long red carpet with his back straight and a silver feather in his hand.
It was the Griffin emblem, as long as his forearm, and it caught the light along every barb.
At the foot of the dais, he stopped.
He had timed it, James realized.
He had timed his stride to arrive exactly on the herald's last syllable.
Grant knelt on one knee.
"This is the sky," he said. "It is mine to give, and I give it of my own will. Not for a debt, and not for a paper. For you."
His voice shook on the last word, very slightly.
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