Sapphire Eyes

Chapter 19: Keva’lin

It turned out that the coercions placed on Silver were far more extensive and subtle than anyone had expected. It had taken nearly 2 hours just for the palace mages to detect them all and figure out how to get rid of them, let alone actually begin the removal process. The spells went well beyond the love spell that Amber had first suspected; there was also an agitation spell to keep him constantly grumpy (thus making alienating him from his family easier, so no one would suspect anything was wrong), a coercion to keep him from thinking about Amber at all, another coercion to make him self-confidant and assure him that all these ideas in his head were his own, a coercion to keep him from feeling bad if someone else was hurt in any way, and so on. The layers and layers of spells were subtly done to mimic the real thoughts and emotions of a person closely, thus making his behavior changes seem less suspicious to others and to himself.

Even a single coercion, cast on a person of such importance, would have been enough to send Jyllia to the gallows, but the extensive spellcasting as well as the kidnapping and attempted murder of the Crown Princess sealed her fate. Her trial was short. She didn’t even try to claim she wasn’t guilty. She had to be dragged forcibly from the courtroom when she started screaming threats and making spell-like gestures in the air, which she did upon the entry of the Queen into the room.

Sapphire had admitted to the murder of the King and was being held in her room, not for her own comfort but for the comfort of her unborn child. The rest of the court was under the illusion that the baby was her husband’s child, and Silver had agreed with Sapphire that it had to stay that way, or the real father could be tried and hanged for adultery. As acting King, Silver had ruled that Sapphire would be allowed to live until the baby was born, at which point she would have her trial and then be hanged, if found guilty. He hoped the extra months before her trial would give him time to convince the Noblecaste to let him commute the sentence to life imprisonment- an unpopular and rarely used punishment. If he succeeded, she would be locked in a tower with no windows or doors, allowed to see and speak to her family only via a crystal screen. The punishment usually drove its victim insane within a short time.

Meanwhile, Silver had planned the joint funeral-coronation-execution to take place in one month’s time. This was the event of the decade- if not longer- so they needed that long to prepare the festivities. In particular, many of the lowercaste had reason to celebrate, as the new Queen would be one of their people and the Crown Prince had already announced he had plans to address the injustices they faced. The Resistance had suspended all activities until after the coronation- they wanted to see what this new King was like before they took any action against him, and besides which, Amber had been amongst their ranks once, even if she had apparently switched sides after they kidnapped her. The Sewercaste were a loyal people, and they hadn’t entirely given up on her yet, although she believed they had.

For the celebrations, every noble from every nook of the country would be staying in the palace, filling it to its full capacity. They would dine on the finest meats and fruits available, entertained by the best bards on the continent- some of whom would be coming from Akusa and Epukiro just to attend- and admire the best decorations the palace mages could muster up with their spells, as well as the head cook’s best subtleties.

The guests of honor would be the Emperor Keva’lin of Epukiro and his regent-advisors, and the great warrior Queen Alish’havi of Akusa, both of whom would be accompanied by large retinues which would also be staying in the palace. These, the leaders of Lubomo’s two neighboring countries, would be there to renew the peace pacts their ancestors had signed with Silver’s ancestors long ago and to discuss other important matters like trade routes.

At dawn there would be a parade with the coffin from the palace through the entire city and then out into the countryside, up onto a hill where there stood a circle of enormous, ancient trees. In this sacred circle was the burial place of all the Kings of Lubomo, and there would King Leo’s body be buried. After an elaborate ceremony, the parade would wind its way back through the entire city, this time to honor Silver and Amber, who would take their vows to the Crown in front of the palace gates where a large crowd could see them. After that, Silver would perform his first act of justice by hanging Jyllia for her crimes in front of the crowd and would make a long speech about what he was going to do as King. Then there would be widespread celebrating in the streets and the nobles and royals would dance in the ballroom for the rest of the night.

At least, that was the plan, but with weeks still to go before the big day, things were already not happening according to schedule and the palace servants were going crazy trying to keep up with their ever-expanding duties. Amber barely got to see Silver at all, as he was constantly buried in advisors and duties and notices about thus-and-such trade route being closed off by a sandstorm or a transport being attacked by bandits. He also had to chose new advisors to the Throne who would be sworn to him right after the crowning, and he had to plan the order in which his Knights would swear themselves to him as well, and all sorts of other nonsense that Amber didn’t understand at all.

Technically, Amber was supposed to be handling such important things as what color scheme to use for the decorations and where to put the twenty-foot-tall ice sculpture in the form of a half-naked woman, but she hated this sort of thing and left most of the decisions to Princesses Emerald and Diamond, who were thrilled to be in charge.

It all seemed so arbitrary and strange to Amber. Why did so much have to be done just for a simple coronation? She could understand wanting to make everything fancy, but the level of elaborate ceremony the royals had planned, which all had to be just so, and was so detailed it included exactly which servants stood where in the crowd and when they could start throwing flowers and what would happen to them if they sneezed during the oaths, amazed her.

She couldn’t stand to be doing nothing while everyone else was busy, so instead of resuming her duties from Emerald and Diamond, she went down to the kitchens where she hadn’t been for months, and asked Bera if she could help with the cooking.

They had already begun making the food for the feast. They had to, there were going to be so many people there. If they didn’t start now they wouldn’t have time to make enough for one course, let alone the whole meal.

Bera herself was busy working on the subtleties, massive sugar sculptures crafted without the use of any magic, which would be the most impressive decorations in the dining hall, but she told Amber that any help she could offer would be greatly appreciated. So Amber found herself turning the spit of an enormous chimera, created and killed by the palace mages, now roasting over the fire, and learning to cast freezing spells that would keep food fresh until the feast.

She was rescued from this by Kye several hours later when the maid came to show a new girl where the kitchens were. The new maid was small and thin, with waist-length black hair, and was dressed in an unusual garment made from patterned silk. Amber recognized it from her studies- a kimono, traditional clothing of the people of Epukiro.

“Has the Emperor Keva’lin arrived, then?” She asked Kye, who nodded.

“This is Evri’ah,” Kye told Amber, “She’s one of the servants who came with his retinue. She needs to get a meal for him- that’s why she’s here. Hey, Bera!” She shouted to the large woman who ran the kitchens.

Apparently no one had known to make Emperor Keva’lin’s meal, so Amber helped Evri’ah to make him a seafood and rice dish, served with a side of fruits she had never seen before. The Emperor was very particular about his food, and poor Evri was shaking the whole time, trying to find the ingredients she was used to using.

When the meal was finally finished, Kye and Amber escorted Evri back to where the Emperor was staying, but didn’t go in- they were not welcome without an invitation. Instead, they went back to Amber’s rooms, where they ate and talked together for the first time in a long time.

Even when night fell, when Kye left and Silver walked tiredly through the door, Amber could still hear the sounds of panicked activity throughout the palace. The staff were stretching themselves to their limits, every one of them, trying to make everything perfect, and it was taking its toll. Every man and woman in the palace was tired and grumpy and Amber suspected they would not relax a bit until after the last of the guests had finally left.

She met him by chance, escaping her duties to take a walk in the gardens and relax. It was as she approached the stream that she saw him- a lone figure, draped in layers and layers of extravagant fabric, sitting on the bench and tossing what looked like rice into the water for the fish. The Emperor of Epukiro had long blue hair that was pulled partly up into a messy bun, and the sleeves of his robes were so long he had to keep pushing them back to his elbows. It wasn’t until he turned, smiled, and rose to greet her that Amber realized he was very young- maybe even younger than she herself was.

He bowed deeply to her and said, “Greetings. I am Emperor Keva’lin of Epukiro. You are Crown Princess Amber of Lubomo, yes?” He spoke with the slightest of accents, odd, high and fluting unlike anything she had heard before.

She curtsied as deeply as she could to show her respect for him, biting her lip when she wobbled slightly, then rose and said, “Yes.” It was after that that she realized she had no idea what else to say and felt a blush on her cheeks.

Thankfully, the Emperor seemed not to notice. “I was admiring your gardens.” He told her. “I am very fond of flowers. Your Lubomon practices in gardening are very unlike our practices, but the flowers themselves are breathtaking.” He reached out and delicately caressed the petals of a larkspur. “I was wondering if my people could not somehow procure a few specimens for our own Imperial Gardens.” As he spoke, he gathered his robes together and sank gracefully to his seat on the stone bench again.

Amber sat beside him a little awkwardly. While the royals here in Lubomo had a grace and bearing Amber could never have achieved, the Emperor of Epukiro took that to a whole new level. The fluidity and intensity of his movements made each tiny gesture like a whole dance. It was no wonder, if the whole royal line there were like this, that the Epukirians regarded their rulers as gods.

“Your Imperial Highness,” she began, but he cut her off with a smile as he said, “Are we not equals? You may call me Keva’lin.” The way he pronounced it, there was the slightest pause between the syllables, like in the name Annie Sue. Amber practiced it in her head a few times before she cautiously said, “Keva-lin.”

He nodded and she went on. “I have never been to Epukiro,” she said, “But I have seen images, and I have always greatly admired your lotuses. I am sure we can arrange some sort of exchange between our gardens. Perhaps we will discuss it when we meet after the coronation?” She phrased each sentence carefully, trying to sound formal and proper.

Keva’lin regarded her thoughtfully, then nodded, slowly. “We will discuss a great many things after your crowning,” he sighed. “I sincerely hope such lighthearted pursuits will be amongst them. Now, if you will excuse me, Amber, I must go. I am advised to spend little time outside of my rooms.” His expression darkened slightly as he rose to his feet, but when he bowed to her, the warm smile returned to his face. Then, gathering up his robes, which dragged behind him for several feet, he walked gracefully along the garden path, as if he were floating. Amber watched him with her mouth hanging slightly open. His amazing clothes and odd bearing were so very out of place in Lubomo; she had to wonder if he would seem different, seen in his own Imperial Palace. He was not at all what she had expected after the stories she’d heard. She had thought he would be older, maybe in his thirties, muscled and powerful, with a fierce, angry face- from what she had heard of him, he was very picky and had a horrible temper. And yet, he had only been a skinny boy- no more than thirteen or fourteen, to judge by his voice- who seemed very gentle and sweet.

She wondered how she had seemed to him. Was she as he had expected her to be? Were her ways as odd and beautiful to him as his were to her?