Werewolf Knight 5, page 23
“This is madness,” Sybil hissed, and she tugged at her long, black hair as she and Tabitha headed over to us from the Blueclaw table. “I can’t believe that they’re actually using a royal funeral as the time to argue about who should be the next King! This should be a day of mourning…”
“This is court, honey,” Tabitha laughed. “This is going to be a very long day. And usually the King is crowned before the funeral so Lupercalia is never without a ruler.”
“Yes,” I sighed. “I heard your old paramour Hector talking about it earlier.”
“Ewww!” Tabitha said as she wrinkled her nose. “I would never let him touch me! Just because he’s obsessed with me…”
Sybil erupted into a fit of giggles, and Imelda rolled her eyes. I felt a smile stretch across my face, and for the very first time that day, things actually seemed like they were becoming a little bit more normal.
“It’s an outrage!” a voice suddenly boomed from the other side of the dining hall, and everyone went silent and looked over.
A hybrid in a white shirt with puffy sleeves, red velvet leggings, and medieval cowboy boots slammed his fist on a table, and when he was sure he had everyone’s attention, he strode to the middle of the dining hall. He batted his eyelashes a few times before smoothing his hair back, and then he struck a pose as he gazed thoughtfully at the tapestry.
“Who the hell is that?” I whispered to Tabitha.
“Oh, Goddess, it’s Mortimer Raleigh,” she said as she rolled her eyes. “Not even a knight. An explorer, apparently, but everyone knows he’s just a dandy whose great-great-great-uncle was once King.”
“But that makes him related to the King,” Imelda noted. “And therefore, a potential heir.”
“We’re not that desperate,” Tabitha replied.
“Attention, members of the court,” Mortimer announced in a snooty voice. “It seems as if there has been some c-c-c-confusion about wh-h-ho will sit upon the throne. But I am here to r-r-remedy it! As a m-m-member of the house of Raleigh, it is ob-ob-ob-ob-obvious that I am the heir apparent to the th-throne!”
“No way,” Tabitha snorted. “Too stuttery. And he just looks soft. Do you really think the vampires will run away from a man like that?”
“Tabitha!” Sybil hissed as she rolled her eyes. “You can’t discriminate on those principles!”
“Oh, for the love of the Goddess, it’s a public-facing role,” the blonde replied. “Public speaking, hello?”
“That’s poppycock!” Hector retorted from a spot by the coffin.
I saw Grayback put his face in his hands as if to renounce whatever was about to come out of his hardheaded son’s mouth, and I could have sworn the old knight even took a step back.
“Oh, man,” Tabitha said. “Now if Hector thinks he’s the one… this is going to be good.”
“I would like to say a few words,” Hector said, and he cleared his throat.
“Oh r-r-really?” Raleigh asked, and he balanced his weight on one hip and lifted an eyebrow. “But tell me, Hector G-G-Grayback, what if you just d-d-didn’t instead?”
“Stop this!” Old Grayback snapped. “Please, for the love of the Goddess, Hector.”
“Don’t worry father,” the son said, and he turned back to the court. “Mortimer Raleigh, I mean only to point out that you are not eligible to wear the crown due to your abandonment of your Knightly vows exactly nineteen years ago. Your disappearance mid-mission was counted as a dishonorable discharge, and this bars you from the throne for life.”
The nobles all started to mutter as Raleigh turned slightly pink. I’d never seen a werewolf blush, but he stepped back into the crowd as he did so.
“Okay, looks like old Hector’s made some positive changes,” Tabitha shrugged. “I’ve never really heard him say anything helpful before today.”
“Then who, by the Goddess, will be the next King?” a woman on the other side of the room shouted. “We can’t be a Kingless Kingdom. Then we’d just be a…”
“Who knows what we would be?” another frantic voice laughed. “The Kingdom would go to the dogs!”
“We are already dogs!” an older man replied and laughed at his own joke.
Nobody joined in, though, and Hector finally marched into the middle of the room. He looked around at the gathered nobles and then drew a deep breath like he needed to steady himself.
“Look here,” the young knight said. “What we need now is some solid policy and some order.”
“What we need now is real guidance from someone who actually knows what they’re talking about!” Clancy added.
“What, like a King?” someone shouted.
“Well what do you want?” Hector laughed into the audience. “A divine intervention?”
“Look!” Tabitha suddenly shouted.
I heard several of the other nobles gasp, but it took me a moment to spot what was happening.
“Holy shit,” I muttered as I watched the lilies begin to rise into the air.
For a moment, it looked like the flowers had been caught up in a breeze, but then the petals fluttered like wings as the lilies started to swirl around the dining hall. The only thing missing was the string quartet playing a waltz, or else I would have thought we’d somehow ended up in a Disney cartoon.
“Those squires have really outdone themselves this time,” I heard someone murmur. “They do love a good show.”
The lilies started to glow, and their scent filled the room. But it wasn’t an overwhelming aroma, just a gentle whiff that seemed to calm the nerves and put an end to the arguing.
I felt a sense of peace flow through my body, and a smile even stretched across my lips as I watched the petals begin to form one illuminated mass in the air. I wasn’t convinced that the squires had been the brains behind the display, but right then, I didn’t care.
“I think it’s her, Hank,” Imelda said in an excited voice. “It’s the Goddess.”
“I think you’re right,” I murmured.
The flowers were beginning to form the shape of a woman, and for a second, I felt like I was watching a Christmas ornament that had come to life.
The petals slowly melted into a billowing, translucent dress, and the dainty leaves formed her fingers. The crowd sighed and gasped as the gorgeous Goddess appeared for the second time that day.
She was just as graceful and beautiful as always, but this time she was about twenty feet tall. And as I looked around, people started to fall to their knees at the feet of their glowing Goddess, who smiled down at them and nodded.
Imelda took my hand, and we dropped down to our knees to pay our respects. I felt the glow of the Goddess’ light, which always seemed to imbue me with strength and warmth, and I knew that we were safe in her arms.
“My dearest children of Lupercalia,” her sweet voice sang, and more sighs erupted as people stared up at her with loving eyes. “I have come to bear news of your new King!”
The Goddess turned around to float over the coffin of the King, and with a dainty flick of her arm, the glass lid flew open. She traced a hand along the King’s face, and it looked like a tear fell from her eye and landed gently on his chest. She whispered something no one else could hear, and then she lifted the crown from his head. The lid closed gently behind her as she floated back toward the center of the hall, while the crown floated in the air above her hands.
I had never paid much attention to jewelry before, unless it could transport me to magical kingdoms of course. But now that I was actually paying attention to the craftsmanship, I had to admit that I was completely in awe of what was in front of me.
This crown was special.
Its base was made of moon silver that had been forged to resemble intertwining vines. At the front and center of the crown there was a sparkling crescent moon, and tiny diamonds had been set around the edges. It had a celestial glow that was mesmerizing even from afar. Delicate silver chains descended from the crown to drape carefully over the King or Queen’s ears, and at the the bottom of each chain was a tiny moonstone.
“It is time,” the Moon Goddess declared.
The Goddess started to float around the room like she was taking the crown on a grand tour of the noble families. A few people reached up to try and touch it, but the Moon Goddess made sure to keep it just out of reach.
I didn’t quite know what was happening, but I watched the crown move around the circle of nobles toward us. I wondered if the right person was supposed to grab it or something, like the Lupercalian version of the sword in the stone.
The crown neared us, and I felt Imelda squeeze my hand. Even though it was just an object, I knew that it was magical. Pure power seemed to radiate from the metal, and I felt a rush of energy that put the moon bean brew to shame.
Instead of staying just out of reach, however, the crown swiveled around in front of us.
I looked down at Imelda and Tabitha and furrowed my brow. What on earth was happening?
The crown floated over to us more slowly until it was right above my head. I was starting to feel kind of breathless, and my heart thudded in my chest.
No way. There was no way that this could actually be happening.
But it was. The crown lowered onto my head, and I felt a mad rush of electric power as the Moon Goddess held out her hand to me and smiled.
I reached out with my right paw like I was in a hypnotic trance. I was vaguely aware of people shouting, hissing, and whispering around me, but I couldn’t hear any of it over the electricity that moved through my body.
When the Moon Goddess touched my paw, I gasped. Her warm, beautiful power flooded me, and I rose up into the air a few feet.
She didn’t say anything to me, but I just knew. It was like she was filling me with divine wisdom, and we completely understood each other.
This was the plan all along. Everything, from the ring, the quests, the divine guidance, and even the final battle had been leading up to this point. This was why the Goddess had sent me to Lupercalia.
She had known the ablation was coming, and she had seen the possible outcomes. Most of them didn’t end well for Lupercalia, but there was a slim chance the Kingdom would survive, if she could find the right knight who could stop the vampires and become the next King.
All of this was passed to me in a heartbeat, and I wondered how much the old King had known. I had a feeling he knew more than he’d let on, but the Goddess only shook her head slightly when I tried to ask.
I grinned and gave her a slight bow. I wasn’t one to challenge her authority on these things, especially with everything I’d received. I tilted my head back then and howled from the depths of my soul, and I could feel the very stones of the castle quake from the sound.
“Be fair and be strong, King Henry,” the Goddess whispered as she finally released my paw.
“I will,” I said as I sank slowly to the floor.
The Moon Goddess took one last look at her noble subjects before she disappeared in a puff of petals, which cascaded around all of the Lupercalian nobles and fell onto the floor like confetti.
Holy Shit. I was the King.
“Oh, my Goddess…” I heard Tabitha break the silence. “I’m… I’m… a Queen!”
Her revelation was interrupted by a loud burst of trumpets which even knocked me back a little bit, and then Sybil and Imelda grabbed my hands as the entire dining hall started to kneel down.
“Members of the court!” Sebastian squealed from the corner of the room. “All bow down to your new King… King Henry Baker of New Jersey and Lupercalia. The King is dead, long live the King!”
“Long live the King!” everyone boomed, and the sound of their devotion rattled through my body.
When I looked down, even the girls were kneeling. I looked across the bowed heads of the nobles, and I saw that Grayback, Blueclaw, Charles, and the rest of the Moon Knights held their hands over their hearts in the utmost reverence. I felt a smile stretch across my face, though a small part of me was still wondering if I’d suffered a concussion in my last fight and this was all just a dream.
It was totally surreal, so I gave myself a quick pinch just to be sure. I howled in joy again as I realized I was very much awake and now King of Lupercalia. I knew it was a moment that I would remember for as long as I lived, and I suspected it would be a tale that would be passed down for generations. I had to admit, even in a country where magic was normal, my coronation had been one for the books.
So here I was, King Henry Baker of New Jersey and Lupercalia.
Yeah, I could live with that.
Chapter 17
“King Henry of Lupercalia!” Charles shouted, and the nobles all started to dance in circles.
“Oh, my, oh, my, oh, my,” Sebastian squeaked as he pushed his way through the crowd. “We’ve just finished planning a funeral, and now it’s time for a coronation. Breathe, Sebastian… breathe…”
“It’s fine,” I tried to assure him. “Sebastian, we can start making plans tomorrow. You don’t have to--”
But before I could finish my sentence, a ball of white light appeared in the middle of the dining hall.
“Oh, she’s back,” Imelda said, and the Priestess looked up at me and batted her white eyelashes over her sapphire eyes.
“Maybe she made a mistake,” I laughed, even though I knew that couldn’t be true.
But this time, the Moon Goddess didn’t appear. Instead, the ball of white light floated over to the coffin with the King and started to shine.
“Oh!” Imelda said, and a smile grew across her face. “I can’t believe it! she’s actually--”
For a moment, the white light eclipsed the entire dining hall, and when it disappeared, the King’s body had disappeared from his coffin.
The dining hall went silent, and we looked around at each other. It seemed the rest of Lupercalia wouldn’t get their chance to bid goodbye to the old King, and I felt a twinge of sympathy for everyone who had missed out.
“Wow,” I finally said. “Guess that’s some pretty hard confirmation of exactly what happens when you die.”
“Oh, my, oh, my, oh, my,” Sebastian huffed. “We’re going to have to cancel the royal coffin tour now… I knew that it was wrong to plan a funeral before the coronation, because there’s always a chance that they could just disappear into the ether. And now everything’s upside down!”
“Oh, stop it, you fool,” Dromgoole laughed as he grabbed the other squire’s arm. “We still have plenty of planning left to do.”
“Yes, I suppose we do,” Sebastian replied.
The pair scurried away as they started to plot whatever happened next. Sebastian still looked disappointed that his plans had been ruined, but Dromgoole’s enthusiasm seemed to cheer him up.
“What a wild ride,” I laughed as I turned to look at my girls.
“King Hank!” Tabitha gushed, and she started to spin around in circles and dance. “I knew it! You were always King of my heart, darling, but now you’re king of my… of my kingdom, too!”
“You’ll be the most wonderful ruler, Henry,” Sybil said, and her glowing green eyes were misted with tears. “I don’t think it’s physically possible for me to be more proud of you than I am right now.”
“Me, too,” Imelda said, and she glowed so brightly that Tabitha shielded her eyes slightly.
“Well, the Moon Goddess has been restored to her former glory…” Tabitha declared. “The Kingdom of Lupercalia has a brand-new ruler… I am going to be Queen… is there anything else that needs to be done in our glorious land?”
“You should probably tell your folks about the bun in the oven,” Sybil said.
“You’re right,” Tabitha sighed as she looked around. “Ah, and there’s my father now.”
The noblewoman waved her father over, who quickly wiped a tear of happiness from his eye before he swept his daughter into a hug.
“Oh, dear Henry,” he said as he took my paws. “I knew you were destined for greatness, but this… this is amazing!”
“Blueclaw,” I laughed. “Looks like you’re father-in-law to a King.”
“And the father of a Queen!” he laughed.
I saw Sybil nudge Tabitha, and the noblewoman took a deep breath.
“And the grandfather of a Prince or a Princess,” the blonde said as she turned to her father.
Blueclaw’s eyes widened for a moment, and then he gave me a shocked look. But as the message sank in, he turned back to Tabitha and put his hands over his muzzle. He started to tear up again, and he even sniffled as he drew a breath.
“A grandfather!” he exclaimed, and he had to shield his eyes so the court wouldn’t see him crying. “Oh, my, oh, my, what a happy day. Where is your mother?”
The Old Knight spotted his wife and made his way to Lady Blueclaw, who was comforting some of the families of the Moon Knights that hadn’t made it back. But he whispered something in her ear, and she immediately jumped back about three steps.
“Oh, no,” Tabitha said as her mother stormed over like a nun on a mission.
“Darling!” Lady Blueclaw declared when she finally stopped. “Tabitha, I never ever thought that you’d turn out normal in any way! Not that you ever had to, you brilliant thing. And now look at you-- Queen, mother, wife! I couldn’t have asked for anything more in my untameable daughter.”
She placed her arms around Tabitha’s waist and picked her up and swung her around. Sybil and Imelda and I laughed as Tabitha pulled a funny face at us over her mother’s shoulder.
“You know, Mama, I never thought I’d hear that from you,” the hard-headed aristocrat said. “But hopefully I was worth all the years of trouble I gave you now that you’ve officially joined the royal family.”
The two Blueclaw ladies giggled, while Sybil put her arm around my waist and leaned in.
“So I suppose that this makes me a Princess?” the witch asked. “Since Tabitha has already claimed the title of queen for herself.”
“No idea,” I said and shrugged. “We don’t have a royal family in New Jersey. We got rid of that stuff years ago.”
