I was starting to wonder what would happen if Zawne and I were to jump over a borehole. Would we fall in and be cursed? Would we become king and queen?
“But enough of this Nurlie talk,” Nnati said, coming close to me. We stood in front of the oval mirror, all three of us in the frame. “This is a happy day. Happy for you and happy for the whole of Gaard and Geniverd!”
“And your dress is finished,” Tissa said, a pincushion and some thread clutched in her hand. “It’s time for you to go, Kaelyn. They’re chanting your name. They’re cheering for their new Gaard-Ma.”
Queen, I wanted to correct her.
I didn’t. I smiled instead, stood between my two best friends in the most beautiful dress I could have imagined. It was my wedding day. Tears of joy spilled down my cheeks. “Thank you so much,” I said. “Thank you for being my best friends. I promise we will never part, no matter what. Nothing will ever change between us!”
Standing on the podium next to Zawne was a dream come true, a dream I had never known I had. He was handsome in a snow-white tuxedo, dashing with his hair gelled and his teeth whitened. Strong, tough, unbending, and yet he was gentle and loving. We held hands while the Grucken began the wedding ceremony. The crowd silenced. I looked out and saw Papa’s face shining in the front row beside Raad and Tissa. Papa was so proud of me. Mama would have been too.
“Love prevails,” I said, Zawne and I facing each other to do our wedding vows. “Ava-Gaard, we call on you all to help us to abide by Decens-Lenitas.”
Then Zawne recited his Shondur verse. “Love prevails. Ava-Shondur, help us to abide by Decens-Lenitas.”
And together we said, “Only love until the very end. May Mother Geniverd help us to abide by Decens-Lenitas.”
“When asked to choose a human quality you both possess that you place above all else for my blessing, you chose love,” the Grucken said. “Let all who’ve gathered here bear witness. Prince Zawne, why love?”
Zawne pasted his eyes onto mine. “When I look upon Lady Kaelyn, I see love. Her love is honest, kind, respectful, caring, and empathetic. Her love listens, shares, and has integrity.”
The Grucken turned to me. “What about you, Lady Kaelyn?”
“His love is brave and does not fear pain or danger. His love is faithful, sincere, and resilient. He is love.”
We were married. Zawne and I kissed, and the crowd went crazy. He picked me up and whisked me offstage to the cheering of our clanspeople. He carried me all the way to our flyrarc, and we were gone, the merriment below like a rioting crowd at a music festival. Zawne put the flyrarc on autopilot, and we kissed all the way to Sud Cottage. It was romantic, dreamy, everything I could have hoped for.
He kicked the door open with me cradled in his arms in my wedding dress. We were both giggling. “Take me to the bedroom,” I said. “I want to kiss my husband.”
Zawne carried me through the halls of Sud Cottage as if I were weightless. It was funny, because we would only live in the cottage for one night. After tomorrow’s coronation, we would be moved into VondRust Palace. It was only a brief honeymoon.
Everything was great until Zawne dumped me on the bed and I saw half-packed boxes stacked by the closet. Lordin’s things had been crammed into them. Jutting from one of the boxes was a framed portrait, a picture of her wearing a diamond tiara and looking very much like a queen. It made me think, Did I usurp her? Have I stolen Lordin’s place?
Then, Is she watching us right now as a Min?
Chapter 9
Every forty years the world stopped. Four billion people held their breath as the heirs of Geniverd gathered in Coronation Square and awaited the Crown of Crowns. It was something many of us were experiencing for the first time. It was something the older generation would experience for the last.
P2 camera drones hovered above the square like silent metal hummingbirds. They were broadcasting the coronation throughout the kingdom. They were the paparazzi, technological eavesdroppers. The people were gathered below them by the thousands. Six distinctive creeds mixed in the enormous lower courtyard of Coronation Square. Anyone who owned a flyrarc hovered in the sky and watched with binoculars. The sky was so full of them it looked like an invasion. The streets were packed. No one was at work.
I was on the raised podium above the masses, surrounded by a barrier of Protectors. We heirs were an island above the people, eighteen pairs kneeling in a wide circle. The air was tense. I knelt on a cushion next to Zawne and Raad, with Tissa very near to us. Directly across the square was Jaken and his wife, Kyna, representing the Ava-Shondur. To the left was Surrvul’s insane cluster of heirs. They were all married to other noble Ava-Surrvul. It was a real nationalist offering, and they glared angrily at everyone else, pale faced and blue eyed. They wore bright pink hats with sawtooth points along the brims. They were kind of creepy.
The Grucken stood center stage. He wore a long robe of many colors and leaned on his jeweled staff. We were all waiting for the Crown of Crowns. Everyone was nervous except Zawne and me. The Grucken was deadly serious as he turned slowly in a circle, scrutinizing the heirs, acting as though he was judging our hearts, as if the Grucken were a Min and could hear our thoughts.
I suddenly realized how paranoid I had been growing over the past two weeks. I was seeing Min everywhere I looked. I sometimes whispered Roki’s name so he would appear. I would ask him, “Roki, is that a
