Flowering Flame

Chapter One

Well, Rowan's day was certainly eventful.

They'd known the kings of Infernia— Thalus and Damon— for nearly their entire life, but he'd barely even met their son, Cyrus. It was a bit of a shock to find Cyrus in full formal robes, bowing to him as he walked into the hall.

Cyrus' usually waist length hair was tied up in a braid, and his small horns were poking out more visibly than usual. His eyes were shifting from red to orange like a flame, as they usually did, but there was a nervous look in them that Rowan hadn't seen before.

It was odd to see Cyrus looking worried— he never seemed to be out of his depth— but he was definitely nervous now.

Thalus was standing behind Cyrus, a very proud look in his eyes. "I'm glad you could come, Rowan." He smiled in that impressive way that made you feel like you should curtesy.

"Of course." Rowan bowed his head, glad for the distraction from Cyrus— when they started thinking about him, they couldn't seem to stop. "I could hardly miss it."

"Rowan!" A familiar voice called.

Rowan looked over to see Elliott grinning at him, waving and sitting cross-legged in midair, above the rows of seats.

"Leo." Rowan smiled, a knot of anxiety in their chest, that they hadn't noticed before, melting. It was hard to be stressed with Elliott around.

They walked over to it. "I should have known you would arrive first." He said.

"Well what else did you expect?" Elliott grinned. "I just love to show you up."

Elliott gave Rowan a pointed look. "Besides, I heard what you were thinking about Cyrus." He muttered, smirking.

"You have to stop reading my mind without warning." Rowan sighed. "Besides, I don't like Cyrus. I've told you a thousand times."

"You thought his eyes were pretty." Elliott said. "And that you thought it was sweet how much shorter than you he is. Are you really going to keep on telling me that you don't like him?"

"I am because I don't." Rowan insisted. "I can think someone's height is sweet without liking them."

"And his eyes?" Elliott continued.

"If your eyes looked like fire, I'd call them pretty too." Rowan said. "I don't like him like that. He's honestly kind of annoying sometimes."

"Yeah, and so am I." Elliott pointed out. "And you like me."

"Well you're my best friend." Rowan said, shrugging slightly. "And, I might add, I don't like you romantically, so that proves my point."

Elliot paused. "That was bad reasoning on my part. But my point still stands."

Rowan laughed. "I win this time."

"Fine, but you won't win again." Elliott insisted. "I mean it this time."

"Like last time you meant it?" Rowan grinned. "And the time before that, and the time before that, and-"

"Alright, I get the point!" Elliott interrupted as Rowan burst out laughing again.

"If you don't win next time, you have to give up." Rowan challenged.

"No way." Elliott said. "You like him and I am not giving up on that fact."

Rowan sighed, knowing that Elliott wasn't about to back down. "Come on, we need to find our seats; the ceremony will start soon."

—-

Despite his obvious nerves, Cyrus looked surprisingly regal as he held the orb and sceptre of Infernia. His braid was now over his right shoulder, revealing the golden strand of his hair, intertwined with the rest of his jet-black hair, with matching golden ornaments in his plait.

That golden strand was one of the things that Rowan found interesting about Cyrus which convinced Elliott even further of Rowan's nonexistent crush on him. As Rowan constantly told Elliott, they could like something about a person without liking them romantically, but the demigod remained unconvinced.

Cyrus had an almost unreadable expression on, looking at something just past the audience. Rowan recognised that expression as the one he usually wore whenever he went out into public. It was guarded, but not harsh— hiding his worry behind a curtain of false calm.

"Will you, to your power, cause Law and Justice, in Mercy, to be executed in all your judgments?"

"I will." Cyrus' voice was surprisingly steady when he spoke.

"And will you keep the peace between the lands of Infernia, The Overgrown and Immanis, and only break the peace if there is absolutely no other option?"

"I will." Cyrus replied.

The Officiator took the crown of Infernia from its pedestal. "Then I now crown you.."

Cyrus bent his head and the Officiator placed the crown onto his head.

"King of Infernia."

Wow, what an exciting first chapter, huh? New king, and all.  You know, I've seen thousands of coronations in my lifetime, but it never gets dull.

Each new monarch has their own way of ruling, and it's fascinating to see what they do and how they do it.

Not to spoil anything, but this generation of monarchs turns out to be very interesting..

-Elliott