The Way Back (Champions of the Crystal Book 4)

Chapter 20.5

The Little Ballroom, the largest habitable space in Palace Royal, was doing double duty tonight. The throne had been set up for the oathtaking, with the audience lined up along the walls. Afterward, the dance floor would be cleared for the ball to begin. As they reached the antechamber, Sabrina could hear the muted roar of the crowd beyond the thick doors. "Good God! It sounds like a football stadium in there."

"It's a good turnout," Ford agreed. "But then, this is a historic event."

"God save me from historic events," Sabrina groaned. "I've had enough to last a lifetime already."

Tirqwin was the first to greet them as they entered the antechamber. Sabrina hugged him, careful not to crush her roses. "Tirqwin! You made it!"

"Of course I did," he replied warmly, kissing her cheek. "How could I miss your official re-entry into Praxatillian society? Are you very angry with me, Sabrina?"

She pretended to consider. "All in all...no. I owe you so much, Tirqwin."

"We will call it even. Khediva sends her best wishes, by the way."

"Thank her for me. Have you seen Scotty yet?" Sabrina looked around for her brother in vain.

"No, but Mara assures me he is on his way to being his old self. I confess I cannot wait to see it!" A long, rolling bell sounded somewhere nearby, and Tirqwin looked at Ford. "Come along, Niavar. We are due on the dais. You know what to do, Sabrina?"

"Yes, we've rehearsed it a dozen times," Sabrina said. "Is Scotty already out there, then?"

"He shouldn't be," Ford frowned.

"Here he comes," Tirqwin smiled, looking toward the doors.

Scotty dashed inside. "Sorry I'm late! Hiya, Tirq, great to see you! Rina, you look terrific. Good luck!"

"Why so late?" Sabrina asked.

Scotty made a face. "You'd never believe what an argument they had over what I should wear! It should have been a uniform, but nobody could decide about my rank since I'm not back on duty yet and will have to go back and be a cadet first anyway. Then they found out I don't have any civilian clothes yet. So we had to find some. I have no idea whose these are." He gestured to the crisp charcoal suit he was wearing.

Ford eyed it appraisingly. "Baldaran's, I'd bet. You're about the same build, and I think I recognize that."

"We can figure it out later, if you insist," Tirqwin said. "But for now we are late! Come along, Scotty! And try to behave as befits my ward."

Scotty sniggered and winked at his sister as he followed Tirqwin and Ford out into the ballroom.
Sabrina peeked out the door. The huge room was mostly dark, lit only by candles set in long, ornate metal stands at intervals along the path to the dais and some dim lighting around the walls. She could easily make out the throne, though, and Mara already seated there as the family gathered around her. Scotty's entrance caused a ripple of excited comment in the audience, which faded only slightly by the time he, Tirqwin, and Ford reached their places.

The Royal Chamberlain, a not-quite-elderly man with whom Sabrina had become fairly well acquainted over the past two days, stepped to his place on the other side of the doors. Sabrina slid the door shut so that no one would see her; she could easily hear the Chamberlain's deep, carrying voice as he began the ritual.

"In the name of Her Majesty, Maratobia ya Tassan nar Miahn zu Yanklozhquar, Queen of Praxatillus, I summon her kinswoman, Sabrina ya Tassan nar Hamilton-Devon, to swear fealty to the crown."

Sabrina counted carefully to three—the Chamberlain had been most insistent on the timing—and opened the door. "I am here."

"Do you come to swear this oath freely and without constraint by any entity, living or dead?"