Amara of Xeris

Chapter 14

Will you live in the Kelasar Palace, after your coronation?", Izira asked her sister. There was still a week left for that.

"Yes. I think I can always visit.", Amara answered, looking at the guest list for the event. Surprisingly, the Othreran Emperor was on the list. Amara attributed it to the recent alliance of the two nations.

This reminded her of his note containing the young Emperor's address he had given her for letter-writing. None of them had written a single letter to each other. She remembered she had kept the note safely in her desk drawer. Better keep it safely, because Amara had a feeling that the both of them would be sharing letters more often now.

"Will you miss home?", Izira asked.

"Yes. I would miss you the most.", Amara answered.

"Me too."

"Just write often."

"I will."

"Have you packed your bags? You know we are leaving for Kelasar tomorrow."

"Yes."

********

"It's been a long time since I came to this place.", Izira said, when they arrived at Kelasar's port after a journey of a few hThis place really hasn't changed much.", she said.

.

"It hasn't.", Amara said and the two made their way to their carriage.

"They rebuilt the Council Building pretty quickly, didn't they?", Izira said when their carriage passed by it. The Building had been rebuilt very quickly, especially because of the coronation. "I guess there's nothing magic can't do.", Izira remarked.

"I suppose.", Amara said and looked outside the window. She noticed that the rebuilt building looked a little different compared to the old one. It looked a little like the Council Building before the Ephedian Occupation.

"Is that the old magic school?", Izira asked pointing to another magnificent building.

"Yes, it is.", Amara said.

"I heard it was like the Ephedian School of Magic, but for Spiritual Magic."

"Not really. It was really like the Voltan School of Magic. High in prestige but not the highest. The Othreran School of Magic would be more comparable to the Ephedian one."

"What comparable to the Xerin one then?"

"I'm not sure but I think it is the one in Guelph."

"Oh, there's the Palace.", Izira said pointing at the Kelasarian palace.

*******

"Would you like to come with me to the Hall of Time?", Aluxio asked Amara, "Izira can come too."

"That Hall of Time. You never let me in there. Why now?", Amara asked.

"The time to go there is now.", Aluxio said. Amara and Izira got up and followed him downstairs and to a deeper wing of the Palace with a locked gate.

The Hall of Time, a locked wing in the palace which is only open for a certain time. The most important points of a ruler's reign. "Amara, do you know why are you here?", Aluxio asked.

"No, not really?", Amara answered. Her father looked disappointed at the answer.

"One of the few times the Hall of Time only opens when a ruler is to be crowned. It will close again a day after the coronation.", he said, "Now, come along, it's tradition for the new ruler to be the first in here when it opens." Both of them stepped into the hallway.

"What are the other times.", Izira asked.

"The birth of a ruler, their wedding and their death.", he answered and Izira nodded her head in understanding. The three of them walked along silently among the long length of the hallway, observing the various portraits of the previous rulers.

"The Hall of Time used to be a part of the Council Building, before the Ephedian occupation. It was a part of the Coronation Ceremony for the ruler to hang their Coronation portrait while the guests followed behind.", Aluxio said, as they walked up to the empty spot near Amara's birthday portrait.

"Shouldn't mother's and her family's portrait also be here?", Amara asked.

"It should be but know Kelasarian considers her and her family their rulers, except the two of us.", he said, "They don't care about it anyway."

Amara said nothing and just stared at the empty spot where her coronation painting would be placed.

"It's crazy how you are going to join them here.", Izira said. Amara looked at the other paintings, some she could recognise like Thea, her paternal grandmother and the last non-Ephedian ruler of Kelasar. Others she couldn't. Six days from now, she would be the Queen Regnant, the most powerful in all of Kelasar and bound by nothing, instead of just some Crown Princess bound by her mother's rules. Did she even deserve to be here? Was this the right time? Only time would tell.

None of the paintings here was of Ephedian rulers. Why would they be? Kelasar may be part of Ephedia but to the people, it was always Othreran. That's what she was to Kelasar, its first Othreran ruler in two centuries. "How long do you think it will take to move the paintings to the Council Building.", Amara asked.

"Not a lot.", Aluxio said.

"I hope the City Hall has enough space for these.", Amara said. Her father saw a gleam in her eyes. This coronation will be special and he had a feeling that this would be the first Othreran coronation Kelsar had seen in a while.