Candor: The Coronation
(And lots of interpersonal drama)
CANDOR: THE CORONATION BALL
The new King, his bodyguards, retainers, friends and family are all waiting in the grand ballroom as the guests start to arrive. Nora stands slightly behind her celebrated sons, glowing more than usual, even for her. Her personal quest has ended triumphantly, and she is proud, relaxed and resplendent, awash in the victory for all to see. The warrior paladin is gone, for the moment. The familiar mail has been exchanged for a gorgeous gown of creamy silk, and the tightly braided brown hair has been freed to flow softly around her shoulders, with the brilliant gold streak catching the light as she smiles at every new arrival. Like Valere, her eyes have taken on the woody amber color of a hunting cat's, and her skin has a golden gleam.
Clan Hunabar is there; as usual the epitome of style, even in their impoverished state. Haskar looking his usual proud and defiant self with Valere's mother on his arm. She holds an embroidered handkerchief at the ready to dab at tears of joy. Phillipe and Iris are holding hands, nearly giddy with the excitement of it all, and even the stoic Cleante is looking a bit amazed at the royal spectacle. Was that a smile that played on his lips for a second? It's so hard to tell with him. At the center of this familial gathering is Valere, looking every bit the hero and Beloved of Bel. His armor and animated shield are laid to rest tonight, and he is a vision in white silk and gold thread. A puffy sleeved white silk shirt, tied at the front with a golden cord is topped with a white leather and silk doublet, with woven gold lining in the visible slashings. White leather trousers tucked into high white soft leather boots, each with gold thread trimming and Sunrose embroidery. All of this ornamentation only goes to bring attention to his golden skin and amber leonine eyes. At his side is "The Fire", a symbol of his position and his fate. Where Elianora glows with inner devotion, Valere glows through outer ornamentation, and pure untainted beauty.
The rest of the Sun Rose Company are there in full glorious display with their significant others, looking proud and triumphant and basking in the limelight that is showered upon them.
There is food a plenty, of all varieties, and all exquisitely prepared. The
center table is set off with an oversized likeness of the King's crown crafted
in ice, set off with flames on each of the points - flames that emanate no heat.
There is wine, ale, and just about anything else you can imagine set out at
tables and being carried to guests by servants wearing the royal tabard.
Guests enter the hall and immediately make their way to the King and his retinue arrayed on a raised platform on one end of the ballroom. After formal greetings are exchanged, the guests mingle among themselves, some old friends and some only acquaintances, but tonight old friends become closer and acquaintances become friends. Everyone here realizes that this is a uniquely special occasion, and no one is about to miss a minute of it.
Once the formal reception line is done, Nora and her children make the rounds of the ballroom, making somewhat more casual contact with friends, allies, and hoped-for allies. It becomes clear that the pale light that surrounds her has no other source than her own inner devotion; it follows her as they mingle with dignitaries, occasionally brightening as she laughs or smiles.
A band made up of expert musicians and Bards is filling the room with warm and pleasant music, and when Malachi is asked to start off the dancing, he chooses to dance first with his Mother. The two of them take to the dance floor, and after an awkward start Mother whispers to son, "Just like we used to do at home dear. You'll be fine." Once they begin the dance, the guests applaud enthusiastically, causing the new King to blush just a little. As Nora dances with her son, tears of joy appear glowing on her face. They glide across the room like part of a fairy tale, a moment trapped in time. As the first dance ends, mother and son, King and Paladin, walk off the floor together, and many elegant couples come forward to continue the dancing.
The night wears on, and one by one guests take their leave, bowing once more to the new King and congratulating everyone yet again before wandering off into the night to the warmth and peace of their beds. The guests dwindle, and the boys start to seem less like royalty or would-be deities, and more like boys again as yawns and eye-rubbing overtake them. Nora gathers them together and takes them to their rooms where she puts each one in turn to bed, a kiss and a hug for each. They fall almost immediately to sleep.
***
Servants scurry about the ballroom, clearing away dishes and leftover food. Caprice and Hari are engrossed in an intent conversation in one corner. Minimin has already gone an hour or more ago with Syrah Caillette, the Magical Armorer, and Halkem has headed off to his own chamber with his wife.
Valere walks through the emptying ballroom, eyes searching through windows and doors until he sees what he is looking for. Then suddenly he stops - there, just beyond an arched doorway, stands Elianora on a flower-entwined balcony. The moon glow on her hair is only enhanced by the glow that shines from golden skin making her seem ethereal in the night air. A wind blows gently, stirring the ends of a golden lock of hair across her shoulders. She stands with her back to the room, leaning slightly against the railing, the moonlight tracing the silhouette of her body in her white gown. Valere stops a moment, pressure rising in his throat as he once again gains control of his emotions, and resigns himself once again to be kind and supportive, at least until the lady would say otherwise.
As Valere walks up behind her, he can hear her muffled sobbing, and sees her raise a handkerchief to her face to dry moonlit tears.
"I'm…" he stammers, standing too close to her as the faint scent of cinnamon fills his senses. ".. I'm sorry. I don't mean to intrude. No one had seen you and I… I just wanted…" if he could have blushed through his own golden skin, he would have, "..just wanted to make sure you were okay."
Nora looks up at him for one moment. "Oh Valere!" she sobs, burying her face in his chest. Unable and unwilling to help himself, Valere wraps his arms around her, cradling her close as she cries. After a moment, she stops and dries her eyes once more.
"What is it?" He says softly, his leonine eyes staring into hers, reflecting the ambient light around them in an eerie glow. "What has made you sad? Tonight was a triumph. I've never seen you more radiant. At last, all is well." He curses internally, knowing that the last is not true, at least yet.
"For the moment." She sighs, resting the handkerchief against her cheek, head still pressed close against his chest. She listens to his strong heartbeat, racing as fast as her own.
"It just doesn't seem possible that it's over, that we could be here, in this
place. All I ever wanted was to have them home, and safe. I sought out the
mercenary's life, and joined the Black Rose Company, just so that I could find a way to bring them home to me." She looks up at him, eyes glistening. "And since then it has all moved so fast… Cordwainer's plot, and Felas, then the Theophany, the dracsadha monks, the prophecy. Then to finally have them back, so changed…and we have hardly stopped since then, leaping from one danger to another, with them only one step behind us."
She shakes her head, overwhelmed, as she pulls away just enough to tuck the handkerchief back in its pocket. When she looks up at him again, her eyes are radiant, and she lifts a hand to stroke the mane-like fringe of soft golden hair that curls around his jawline.
"For the first time since Tirnan's funeral, tonight I feel that my sons are
where they belong. I feel like I have finally done what I set out to do for them, that I can rest, if only for a little while."
Valere smiles warmly, arms drawing her slightly tighter against him.
"You have done an extraordinary thing. Any other woman would have become lost to her sorrow, yet you stood against the odds and accomplished the impossible. You deserve your rest, as do we all." Valere stops, and gazes intently into Nora's eyes. "You are an amazing woman, Elianora Raventree. I will always stand with you against whatever foe you find yourself faced with, be it mortal, immortal, Divine or profane."
Valere cradles Elianora's face in his hand as his emotions overwhelm him in a wash of light and cinnamon. "You are truly the light of my life."
Overcome by the moment, his senses reeling in light, warmth and the
spicy scent of cinnamon and sweat, Valere grabs Elianora tightly
around the waist and pulls her close to him, his other hand gently on
the side of her face, guiding her mouth to his. They kiss
passionately for what seems like days, emotions breaking though long
cared for walls of caution.
They finally pull back, gazing into each others eyes, then embracing
tightly once again.
Valere says, quietly. "It's getting late."
Elianora smiles demurely. "Yes, it is."
Hand in hand the two beloved of Bel walk back through the emptying
ballroom, through the hallways to their chambers. After only the
briefest of pauses, Valere opens the door to his room and they step
inside together - Elianora closing and locking the door behind them.
