Chapter 22: The Coronation Ceremony
Combining your baby's celebration ceremony with the coronation was a smart move, my heir. A mandatory attendance celebration wouldn't have been well-received," Arel said as I gazed at my reflection in the mirror without breaking eye contact, making a few grunts to show I was listening.
The fluffy skirt and shiny fabric of my dress nauseated me. My bun, waiting to be adorned with a crown, didn't look appealing either. After slipping into my diamond shoes, I put on my jewelry.
Turning around, I briefly glanced at Arel and Alven behind him before asking, "Is everything ready?" Arel nodded quickly. "Yes, my heir. Your siblings and the last generation of noble families will be on the palace balcony. The people and the elders of noble families will watch the ceremony from the garden. Afterwards, they will visit to congratulate you. It will be a long day."
I nodded in agreement with the plan. "I don't want any trouble," I said in a flat tone. "Could you please make a final check?"
"Of course!" he said before saluting and leaving the room.
When it was just the two of us, I turned to Alven. "I suppose you'll be watching from the garden?" I asked, and he nodded.
"I'm on duty down there. Someone who doesn't wish you well might cause trouble."
"You know, precautions for such things weren't even considered in Elysian because it was known they wouldn't happen. Everything changed with my mother's death; she left her curse behind."
"I'm sure you can rectify these negativities," he said with sincerity in his voice, which made me raise my eyebrows and then smile.
"It's nice to hear you believe in me," I murmured quietly, but a festival had started inside me. I needed someone by my side.
When he smiled and said, "I'm always at your service, my ruler," I couldn't hold back my laughter.
"In a few minutes, I'll be the ruler..." I reminded, tilting my head to my right shoulder. His gesture that lifted my spirits with a single word pleased me.
"How long have we known each other, and you're talking about a few minutes?"
Even though my smile froze, I cleared my throat and shook off the unwanted mood by shaking my head from side to side.
"Eh?" he asked. "Are you excited?"
I shrugged. "I can't get excited about things I know are going to happen."
He responded with a smile. We were quiet for a few seconds. Both of us were hiding our unhappiness with our happiness. We were devaluing our joys by turning them into bandaids, so when we fell silent, darkness descended upon us.
"How are you?" I asked, not wanting to be dragged into the abyss of my inner world.
"If you ask more specifically, I can give a more accurate answer," he said, laughing at his pitiful state. I laughed so hard I cried.
When he pressed his lips together to stop his laughter, I also fell silent. His eyes looked as if they would water if I said a single word. He was like a leaf blown by the wind, waiting to see what would become of him and powerless to do anything in the moment. "I've never been in such a ridiculous mood before," he admitted, and I went over to him.
"Have you talked to Şafak?" He shook his head no before swallowing.
My eyebrows shot up in surprise. "What, you mean you haven't talked at all since then?"
"I tried to talk, but she walked away without saying a word." It seemed quite challenging for him to sum up his unfinished feelings in one sentence and put a period at the end. His breaths expired with the period he placed.
While I gently touched his arm, I reminded him, "I'm here for you."
He smiled. "And I'm here for you," he said. "I'll always be by your side, even if it's Şafak standing against you."
And again, my feelings were renewed with the forcibly completed sentence of a man whose breath was taken away.
"I won't disappoint you, Alven."
***
When I entered the palace balcony, everyone nearby or far, whether they wanted my rule or not, bowed to greet me. When I stood in a spot where those below could see me, ten nobles clustered on the right side while Eva, Bilun, and Vera took their places on the left.
Çağın, whom I had encountered for the first time since our argument two days ago, had his head bowed. His hair, usually meticulously combed, looked unkempt today. He wore a pastel green collarless shirt and trousers of the same color, with brown boots and a belt of the same tone. I couldn't help but wonder if he would have come so carelessly if we hadn't fought. I held my breath for a while, thinking I shouldn't waste these beautiful moments dwelling on it.
I touched my stomach. I'm succeeding, father, you can be proud of me.
When Arel stood before me with the laurel crown placed on a red cushion, my smile broadened even more. I couldn't digest losing the duel at the time, but looking back now... The real difficulty in digestion was for my sister, who had to bring the crown to my head with her own hands.
When my gaze briefly shifted to her, even in this situation, she managed to keep a stoic face, which made me want to roll my eyes, but seeing Vera made that desire turn into a wish to laugh. She was biting her lip stressfully while looking down, clenching her fist. Unlike her mother's flashy, blue dress, she wore a plain, white dress. Her negligence triggered my suppressed laughter even more. I bit my lips to hold myself back.
After greeting the crowd below with a pleasant smile and a wave of my hand, I turned to Arel, who had started speaking beside me. "The gods, while creating Elysian, whispered to the Supreme Forest Avar: 'I create you, so you may create the magic that will sustain creation. When the gods were creating Elysian, they drew the map of the Earth on our land. When the gods planted Ravi, they commanded it to embrace our hopes with its branches. The gods created Elysian to be a divine inspiration to the Earth! May our Holy Spirits convey our gratitude to our God."
Like the others, I closed my eyes and looked up to the sky before repeating together. "May our Holy Spirits convey our gratitude to our God! May our Holy Spirits convey our gratitude to our God! May our Holy Spirits convey our gratitude to our God!"
We opened our eyes. As our gazes met, Arel continued speaking. "Today, here, we shall bless a soul to communicate with our ancestors closest to the gods. The blessed soul will swear to maintain the order of Elysian, to be just and honorable, not to interfere with the emotions of our people."
As he had instructed before, I knelt down after hearing these words. Suddenly, three sages appeared around me, dressed in the green of the Earth, the orange of Elysian, and the infinite blue of the sea merging with the sky. When they joined hands around me, Arel began to chant in a language unknown to many, singing praises to the trees,
seas, sky, animals, and people. Elysian accepted this greeting by swapping night and day six times in a row. Darkness and light swapped places in a second. Darkness couldn't hide the sins, and light couldn't hide the virtues. The Moon and the Sun bowed before me six times each. The nights were starless; the stars of six nights spilled into the waters. The seas, oceans, and ponds sparkled to honor the ruler of Elysian, the waters washed ashore their spirits. When day turned to day again, a very strong wind blew without moving anyone, accepting the ruler. Rain fell without wetting anyone, lightning struck, snow fell, hail dropped, and a sandstorm bowed the lands before me; nature accepted me. Ravi shed all its leaves at my feet. Each leaf it sacrificed was replaced by a new one. Along with the ruler, nature was renewed.
Arel's loud voice was joined in unison by the people and nobles who did not know the language. Little humans, enlarging their sizes, surrounded the creatures living in Elysian, conveying their pleas for forgiveness through the chants to the new ruler:
"End my punishment, my ruler!"
"I am in dire need of your supreme pardon, my ruler!"
"Forgive, forgive, forgive, my ruler!"
When the three sages separated their hands, the sound of the chant suddenly stopped. With the holy silence, we experienced four seasons in a second. From the fallen leaf to the newly bloomed flower, every element born of the seasons expressed its respect and love for me.
The sages joining hands again initiated the chant, but this time neither Arel nor the people sang. All the rulers who had governed Elysian for centuries enveloped everything with their orange, translucent souls. My father was the only one missing among them. When the Holy Spirits tightened the circle and surrounded me, it was my time to speak.
"I swear to walk the path of justice and honor with love and compassion, to make the best decisions so that my people can freely sow their emotions and bind their dreams as they wish, to take steps together with the Holy Spirits, and not to stray from God's path."
All the Holy Spirits touched me at once, sealing both my body and soul. My eyes closed, my head spun, and pain pierced my joints. My soul was momentarily pulled from my body, shivering. When my transparent soul turned orange, the color of eternity, authority, and fertility, I was now blessed. My new soul; bowed one by one before the Holy Spirits, prostrating at their feet. "I will be at your service," it promised allegiance to them all. The statue-like spirits disappeared without any reaction. As my soul re-entered my body, I shivered, opening my eyes not on my knees, but sprawled on the ground.
When the three sages disappeared along with the Holy Spirits, I realized they were the chief sages before Arel. Arel, holding the laurel crown on the red cushion with one hand, offered the other to help me up. "Your blessed soul..." he said as I stood up. "Whose congratulations do you wish to receive first with the symbol of peace and victory, my ruler?"
My lips curled with sheer triumph, and I briefly said, "Bilun." Now, everyone could see the true loser.
Bilun approached me with noble steps, her chin up, shoulders back. Even though she had forced a smile of fulfillment on her lips, I could feel she was devouring herself inside. She was silent while taking the crown and even as she placed it on my head. Stepping back a few paces and holding her skirt, she knelt down. "I congratulate you, my ruler," she said, looking directly into my eyes. "I hope you will be a wise ruler supported by justice."
I couldn't stop the crushing smile on my lips as I responded, "Rest assured." She offered a polite smile and then stepped back to her original position.
The person who approached me without waiting for Arel's call was Eva. After following the procedure and kneeling to greet me, she said, "Congratulations. Let's see how long you last here..."
I laughed. "You'll die of boredom waiting for me to become mortal again?"
"You'll eat those words in less than five minutes. You say five years, I say five minutes."
"Then, my first command is for you to start counting backwards for five minutes. Don't cry when you're left with zero, though."
Her lips curled. "As you command, my ruler..." she said mockingly. "As you wish." She returned to her place with arrogant steps.
Now, members of the last generation of noble families were supposed to congratulate me one by one, but we were going to make them wait because of a surprise member of the royal family. When Arel called Vera, contrary to my expectation, she came to me without resistance.
Her discontented demeanor was replaced by a cunning attitude, signaling the start of a dirty game. "Remember?" she asked before locking her gaze with mine. "Back on Earth, I always forgot the things you asked me to bring. Notebook, book, pen, box, comb... Everything I said I'd bring tomorrow would reach you months later." She raised her hand, showing the ankh on her finger. "Most of it never even made it to you."
My own voice echoed in my ears: "Free yourself from the clutches of your failing plans and tell your mother, along with the crown she's to put on my head, she should bring the ankh too."
My eyebrows furrowed, and my shoulders tensed. Holding my breath for a few seconds accelerated my breaths. Not only was I surprised, but so was Bilun, who immediately understood her daughter's intent, "I told you to give it to Arel!" she exclaimed, stepping forward.
"Did you really think I'd hand over our greatest power to the palace?"
"You must do it!"
"No! Unlike you, I'm not obligated to give up anything I've worked my whole life for."
As astonished words rose from the crowd in the garden, a deadly silence filled the balcony. If she was showing the ankh to everyone, her intent was to use it, for the ankh could normally only be possessed by the ruler.
While Bilun continued to plead with Vera, and I pondered what to do, Vera taunted, "I haven't given up!" she shouted passionately. "We must be sensible. Trust me, my daughter."
"How can I trust you?" she mocked. "You're fair in your own way in a place where justice doesn't speak!"
"Look..." Bilun said, taking a cautious step forward. "I don't know what you're planning to do with it or whom you're going to call, but she's already become the ruler, nothing can be done now."
Vera laughed with delight. "I knew it would be like this." she said. "I knew I couldn't trust you because of your stupid justice. I will be the next heir to that throne, I can't leave it to a chance dependent on your mood." Her words were glued with ambition. Her eyes darkened, and her voice summoned savagery. This voice, echoing throughout Elysian, seemed to have sworn to bring about my end.
Trying to maintain a calm voice, I intervened, "Look... If you
give me the ankh now, I'll consider these moments as if they never happened."
She slowly shifted her gaze from her mother to me. Disdain in her eyes, arrogance in her posture. "Would I have dared to come here if I was at your mercy?" she mocked.
At that moment, Arel uttered a few magical words, creating walls around the balcony, cutting off our connection with the people in the garden completely. I didn't notice when he had come to my side, but he held my arm, saying, "Teleport yourself, my ruler." He seemed calm enough, but there was a palpable anxiety in his demeanor. He wanted to protect his ruler. My gaze lingered on his wise face for a few seconds before he urged, "Hurry, my ruler."
Without letting Arel say more, I whispered, "Paraiso kolasi." But nothing happened, as if I had missed the seconds. Again, "Paraiso kolasi..." but the result was the same. My heartbeat and breathing accelerated. For the third time, I tried distinctly: "Paraiso kolasi."
I was still here.
Looking to Arel on my right without turning my head, I realized I hadn't teleported. Now I was also worried. I took a deep breath. I was scared, but I needed to stay calm; fear always made me make rash decisions, but now, perhaps my life was at stake. Thinking this made my legs tremble. A sentence spoken years ago to my little sister by love and compassion, which had chosen fidelity as its companion in my soul starving for advice, echoed in my ears: "Hope is very powerful, you hope for salvation even when you're afraid, but you can't even realize it because you're ungrateful for everything positive."
I felt my throat knot up, my tears drying on my cheek. My breaths were trapped. What was this now? Why did the voice of a woman as traitorous as her mother suddenly echo in my ears? I couldn't understand why, but I clenched my teeth in unexplained anger.
While Bilun continued to plead with her daughter to stop, Arel held my wrist and gently pushed me away from the duo. I intended to disappear as quietly as fear and as silently as the doubt spreading through my veins, but it wasn't that easy.
Noticing my attempt to escape, Vera asked, "What happens if the ankh is used to spill the ruler's blood?" posing a question she already knew the answer to, stopping me in my tracks.
I swallowed. Contrary to her mother's scream of "Vera, don't!" I slowly turned towards her. Arel was right beside me, and on my right, a group of nobles stood silently clustered together.
"Do it, and even I won't be able to save you!" Bilun pleaded with her daughter. The anxious whispers of the nobles mixed with my breaths that continued to give me life despite fearing being cut short.
"How lucky we are..." Ignoring her mother, Vera looked straight into my eyes, gesturing towards the nobles with her index finger, "Even Azrael is with us," she said with great joy.
In a state of not knowing what to do, I repeatedly chanted "Paraiso kolasi, Paraiso kolasi, Paraiso kolasi..." but couldn't change my location! Arel, too, persisted with magical words to no avail. The saving words of a language unknown to us did not reach out to us.
When I felt a hand on my shoulder, I shoved it hard without knowing to whom it belonged. "Give me that ankh, and I'll declare you the heir," I said desperately. I couldn't escape the ankh, nor could we perform any magic. I had to give her what she wanted, at least for now.
"That won't be possible if you think you'll be dead in a few minutes."
Again, a firm grip on my shoulder. "We need to leave, stay calm." Recognizing the voice and the hand on my shoulder as Çağın's, I knew he was with me. "Don't be afraid..." he whispered, trying to soothe me. "We'll get out, just stay calm. She can't suddenly perform magic with the ankh."
"Can't she?" I asked with a trembling voice.
"She can't," he said gently.
"Çağın, I don't want to die."
Despite all our tension, he furrowed his eyebrows and pursed his lips with fake anger. "I said we're getting out!" he scolded while caressing my shoulder. For a few seconds, despite the tears in my eyes, my lips curved into a smile. "Listen to Arel and do as he says, I'll stay here and deal with whoever comes. Okay?" He managed to calm me down by speaking clearly amidst all the chaos. "Okay," I said, nodding.
As I approached Arel, Eva's insolent voice boomed through the chaos. "Four minutes are already up, my ruler. One last minute. 59 seconds, 58 seconds, 57 seconds..."
"You'll eat those words in less than five minutes. You say five years, I say five minutes."
"Then, my first command is for you to start counting backwards for five minutes..."
The calm and confidence Çağın had covered me with shattered. Eva was in on this too, and they were going to destroy me! They were going to kill me, take my throne. Whatever their plan was, I had neither the trump card nor the power to stop them. I felt my speech was paralyzed. I wanted to kneel down and cry hysterically, waiting for death. But I didn't want to die... Not when I had just set everything right. I couldn't let it sneak up on me so suddenly.
My eyes widened uncontrollably as I trembled, "Arel, do something!" My body had turned to ice, my will had flown away.
"45 seconds, 44 seconds, 43 seconds..."
"Do something!" I screamed senselessly, moving back and forth, thinking I could escape in a space of three steps.
"32 seconds, 31 seconds, 30 seconds..."
"Guards!" Though I shouted as loud as I could, my voice reached no one. The present sped by so quickly, clinging to my past, begging my future.
"21 seconds, 20 seconds, 19 seconds!"
"I'll destroy you, Vera, you won't escape from me!" My fear swallowed my reckless screams. When did Vera point the ankh at me and whisper the magical words, or since when had the earthly realm's sun been shining in our celestial realm like the ankh announced its radiance, I do not know.
"13 seconds, 12 seconds, 11 seconds..."
Screams mingled with our screams. Arel knelt, praying to God, while Bilun cried, pleading with her daughter. The nobles had submitted, waiting for what was to come, preparing to be shaped by the events.
"5 seconds, 4 seconds, 3 seconds..."
And I, I had pulled the nearest arm in front of me to hide behind. A loud explosion muffled the screams. My ears were ringing. I could only see the feet of those running around me, wishing my mind, which couldn't keep up with their speed, could comprehend
the events. Seeing the blood flowing down both sides of the body that had fallen on me, my gaze slowly traveled over my own body. I was okay... I moved my mouth slowly. "I'm okay," I whispered, exhaling a relieved breath. "I'm okay," I laughed with the peace of having escaped, praying for the life you spared and the lives you took. I continued to laugh, shedding the fear inside me along with my tears.
When my senses caught up with time, everything was clearer. Although I struggled to understand the screams I heard more clearly, I could see the hustle and bustle around me. I moved my shoulders, letting the body on my back fall. I intended to look over my shoulder at Vera, who had used the ankh, but in front of me stood a pure white demon and hundreds of people around it. Its red eyes, stained with blood, looked directly at me. Its hair, eyebrows, body, all adorned with beauty, were covered in a white dress.
As I knelt in astonishment looking at her, Felin looked at me and the crowd around, saying, "Oh..." adding, "I wasn't expecting such a welcome." Her gaze then shifted to the body on the ground. And I couldn't take my eyes off her and the horde of people behind her. My lost sister, who could claim the throne, stood before me with hundreds of people.
"My ruler."
I had just been crowned, and my lost sister, who could share my crown, was right in front of me!
"My ruler."
While I should have been enjoying my escape from all my rivals, I was looking at my biggest competitor!
"My ruler!" Startled by the loud voice, I lifted my head and turned my bewildered gaze to a pair of eyes as sharp as death itself.
Azrael Noyan, lifting his chin, said, "You need to remove your hand." I continued to stare blankly at his face. Everything inside me was tangled and chaotic, and I couldn't externalize myself. "You need to remove your hand," he repeated, and that's why I continued to stare blankly.
Without taking his eyes off mine, Noyan said coldly, "My ruler, I kindly ask you to remove your hand." I sensed impatience in his demeanor.
When I finally reacted, I made a "Huh?" sound.
"Your hand..." he indicated with his chin to my hand. "You need to remove your hand, my ruler."
Looking where he pointed, I saw my bloody hand resting on a body, feeling its warmth for the first time. I had just realized I could only survive by using someone as a shield.
Unable to look at the blood gushing from his chest any longer, I closed my eyes while shivering all over.
"Who?" I whispered so quietly that I couldn't even hear myself. The hand on my shoulder and the breath in my ear belonged to Arel, I realized when I heard his voice. "We need to leave, my ruler."
When I opened my eyes, I was gasping for air, fighting for my life. My head was spinning, my stomach was churning, and somewhere in my soul, a funeral had begun.
As my gaze moved from the pool of blood on the ground to the face of the person I had pulled in front of me, I screamed with the intention of screaming but couldn't make a sound. My limbs had frozen, my mind had forgotten to think, and my self, refusing the truth, ordered me to shake my head from side to side. No, I wanted to say. I wanted to shout, cry, violently shake my friend who had bled out in front of me. My mouth was open, but I couldn't do anything but stare at him.
I brought my blood-soaked hand to his face. While struggling to open his eyes, making meaningless moans, I tried to look into his amber eyes one last time. I shook him by the shoulders, but couldn't tell him to open his eyes. I wanted him to yell at me, scold me for pulling someone in front of me like this, tell me off for being harsh to Bilun and dismissive of Vera. I wanted him to lecture me about returning from my mistakes. I wanted him to say he was with me, that he would always be with me, to take me to my room to sleep, to take care of me like he did on Earth. And most of all, I wanted him to bring me back to myself, to remind me who I was, to look at me with kindness, to make me laugh, to breathe, to live. But I couldn't say any of these things, nor could he hear them.
"No..." was all I could say. "No," I said, swallowing my words. "No," I think I said. "No," I might have said it over and over.
"He was right beside me just now," I whispered when my tongue finally loosened.
"He said to stay calm, that we would get out. He was standing. He was with me."
"He died because he was with you," Eva's merciless voice struck my ear as I shook my head. Çağın loved life, loved money, he laughed, made others laugh. He couldn't die. He didn't love death!
"Huh?" I said, still dazed, feeling the pain. Tears hurt, but I couldn't accept it. A mild pain spread through my head, mourning the man on the ground, but I stubbornly said, "No." "No, no, no..."
"He literally hid behind the man," someone's voice came from the crowd behind me.
"Didn't Çağın jump in front of her?" someone asked.
"No, she moved behind him. She didn't even look at who it was."
My lower lip trembled as I felt my heart constrict. I tried to swallow, but couldn't. Saliva stuck in my throat came out with a violent cough. While my hand rested on a torn chest, I coughed wildly. Everything was muffled again; sounds, images, and feelings.
"What will become of us now?"
"My ruler, you need to remove your hand."
"Is this the youngest child?"
"Was her name Felin?"
"My ruler, we must leave immediately."
"Is he really dead?"
"There's no other noble who can go to Earth, what now?"
"My ruler, you need to remove your hand. I must now take his soul."
"No!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. "No!" I cried, lying on Çağın's body. "You can't take him!"
As strong hands on my shoulders dragged me across the ground away from Çağın, I struggled. Time rushed by, slipping away so fast that I couldn't grasp any of it, stubbornly denying the truth. Despite the blood staining me more real than anything, I denied the truth.
