Our exchange of blows hadn't taken all that long although every moment had seemed to last half an eternity to me. For most of the spectators there had barely been enough time for a little whispering and a few shocked gasps. Most of them were only now coming back to their senses after my magically empowered roar. Just as well. I gave them a little more time to recover, taking a deep breath to center myself again as well. The guards were not relaxing yet and I knew why. There was a certain protocol for challenges like this one that had to be followed and we were not quite through with it yet. I looked around and straightened myself before addressing the crowd. “The challenge has been spoken and accepted. The matter is settled.” An 'I dare you to disagree' remained unspoken but was heavily implied.

I looked around, slowly turning around myself once, but no one actually dared to voice any disagreement. The queen was the first to speak up once I was done ritually sealing the outcome of the challenge by speaking these words. Her first words were the equally important ritual agreement of a witness. “The matter is settled.” Now literally no one. Except the king himself, could question my right to rule Caer'zoth without essentially committing treason. With that out of the way she took command of the situation again. She put a hand on the shoulder of one of the guards standing in between us, shielding her from any harm that might have come her way. “Have your man taken to the healers, Captain.” Only now did I notice the golden trimming on the mans armor. The officer nodded and motioned for two of his mans to carry out the queen's orders. They picked up Agar'zan's weapon and helped him up as well before supported him as he left the grand hall still limping.

Only now did I dare to really relax. The queen was not done yet. “We are done with the general audience for the day. The privy council will now convene.” She let the implications of these words sink in for a moment before continuing. Some of the people who had been standing the furthest in the back started filtering out of the room already. “Captain, please clear the room.” Then she turned towards me and my sister. “You will stay.” Did she already know about the news I was about to share? That would only make sense. She probably didn't want some or all of the details regarding the attack on our home discussed in public. Not yet at least. She started descending the dais towards us. “One last thing we need to take care of. Have you brought the circlet?”

The circlet? Oh, of course, mother's circlet! The final nail in the coffin. The thing that made a lady a lady and a lord a lord. I turned towards Kaele. She still looked a little shell shocked. I cleared my throat to prompt her to step forward. The cat jumped from her arms, giving me a rather irritated look, before slinking off, tail held high, to hide behind Kaele. I was tempted to wince but held back from actually doing it. Off course, the little one didn't like it when I got loud like this. My sister in turn started to rummage through her bag. I was tempted to roll my eyes but in the end I didn't do that either. Finally she found what she was looking for. Mother's old circlet. It was in a sorry state. It was broken in one place and generally bent out of shape rather badly.

My sister of course did not offer it to the queen who raised an eyebrow at the sight of what essentially had become a piece of scrap metal. Instead she pulled something else from her bag. She swallowed as she presented this new circlet to the queen. “We had it reforged. I hope it meets with your expectations.” Most people had already left and the guards were gently urging the remainder to leave as well. Still there were some whispers and a few exclamations of surprise as some of those that remained saw the gently glowing circlet in Kaele's hands. It was a bit of a surprise for me as well. Of course I knew that a new circlet had been made. I had had no clue that Kaele had the Illuminium we had found on our ill fated trip used for it though.

It wasn't made out of pure Illuminium though. The light it emitted was a little different. I was no expert but it probably was a silver alloy of some sort. At the circlets front sat a small ruby flanked by two small pearls. Those stones had been retrieved from mother's old circlet. The pearls supposedly came from shellfish that lived in the small rivers and creeks around our home. The ruby had been found in one of these creeks as well. At least the old stories insisted that this was the case. I had never found a precious stone like this on any of our trips but then I wasn't a prospector and didn't have the slightest clue where I would have to really start looking for treasures like this one. The queen lifted the circlet from Kaele's hands, turning it about with great care. “What a precious thing! I'm impressed!”

Then she turned towards me with the circlet in hand. “Please kneel.” I did. She didn't simply put it on my head though. Instead she undid my hair and the ribbons holding it in place. When she finally put the circlet on my head she carefully wove my hair and the ribbons around it. Once she was done she placed a hand atop my head. The words that followed were solemn. “Will you swear to serve the crown, to uphold the king's laws and heed his call? Will you maintain order and peace in the crown's name? Will you wield your weapon to wage war when you are called upon?”

I swallowed hard as she spoke. With great power comes great responsibility. I started to suspect that Kaele might have declined to wear the circlet instead of me not just because she didn't want to face Agar'zan because of the matter. It was as if I could feel the responsibilities already weighing heavy on my shoulders, a little more with every word of the queen. Still I spoke the words that were expected of me. “I will serve the crown, in peace and war. My weapon and my people, they are at the crown's disposal. When the crown calls I will follow. Wherever it calls me I will go. No matter how high the price, I will pay it in sweat, tears and blood.” The weight on my shoulders just kept increasing as I spoke.

Finally as I fell silent again the queen lifted her hand from my head and with it I felt the pressure that had been building lift as well. “You may rise, Keza, lady of the domain of Caer'zoth.”

I did as she bade me and was a little astonished to find that even standing up straight I still had to look up to her. She really was as tall as I had suspected. I tried very hard not to stare and took that opportunity to look around a little more. As I did so, the guards ushered out the last of the bystanders. The courtiers, the musicians and dancers, even most of the guards were gone. The clerks of the treasury that had been carrying the strong box with our special cargo had left as well. They probably were more than just a little relief to get away from the thing in the box. The great hall felt incredibly empty like this.

The queen retreated back up the dais and motioned for the few people that remained to follow. I took this opportunity to study them. I didn't get very far though. As the queen sat back down on her folding chair she started introducing them one after the other. “You have already met lady Undur, our minister of the treasury.” The forgeborn bowed her head ever so slightly. “You have as well already gotten to know Kela'oz, our minister of trade and intelligence.” I blushed hard as the woman in question bowed as well and realization dawned upon me but the queen just kept going. “And last but not least there is Gul'amar, captain of the royal guard and our liaison in military matters now that the king is in the field with the war host.” He too bowed.

Then she looked at me, as did all the others. “And joining us for this special occasion is our daughter, Keza, the new lady of Caer'zoth and her sister Kaele.” My heart missed another beat as she confirmed what I had suspected for a while and what the herald had already hinted at only a little while ago. I bowed as well, trying not to blush too hard and probably failing. The queen, my mother, or at least the woman that had given birth to me, waited until I had straightened out again before she continued. “I have already heard some troubling reports but maybe it would be for the best if you could give us a first hand testament of things that transpired. I think we could greatly benefit from it.”

I nodded and started retelling the events that lead me here, beginning with our innocent little trip into the wilderness around Caer'zoth. It wasn't a short story, especially as I stopped skipping details I thought unimportant the moment the others kept interrupting me, asking for them anyway. They really wanted a detailed, in depth first hand report. By the time I finished and we unlocked the strong chest to reveal the still hissing and gibbering ghoul head with the Arkanium circlet in it, night had long since fallen.

My audience looked troubled, at least as far as I could tell. It was rather hard to read the captain of the guard since he had not taken off his helmet but even he seemed not entirely untouched by the events I had detailed for them. The crown's advisers quietly discussed among themselves until the queen called them to order. “We will discuss these matters in greater detail tomorrow. This should give us some time to consult other sources as well as to think about the best course of action.” She directly addressed the minster of the treasury next. “Have the priests deal with the ghoul's head. They should know what to do. And cast the circlet it is wearing into lead. As big a block as you can and move it into one of our deepest vaults. I don't want it to see the light of day again anytime soon.” At last she turned to face me and Kaele. “You will be our guests until you depart the capital. Captain, have some of our servants see them to their rooms.” With these words she rose from her chair again to address us as a whole. “The privy council is dismissed and will convene again tomorrow after the public audience.”