“Now, everyone...” Hartmut said, overcome with emotion. “By the grace of Lady Rozemyne, the Divine Avatar of Mestionora, a true Zent has taken the throne. Let us show gratitude to the mighty King and Queen of the endless skies, the Eternal Five who rule the mortal realm, Flutrane the Goddess of Water, Leidenschaft the God of Fire, Schutzaria the Goddess of Wind, Geduldh the Goddess of Earth, and Ewigeliebe the God of Life. Let us give our prayers to the gods!”
A chair clattered as Hartmut spoke. I turned in the direction of the noise and saw Melchior standing in his High Bishop robes. Following his lead, some of the Ehrenfest and Ahrensbach nobles rose to their feet as well.
“Wh-What are they doing?” I asked. “Should we stand too?”
“I do not know.”
We were taken aback. They had risen with such conviction that we started to doubt ourselves.
“Let us give our prayers to the gods!” the standing nobles declared. Then, together with Lady Rozemyne, Hartmut, and the blue priests, they shot both arms into the air and raised one leg in prayer. The light of a blessing radiated not just from Lady Rozemyne but from the audience as well.
I can understand the Ehrenfest nobles rising in prayer, but why are those from Ahrensbach joining them?!
It was shocking to see them all on the same page.
“Lady Rozemyne and Lady Eglantine shall now depart,” Hartmut announced. “Raise your schtappes high for them!”
We did exactly as instructed. Prince Anastasius and Lord Ferdinand approached the altar and then escorted Lady Eglantine and Lady Rozemyne out of the auditorium. Lights clashed as the new Zent and the avatar of a goddess gracefully made their exit. The blue priests closed the door behind them, concluding an event that would forever change how society viewed the temple and religious ceremonies.
“It was so long ago that Lady Rozemyne urged us to reevaluate the temple,” I said. “Now this feels like a matter of course.”
We prepared to stand, but Hartmut instructed us to remain seated. “Now that a new Zent has arisen, there is much that will need to be decided during the upcoming Archduke Conference,” he said. “Lord Trauerqual shall explain.”
King—no, Lord—Trauerqual blinked several times, then slowly stood and approached the altar. He looked terribly unwell, as one might expect for a man just ousted from power. Upon reaching Hartmut, he accepted the sound-amplifying magic tool and started addressing the gathered aubs about Lanzenave and Ahrensbach’s insurrection.
“Before today’s triumphs—the long-awaited return of the Grutrissheit and the installation of a true Zent—much took place behind the scenes.”
He gave a public-facing interpretation of the revolt, then moved on to discussing the Archduke Conference. Every one of the aubs gave him their full attention; until now, they had been kept mostly in the dark.
He seems to be concealing most of the royal family’s involvement.
My father and mother had already summarized the situation for me, but still. As someone who had actually fought against Lanzenave in Ahrensbach, I could not help feeling that events were being twisted in favor of royalty while simultaneously minimizing the involvement of those from Ehrenfest.
This might be Lady Rozemyne’s wish, but even so...
Lord Trauerqual announced that the Lanzenavians and any Ahrensbach nobles who aided them would need to be punished, that some of the duchies’ borders were being redrawn in preparation for the Archduke Conference, and that the duchy rankings would change drastically as a result.
“This could have waited until the Archduke Conference,” Lestilaut groused. “Can I not just return to my room?”
“Pay attention,” I shot back, my tone chastising. “This is important information for the next Aub Dunkelfelger.”
From there, Lord Trauerqual announced that he and Lord Sigiswald were going to become aubs and that Lady Rozemyne would free Ahrensbach from the sway of Chaocipher the Goddess of Chaos, bestowing upon the duchy a new name and color in the process. Only then were we permitted to leave.
My brother practically shot out of the room with his retainers in tow. Mother watched them go with a look of resignation, then hurried me along as well.
It was then that Eineliebe, my brother’s fiancée, approached us. She was due to marry him during the upcoming Archduke Conference but had not been able to sit with us, as she was still only an archnoble.
“Lady Sieglinde,” she said as she watched my brother depart, “about Lord Lestilaut...”
“He will not leave his room for quite some time, I suspect. How troubling.”
“I understand why he is so stimulated—the ceremony was more splendid than any other I have witnessed—but still... I cannot help but wonder how many new paintings will come of this.”
Hearing her sound so defeated, I was suddenly compelled to apologize in my brother’s place. Anyone would hate the thought of their husband-to-be obsessively making artwork of other women.
“Um, Eineliebe...” I said.
“Worry not, Lady Hannelore—I shall consult Lady Sieglinde when it comes time to drag him from his room. If he makes only one or two pictures, I will not complain, but alas... As soon as inspiration strikes him, he seems to forget that he is Dunkelfelger’s next aub.”
Eineliebe was much too good for Lestilaut. If my brother had any sense left in him, he would start showing his eternal gratitude to her and to our mother, who had put them together in the first place.
Lestilaut was already locked away in his room by the time we returned to the dormitory. I asked my attendants to prepare tea in the common room, where I discussed the ceremony with my parents. Those who had not been too involved in recent events remarked on the grandeur of the spectacle and on Lady Rozemyne’s divine grace, and we exchanged intelligence on subjects we thought were likely to come up during the Archduke Conference.
“To think they were so desperate to buy time that they made some of their announcements early...” Mother said. “I wonder what happened.”
“I don’t have a clue,” Father replied. “I didn’t become the Zent, so it’s of no concern to me.”
Their remarks were almost lost among the excited chatter, but they did not escape my notice.