Ah, the coronation day.

It dawned cold and crystalline as the winter sun rose over the capital like a blade of pale gold unsheathed against the grey sky.

The streets had been swept clean of snow and ash alike, the last remnants of the Emperor’s funeral pyre, the last traces of the mourning period that had held the empire in suspense for seven days.

Banners of deep imperial violet hung from every window, their golden trim catching the thin morning light. The bells of the Grand Temple tolled in slow, sonorous waves, each peal rolling across the capital... more like a heartbeat.

The Coronation Hall of the Imperial Palace had not been opened in decades. Not since Zircon Iondora himself had knelt on its ancient marble and risen as an emperor.

The massive bronze and oak doors, carved with the deeds of the founder king, groaned as they swung wide, admitting the procession of nobles, foreign dignitaries, temple officials, and military commanders who had been granted the privilege of attendance.

The hall beyond was bathed in light, columns of black marble rose toward a vaulted ceiling painted with the constellations as they had appeared on the night of the empire’s founding.

The floor was a single, seamless expanse of white stone, veined with gold that seemed to glow from within. At its center, raised on seven steps of polished obsidian, stood the Enchanted Throne, empty no longer.

Damon June Iondora knelt on the seventh step.

He was dressed in the imperial coronation robes, violet silk so deep it was almost black, embroidered with golden scripture quotes that coiled and twisted across the fabric as though alive.

The mantle of the crown prince had been replaced by the heavier, more ornate mantle of the emperor-elect, its edges weighted with threads of true gold.

His dark brown hair had been pulled back from his face, revealing the sharp, austere lines of his profile. His violet eyes, the Iondora birthright, were fixed on the altar before him, where the Crown of Iondora waited on a cushion of white velvet.

The High Priest of the Grand Temple, raised his hands over the kneeling prince. His voice recited the ancient oaths in a language older than the empire itself. Words of binding, of duty, of the sacred covenant between the Dragon Lord, the temple, and the Iondora bloodline.

A young acolyte walked forward, and from behind the Emperor-to-be, the holy scripture was brought atop his head, hovering, its shadow shielding him from the glaring sun.

"Do you, Damon June Iondora, swear to uphold the laws of this empire, to protect its people, to honor the gods and the ancient pacts, and to serve as the shield and sword of Iondora until death releases you from this burden?"

Damon answered steadily. He was calm. He had spent decades knowing this was the least of the things he wanted to do, yet he would do regardless.

"I swear it."

The High Priest lifted the Crown of Iondora, a circlet of black gold set with violet gems that matched the Iondora eyes, its seven points representing the seven founding houses of the empire. For a moment, it hovered in the air above Damon’s head, and the entire hall held its breath.

The scripture was moved away... and it descended.

"I crown you Damon June Iondora, First of His Name, Emperor of Iondora, Protector of the Realm, Keeper of the Ancient Pacts, and Shield of the Faithful."

The crown settled onto Damon’s dark hair. The High Priest stepped back. And Damon Iondora rose to his feet as the nth Emperor of Iondora.

The hall erupted in the thunderous, synchronized sound of every noble and knight and dignitary dropping to one knee, their heads bowing toward the Dragon Throne. The rustle of silk and the clank of armor filled the vast space. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

Damon turned.

He faced the assembled court, the crown heavy on his brow, the mantle finally settling across his shoulders.

His violet eyes swept across the sea of kneeling figures, the ministers who had begged him to ascend, the nobles who had whispered that he was a murderer, the foreign ambassadors who were already calculating what his reign would mean for their homelands.

He saw his three half-siblings, their expressions unreadable. He saw Cecilia, Lady Sees, veiled and elegant, seated among the foreign dignitaries.

And then his gaze hardened.

"Rise," the new Emperor commanded. His voice, amplified by the acoustics of the hall, carried to every corner. "The blessings of the gods have been bestowed. Now, before the celebration begins, there is a matter of justice that must be addressed."

Justice? At a coronation? This was quite unprecedented.

"Guards." Damon called coldly. "Bring in Baron Bertrand Vemorel."

Gasps rippled through the assembled nobles. Bertrand Vemorel. The wealthiest baron... no, the wealthiest lower ranking noble in Iondora?

A man whose mines in the eastern provinces produced enough iron to arm half the empire’s legions? Whose trading fleets dominated the southern seas and private fortune was rumored to rival the imperial treasury itself?

The great bronze doors groaned open.

Six Imperial Knights marched into the hall, their white-enameled armor gleaming under the constellation ceiling. Between them, his wrists bound in chains of spell-forged iron, stumbled Baron Bertrand Vemorel.

His fine clothes, a doublet of midnight velvet, a collar of silver fox fur, were disheveled, his grey-streaked hair escaping from its careful arrangement, his face furious and horrified in equal measure.

It looked like he was just freshly dragged away on his way here.

"What is the meaning of this?!" Vemorel squeaked as the knights forced him to his knees before the obsidian steps. "I am a loyal subject! I have served this empire for forty years! You cannot—"

"I can," Damon coldly said. Simple and flat, which made it more terrifying.

A prosecutor stepped forward from the ranks of the imperial legal corps, a thin, severe woman in the grey robes of the High Judiciary, her dark hair pulled back in a severe bun, her eyes cold as winter steel.

In her hands, she carried a sheaf of documents thick enough to stop an arrow.

"Baron Bertrand Vemorel," she announced, "you stand accused of the following crimes."