A Wolf's Howl, A Fairy's Wing-Chapter 642 - Ceremony [2/3]
With his arms still wide, Ankhur's stern but prideful gaze slowly travelled across the gathered crowd. Since the terraced pyramid-like structure was surrounded on all sides by people, he slowly turned his body 360 degrees to look at all the countless eyes staring up at him in silent reverence.
Having jumped on top of a kind of altar in the middle of the top platform, he made sure everyone could see him, and he could see everyone in turn. Since he was in public, he'd appeared before them in werepanther form, giving his yellow panther eyes a wild, predatory gleam.
After a moment of silence, he took a deep breath.
His snout trembled, before his gravelly voice once again thundered across the terraces. "Not only have we introduced many new jobs for people to fulfill, from sigil crafters, to runesmiths, to bath or training centre attendants, and more! We've also created the economy needed to reward their vital work!"
A few cheers arose from non-combatants living in Enkare Nkai, who'd finally found new purpose in their lives, and a way to afford and enjoy luxuries. Slowly, excitement, energy, and joy started finding their way back to the people after Ankhur's relatively heavy words earlier.
"But that's not all!" Ankhur continued without waiting for the cheers to die down. He wanted the excitement to continue building. "That same economy that can now be used to properly reward our warriors for keeping our enemies at bay! Rewards they can then use to afford the new luxuries our magnificent city has to offer!"
This time, the most boisterous of the remaining crowd joined in the excitement, as every warrior, whether they lived in Enkare Nkai or not, had already received their Tickron and a generous salary.
Ankhur's voice kept rising, continuously building on a rising wave of excitement. "I know what some of you are thinking: 'But these luxuries only exist in Enkare Nkai', and you're right… But not for long! Now that we've created the foundation, we can expand throughout the kingdom!"
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Instantly, the crowd erupted in the most excitement they'd shown since the festivities started. A wall of sound rolled across the city as everyone began to celebrate and cheer for their king. No one could sit still any longer. The doubters had their fears shattered with one speech, and could not stop themselves from laughing and cheering.
Ankhur grinned as he looked down at the people. A few moments ago, he was still feeling down over Runa's rejection, but seeing his people like this filled him with joy. To him, being a just ruler and caring for his people were not just his duty; they were a goal, a desire, and a way to honour his late wife, Naeku's mother.
He felt grateful to Erik for letting him break this news to the people, even if he realized it was also a strategic decision. This way, it showed the people that Ankhur had not simply become a puppet for their new emperor, and it gave the fact that he threw his full weight behind Erik's rule a lot more meaning.
His joyful voice continued booming across the celebrating crowd, only barely allowing anyone to understand him. "And you won't have to wait! As soon as the celebrations and ceremonies are over, the first group of newly-trained runesmiths and sigil crafters will leave to start improving the other major cities in our kingdom! Prosperity is within our grasp!"
Finally, excitement reached a crescendo. The crowd had reached a point where they created so much sound and excitement that even Ankhur's booming, runic power-enhanced voice would be unable to make itself heard.
His cat-like eyes continue travelling across the crowd. His grin had turned into a gentle smile as he patiently waited for the moment he could speak again.
Eventually, he found his moment. When the noise and craziness died down just a little, he parted his lips again, his voice a little sterner again. "But… even though I wish I'd been able to supply you all with these things myself, I needed help. Our kingdom needed help! And during our most dire of times, help arrived!"
Excitement died down a little more as some uncertainty set in. Most already knew what he was talking about, but there were some who only knew two things: the invaders had been defeated, and their kingdom had become subject to an emperor. Based on that little information, some even harboured conspiracy theories about this emperor actually being a disguised hunter.
"I know many of you are still uncertain about my decision to follow another into the future, but make no mistake, without him, we would not be enjoying these luxuries!" he continued sternly, his voice filled with respect.
On some level, there was still a part of him that thought of Erik as a powerful brat stealing his daughter, but he couldn't deny feeling genuine respect as well. Erik was level-headed and cared for his family in a way that Ankhur recognized in himself.
Plus, he recognized that no power came for free, and even if he suspected Erik had also been lucky, he knew there was no way this new emperor of his didn't also work his ass off to get to where he was today.
Most of all, however, he knew the difference between personal opinions and public ones. For the sake of not only his deal with Erik, but also the safety and prosperity of his people, he needed them to accept Erik's position. And that meant showing him proper respect. Not only in action, but also in words and tone.
"Worse than that!" he growled, his voice becoming more commanding as he spread his transformed arms wide again, claws flexing in the air. "Without him and his family, we would all be dead or enslaved under the hunters!"
"Erik Gunnulf saved our kingdom and brought us prosperity!" he roared enthusiastically, once again stoking the fires of the still-rowdy crowd. "That is why he is my emperor! That is why I brought us into his Silfrmáni Empire! That is why, when my daughter told me she'd found she loved, I gladly approved their marriage!"
Those last words were a little hard for him to swallow, but he made it through, and they did have the desired effect. It started in a small section of the crowd, where a small group of people started cheering and praising the Silver Emperor, even going so far as chanting his name.
Surprisingly, each one wore a strange necklace shaped like a wolf's head with fairy wings, but that detail went unnoticed by the crowd. Soon, the people around them picked it up as well.
Fuelled by the relief of their recent victory against the hunters, as well as the luxuries in Enkare Nkai, and Ankhur's speech, the people's sentiment quickly turned in favour of Erik.
Ankhur raised an eyebrow at the small group who started, as his sharp eyes certainly did notice the necklace. Yet, he quickly moved on from it.
"With all that said," he continued fondly. "Let's get to the reason we're all here! Today, our Emperor will become my family, and my daughter will marry the man she loves."
Without stepping down from the altar, he beckoned behind him, and the people stretched their necks to try and catch a glimpse of what was happening…
