The throne room was the most majestic chamber of this palace so far.

The wide isle of dark blue carpet from the doors led a straight path toward a long arched staircase pressed against the wall. The floor and the walls were of smooth dark stone with tall, arched windows gracing the left side of the room. Five large golden chandeliers adorned the muted white glass ceiling which gleamed as light twinkled on the diamonds.

I lowered my gaze to the people present in the room as I walked beside Terrence.

Nobles and lords of various states stood on my right. People in cotton clothes and rugged breaches stood on my left. Guards stood close to the walls. It was a perfect division of class and social standing of the whole Ravendale in one room.

And they were here to all see us fall - pardon, rise to the throne.

My gaze dropped to King Wardon and Prince Vance on the bottom of the steps and I met the prince's eery steel eyes.

A rushed to my spine the whole time I crossed him and ascended the long steps.

A twin throne of plush red seating and mahogany frame adorned the farthest corner of the landing, awaiting their owners.

One thing I liked was the equal state of the chairs. No smaller frame for the queen or bigger frame for the king. It was as though as a symbol to recognize that whoever should sit there were equals in status and position, that Terrence and Esmarelda were equal enough to rule together.

I glanced back at Terrence who was already watching me. He blinked softly in reassurance and turned to a noble awaiting us on the right with a bowl. Dark red liquid swirled in that golden bowl and the strong metallic smell told me exactly what we were dealing with here.

But why did we need this blood? Who's blood even was this?"

"Dove blood. Ten thousand. For purification ritual," Terrence muttered under his breath, watching me eyeing the bowl as we turned around to face the crowd.

I resisted the urge to frown.

Dove blood? Purification ritual? What ritual? Why did they even need ten freaking thousands for that?

Terrence pressed closer to me, a silent nudge to pay attention.

The noble or priest moved toward us. He offered a bow to us, starting from King Wardon and ending at me, and cleared his throat.

"Today, we're gathered here for the grand coronation of His Highness Terrence Evan Dialov Beverdon and Her Highness Esmarelda Beverdon. With His Majesty's permission and Ravendale as a witness, I would like to begin the ceremony."

King Wardon nodded. "Proceed."

The noble bowed at the king and stood before us. His head bent lower as he moved the bowl closer to us.

"Your Highness," he began in a gentle tone, "Please touch the sacred blood of dove together and repeat the oath after me."

Terrence lifted his hand and calmly dipped his palm in the smelly blood.

My nose twitched at the mere odor. My bowel twisted at the notion of touching an animal's blood like those dark witches of the Northern Coven who conducted shady rituals of black magic.

I tried my best to gulp down my disgust and dipped my hand in the slippery blood in one breath.

Terrence's glance and twitching eyes in the crowd told me I wasn't very subtle in my attempt, though.

Did I care?

I found myself unbothered as my wet pinkie touched my husband's beside me.

A nudge of his finger had me glancing up at him.

Those blue eyes blinked with both concern and reassurance.

I breathed and blinked back, poking the tip of his finger.

His lips twitched before he looked ahead.

"Offer your verse," Terrence said.

The noble cleared his throat. "Your Highness, please repeat after me. We, Terrence Evan Dialov Beverdon and Esmarelda Beverdon, swear on our sacred blue blood that from this moment onward, we shall forever keep Ravendale and her people safe."

Terrence and I repeated the vow with a strong voice, a sense of deep responsibility slowly settled inside me and I gulped at the sheer weight of it.

"We shall protect and serve justice according to the laws of the previous king until the hour of next Royal Recruitment Ceremony arrives."

We spoke after the noble, though, a nagging voice poked my inside about this mysterious Recruitment Ceremony.

I'd have to ask Terrence later.

The noble continued. "We shall prove ourselves to be worthy of the crown, the throne, and the responsibilities which shall arrive with the position of a leader and devote ourselves to the crown till death."

It was as if something heavy sealed within my soul as I repeated the words, a wild moment of panic consumed me thinking it was some kind of blue blood sorcery binding me forever to this kingdom and snipping off my witch root.

But then, the heaviness washed away, leaving me with a feeling of strange conviction toward this stranger kingdom right along the deep-rooted faith toward my coven.

It was then I realized what exactly happened.

I breathed deeper, allowing this new sense of divided loyalty toward both Ravendale and Eastern Coven to settle in me. I was now not only a witch of my coven but also a servant of Ravendale. My duties now entailed ensuring the welfare of both lands and the danger was right there.

As a Coven Daughter, I knew well that leaders made compromises for their lands, some of them are far costlier and even deadlier. I had seen Baba's sleepless nights and red-rimmed eyes as he made decisions that affected him to a greater deal but in the end, his coven came first. Always.

And I now had to mother two, two opposing children that barely tolerated each other. No pressure.

"Your Highness?"

I flinched at the noble's voice and relaxed my pursed lips.

"Yes?"

He eyed Terrence before lowering his head. "The oath ceremony is complete. I requested you to remove your hands from the bowl."

I noticed Terrence's hand was still there beside me, waiting for me to move. I lifted my wet hand. Dark red blood dripped from my palm with sickening plops.

The feeling of crawling disgust returned with a renewed vigor.

Thankfully, two maids rushed to us with clean bowls of water and rinsed the blood off our hands before drying them with cream towels.

After they left, the noble turned to the crowd.

"With the end of the sacred oath ceremony, our future king and queen have bound themselves to the royal order of Ravendale as leaders. Now, with His Majesty's permission, I would like the current king of Ravendale to come forward and crown the future king and queen as a symbol of the beginning of a new era of reign. Ravendale awaits, Your Majesty." The noble smiled at a stone-faced King Wardon.

Without another word, King Wardon strode up the stairs with a swift grace and stood beside Terrence as the maids handed the noble two golden cushions holding sparkling crowns.

The noble walked toward King Wardon and stretched his cushioned arms before the king, lowering his head. "Your Majesty."

King Wardon picked up the bigger crown. It was a silver framed crown with whorled vines and diamonds with a sparkly blue oval stone in the middle. The king walked to his son who already dropped to his knees and rested the crown on his head.

"May Superior Strength bless and guide you," he spoke in a monotonous voice, as though reciting a boring verse.

He turned around and picked up the other crown. It was also a silver framed crown with white diamonds gleaming throughout the intricate swirling curves. The tip of the crown had spiky sapphire teardrops, rounding the length of the diadem.

Lucinda once told me that the blue gem in the king's crown was actually made from an ancestor's blue blood and the sharp sapphire teardrops in the queen's diadem was a symbol of her strength despite her delicacy and grace.

I lowered to my knees and waited for the king to drop the crown on my head.

I was half expecting him to whirl around and scream at the crowd that he wouldn't crown a witch. This whole coronation was a joke. A dirty lesson for Terrence to play him and-

I shivered the moment a cold, heavy metal weighed down on my head.

Oh, goodie! I forgot to breathe.

"May Superior Strength bless and guide you."

And just like that, he turned around and rushed down the stairs to stand beside his other son.

I was on my knees for a good two minutes before I gulped for the third time in an hour and stood up on my wobbly legs.

Terrence held my back as I straightened my spine and rested his arm on right there as a support, clearly breaking an etiquette rule, I was sure.

"And with the end of the crowning ceremony, Ravendale welcomes her new king and queen. Your Majesties."

The noble lowered himself to his knees and bowed, holding his chest. The rest of the crowd chimed his last words and dropped to their knees with a resounding thud, even King Wardon - or should I call him High King now - and Prince Vance.

Terrence's arm pressed further into me and he leaned closer. A proud smile graced his lips as he watched the crowd.

But somehow I couldn't share his feelings, not completely, not with Prince Vance's piercing gaze pinning me like a vulture.