Rielen emerged from the trial room with a smile on her face. She looked upon the other four candidates, who looked exhausted, and handed her token. A glowing gold light had filled the token, shocking the many people around her.
Grend smiled, knowing what this meant. They had never seen the tokens come back in such a vibrant color before. This girl had been chosen as the next ruler of Autra.
"Let it be known the next ruler, Queen Rielen! All hail the Queen!"
Anger seethed on the now previous King's face, as he heard the yelling. 'How could this happen?!' His son's face became pale as he realized he had failed. "Father, I am sorry…" he began saying, as he watched his father pull out a silver dagger.
Before the cheers had died around Rielen, she saw a movement in the corner of her eye. Frowning, she shifted her body to view what was going on. Eon was in front of her with a dagger in his side. 'NO!' Guards had emerged to subdue the attacker that had tried to kill their new leader.
Eon fell to his knees, as the fatigue from his trial had not completely left him. He could hear people yelling around him as he fell unconscious for the second time that day. He thought he heard a faint voice in his head: "Protect her well." A soothing sensation filled his body as he slept.
Fear filled Rielen's heart as she saw him fall. Immediately reaching for her mana, she began to heal the wound before her. She pulled out the dagger, slicked with blood. 'It was poisoned!' Her hands were soaked in Eon's blood as she forced her mana into the wound. 'Don't let me be too late. Don't take him away from me,' she thought over and over.
Healers surrounded her, adding to her strength. She poured every last ounce of mana she had into the wound at Eon's side. Greedily drinking a mana potion, she knew she was going to put herself into mana exhaustion. She didn't care if it knocked her out for a week. All she needed was Eon!
She found the source of all the blood, and her face went white as she realized the heart had been nicked. She gritted her teeth and focused on sealing the cut. Karla knelt beside her with her sleeves rolled up. "Don't worry," the Lead Healer assured her. "We are here to help you." She felt a mana recovery spell cast on her. With Karla's help, she just managed to finish the repair on the heart before she succumbed to a state of mana exhaustion.
Karla watched her disciple, now Queen, fall beside her. "Take him to the recovery room immediately!" she yelled. 'You really have one hell of an injury this time, boy.' Taking shifts, the Healers were able to bring Eon to the surgical room rarely used. They worked until evening before finally placing him beside Rielen in the recovery room.
The King had mana sealing bracelets slapped on his wrists, and was detained in a small room awaiting his sentence. 'How could they pick a woman?!' He raged inside his head. He had worked tirelessly to create the opportunity for his son to ascend the throne. Even giving him a bracelet that was supposed to make him more appealing to the Spirits.
Rielen woke up with a groan. She had used too much mana, and the familiar headache of mana exhaustion was raging in her mind. "What have I told you about overusing your mana?" Karla sat next to her, holding out water and medicine to calm the storm in her head.
She reached out gratefully, and quickly took the medicine. 'Ugh. It's the bitter one.' "Don't make that face. This is the only medicine that is gonna get you out of this bed, and you know it." Karla had always been strict with Rielen when it came to overusing her magic. She knew she had overdone it this time.
Her memory suddenly reminded her why she had overused her mana in the first place. "Is he…" Karla pointed at the bed next to her. With a sigh of relief, she tried to get out of bed, but Karla pushed her down. "Do not overestimate the amount of mana you need to recover. You will need to be on bedrest at minimum for three days. No exceptions!"
A man approached from the other side of the room. "Your Majesty," he said, as he bowed at the foot of her bed. Karla rolled her eyes and left the room. "I am Peter Hydra, head of security." Rielen realized that she was now the ruler of Autra. She nodded at Peter, who was waiting for her to continue.
"The Royal Guard has apprehended the culprit who tried to murder her Majesty. We are awaiting your command." 'Command?' "What is normally done in these situations?" Rielen was at a loss. She had studied to be a Noble, but Ruler craft was not really taught.
Normally, the previous Ruler would take the new one under their wing, and teach them about how to run the Kingdom. This was obviously not going to be an option for the new Queen. "The punishment for attempted assassination is beheading, your Majesty."
Rielen had never been the cause of someone else's demise before. She knew that if she were ever to be sent to the battleground that this was a possibility, but she hadn't been sent to the military. She looked over at Eon, and her heart hurt.
"Let it be done!" She remained firm as the sentence left her mouth. Peter bowed again and left the room. He had taken the oath all Royal Guards take before he had assumed his position. It didn't matter if he had previously liked the last King.
The moment the token had shown gold meant that the Royal Guard were bound to Rielen. This was an undisputed fact. All guards, from the moment they took the secret oath, were bound to the one the Spirits chose. This way, an old ruler could not order them to kill a new Ruler.
The Spirits looked down at the sleeping power, happy with their choice. Hope filled their essence. "I feel like the future finally looks bright!" The purple Spirit spoke to the others. They all agreed, as they felt finally they could bring balance to the country they worked tirelessly to protect.