(1306) Coronation of Summer

**Mary Lee** · Aug 28th, 2013 12:23 PM

"I believe we would all benefit from a show of good faith," the Muse replies, as though the King had asked her a question with his oath comments. "I will renew my annual pledge right here, and right now. Unless anyone has further objections before we proceed with getting this Freehold back on track?"

Her words display a confidence she seems to have been hiding away, as her clear enunciation and absence of jitters displays a talent for public speaking. Perhaps she had precisely the right amount to drink this evening.

Aug 28th, 2013 04:26 PM

I think my ears are bleeding. Jason instinctively held his hands to his not-bleeding ears in an ultimately futile gesture. The sound of trumpets rang out in his skull for a few seconds after. If it were up to him, the book wouldn't have been reduced to ashes. Did they really know for certain that the book couldn't be replaced? Did they know that there wouldn't be any backlash as a result of burning the book? Then again, it wasn't his decision. We'll just have to deal with whatever consequences came from destroying the book, I guess. Aside from potential deafness, that it.

The Summer King didn't waste any time transitioning from book-burning to preaching, something the Beast was tempted to make a quip about but ultimately decided against it. He didn't need to get on the new King's bad side any more than he already had. Besides, I could stand to keep my mouth shut a little more often he thought.

As if reading his mind, Lucas gave the Summer Courtier a look as he mentioned swearing the Freehold Oath and Jason flinched a little under the preacher's gaze. His mouth seemed to be completely shut down as he struggled to formulate a response. He felt supremely stupid staring back at Lucas until Mary Lee spoke up, helping him find enough courage to actually speak without stammering.

"I'll do the same. I've been meaning to swear the Oath since I got here. It's about time that I've gotten the chance."

Aug 28th, 2013 06:25 PM

Mal frowned with concentration. Despite her levity, her nature dictated that any contest for the position of Alpha was of great interest. It allowed an opportunity to measure yourself against the pack leadership without the bruising and the loss of face. It was to her disappointment therefore, that... well... 'divine intervention'... intervened, and the jerk-off just. kept. talking. His overblown diatribes dripping with unnecessary religious trappings were really starting to rankle the up-front and forthright beast. He spoke a lot, but seemed to say very little.

And what the hell had stopped Duncan from (literally) cold-cocking him?

Driven from her suspicious pondering, she winced at the ear-splitting theatrics, displeased at the binary approach to the issue. The response to this joke of a straw-poll had been far from unanimous, and while keeping the book put them all at risk, prudence hardly dictated incinerating it on the spot as the wisest course of action, nor the clear will of the people he had condescended to consult.

"It is just going to be one of those years..." she muttered, turning back to the bar.

Aug 28th, 2013 06:27 PM

"Keep your money." Mal said gloomily, pushing the note back up the bar. "It was not even a fight..."

She wasn't going to be the first to mention she had bet on the loser...

**Malcolm Green** · Aug 29th, 2013 05:37 AM

Green watched impassively from behind his impenetrable rock face. The noise made his heart pound and a cold chill of doubt slither down his spine. Turning his attention from Brother Lucas, he focussed on the burning book. He had, after all, called for its destruction: it was a tool of the enemy and such a resource that it had to be denied.

The mountain watched the book burn.

It was burning, right?

**Al-Adin** · Aug 29th, 2013 10:43 PM

Al-Adin steps down from the Dais, away from his protection of the spring queen as the commotion dies down. He walks to the summer king.
"So I used to say this every winter, but then I got lost for a while. I'm back now, and i'm the Prince of Joy. This is my place, so I'm going to say the oath now, even though I'll say it again this winter."

Al-Adin then loudly recites the oath, loud enough for the new members to hear the words, and harken to them.

"As the four Seasons come and go, and one ruler changes for another, as is the natural way of things, we shall watch over the Freehold and shape it from the predations of the Others. In return, we ask that you shall follow the rules laid down and never bring danger our society, and in doing so, you shall find your mind stays whole and focused. Break this oath however, and you shall be banished from the land forever."

Aug 30th, 2013 01:43 AM

The lion's roar and answering trumpets made Ava's skin crawl, the nervous shift of her feet taking her inadvertently closer to Jack. While part of her was deeply relieved that the book was on the pyre, even if it meant the knowledge was out of their reach, another part of her ached at the idea of it burning, all those secrets curling into so much ash. Her fickle mind spun and suddenly all that time it had taken convincing her that destruction was the best option seemed false, and the swiftness with which the decision was reached seemed flawed to her. They had been asked for their say and not all had given it; many, herself included, had spoken up in such a way that left them neither here nor there in terms of a verdict.

Regardless, it seems a decision is made.

She listened as a few people spoke of renewing or swearing their pledge for the first time, and another simply did so. The idea of it appealed to her, on a symbolic level, but there was very little to be gained from it right now. She had sworn only one season ago; they could require no more proof of her intent past the fact that she stayed.

Staying near the back, she kept an eye on those around her and tabs on who chose to renew their Oath, and who didn't. Scrivener for all of half an hour, she had no idea yet as to what should be noted and what was trivial. There had to have been one before her, though, another Scrivener whose work she could peruse, get an idea of what was necessary; hopefully the records hadn't been stored at the Four Seasons. She resolved to find out at the earliest convenience, but from the state of things, she doubted much of anything would be convenient for some time.

**RebornSeas** · Aug 30th, 2013 10:23 AM

Nevada quivered in her seat. There was no guarantee she'd stay a year. Was this Brother Lucas demanding that she pledge that? No, it had sounded more like he was giving an option: Until the Passing of the crowns or the Annual Oath of a freehold. She swallowed thickly. What was she doing here?

She did not want to speak up. Her hands shook and played with the sleeves of her sweater around her waist. Well, she'd make the one-season Oath, if it was what she thought. but, perhaps she should wait just to check?

**Tally Benoit** · Aug 31st, 2013 12:07 AM

"Well, there goes the book." Tally remarks as the book burns. She feels a bit of adrenaline spike within her as the roar of a lion can be heard along with trumpets. "Hopefully it won't be recreated in the Hedge." She murmurs as she waits for the trumpets fade.

She then watches as the others move to take the Oath of the Freehold that Al spoke before them. "I guess the coronation is winding down." She notes.

**Dusan** · Sep 1st, 2013 03:15 PM

Justin watched as the book was tossed into a brazier, his expression guarded. He had no idea what was going on, outside of the fact that it all just seemed to be point a, point b, concession of the people, and off with the book. Shaking his head slightly, because it was all something he didn't really understand outside of the fact that maybe it was a form of getting some where the Dragon was concerned, the Manikin quietly placed his glass on the bar and looked at Mal for a moment.

He wasn't going to renew his Pledge to the Freehold at that moment, he didn't know how the Wyrd would react to a premature renewal and Autumn was only a few months away anyway. In short, he needed to sort through and arrange what he had witnessed, in the hopes that it would all make sense. Why did the Wyrd reject Duncan and allow this Brother Lucas person to step right up and take over? He sure as hell didn't have an answer for that one.

What he did understand was that things wouldn't be the same for the Summer Court. It wasn't Spartan's house anymore.

He should have felt relief that the seasons had changed, and all was kept straight for now. But at that moment he felt hollow.

(1306) Coronation of Summer

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