Weldon's Arc

Chapter 3 of 9

By sundown the open court was full. Nobles lined the long stone steps. The inner Guardians stood in a row near the dais. Weldon waited at the arch in the black coat with the silver seams, his hands cold inside the cuffs. Queen Serenity walked past him without a word and climbed to her seat. The wooden throne stood under the open sky, green vines wound around its arms, a soft blue glow running through the wood. She sat. She lifted one hand. The court went quiet. "This man came to me asking for an alliance," she said. "I gave him an answer. I gave him more than that." She held out her palm. A pen formed above it, silver and pink and gold, the barrel covered in shifting glyphs. She beckoned Weldon up. He climbed the steps and knelt. She set the pen in his hand. "This is your seal in my court. What you sign with it, I sign. Stand up. Show them what you are." Weldon stood. He turned to face the court. He said the words. "Mythical Avalon Power." The silver light cracked out of him again. His witchcraft answered green from his sleeves. The two powers braided up his arms and met above his head. The court drew in a single breath. Stone groaned at the foot of the dais. A tall slab pushed up from the floor, gray and carved at the edges, five crystal sigils set down its face — a ringed jewel, a violet rune, a gold crescent, a star in ice, a second rune below. The sigils lit one after the other and held. The slab settled. It marked his rank as plainly as a banner. He lifted both hands. He had been holding back for two days. He stopped holding back. Light poured up the columns of the court and ran along the steps in clean lines. Every sigil on his coat woke at once. The shrine in the inner courtyard answered through the wall, a low ring like a struck bell. Weldon turned a slow circle and the light turned with him. Petals of silver fire drifted down over the nobles and faded before they touched skin. A small girl in the front row laughed. An old advisor sat down hard on the step behind him. Weldon closed his fists. The light pulled back into his chest and went out. He bowed to the Queen. "My kingdom thanks you," he said, loud enough to carry. "By name, in open court." A murmur ran the length of the steps and became something else — applause, ragged at first, then steady. Queen Serenity rose. "Sailor Avalon stands among my Guardians," she said. "His kingdom stands under my hand." She did not smile. She looked once at the row of inner Guardians. Sailor Mercury bowed first. Luna Starcrest bowed a beat later, her ribbon pulled tight at her throat. Weldon felt the pen warm in his palm. The court had named him. The alliance had a foot inside the door. Whatever came next, he would not be turned away at the gate again.