Contents
Chapter Seven
Overview
Lore arrives at Bastian’s coronation after training with Gabe and endures public scrutiny from a segregated seat. Bastian compels Gabe to read the stricken Tracts, publicly sanctifying the balance of life and death and, by implication, Lore’s Mortem. Crowned amid a burst of sunlight, Bastian publicly claims Lore’s hand, cementing her status.
Summary
Lore completes a successful mental training session with Gabe, strengthening her control before Bastian’s coronation. She arrives late to preparations, where Juliette outfits her in a sunrise-hued gown and a small circlet Bastian ordered her to wear. Lore is seated apart on the platform, drawing whispers, and spots the hidden Kirythean delegates, Maxon and Caius, as well as her mothers, Val and Mari, in the crowd.
The South Sanctuary is packed with nobles and commoners, the tension between classes visible. Lore wrestles with discomfort over public scrutiny and memories of her past life, choosing to focus on the present. Gabe, stern and reluctant, opens the ceremony with formal prayers from the Compendium, his tone betraying skepticism.
Bastian enters in ceremonial splendor, accompanied by two clergymen bearing the traditional cape and the sun-rayed crown. He locks eyes with Gabe and orders him to read from the stricken Tracts—illegal passages acknowledging the balance of life and death. Despite his anger, Gabe complies, publicly affirming the doctrine that Mortem and Spiritum must rise together, implicitly legitimizing Lore’s power.
As Bastian is crowned, sunlight bursts through the sanctuary windows, dramatically illuminating him. He offers his hand to Lore; after hesitation rooted in fear of darkening the moment, Lore accepts. They stand together in the radiant light, and the crowd erupts in cheers, sealing Bastian’s rule and Lore’s visible place beside him.
Who Appears
- LoreProtagonist; completes training with Gabe, endures scrutiny at the coronation, hesitates then takes Bastian’s hand, symbolizing sanctioned Mortem.
- Bastian ArceneauxCrowned Sainted King; orders reading of stricken Tracts to legitimize Lore’s power and publicly claims her hand.
- Gabe RemautPriest Exalted; conducts the ceremony, resentfully reads stricken Tracts at Bastian’s command, signaling uneasy obedience.
- JulietteLady’s maid; prepares Lore for the coronation and enforces Bastian’s order to crown her with a circlet.
- Unnamed Presque Mort guardAssigned to Lore’s side; monitors her during the ceremony and answers her questions curtly.
- MaxonKirythean delegate; watches incognito from the gallery among elderly nobles.
- CaiusKirythean delegate; seated with Maxon, hidden from most of the court.
- ValLore’s mother; attends with quiet worry, witnessing Lore’s public role.
- MariLore’s mother; openly delighted to see Lore at the coronation.
- Two unnamed clergymenAssistants who carry the ceremonial cape and the sun-rayed crown for Bastian.
- Lady Marguerite VolierNoblewoman quoted in the epigraph, mocking the open coronation’s crowd.