Chapter Text
A room, darkened by the thick curtains drawn across the windows; a bed, soft with velveteen sheets; a family, thicker than thieves, but soon to be torn apart. This was the setting of a cold afternoon in the temple that housed the Azran royalty. This was the setting on the first day of a new era.
“Beloved child… Be brave, be wise, and do not let this life harden you. Do not let my death harden you. The people of this kingdom adore you, and I trust you to lead them well.”
“But, Father, I don’t want to see you die…! Curse this illness, and curse the elders! Why… Why haven’t they come back yet…? They said they’d find you a cure, that elixir-”
“My child, hush,” the father raised his frail, trembling hand with the crumbling authority of a king, “It was too little, too late… We must look towards the future, now - the future that you will lead. Come here, Aurora…”
With a gentle cry, the girl moved from where she had been sitting and curled into the fading warmth of her father’s side. He held her close, and she indulged herself in the feeling - knowing this was the last time. At the door, a golem stood stationary, its head bowed to give the family a sense of privacy in the intimate last moments. It watched as the princess - too young to be losing a second parent - listened to hoarse whispers of advice and love, and cried openly.
“My dear,” spoke the king to the princess, “You have the blood of a long line of powerful queens running through you. Nocte would have been so proud to see how you’ve grown.”
“Father, I… I’m scared … I know that I won’t be alone, but… It’s not blood alone that makes a good ruler, and I don’t know if I can do it without you…! Father, I don’t want you to die… I’m not ready to lose you...” Aurora devolved now into sobs, her arms tight around her father’s uncharacteristically thin torso, “I don’t want you to go…!”
“Yes, darling, your word is my command.” A smile graced the king’s slack face, taking most of his energy to do so, “But-” He wheezed, cutting the end of his own sentence short, and fear shone in his dull blue eyes for a second. The panic found itself reflected in the young girl as she turned to the golem at the door.
“Get someone…!” She demanded, her usual gentle requests vanishing in the fear of losing her father. The golem bowed its head and disappeared instantly through the thick curtain that separated the king’s chambers from the rest of the temple. Aurora couldn’t hear the soft beeps of communication beneath her own sobs. Her father’s hands no longer held her - instead just rested where they fell.
“King Meridies…!” In rushed an attendant, one of the few humans that they staffed nowadays, leading in the kingdom’s top scientists, “King-”
Then, a softer voice cut across the sounds of a kingdom beginning to crack, “Princess Aurora, your highness… Please perform the Final Rite…”
But the girl on the bed could barely even raise her head, let alone recite her first act as the leader of the Azran. Instead, she sobbed almost furiously into her father’s bedclothes, her entire body heaving with each sound that tore itself from her throat.
And the voice again - it belonged to one of the Great Scientists, “Princess, please… Do not damn your father simply because of your grief.”
This time, Aurora rose her head, showing a face painted red by loss and eyes strained from tears. She looked around the room, upon her subjects , she realised with a chilling blast.
“I c-can’t remember it, Lumas… I don’t know- What it is…!”
“Yes , you do, Princess. Say it with me, hm?” Great Scientist Lumas crouched down beside her and carefully took her hands in his, “King Meridies of the Azran…”
“King- King Meridies of the Azran. Go t-to your final rest, and look- Look…”
“Look down upon us…”
“Look down upon us from the ancient skies. Bless- Bless our eternal kingdom with your guidance.” Aurora slipped her hands away from those of Lumas, a weak smile growing behind a still tearstained face, “Though y-your body may now perish, your mind shall lead our people and I - Princess Aurora of the Azran - to a glorious future without end.”
With that, all went quiet. The princess turned away from her already pale father and left the room before anyone could stop her, followed close behind by her golem, who kept perfect pace.
“What am I to do…? I can’t be queen- I’m not ready…”
She had found her way to the temple’s inner garden, and her golem had let down all pretense of formality, letting itself be clung to by the young woman. It beeped, and Aurora could only imagine that it was in mourning too. She was one of the few that believed they could feel , and a that moment, the empathy the two shared was welcomed more than ever. With a deep sniffle, she looked up, noticing its chipped wing and frowning.
“If I can’t even look after you, how am I to look after a kingdom?” She questioned, to which it beeped again, this time a lower, more soothing tone, “I- Well, I suppose… Do you mean to say that I’m not alone?”
The golem moved away a placed its hand on Aurora’s head, imitating a move it had seen her and her father share a million times over. She sighed softly, but as she went to hold onto it once more, it stepped back. Aurora watched curiously, then found herself gasping with delight. The golem had bent down onto one knee, as if pledging its allegiance to her, its quite beeps creating a crude representation of the Azran’s coronation music. Despite herself, Aurora found herself laughing, a small, sad smile growing across her face.
And so began the reign of young Queen Aurora - friend to Azran and Golem alike; loved by all her people; final monarch of the Azran.