Chapter 1
The touch of blessed oil against her forehead was cold; it sent a shiver down her spine. She felt the priest trace the sigil of Clio on her skin.
“May the gods watch over you,” the priest whispered. Her voice was frayed with age, but her tone was kind. “May your pilgrimage be successful. And if the rightful ruler does not take the throne, may you guard it well in their place.”
Eli opened her eyes slowly. Incense smoke swirled thick through the air of the throne room, and the ceremonial flames lining the room seemed to sway strangely. “Thank you, Mother,” Eli replied, her own voice cracking with disuse from her long vigil.
Benedictions over, the priest bowed with a smile and departed silently, followed by her train of attendants. Eli was left kneeling in front of the throne, alone.
Somewhere in the floors above, Alisa was blowing out her candle and creeping into bed, small in the darkness. She’d slipped into Eli’s bed the last few nights, as if they were children again, and Eli had shushed her worries away and hummed her to sleep.
Further up in her offices, Eli’s grandmother was reading through bequests and charters, ensuring all was in order for Eli to take her place. The former Seneschal’s candle would burn into the early hours of the morning. Changing rulers was never easy.
Behind the castle, in the burial grounds dedicated to Otonokizaka’s rulers, the spring flowers were starting to come in around her parents’ final resting places. It had been two long, lonely years since Eli’s grandmother had stepped out of retirement to rule until Eli came of age.
Night lingered at the edges of the windows, muffling the country. The castle sat silent around Eli. Her vigil would end at dawn.
Eli shifted from knee to knee, wincing as they popped. Her throat was dry and her stomach empty, the lingering chill from winter searched for openings in her ceremonial clothes, and she hadn’t slept out of nerves since two nights ago.
She felt nothing like the next ruler of her country.
“Gods, help me,” Eli whispered into the silence.
As expected, there was no response.
With a groan, Eli levered herself to her feet. She may as well keep herself awake by walking around the throne room. Though the vigil was tradition and she would observe it out of respect for all the Seneschals before her, there was no rule saying she had to pray the entire time.
“It’s not like anyone would answer,” Eli mumbled to herself as she paced, rubbing goosebumps off her arms. She glanced at the murals of the heavens around the throne room. After all, for nine hundred years, no god had answered their prayers. Not since the death of the last King of Otonokizaka.
But now was the last time Eli would step foot in her home as Eli Ayase, whose future wasn’t yet locked in stone. The next time she returned, she would be Seneschal Eli, the regent waiting for a heaven-chosen monarch who would never appear.
So Eli closed her eyes and dreamed.
A quiet life, where the person who sat on the throne was everything a rule should be, unlike Eli. Where the King or Queen wielded magic enough to equal Otonokizaka’s enemies’, unlike Eli. Where Eli’s parents had never had to sacrifice their lives on the hungry pyre of Otonokizaka’s needs, like Eli likely would -
Where Eli would never have to shoulder her family’s mantle and her country’s fate -
Eli dragged in a sharp breath at the direction of her thoughts. No. No, no, no. That was too much to ask, too disrespectful to everything the Ayases had fought for. She had been born and trained for this duty, and she would not shirk now.
She jammed the heels of her palms against her eyes. Light smears danced across her eyelids as she rubbed, trying to drive the dreams away.
Her eyes ached. Eli pulled her hands away and blinked, confused, when that didn’t drive the light smears away. Why was it so bright?
The light flared, eclipsing the fires and burning away the shadows. Heat like a summer’s sun suddenly beat down on Eli’s back. She shouted in surprise and spun, shielding her eyes out of instinct.
A fissure in the world. A roaring like the wind, the same way a puddle was like a sea. Light, bright and white. Feathers.
Then Eli’s world went blissfully dark.
Eli lurched upright, gasping. Faint spots of light still swam in her vision. “What,” she wheezed, whipping her head from side to side, staring wildly, because she knows what she saw - thinks she saw - except it’s impossible, because in nine hundred years, no one’s seen -
“U-um,” said a frightened voice, clear as bells. “A-are you alright?”
“…an angel,” breathed Eli.
Crouched beside her was a woman dressed in white. Her eyes were gold, her hair silvery-ash; her skin was pale, as if she had never stepped under the sun. And arcing up behind her were enormous, white wings, bristling with long feathers.
The wings twitched. A wisp of air ruffled Eli’s bangs.
Real.
With a yelp, she shot to her feet and jumped backwards; the angel squeaked and flinched back from Eli too. Utterly ridiculous, considering one of them was a lowly human and the other was a divine messenger from heaven with giant wings. And yet, the angel looked just as - if not more - scared than Eli.
Eli’s tongue sat mute in her mouth. Had she been struck dumb by seeing more than what was meant for mortal eyes?
“Um,” the angel said, sounding faintly desperate. “S-sorry, I’m probably scaring you. Oh! I forgot to say, do not fear! I’m not here to hurt you, I promise.”
“…alright,” Eli eventually croaked. She could have slapped herself. Nine hundred years, and these were the first words the heavenly representative heard.
She had to do this right.
Eli swallowed, then bent forward into a kneel. “I am Eli Ayase, the Heir of the Seneschal of Otonokizaka, at your service,” she said, head bowed. “Messenger of the gods, why have you come? What do you need of me?”
“I-I’m Kotori?” said the angel. Eli couldn’t see her face, but she sounded decidedly confused. “I was hoping to find out… um… Eli, right? I have a question.”
Nothing too important. Right. “Whatever you need, I will provide if I can,” Eli said, doing her best to keep her voice steady. What kind of questions did the gods have for her?
“Oh, good.” The angel - Kotori - sounded relieved. “Could you please tell me where the King is?”
“…the King?” Eli repeated. She looked up at Kotori, disbelieving.
“Or was it the Queen?” Kotori muttered, her feathers ruffling agitatedly. “Whoever’s the current ruler of the kingdom.”
“There’s… there’s no King or Queen of Otonokizaka.” Never had Eli had to explain this to someone before. And wasn’t it supposed to be the other way around? Shouldn’t the gods’ messenger be telling her who the ruler was? “Just the Seneschal. My grandmother. And me,” she added.
Kotori went very still. Her wings seemed to shrink as her feathers flattened; she seemed half as tall without their imposing stature. “But shouldn’t the gods have chosen…”
“They haven’t,” Eli said, filling in the silence Kotori left. “Not since the Hungry King was killed nine hundred years ago. You’re the first divine being we’ve seen since then.”
No response. Kotori had definitely heard Eli, but she seemed to have gone even paler, if that were possible. Afraid of breaching protocol, yet worried, Eli couldn’t help asking, “Are you alright?”
Kotori shook her head silently, then nodded. “Yes. I’m fine, thank you.” She turned away to gaze at the murals of the heavens that walled the throne room, eyes a thousand miles away.
Left floundering in silence, Eli pushed down the urge to fidget. She didn’t want to be the first to speak. No one remembered the protocol for interacting with divine beings, after all, and she wasn’t about to be the first to make a faux pas. But that left Eli with nothing to do but to watch Kotori.
Now that the adrenaline had worn off, Eli couldn’t help but notice what she hadn’t before: how beautiful Kotori was. Nothing less from divine beings, of course - the records they still had all mentioned the gods’ unearthly, terrible splendour - but this somehow wasn’t what Eli expected. Kotori stood almost half a head shorter than Eli herself; and she wasn’t so much awe-inspiring beauty as… charming. A sweet face, and soft eyes. Approachable, almost.
Kotori was also shivering. Her feathers were ruffled up against the cold; Eli could only imagine what the stone tiles felt like against her bare feet.
Before her mind caught up with her actions, Eli was unbuckling her cloak, approaching with slow steps. Kotori caught sight of her out of the corner of her eye and half-turned.
“You should, uh, probably be wearing more layers,” Eli tried to explain. Heat threatened to creep up the back of her neck. “It’s only early spring. The nights are still winter’s.” What was she doing?
Just as Eli was about to back away and start apologising profusely, Kotori said, “Thank you,” and gave her a small smile. She took Eli’s cloak and wrapped it awkwardly around her shoulders; it rucked up where her wings met her shoulderblades, almost like a very wide scarf.
It looked so disarmingly helpless that Eli felt compelled to again offer her help - but Kotori spoke first.
“Sorry,” Kotori said. She wrapped her arms around her torso with an embarrassed smile. “I’m not too sure what to do right now. I’ve never been to the human world before, you see.”
“I see,” Eli said slowly. Kotori scratched her cheek.
“A-and I’ve been a little isolated from the other gods for a while,” she added. “So forgive me for not knowing a lot.”
“There’s nothing wrong with that,” Eli said, then winced. Would Kotori think she was trying to patronise her? But Kotori didn’t seem offended. If anything, she seemed a little relieved.
“I’m glad you’re the first human I met,” Kotori said. Her smile was a little brighter. “It must have been fate that I found such a helpful person.”
Fate. Eli’s attention snapped back to her predicament. “Forgive me for being forward, but I need to know: are you here to guide me to the true ruler?”
“…That depends,” said Kotori.
“On what?” Eli asked, thoroughly baffled.
“On… on why you want to find the ruler.” Kotori’s wings shifted as she clasped her hands in front of her. She watched Eli intently, waiting for her answer.
Oh. This must be a test of some sort. Eli straightened and said, “Because it is my duty as the next Seneschal to watch over the throne, so that it may be returned to its rightful owner when they return. You’re right - it must be fate that you came now, the night before I start my search. If you tell me where the next ruler is, then I will find them and guide them safely back. Otonokizaka’s throne has been empty long enough.”
Something like betrayal tinged the last sentence, a bitter taste lingering on the back of her tongue. It surprised Eli. She hadn’t thought of her country as being wronged by the gods until now - but here was real proof that the gods still existed, that they could still reach the mortal plane. So why hadn’t they made a move until now?
“Hmm,” said Kotori. She cocked her head. Under her stare, Eli felt exposed; could Kotori tell if Eli was keeping something from her? For a moment, Eli’s quiet fears about her own right to rule threatened to overflow, but Eli bit them down. Those would shortly be irrelevant if the rightful ruler could be found.
Abruptly, Kotori asked, “Do you know how the gods find the ruler?”
If this was a test, then Eli had probably just failed. “…Am I supposed to?” she hedged.
This seemed to amuse Kotori. Her smile turned coy. “I don’t know, are you?”
“I’m sorry, I don’t,” Eli admitted. “There aren’t any records of how rulers are found. And since every Seneschal’s pilgrimage has failed so far, I thought mine would too. Until you appeared, that is.”
“Those fit to rule have latent power in them.” Kotori splayed her fingers in vague gestures. Her hands were slim and small. “The gods sense that, and unlock it in those worthy. Not that I’ve personally been involved in choosing who’s worthy.” Kotori shrugged. “I’m just a messenger.”
“Then you know who is worthy?”
“Sadly, no.”
“Oh.” Eli floundered. “Then,” she tried, scrabbling for understanding, “why are you here?”
Kotori locked her fingers back together in front of her, and smiled at Eli. “Because when I see them, I’ll know them by the mark the gods put on them,” she said. “If I’m not asking too much, may I accompany you on your pilgrimage, Heir of the Seneschal? Guide me through the human world, and if all goes well, Otonokizaka will have its ruler when you return.”
When she thought about it, she really didn’t have a choice to make. Duty was duty.
“It would be my honour,” Eli declared, and bowed deep.