"Are you sure about this?"

I nodded, smoothing down the white gown that I was wearing for the occasion. It had some gold and lavender embroidery along the edges and the square neckline that I felt was a nice nod to all of my allegiances along with the white that Emberich's city favored.

Ashur was dressed in an outfit that I hadn't seen him in before. A doublet-like jacket in black that hugged his form faithfully with a pair of slim black pants. He had a sword at his side and gold medallion around his neck that denoted him as a Dragon Lord that I had never seen him wear before. He'd told me he wasn't really into the ostentatious but that he did have what he needed for the occasion.

Maybe I could get him to put this getup on again when we were alone and had more time.

"I'm sure," I answered, feeling the truth of that in my bones. No doubts.

"Okay," he said simply.

He hadn't tried to talk me out of my decision, which I appreciated. We were waiting just inside the throne room, at the door leading out into the area outside that had been set up for the occasion.

It had only been three days since we'd won the war and Emberich had been defeated, but it felt like it had only been a blink of the eye. If I had been able to delay the coronation, I would have. But phoenix tradition dictated the ceremony needed to be held within three days of a change in leadership and we didn't want to stray from phoenix tradition any more than we already had. We needed to be careful of their culture. As much as we were able to anyway. We were trying to make the transition to new leadership as painless and calm as possible. We had our fingers crossed.

"You're up," Sven said, ducking his head in.

I nodded to Sven and turned to Ashur. Rising up on my tiptoes, I kissed him on the cheek.

He smiled back at me.

"You have this."

"I have this," I repeated.

Then the door swung open, and, my heart beating hard and fast, I stepped out with Ashur on my arm. Phoenixes were arranged on every spare inch of space, some even standing on rooftops while others in their phoenix forms hovered in the air to get a good look.

Some of Ashur's skein was there as well, along with contingents from the other dragon skeins, but we didn't want there to be too much of a dragon presence for the phoenix coronation. It felt like rubbing salt into the wound already.

I walked out directly to the dais that had been set up for the occasion, the phoenix leaders already arranged there and waiting for me.

Ashur helped me up onto the stage but then moved to stand with his skein at the foot of the stage. Close, but not right next to me. We'd thought long and hard about how to position him. On the stage felt too aggressive when dragons not the phoenixes' favorite people, despite having helped with the coup. Or maybe partly because of it. It was difficult to get a handle on that when the people themselves were so split. But I needed to be seen as Emberich's heir, not as a puppet for Ashur. Or the dragons in general.

My eyes landed on Barani, the man who was in charge of the ceremony itself. He was standing at the front of the stage, his bearing ramrod straight, his face set in stern lines as he watched me walk up to him. He was dressed in the traditional tunic and pants combination, his embroidery in a deep blue that set off his eyes. He wasn't happy with how things had turned out, or at least not completely happy. But he had been nothing but polite to me, if formal. I could handle polite.

He got started as soon as I was on my mark.

"Mia Hill, daughter of Emberich, do you accept this crown?" he asked formally, holding up a thin gold circlet that had been on Emberich's head only a few days ago.

No way did I want it on my head. But tradition was tradition, and it was a minor thing in the end. Just a metal circle.

"I accept the crown," I agreed, just as formally.

I'd practiced everything I was going to say today, not wanting to stumble and embarrass myself. Fortunately, the ceremony was brief and to the point, so I didn't have to remember much.

"Do you promise to serve the phoenix race to the best of your ability? To forgo any other loyalties you may have? To lay down your life for the good of your people?"

There might have been a slight pause and a flick of his gaze to Ashur at the second question. A little shady, but discreet enough. I didn't really blame him for it.

"I do," I said seriously.

I could not believe that Emberich had taken this same oath and done what he'd done.

"Kneel before us. Before the people you serve," he ordered.

I knelt, keeping my head slightly bowed. Barani moved to place the crown on my head. The actual weight of it was light, but it still felt heavy. Probably just in my mind.

"Queen Mia. The Phoenix Queen," he announced.

A warm round of applause that I felt was less for me and more for the fact that I wasn't Emberich. That didn't offend me at all.

I stood up, smiling at the crowd and bowing slightly.

"My thanks," I said, taking a deep breath as I rubbed my hands on my skirt. Now was the hard part. "But I am not fit to rule the phoenixes." The applause and cheers slowly died down to a confused silence as people started muttering to each other.

"What?"

"What did she say?"

"Then why did she lead a coup?"

I held up my hands in a quieting gesture.

"But I know somebody who is," I continued, searching the crowd until I found him. "I hereby abdicate the throne. And pass it on to Sven Light. For the good of the people."

You could have heard a pin drop in the resulting silence. And nobody looked more shocked than Sven as he stared up at the stage, his mouth slightly ajar.

"Sven?" I urged, waving him up to the stage.

He blinked at me, looking around as people cleared space around him. I jerked my head at him again and he finally moved. He walked up onto the stage in silence and stopped right next to me, the smile on his face strained.

"What are you doing?" he whispered in a tight voice. "We agreed that your bloodline is needed to stabilize the throne," he hissed. "This was not part of the plan!"

"I did use my bloodline," I pointed out in a low voice as I took my crown off. "I've been reading up on phoenix law for the last few days to be sure. There is a provision that allows the next in line to create a new next in line when he or she feels unable to fulfill their duties well. And since I have such strong ties to the dragons, I do think a conflict of interest is at play here. Also, I know you'll do a better job than I will. You will be more than a figurehead, which is what I would likely become."

Not wanting to give him too much of an opportunity to refuse, I turned back to the people and raised my voice.

"Do you accept this crown, Sven Light, for the good of the people?"

A beat of silence.

I glanced over at him from the corner of my eye to see him raising a brow at me. Had I gambled wrong here? I hadn't ask him beforehand because I didn't want him to start arguing against the idea, which I knew he would. I thought it was good to have someone in charge who didn't necessarily want to be in charge. The people who wanted to be in power sometimes were the ones that needed to be watched out for the most.

"Yes. I accept the crown," he finally agreed after making me sweat for a moment.

As he knelt down and I placed the crown on his head, I didn't think the crowd heard the rest of what I had to say in the formal passing of power. They were too busy cheering and applauding, their roar of approval drowning out any other sound. A much more enthusiastic response than I'd gotten.

I'd made the right decision.

I smiled as I stepped off the stage and moved over to stand next to Ashur as Sven finished the ceremony and gave a short speech promising to lead the phoenixes into a new future.

"I was a little worried there for a second," Ashur admitted as he took my hand.

I squeezed it.

"So was I," I admitted, watching Sven. And knowing I done the exact right thing. I just wasn't cut out to be a queen. But Sven had all the makings of a good king. He knew how to get people to work together, was willing to risk himself when he thought it was the right thing to do, and he was smart, with no ego. He did what had to be done, even if it was difficult.

Even though I'd rather the phoenixes turn to a democracy of some kind, I thought Sven was a good choice. But that was the human in me talking. Neither dragons nor phoenixes had a true democracy.

I sat back and watched the rest of the coronation ceremony in a much better mood.

This was Sven's headache now.