Bk 2: Chapter Three (16)

The monks did not speak. The monk in the middle only upped out a red string and King Adrian stretched out his left hand with Amie’s in it, allowing the monk to tie the string around their two hands.

“Bound on the unequal path.” The monk said, “The horn calls, the feather follows.”

The monk next to him handed King Adrian an ivory horn and the other handed Amie a white feather.

Amie knew of the next part. As she was told, it was time for her to kneel. She knelt before King Adrian and he took out her crown set, one piece at a time and handed it to one monk, to receive a replacement from the other. It was a solemn moment. The bells were ringing so softly, one could not understand how bells could do that. King Adrian stood before her, taking of her crown set, and replacing with that given by the monk. It was as though he had learnt which order to place them, as he did not pause for one moment while carrying this out.