With a flick of her fingers.
She cuts off their air and stops their hearts, and they finally fall silent. I feel horrible for wordlessly thanking her for that. I don’t think I could have taken another moment of their wails. The corpses are arranged at her feet like lovers kissing her legs. It’s a disgusting, horrid sight, causing terror to run through me just like she wants.
She begins to eat, so the nobles do too, talking among themselves but quieter than before, all of us feeling the threat in the air. I lift my fork, but I am unable to eat, thanks to the bile still rising in my throat. I pretend to, however, so I do not draw attention to myself. She has killed someone for not eating when she did, seeing it as an insult. I sneak peeks at the queen, frowning at what I find.
It seems the executions are not all that’s on the menu for tonight, something bigger is happening. The queen is observing us with anger and concentration. I see her magic escaping her in wisps as the others eat, oblivious to what is happening. It sweeps through the crowd on a mission, never stopping.
Until it reaches us.
It wraps around me, making me gasp and fall from my chair to my knees. Just as suddenly as it arrived, it’s gone. I lift my head to see her face darken in anger until she is abruptly before me, I didn’t even see her move.
Dagero steps up to her side, as does Belifol, her adviser, who looks troubled but not surprised as he stares down at me. “My queen, it is done, you know the law.”
“No,” she snarls. “Not her.”
He looks at her, and when she turns her head, he drops to his knees respectfully. “It is done, it is the law,” he repeats, and then tacks on, “To ignore it would damage our power, would kill our court, the Great Mother could take it all away. She has chosen.” He ducks his head, knowing the truth he has spoken will enrage her.
It does.
She slaps him, throwing him across the room as Dagero steps closer. “He is right.”
She turns to him and stabs her hands into his chest, his blood running down his body as he gasps but does not fight, his hands clenched and eyes hard. She squeezes. “I have your heart in my hands, halfling, never forget that. Never question me again.” Then, she rips her hands free and he drops to his knees, bleeding and injured. He’s panting but does not speak again. His eyes rise to mine, and in them I see pain…and hope.
Hope for me?
Why?
“It is done,” she calls loudly. “The Great Mother has chosen the next queen.” She stares down at me then, and for a moment, I see the true hatred and anger in her gaze before she looks away. “I have listened to my people, to our lands as they demanded a new heir. After…after my son died, it was clear another would be found in our midst, and tonight she was. Our lands and goddess have spoken. Alejandra of House Bloom will be named heir and given time to learn before she is tested. If she fails, she dies. If she passes the goddess’s test, she becomes queen.”
The words are dragged from her throat like blades. She hates them on her tongue. I know it. But then they sink in.
Queen.
Heir?
Chosen.
Why me? I want to deny her and run as far as I can, but to do so would be denying our goddess’s gift. If I am chosen and reject that calling, it could bring death and destruction to our people, innocent people, wrought by the goddess’s wrath.
So for the same reason the queen names me heir, even as she detests it, I do not fight the announcement.
This is bigger than us.
But even as my veins fill with shock and terror, a small sliver of hope sparks within me.
I can be the change.
I can better our people and save those who need it. It won’t be easy, the queen will hate it and try to stop me at every turn, as will the nobles, but I will have a chance. If I can survive the training and testing that is.
With that, she sweeps through the room and stops by the door. Everyone is silent, and all eyes are on me. “Come, heir, let us speak in private.”
The doors open, and she storms through. I push quickly to my feet and silently follow her almost numbly. The action is the correct thing to do when summoned, even though my mind is a million miles away. As I pass through the door, I hear the whispers and gossip starting.
My mother will love this, I think idly.
I find the queen easily and rush after her, her strides long and filled with anger and purpose.
I’m forced to walk hurriedly after her, the golden throne room changing to a darkened corridor. Suddenly, she turns, her crown slightly tilted, and the ghosts she controls abruptly appear and float behind her. Her eyes are dark and menacing, and the jewels on her body are now clouded with anger. Right now, she doesn’t look like the glittering queen.
“You will never be queen.”
I stagger back slightly, not knowing what to say as she steps closer, her power blacking out everything but us. Concealing us, shielding us from eavesdropping eyes and ears. Her magic squeezes my lungs, cutting into my body until I fall to my knees before her.
Frozen.
I’m unable to talk, scream, or act. She is too powerful.
“It should have been you,” she whispers calmly as she stares down at me, then she grabs my chin hard, yanking it up until I meet her dark gaze. She lowers her head, her lips grazing mine, tasting me. “You should have died, not him,” she murmurs harshly before biting down until I taste my own blood.
I feel my power surging, called by her malice, thoughts, and actions, wanting to protect me, but I shouldn’t be able to in front of her, so I block it from rising and attacking the queen. It would be within her rights to kill me or torture me if I did. Instead, I endure it, my knees aching from the stone floor.
With a choked laugh, she stands taller, my blood staining her lips and chin as her pale skin shimmers like a jewel. Her power is only growing. “Our laws state I must teach you…but when it is time to be tested…you will be alone. You will die before you sit on that throne, that is your destiny. I want you to know that.”
She turns with a sweep of her dress and, taking her power with her, leaves. I gasp and tumble forward to catch myself, my lungs and body screaming at me as I watch through tear-soaked eyes as she saunters down the corridor.
I have no choice. It is law that I train with her.
But if I do…she will kill me.
Alejandra
I head back to the hall in a daze, and as soon as I’m there, I am surrounded by people, ones who would have never spared me a glance before, even those who, in the past, have tortured me and taken great pleasure in reminding me I am lesser. They all gush now, trying to get close to me, positioning themselves as close to the throne, and therefore me, as they can.
My mother and father look proud for once, talking to everyone, eating up the attention. I, on the other hand, am shrinking. I stand tall and nod in the appropriate places, but panic fills me. I need air.
I need to get away.
I break away from the crowd without a word and somehow manage to take measured steps from the ballroom and out of the balcony doors. Lifting my skirt, I rush down the steps, my heels tapping loudly as I break out onto the grass. I rush to the closest tree and press my face against it as I suck in desperate breaths.
This cannot be happening.
It’s worse than I could have ever imagined. I had resigned myself to an unhappy life, but this…this will be my death. Yet I have no choice. I am caught between destiny and fate, its cruel claws digging into me…leading me to my death.