Chapter 8
Eight
We were only a few hours away from the Academy.
Visarous hadn’t spoken a word to me since last night, but at the moment, I preferred it that way.
Cain joined us halfway through the journey to confirm that Demir had received our message and had called off his childish attempt to murder me, knowing he would not have the upper hand and anticipating that we had rerouted.
I, however, always had a point to fucking prove, so we maintained the same route we had initially planned.
I couldn’t wait for the blatant fuck you that move would send to Demir once he received the news that he could have taken me.
This was the crux of the difference between Morgad and Maureia: my people were stubborn and persistent.
Even though Morgad had more money and more allies, we had managed to push them back for so long through sheer force of will and a hunger to get dirty while Morgad liked to pretend they were above us, better than us.
During this ball, Demir would have more allies in the room with him.
My only true allies came from the Wiccans and the Forest Fae—none of whom could attend this event as they were not former students.
It would only be Viv and Visarous who joined me for the next few nights.
Cain would keep watch and report back to me from the border and the healing camps where Sienna remained.
He could not set foot on its grounds, so I would have to meet him at the edge of the wards each morning for my updates.
I wouldn’t risk carrier birds being flown in and out of the grounds where our messages could easily be intercepted.
As we arrived, the familiar scent of the mountain air and the cathedral inspired architecture sent a pang of nostalgia through me.
Although my time here wasn’t easy, it was much simpler.
The Academy was so large that some of the towers disappeared into the storm clouds brewing above.
I could smell the rain that was to come, and I couldn’t help but smile.
Although I hated the sound of thunder, I found comfort in the rain.
It was one of the few times I could cry in front of people, and no one would be the wiser.
It was also when I slept best, but I also found it hardest to leave the warm comfort of my bed to begin my torturously long days.
We headed straight to the stables, where Vixen and the other horses would get a much-needed rest after hauling us through our lands to get here.
Now that we were no longer students, we could bring weapons onto the grounds, but the wards still protected us from using them to kill another.
We crossed the courtyard, which was lined with twisted, leafless trees and surrounded by bluestone archways leading to the main housing hall.
The same rooms we had stayed in as students would now house us all as leaders.
Every step contained another memory. When we reached the hallway that had housed us in our final year, I came to stand before the black wooden door that I had shared with Viv and another girl, Raleigh.
She had died in a coup shortly after ascending to her throne.
She had belonged to the lands of Voldina, which bordered us on the opposite side of Morgad.
Cain and Viv surmised that she was taken out due to her connection to me.
Her people did not want her to ally herself with me in the fight against Morgad, so they eliminated the problem.
Our whispers and shadows uncovered King Sebastian of Morgad had promised unlimited wealth and power to those that would take out Raleigh.
Now her younger sister Jade ruled over Voldina, which had vast cityscapes intermingled with lush greenery.
She was merely a puppet to those who had taken her sister from her, with the threat of her life and her people’s lives hanging over her head like a guillotine ready to drop at a moment’s notice.
Over this last year all communication and trade between our lands were cut off.
Our bags were already in our rooms, and our belongings were tucked away in all the drawers and cupboards.
Three black metal framed beds lined the far wall.
Visarous would join us in this room, as he was one of my advisors.
There was one window by my old bed on the far right.
Next to it was a wardrobe that had been left open due to the sheer size of my gown for the upcoming ball.
The other side of the room contained three small wooden writing desks, each with a quill, ink, and some parchment paper.
The bedside tables were mini bookshelves filled with all our favourite books.
They had known and stocked it accordingly.
We used to shower in a communal shower, but now being leaders, they enchanted a cupboard to turn it into an expansive private bathing chamber.
The ball would begin at midnight tonight, leaving Visarous and Viv to their own devices I took the first shower to wash the dried blood that was still caked all over my body and embedded underneath my nails.
Once I was done I entered the bedroom in nothing but a towel, Viv rolled her eyes as she had been used to this in our years sharing a room together.
Visarous, however, just about choked on the air in his lungs.
I don’t think he had envisioned me wearing next to nothing in front of him with his sister present.
I threw on an oversized tunic and crawled into bed, letting the darkness overtake me.
I didn’t dream about a single thing, as the exhaustion was too heavy on both my body and my mind.
By the time I awoke, Viv and Visarous were ready for the ball.
Visarous wore a white suit with silver embellishments that complemented his white hair.
Viv wore a deep purple asymmetrical gown that left her legs exposed.
She claimed she needed to be ready for anything, so she never wore restrictive clothing, even if it was a ball.
I had a similar viewpoint in almost every other setting.
My people rarely saw me in lavish gowns as I lived in my fighting leathers, carrying as many blades as I could strap to my body at one time but tonight was about making an impact.
Showing how far I have come and the significance of the weight of the crown, as well as the power I now hold.
The ball was due to start in less than an hour.
I closed my eyes and envisaged my final look, my hair pulled back slightly from my face in long waves that reached my waist. My face glowed with black lined eyes that allowed my new flame-filled blue eyes to stand out.
It took those around me some time to get used to my eyes after the eternal flame had changed them.
No one else from the Academy had seen them, as I had ascended after I left these halls.
It would be a surprise, and a thrill ran through me at the thought of seeing their confused and shocked faces.
Next, I envisaged vibrant red lips that would match the satin blood-red gown I had chosen.
The heavy black smoke seeped from my skin as it billowed around me.
As it cleared, my hair and face were transformed into what I had pictured.
I grabbed the wooden jewellery box from the top of the armoire that my sister had gifted me and pulled out the jewels that had been left to me by my mother and every ruler before her.
I placed shining little gold phoenix pins throughout my hair and wrapped my wrists in gold chain bracelets.
Gold cuffs wrapped around my upper arms.
I left my neck and chest bare to display the black mark that was visible thanks to the plunging neckline of my gown, which matched the plunging back and the high slit that ran up my thigh.
The black mark was burned on our people’s chest in a ceremony that only a few ever had the privilege of partaking in.
The Skin Seepers had a spiritual tradition of marking our kills on our bodies to never take for granted the lives we had taken.
We would etch each kill on our backs in the smallest of marks after every battle.
Once there was no more room because you had killed far too many to count, you were bestowed the black mark.
It was a perfect circle with a sword driven right through the top of it, black rivulets of blood dripping from the tip of the blade.
My fingers were adorned with gold rings that contained garnets, sapphires and emeralds.
I took out my mother’s earrings; they were her favourites and now also mine.
Hooped earrings in the shape of a snake looped around my ear, with its head turned into that of a dragon biting into my ear—it almost looked like a blend of my crest and Morgad’s snake.
‘Viv, can you help me put them in?’ I asked. She smiled like it was old times, us getting ready in this room together not more than a year ago.
‘They’re beautiful… my Queen.’ She chuckled at just how much had changed so quickly. In the corner of my eye, I noticed Visarous trail his fingers along the skirt of my gown that hung in the cupboard. He looked to me and gave me a crooked grin. He couldn’t wait to see me in it.
‘Bring that here,’ I said, facing him properly once Viv had finished putting in my earrings, not breaking eye contact.