Chapter 208 - Aura

Chapter 208 - Aura
LIRA

I hadn't seen much of her since she sent me on that wretched tour. 

She was dressed in black, her mourning gown, her face pale and drawn. Her crown sat heavy on her brow, and her eyes, those cold, calculating eyes, were fixed on me.

"Your Majesty," I said, forcing my voice to remain steady. "This is unexpected."

"May I come in?" she asked.

I hesitated.

"Of course, Your Majesty."

I stepped aside, and she swept into the room like a shadow, her black gown rustling against the floor. She stopped in the center of the chamber and turned to face me.

"Close the door," she said.

I closed it.

We stood in silence for a long moment, the fire crackling softly in the hearth.

"I do not know what you have done to my son," the Queen said finally. "I do not know what spell you have cast over him. But I know that he is determined to have you, and I have grown tired of fighting it."

I blinked.

"Your Majesty..." 

"Do not interrupt me." Her voice was sharp. "I am not finished."

I fell silent.

The Queen walked to the window, her back to me.

"I have tried all I could to get rid of you. The only thing I haven't tried is getting rid of you myself..." 

I stayed quiet as the Queen looked around and sighed. 

"When my husband died, I thought I had lost everything. I thought the world had ended. I thought I would never feel hope again." She paused. "But then I realized that I could not leave Cassian to chance. I could not trust his judgment. I could not let him make decisions that would destroy the kingdom."

"Your Majesty..." 

"Tell me, Lira." She turned to face me. "Do you even have what it takes to become queen?"

I stared at her.

"Are you ready for such a commitment? Can you deal with the palace politics, the strategies, the endless maneuvering? Can you navigate the treacherous waters of the court?"

"Your Majesty..." 

"Can you influence the nobles? Can you command respect? Can you stand your ground when the world is pressing down on you?"

I felt my jaw tighten.

"I have survived this long," I said. "I have survived the dragon Queen selection. I have survived the attacks. I have survived your many attempts to get rid of me."

The Queen's eyes narrowed.

"You have been cunning," she admitted. "I will give you that. You have a relentless knack for survival. You're like a gutter rat. But cunning alone does not make a queen."

"Then what does?"

"Strength. Ruthlessness. The ability to do what is necessary, even when it is difficult." She stepped closer. "Lady Calista has that. She has always had that. She has the harshness, the brute strength, the willingness to do whatever it takes to protect the crown."

"You mean the willingness to hurt people," I said. "The willingness to poison, manipulate and kill people."

The Queen's expression flickered.

"Calista..." 

"Calista tried to kill me," I said. "She poisoned Lady Lenora. She tried to hurt every girl who stood in her way. And you knew. You knew what she was doing, and you did nothing."

"Calista..." 

"Is that what you consider strength? Is that who you consider worthy of a queen?"

The Queen's face was pale.

"Calista was raised for this," she said. "She was trained for this. She understands the responsibilities of the crown. She understands..." 

"She understands cruelty," I interrupted. "She understands ambition. She understands how to climb over the bodies of others to reach the top. But she does not understand people. She does not understand compassion. She does not understand love."

The Queen stared at me.

For a moment, I thought I saw something flicker in her eyes, doubt, perhaps, or pain. Then it was gone, replaced by that familiar coldness.

"You speak with so much conviction," she said. "I will give you that. But conviction is not enough."

"Then what is?"

She was silent for a long moment.

"I do not know," she admitted. "I have spent my entire life trying to figure out what makes a good queen. I thought I knew. I thought I had all the answers."

"And now?"

"Now I am not so certain."

The queen looked at me, she really looked at me. She looked so much that I felt uncomfortable, as if it was the first time she was looking at me. I felt something shift in the air between us.

"There is something peculiar about you," the Queen said slowly. "Something so strange. Something I cannot quite read. When I met your grandfather, I was a bit confused. You do not have the same aura as him. The same quiet predisposition." 

I felt my blood turn to ice.

She knows, I thought. She knows something is wrong. She is probing. She is...

"I am tired," I said quickly. "I have not been sleeping well. Perhaps that is why you sense something strange." 

The Queen's eyes narrowed.

"Perhaps," she said.

"I would ask that you leave," I continued. "I need to rest."

The Queen studied me for a long moment.

Then she nodded.

"Very well," she said. "I will leave."

She walked to the door and  left.

\---

I stood in the center of my chamber, my heart pounding, my hands shaking.

Luna crept out from beneath the bed.

'Lira,' she said. 'What happened? What did she mean?' 

"She knows something," I whispered. "She senses something strange about me."

'I heard the Queen has a silent but deadly power. She is strangely fine cared to the spirit world. The Queen has the power to see otherworldly spirits and energies. She can also read auras.' 

"I know."

'She might have seen something. She might have...'

"I know, Luna. I know."

I pressed my hands over my face.

What am I going to do?

I do not know.

But I cannot stay here.

I cannot—

I stopped.

No, I thought. I will not run from her. I will not hide. I have spent my entire life running and hiding.

Enough of that!

\----------------------

Another week had passed.

The palace had become a fortress. Guards patrolled every corridor, their faces grim, their hands never straying far from their swords. Archers stood watch on the walls, their eyes scanning the horizon for any sign of attack. Dragons circled overhead day and night, Taheer's massive form, Aveline's sleek blue dragon, some other dragons I didn't know of and sometimes Luna, her white scales gleaming like a beacon against the grey sky.

The war raged on.

Evander had not returned. His letters were brief, hurried, filled with reports of skirmishes and strategic advances. He wrote of victories, of pushing Sargon's forces back from the border villages. But he also wrote of losses, of soldiers who would not come home, of villages that had been reduced to ash, of the relentless pressure of an enemy that outnumbered them five to one.

Everyone knew Norwyns army was bigger, when hundred men of theirs died, it would be replaced quickly with another two hundred. 

Cassian sometimes let me read Evander's letters in the quiet of his chambers, my heart heavy with each word.

He is fighting for us, I thought. He is fighting for Aurelia. He is fighting for Cassian.

And I am here, safe behind these walls, doing nothing.

The thought gnawed at me.

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