Chapter 13 The Queen's Wound
Chapter 13
Lyra’s POV
The Queen's Wound
The smell of the healing cream was strong. It mixed with the smell of the oil from the training ground. The oil I had fallen on. My maid, Elara, was rubbing the cream on my back where a big, purple bruise was forming. Every touch hurt. But the pain in my body was nothing compared to the pain in my heart.
I was Lyra Ainsworth. My father was on the High Council. I was supposed to be the future queen. But right now, I felt like a fool.
I could not stop seeing it in my mind. My own foot slipping on the oil I had put down for her. The hard slam of the ground. The air rushing out of my lungs. And the sound... the worst sound in the world. The entire Academy laughing at me.
And Lira. Standing over me. She did not look angry or even happy. She looked calm. She knew. She knew about my plan all along, and she let me walk right into my own trap.
An angry sound came from my throat.
The maid’s hands stopped. "Did I hurt you, my lady?"
"Get out," I said, my voice low.
"But your back..."
"I said GET OUT!"
She ran from the room, scared. The door closed. Now I was alone with my shame. It was even worse. The quiet room was filled with the memory of their laughter.
A hot tear fell from my eye onto the silk pillow. I hit the divan with my fist. The pain in my hand felt good. It was a pain I could control.
A soft knock came at the door. "Lyra?" It was Amara. "Can we come in?"
I did not answer. The door opened anyway. Amara and Tessa walked in. I could smell their fear. They were my friends, my followers. They saw me fall. Seeing them now only made me remember it more.
"Oh, Lyra," Tessa said, her voice full of fake sadness. "Your back. That horrible girl..."
"She did not cheat," I said, my voice flat. I sat up, my back screaming in pain. I looked at them. "That is the worst part. She did not cheat. She was just... better than me."
Saying those words felt like swallowing poison.
Amara twisted her hands together. "But the oil... she must have known!"
"Of course she knew!" I shouted, standing up. The room spun. "She played me! She knew my every move and she used it against me! She made me a joke!"
I walked to my mirror. The girl in the glass had messy hair and red eyes. She did not look like a queen. She looked like a broken doll.
"Everyone is talking," Tessa whispered. "They are saying she is... brilliant."
That word hurt more than my back. Brilliant. They never called me brilliant. They called me pretty. They called me rich. But never brilliant. That word was for people like Cael. And now, for her.
"Cael," I whispered. His name was a fresh pain. "Did he see?" After I failed with the fake scroll, and now this... What must he think of me?
"He was not there," Amara said quickly. "He was in a meeting. He missed the fight."
A tiny, weak feeling of relief came over me. He did not see me fall. But it did not last. He would hear about it. The whole school was talking. They would compare my stupid, fake scroll to her perfect plan. They would compare my fall to her win.
"He watches her," I said, the truth tasting bitter. "He has not looked at me since she came. It is like I am made of air."
"He is just curious," Tessa said, but her voice was weak. "She is new. He will lose interest."
"No." I shook my head, staring at my own sad face. "This is different. I see the way he is around her. His wolf is restless. He challenges her. He never challenges anyone. He just gives orders. But her... he tests her. She is the only thing that makes him feel anything."
I understood it then. This was not just about my pride. This was about my future. The future I was promised. The throne next to Cael. The crown. Lira was stealing it from me.
"What will you do?" Amara asked, her voice quiet.
A new feeling started inside me. It was cold and hard. The tears stopped. The self-pity was gone. Now there was only a clear, sharp plan.
I turned from the mirror. My voice was a low, dangerous whisper. "I have been fighting the wrong way. I tried to embarrass her. To get her kicked out. I treated her like a rival for Cael's attention."
I moved closer to them. They leaned in, listening.
"She is not a rival," I hissed. "She is a sickness. A poison in our school. And you do not play games with poison. You do not try to get poison expelled. You find an antidote. You cut it out."
Tessa's eyes got big. "Lyra... what do you mean?"
"I mean I am done with silly tricks and oil on the floor." I smiled a smile that had no happiness in it. "I went to see my father last night. After the scrolls. I told him everything. About her fighting skills. About her hidden wolf. About how she makes Cael act strange."
Amara gasped. "You told your father? A High Councilor?"
"Yes," I said. "And he was very interested. He told me something important. He said the old symbols on the school gate, the ones that find bad bloodlines... they glowed the day she arrived."
The room was so quiet.
"My father thinks," I went on, loving the power of the words, "that 'Lira' is not just a smart new girl. He thinks she is a rogue. A spy."
The word rogue hung in the air between us. At this school, being a rogue meant death.
"We will not fight her anymore," I said, my voice cold and steady like ice. "We will expose her. We will prove what she is. And when we do, the Council will not expel her. They will kill her."
I looked in the mirror again. The girl looking back was not broken anymore. She was remade. She had a very big rethink. She was now stronger. And she would stop silly games and come as a woman, more dangerous. The bruise on my back was not a mark of shame now. It was a reminder. A reason to destroy Lira, because she was fucking weed.
This was not a game to win a boy anymore. This was a war. And I was going to win.
I swear to the moon goddess.