Queen of Ash

Stars Eternal

RYE

"I'm sorry we are what?" I rooted through years of my royal education and I still came up empty handed. I hated not knowing, the feeling of inadequacy lingered. I had never heard that word before in my life. I looked over at Emerson and she looked the same as I did, confused. Whatever that word was, it wasn't common knowledge. My Mother turned the hall quickly, shock written all over her face.

"We have to go, now." My mother started shouting things to the guards. "No one else can know." Apparently, my Mother knew what it meant as well. How was I the one out of the loop again? Nina started directing people too, trying to get us to leave as fast as we could. The hallway was being filled as people were directed out of the Arena.

"I promise I will explain as soon as we get back," Nina rushed off pointing and yelling at guards. They wasted no time as Nina stepped into her role as an heir. I watched her go from my Sister to the overseer of Ignacia. We all wore masks, this was hers.

My fingers were still intertwined with Emerson's as I lead her down the hall back to the Arena. Emerson begrudgingly dragged after me. Isla was waiting there, she glanced down at our hands and looked at Emerson but said nothing. "Come by the Estate tomorrow with Adrianus we have things to discuss." She nodded and turned, leaving the Arena. My duties kept growing. I ran my hand through my hair, one step at a time. As I went to move Emerson planted her feet.

"Can you tell me what the hell is going on?" She removed her hand from mine and I felt a part of me leave with it. She crossed her arms around her chest as if she could feel it too.

"I don't know, but I do know that I need you to come with me, please." Her face softened, and she started walking.

The Arena was a blur of people as we moved through the crowd. The maids were cleaning, the guards were moving people out the door. My Mother placed her hand on my back and started leading me out of the Arena.

I turned back to grab Emerson, but Jase was already locking her back up. The look on her face was deadly. I could see the anger in the way she clenched her jaw. Now I could see why he deigned to use so many chains. I had never seen someone use that much power. She was the most impressive, beautiful, deadly person I had ever met. As Jase locked the chains around her wrists I recoiled; I could feel her magic lock down within her. Her magic unwrapped from mine, leaving me feeling hollow. It had only been a few minutes, but I was already so used to having her magic being entwined with mine. I tried pushing her away from my thoughts and stepped into my role. I was King, I needed to stay on top of this situation.

"Mother, what is going on?" I stopped her from pushing me any further from the sandy pits.

"I promise Nina will explain, but not here." She said through gritted teeth. Reluctantly I gave in and started walking again. As we passed through the arches of where the protective barrier was supposed to be, there was only ash. I've never seen anyone burn through a protective barrier. I played the series of events over in my head. I could've sworn it wasn't just her fire pushing through the boundaries, but also mine. I felt us working in tandem, I could feel my flames pushing against those barriers. As soon as I felt those barriers break, I made the flames harmless. I felt my fire rush out of me and into the Arena. It was unlike anything I had ever felt before.

Soon I was pushed out of the Arena gates and under the open night sky. I took a deep breath to try to quell the fire growing under my skin. The air was cool against my skin, placating my fire. I liked being in the cold.

I stifled a yawn as I walked towards my transport. I opened the door to the back of my transport and started to climb in. I could feel her anger pulsating under the lead chains, her light searching for a way out. It was odd that I felt her before I saw her. I whipped my head around and saw Jase moving Emerson to the back of a prisoner transport.