A Game of Chi Book I: A Crown of Blood

Chapter 26: Li'ella V

LI'ELLA

The death of Blink had done little to pacify the increasingly malcontent population of the Scorpion Den. Whenever Li'ella walked through the streets as part of her routine patrols, she was met with whispers and pointed fingers. Market vendors turned away and covered their wares; bystanders and vagrants kept their distance. Occasionally, citizens would shout and jeer at her and her fellow Cat Guides whenever they passed through. "Go back to Chima!" she heard often. "Tell your queen to go fuck herself!" Through it all, Li'ella kept her head held high, ignoring them. No one had dared to raise a finger against her, though; news of Blink's death and the destruction of the bar had spread like wildfire. Still, Blink's dying words were burned into her memory. If you didn't choose her, is she still your queen? Li'ella didn't like how she was actually considering his words. Several years ago, Li'ella would have brushed off the words without even hearing them. Now, she wasn't so sure. As a cub in the Citadel, Li'ella remembered the prophecies which she had been told. The Queen of Fire; a perfect phoenix who would destroy evil and bring peace and balance to Chima forevermore. After the fall of the Phoenix Dynasty, Li'ella had forced herself to believe that Flinx was the queen that had been promised; after all, she was the only one left. Yet doubt still gnawed on her resolve.

After another day of yells and sullen silences, Li'ella returned to the Stinger, tired and drained. As she walked in, she found Scorm in the lobby, enjoying fried meat while leaning against the wall. When he saw her enter, he straightened up and unfurled his barbed tail. "Back so soon?" he said. Li'ella nodded. "Where's the empress?"

"At the top, with Tormak," the scorpion replied. "Thank you," she said. The scorpion nodded respectfully and stepped aside, allowing Li'ella to make her way up the stairs to reach the summit of the scorpion palace. The long way up gave Li'ella ample to think. There's really no way we can win, she suddenly realized. The citizens of the Scorpion Den hate us, and the citizens of Chima hate us too. We're bound to just live here, in constant fear of being rebelled against or discovered by Chi armies. She finally reached the top of the Stinger and found Lundor guarding the entrance. "What's new in the city?" he asked sarcastically. "Same old hate and resentment," she replied in the same tone. Smiling strainedly, the leopard moved aside to allow Li'ella in. Flinx was seated at the balcony, with her back to Li'ella. Tormak stood by her side. "Li'ella is here, Your Grace," Tormak announced. Flinx turned around, and Li'ella saw that she was holding a cube-like toy in her hand. "Yay, you're back!" Li'ella knelt. "Your Grace, the situation in the Scorpion Den has not improved," she said solemnly. The city is on the verge of rebellion and you're up here playing? Flinx shrugged. "What else can you do about it?" she asked, still playing with the cube. "Your Grace..." she began. She saw Tormak watching their interaction warily. "I think that we've outstayed our welcome here," she said finally. Flinx looked up from her cube. "What?" Tormak matched her words. "What do you mean, Li'ella? What madness has taken you?" Li'ella stood up and addressed them both. "Look around you. The scorpions, spiders and bats here hate us. They hate everything about us! Even after we killed their ringleader, I can feel their resentment just under the surface. It's only a matter of time before they rise up and bring us down!" Li'ella's shouts had brought tears to Flinx' eyes, prompting a quick response from Tormak. "Lower your tone and remember your place!" he shouted gruffly. "It isn't our place to question the empress' orders!"

"Maybe not yours, Tormak!" Li'ella shot back. "But I've had enough of this. Nothing is working for us. Panthar betrayed us, the people here want to kill us, and our empress is barely a fledgling!" Tormak was silent, so Li'ella continued. "You want to protect Flinx. I get it. So do I. But it's time to wake up to the fact that she's not the Queen of Fire."

"You don't know that she's not," Tormak began, but Li'ella spoke over him. "Her wings aren't even developed yet! She's ten! How much older does she have to get for you to understand?" Flinx began wailing and Tormak turned to console her. Li'ella angrily turned around and made her way back down the stairs, nearly bumping into Lundor. "What's wrong? I heard Flinx—" Li'ella ignored him and kept descending until she reached the ground level. I need to get out of this place for a bit, she thought. Exiting the Stinger, she made her way outside underneath the pink sunset sky.