I'm Not Losing You

Chapter 7: Lie

                                                                        Adora

Adora, why did you leave me?!" Catra cried, reaching her bloody hand towards me.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to! I was taken," I screamed, desperately trying to reach her.

"You left me, again, Adora," Catra sobbed. "All of this is your fault."

"Hey! Girl!" I felt a small foot poke my shoulder. "Giiiirrrrrllll, wake up!" I groggily blinked open my eyes to see a child standing over me, looking at my face with furrowed eyebrows. It took me a few moments to fully come out of my nightmare and remember who she was.

"Nova," I said.

"That's me! What were you dreaming about? You were saying stuff in your sleep. You kept going, 'I'm sorry, I'm sorry.'"

"Oh, uh, nothing." I fumbled, brushing my tangled blond hair out of my face with my hand. I pushed myself up into a sitting position, rubbing my shoulders where they ached from sleeping on the floor.

"Ok," said Nova, criss-crossing her legs and sitting down in front of me. I wondered why Nova seemed so comfortable with me, being a prisoner and all.

"Where are your parents?" I asked, suddenly filled with concern for Nova's wellbeing. Why was she just allowed to waltz into the jail?

"Dead."

"Oh," I said, taken aback. "I'm sorry. I didn't know-"

"They got sick when I was two," Nova said matter-of-factly, as if she was repeating the same thing she'd been told a million times. "So now my aunt takes care of me. She makes me do laws, which are so boring."

"Laws?" I asked.

"Yup. I'm the queen, so I'm in charge," she smiled, and pointed a thumb towards herself.

"You're the what?"
"I'm the queen, dummy. You really should listen more. My parents were the rulers and now they're dead, so, boom! I'm the queen...Or at least I am now. When I was five, Astra was my 'regent'" Nova said, using finger quotes around the word. "But when I turned six, I became a big kid, so now I'm the queen. But laws are stupid and I don't wanna do them, so Astra does them for me, and then all I gotta do is agree with them." At this she lowered her voice. "But I don't even read the laws, actually, I just say I do, and I draw a checkmark over them," Nova broke into a fit of laughter at her perceived rebellion.

My mind raced at this new information. I was talking to the queen of the first ones! The queen of...my people. I pieced together what she had said and I realized that she was the ruler, but it sounded like she didn't have much actual power. Astra had ruled for Nova until she was six, but Astra was still the real one in charge.

"Wait," I said, coming to a realization in my mind. "Your aunt is Astra?"

"Ya," said Nova, tapping her foot, already getting bored.
"Do...do you know why I'm here?"

"Nope."

"But if Astra is your aunt she must have told you something."

Nova looked away from me and fidgeted with the sleeve of her blue gown. "I...I don't really talk to her a whole lot, actually. Really I only see her when we do laws." I looked at the child sitting a few feet away from me

"So, what do you do all day?" I asked, wondering how she filled her time if Astra didn't seem to actually raise her.

"Umm, that's why I'm here with you," Nova said, pointing her finger at me. "I wanna learn to read but Astra says reading is dumb and it's not important so I don't get taught anything like most kids. So I spend a lot of time talking to all you prisoners. Some of you can be pretty cool actually. We're getting a new one today."