The Heirs

Chapter 17- Luna Abiit

Luna Abiit

Latin

The Moon is gone

-

ashes denote that fire was;
respect the grayest pile
for the departed creature's sake
that hovered there awhile.
fire exists the first in light,
and then consolidates,-
-

Selene was drunk.
And she was angry.
And she was incredibly distraught.
But her mind, strangely enough, was clear.
She was to be the High Queen of Rihaaya. She was High Queen, since her mother was no longer here. As High Queen, she was in charge of Rihaaya. She was the one who would decide how to inform the Rihaayans what had happened to their High Queen Sanya.
And she knew she couldn't tell them the truth. She couldn't tell anyone the truth.
To them, to the outside world, her mother wouldn't have disappeared into another realm. She wouldn't have abandoned them. She would be dead.
She could imagine it well, now, what her funeral would have been. Thousands of people, she and her siblings crying along with their uncle, an open casket being carried into the Great Hall at Azraq, her mother swathed in dark purple and gold, her face strangely youthful as she faded into eternal sleep.
But there wasn't a body. Her mother would have to have died, in such a way that her body was destroyed, turned to dust.
Or ashes.

Selene didn't know how long she and her siblings stood in the Moon's Arbour, but it felt like hours. She could see guests from Jem's Ball walking in the other parts of the gardens, laughing and kissing and plucking flowers- but as she kept watching, the numbers dwindled and she could hear carriages start to leave- and eventually, there was no one else, but the three.
The Moon had gone, disappeared behind clouds, but everything seems too clear to her.
Seraphina was still crying, holding onto Jem, who had tears running down his face as well- they didn't, Selene could see, understand what needed to be done. They didn't understand the future that they had to build.

She wanted to slip away, unnoticed, to do her duty, but when she turned to do so, her brother stretched an arm and grabbed her hand.
He didn't speak- she supposed he wouldn't be able to speak without sobbing- but his brows furrowed, and his green gaze was questioning.

She, however, could speak, and did.
"We need to take care of this." Absently, she wondered how many more things she'd have to take care of. "High Queens don't disappear in the middle of the night. We need a cover story."

Seraphina's voice was scratchy and soft- the depression and the exhaustion had a firm hold on her, and she didn't know how long she would last, "Can't we do it tomorrow-"

"No." Selene's voice was devoid of emotion, except for perhaps anger. "We do this now."
And then she walked away, knowing her siblings would follow- eventually.

She walked into the castle, and went into the kitchens. It was dark and empty, since the Kitchen staff had retired for the night after the Ball had got over, and the privacy made her job even easier.
Then she went towards the abandoned wing of Cair Paravel, where the Pevensies had once lived. Aunt Susan had her chambers on the topmost floor, with Uncle Peter and Aunt Lucy three floors below that, and her parents and her siblings' childhood bedrooms were in the middle.
No one stayed there anymore. The Rihaayans may be superstitious, despite being a land without magical creatures, but the Narnians were cautious, knowing that haunted places could be more than just stories made to scare children into submission. Only a small group of brave servants came to this part of the castle to ascertain it didn't fall into complete disrepair, and occasionally, when her mother would visit, to clean and make ready her bedchambers.
It was convenient that it was abandoned, she thought, because there wasn't even be any worry of anyone being a witness or anyone else getting hurt by her duty. There wouldn't even be anyone else here but her, and she was beyond caring if she came in the way of harm.
She went to her girlhood bedroom first. She'd moved out of here a few days after her mother and sister had left for Rihaaya. She'd only come back to this room a handful of times since then. It was dusty, and the bed was unmade, and there were ribbons tied around the bedpost, which mice had bit through. Certain children's books lay forgotten on her desk, and she was surprised to realise that she felt no nostalgia at all as she looked at them.
It was only too easy to open the crate she'd smuggled out of the kitchens, uncork the bottles of dwarf-voda- to be had only by the most champion drinkers- and faunwine and elfwine, and upturn them, and drench as much of the room as she could.
Ashes and ashes, she thought, flicking the matchstick against the doorframe, instant flame catching the tip, and she tossed it onto the bed, the pale blue fabric set ablaze in a glorious orange-red.
She did the same to Jem's childhood room, and Sera's, and their nursery, until finally she reached her parents' room.
The smoke had already entered the room, making her vision hazy and her breathing laboured, and she could hear things falling and the fire burning but she stood and waited. She didn't want to be alone this time as she did the unthinkable. She wanted her siblings beside her. They would be aghast, and horrified, and would tell her to stop it, but they would be with her, and that was all she cared about.
She looked around, wondering if there was anything which needed to be saved- and her eyes fell on the bedside table, where an old, well-worn book sat.
'Eros and Psyche'- one of her mother's favourites. She must've carried it for her journey.