Iron of the Innocent: Mistress of Agony (Vol 2)

Chapter 30: The Crown

274 I.C.
Sacren
Black Sword Kingdom
Black Sword Castle

"One day, my daughter, you will take up the mantle of rulership," Lady Corsornos said softly to Dalora. "You will ascend the throne and become a powerful queen. You will be as strong as the mountains and as cold as the deep winter to your enemies. They will fall before you, and you will give justice, love, and hope to your people. Do you believe?"

The little girl, ten years of age, nodded once as the brush moved slowly through her black hair. "I do, momma." she answered, but a troubled look filled her eyes as she stared into the mirror.

"What's wrong?" Julianna asked her.

"I'm afraid," Dalora answered timidly.

"Why?"

The little girl looked at her mother in the mirror. "What if the bad people who daddy hates so much come for me?" She asked. "What if..."

Julianna shook her head gently. "You can't think like that. Your daddy will never let anything happen to you. He will take back his kingdom from the fool who believes he rules over us, and he will make sure that they never set foot in Black Sword again as anything but vagabonds and beggars. Do you trust daddy?"

Dalora stood up straight and proud like he taught her. "I do. He is my lord father, and he will be victorious."

Julianna smiled. "Exactly," she whispered to the little girl, "and he will always protect you."

The strong memory receded from Dalora's mind. Her mist filled eyes spilled over. Tears fell quietly, some landing on her bare upper chest. Others soaked into the thick towel wrapped around her body. Looking up, she eyed the old hairbrush on the basin. She sat on the marble stone raised from the floor that surrounded the steps leading down into the deep, hot bath water.

Having arrived home from her mission into Solorn, she found the kingdom in turmoil. The king was slain, and Dalora was nowhere to be found. According to Marshal Reddragon, a woman that stood at her brother's side during the battle of Maegon admitted the murder. Dalora kept her silence, remembering everything that transpired before her departure from Dark Vale. She felt disconnected and numb as her advisors came before her sharing their reports, information, and thoughts.

Considering what happened, she did believe deep down Kaedres would carry out his will concerning her father. Part of her doubted the reality of it, and part of her denied that he had the ability to reach the king. Her concern for Kaedres and finding out the cause of what happened to him pushed everything else aside at the time. She was not surprised that woman, Nim, had a hand in her father's death. Anger flared up within her, and she shook her head.

Marshal Reddragon presented her father's melted and twisted crown, placing it at her feet as soon as she entered the great hall. The symbol of her father's rulership, broken and destroyed on the cold stone, stripped away any doubts, and the reality of his death crushed her beneath its weight.

The love she felt for him, so buried by years of abuse and rage, rushed up unexpectedly. All of the memories of him prior to his change, when he loved her, came forth in vivid intensity against her will, unbeckoned. It drove her away from the hall into seclusion, telling her attendants to leave her be. The grief she felt for her parents overwhelmed her, and the hate toward the Ruins burned ever brighter. They caused him to falter, to fail in the end.

Knowing dragons appeared at the battle of Maegon, fighting alongside her brother's armies, caused her to remember the attack on Clendon. She recognized there was not a coincidence that dragons appeared both places. Kaedres was at Clendon, and it was by his hand that the Ruins met their deaths she told herself. "Good," she whispered hotly as hate frothed and boiled over within her heart. "I hope he made them suffer before their end." Her anger and hatred raged for days, and she cried until there were no more tears to fall.