The Kingdom of Broken Glass

Bitter

(Liza's Point of View)

Liza paced around her room in the castle, her mind moving at a speed that was impossible for the rest of her to catch up to. Everything that had just happened? It was too much. Her mind couldn't stop going over what had just happened. It was almost embarrassing, she felt like she had interrupted their moment.

Julian had been lying to her this entire time, it was now so obvious. The way that the two of them had laughed together? How close they had been next to each other? Liza cursed herself for being so stupid.

The second she had seen them together, everything became so clear. Instantly, there was a voice in her head telling her that they had manipulated her. The two of them had played her like a game of chess. This voice had explained so clearly to her what had happened.

Julian was only with her while he waited for Violet. Violet had needed someone on the inside, someone to spy on the rest of them so that she could go report to that mentor of hers. She had sent Julian to manipulate Liza, knowing that he would be the best person to pry her secrets from her. Now that Julian had reported back to her everything that he knew, he no longer had to pretend with Liza. He had chosen Violet and there was no coming back from that.

Liza abruptly stopped pacing. She moved over to the window where another letter had dropped for her. They kept appearing out of thin air, flying in from outside her window to land in front of her. She didn't have to open them to know who they were from. Julian was insistent, hopefully he was realizing what a stupid decision he had made and was regretting it.

She ripped his letter up without reading it. It was too little, too late.

Without really thinking, she raced out of her room and down the hall. Raysa's bedroom was up a couple staircases and down a couple other halls. The fires lit in the hallway as she walked past them, lighting up her path. It only took a couple of minutes before she was knocking on Raysa's door. She stood back and waited patiently for Raysa to answer the door.

The door slowly opened on its own, and Raysa was not behind it. Liza peered through the room to see Raysa standing on her balcony. She was looking down at the forest below, a distraught expression on her. Of course, she cleared her emotions and smiled at Liza as she came to stand outside with her.

"Elizabeth, what a lovely surprise." She smiled grandly at her, "How are you doing?"

"Um," Liza had to take a deep breath. "I have been thinking about everything and I think I have come to a solution."

Raysa's smile dropped at Liza's reply. She nodded as she turned to stare back into the distance, "I heard about what happened with Julian. That's too bad. Sometimes, men don't realize what they have until they have lost it. His new girlfriend will never have the potential that you possess." Liza noticed that she was already referring to Violet as 'his new girlfriend'.

She shook her head, "He chose her. Now it's time for me to make my decision. I want to prove my loyalty to you, once and for all. I don't want anyone here to question where my alliance's are."

"What did you have in mind," Raysa's eyes squinted as she watched her. For some reason, Raysa looked much older today than she normally did. The wrinkles around her eyes were more prominent and her hair seemed flat.

Liza paused, knowing that once she said this out loud, there would be no taking it back. "Julian keeps sending me letters," she says instead.

"Saying what?" Raysa asks.

Liza shrugs, "I'm not sure. I haven't read any of them."

"Good girl," Raysa holds up a finger. "Do not let him talk his way out of this. He chose his side, he chose who he wanted, and it wasn't you. His excuses mean nothing."