MISTRESS OF FLAME

CHAPTER 31

CHAPTER 31

HAKKEN PROMISED to send Sollel a message after arriving in the city of Ager, and after four days in Sarnau, a message strapped on a needletail bird arrived. It was from Hakken.

My lady,

Ager is very dangerous right now. There's a wanted poster in the city with our faces on it, and soldiers had been chasing me nonstop since I arrived. My lady is not part of the wanted list though, but still, be careful. I have a bad feeling about this. I'm now in hiding, so don't look for me when you arrive. I will look for you instead. Be careful, my lady. I heard a warlord from the empire arrived days ago.

—Hakken

Sollel burned the letter after reading it and sighed. A trap, huh? she thought. Sollel was not surprised, but she was worried of Zassia. By now she realized that the Kingdom of Treterra had thought that Zassia was the Mistress of Flame. It was because Sollel was hiding in the forest when everyone was fighting on the noble's hill.

Sollel thought that it might be a blessing in disguise that she was in the forest, but realizing that Zassia was now in trouble because of her, she couldn't call it a blessing anymore.

Sollel looked outside the window while thinking. It was already dark outside, and the moon was high up in the sky. The whole town looked serene from where she was looking, but Sollel knew it wasn't. Demi-humans and halflings were being exploited and enslaved, most races were going extinct, and some were in hiding, afraid of being hunted to extinction by humans whose greed were insatiable.

Sollel's fist clenched tightly. How long are they going to hurt others for their greed and convenience?!

Staring at the sky with her clenched hand and tightened jaw, Sollel couldn't help recalling the deities who blessed them and the promise they had made to them.

I'm sorry for breaking our promise. I wanted to use the moonrite stone for everything that has happened, but that'll be an excuse. It was our fault for letting our guards down and trusting the humans. But I will make it right. I will make everything right again.

The deities already told them before that they would not intervene whatever would happen in Azitera; they left all the responsibility to Yther's queens. It was their duty to turn everything back to the time when everyone was living in harmony since it was partly their fault that the harmony was disrupted.

After I burned those greedy humans, of course. Sollel took a deep breath and looked at her bed where Naya was sleeping.

To avoid blessing Naya with her flame, Sollel asked Cira to name Naya since she couldn't remember her own name, and Cira picked the name Naya. As much as possible, Sollel didn't want to bless a stranger. She blessed Zassia because of her belief, and she accidentally blessed Grath, but there was no regret since he was loyal. But blessing someone she didn't even know...she would not do it again.

Sollel's head turned to the door when it opened and saw Cira enter.

"Why are you still awake, Your Highness?" Cira asked and placed the lamp she was carrying on the table in the corner of the room.

"I received a message from Hakken." Sollel sat on the edge of her bed, the one Naya was occupying. "It's dangerous in Ager. Everyone, except me and Naya, are on the wanted list. He said soldiers had been chasing him ever since he arrived and all your faces are posted on the wanted list."

Cira sat on her own bed and sighed. "Do we really have to go to Ager?"

Sollel nodded. "I have to know where they are hiding Gatria. All I can feel is she's all over Ager. If she was not in the city, we'll leave immediately."