𝐒𝐇𝐀𝐃𝐎𝐖, wlw

XXII.

chapter twenty two.
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↳ ੈ‧₊˚ ┊» sacrificial love.

1 WEEK LATER
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"You must see this, Your Grace!" A soldier in the front of the troops yelled for the Queen in a strong voice.

Granya and Noran were still nearby as we rode our horses. Elia and I rode on Neró, with me sitting behind Elia and keeping a tight grip on her to keep her from slipping off.

Elia's wounds had healed and she was doing fine. Because we didn't have much to do on our journey and Elia was still new to our world, she, Atticus, and I grew closer over the last week.

We looked up in the sky to see large, black smoke coming from the distance as the Queen and her Queen's Guard heard the knight call out from the front of the troops. It started to smell like something was on fire... like charred flesh.

"Shadow, what's happening?" Elia inquired, terrified by the unexpected tension, as she shifted closer into my arms. As my gaze lingered on the smoke, I replied under my breath, "I don't know."

The Queen suddenly whipped her bright horse and charged straight for the dark smoke. "Aurora!" Before whipping Neró's reins and catching up to her, I called after her.

As Elia whined in the intense heat, I instinctively squinted, the sudden heat scorching my eyes. To conceal the light, I raised my right hand in front of my face and slowly opened my eyes.

We discovered Granya and Noran at odds. Soldiers were fighting to the death, fire was engulfing the divided kingdom, and many soldiers and horses were burning alive, their cries filling the starry night.

"...What?" As she gazed out over the battleground, the Queen was speechless. "What the hell is going on...?" She inquired, as if she were asking the same enquiry to herself.

"Granya and Noran are at war," Owen announced as he mounted his dark horse and positioned himself to the Queen's left.

"What are you talking about?" She inquired of her eldest Queen's Guard, knitting her brows in his direction. Owen replied, "Those are their banners, and only theirs."

Aurora's mouth dropped open and her eyes glistened as she returned her gaze to the graveyard. "...Why?" Before whipping her head in my direction, she mumbled something. "I thought you said they were forging an alliance," she said, her brows pinched and tears welling up in her eyes as she spoke to me through her teeth.

"They were," I said calmly, mildly disturbed by the way she turned the tables on me.

Coughing could be heard below me, and I turned to see Elia covering her mouth with her hands while coughing. "What's the matter with her?" As she looked across at Elia, the Queen inquired.

"It's the smoke," I said to the Queen before removing my mask, my hood still covering my entire face. Elia's bottom half of her face was covered by my mask, which covered her nose and mouth.

While I held my mask on her face, Elia gazed up at me. "Keep the mask on your face. It'll protect you," I told the girl, whose eyes were watering from the smoke and heat that had filled the air due to the enormous fires.

Elia clung to the mask, which she used to cover her face while she held it in place. I kept my right hand on it for security. "We have to leave," I murmured, raising my head and gazing over at the Queen, who was staring at me with furrowed brows and an unreadable look in her eyes.