The Crown and the Throne

Chapter Seven

 When I step back inside Romilda's home, the light has turned purple once again. Marilyn had left the door ajar, the molten metal frozen in a dripping pattern on the thick wood. I hold my hand up and move my fingers. I watch as the metal reshapes itself with a few squeaks and groans, forming back into the lock it had been a short time before.

The main hallway is silent and empty. I feel a shiver travel through my spine, even though I know the shadows cast are only from the purple glow.

I move down the hall, towards the cauldron room. Romilda is mixing something inside one of her smaller pots. I study her for a moment, watching her hands move the mixing stick almost methodically around in circles. Burnt grass fills my nostrils, an odd scent to find underground, but most of Romilda's potions had odd smells.

Marilyn stands behind her, head bowed, staring at the tips of her boots.

"You do understand that I have very little control over who enters these woods, correct?" Romilda does not lift her head from her work. "I cannot keep weapons from entering The Circle, either. An arrow could have pierced you."

The mixing stick continues stirring when she steps away and turns towards me, eyes narrowed.

"And don't you dare put any silly ideas into Marilyn's head about going off to fight with you and your vagabonds."

Marilyn turns her head away from my direction, shielding her eyes.

"She doesn't belong to you," I counter. Romilda's eyes flash. "She can do as she pleases, and if she chooses to join us vagabonds, then she can."

The witch shakes her head. The mixing stick churns the potion faster now, matching the speed in which color was rising to Romilda's cheeks and ears.

"My ward, my rules. Return to your quarters now, Ava Belliona. And don't take my refuge for granted. It would be very easy to dispel you from my home." She sets her hands on her hips, staring angrily at me.

I look at Marilyn once again, who still keeps her face hidden.

Without a word I step away from the cauldron room, agitation gnawing at the back of my mind. Even my parents, rulers with all their power and strength, had never believed in controlling another's life... But a simple witch held control over a young fae girl, not even another witch.

I have no intention of returning to my room, the sad, small, empty space being an oven in which my thoughts could grow and fester.

Lights shine from the second hallway on the right and spill into the main hall. I follow them, both curious and willing to find any reason to ignore my mind.

The sword room door is ajar. I can see shadows moving in the light, misshapen but still human-like. I stand beside the door, listening. Metal scrapes against metal and stone, a shiver running down my spine at the uncomforting sound.

"We have to," I hear in a quiet voice, "soon, very soon. If we don't she'll just get stronger."

Sebastian's voice rings out now. "I know. Believe me I know, but do we even have the numbers to start this? It's only been, what, four months?"

"Five and a half," corrects what I now recognize as Robin's voice.

"That's not long. Ava isn't even strong enough to beat any of us in training, and we take it easy on her... We can't take down The Stone Queen if our greatest asset can't even fight."

The small agitation grows. Asset? I was not an asset. But I hold my tongue, wanting to listen more before I try to defend myself.

Metal hits metal. I can hear the two men grunt. The shadows clash with each other, holding still for a minute before falling.

"Let me take a round with her tomorrow... I think I know what she needs. You do, too. You just won't let any of us do it."

Sebastian clicks his tongue. "She's traumatised, that'll destroy her-"

"She'll be traumatised anyways!" he yells. "If she fights, and you know she absolutely will, she will be traumatised. If she doesn't, she'll be traumatised from the day her parents died, and watching everyone else around her die fighting for her. She's going to have a hard time after all of this is over, if it ever is over, and if she survives." Robin is quiet for a second. "It's possible none of us will survive and you know that. At least let her go to Morteya knowing she tried."

Morteya. The land of the afterlife.

A twist ripples through my stomach at the thought of dying. It was one of the many thoughts that I had been trying to keep out of my mind.

"I know," Sebastian says, his voice low. "Believe me, I know. It's hard to accept that she has to live through this."

A shadow of an arm reaches towards the other lumpy shadow.

I smooth out my hair and step into the doorway. Both of them turn their heads towards me in unison. Sebastian's face changes from concern to anger.

"Welcome back," he says through gritted teeth.

I ignore the snarky remark and look towards Robin. "What is it you want to try on me?"

Robin looks taken aback for a moment, mouth open slightly. I can see his tongue slide over his teeth.

"Can't tell you. But I'll do it tomorrow."

Tomorrow rolls over in my mind. Tomorrow, another day, practicing, training, pretending that the world around us was not going to sink into a disaster.

"Fine."

Robin nods and steps away, beginning the process of latching his sword to the shelf. I watch Sebastian out of the corner of my eye. He's staring at me, an intensity behind his eyes that I had only seen a few times before all this happened. I do my best not to show him his star was leaving me uncomfortable, but I know he caught me shifting my weight.

Silence sits heavily around the three of us, only the pops of the buttons pressed into each other on the latch.

I think over what Robin had said. Traumatised. Was I traumatised? I think I have changed, but not in the way that a traumatised person would. And death? Morteya? I shiver at the thought of the afterlife, a dark and vacant land with burnt red ground and souls mourning themselves.

Sebastian lets out a sigh. Robin hasn't moved from the shelving, oddly focusing heavily on the shiny blades that had been forged by Ignita fae.

"You have to be careful, Ava," Sebastian says in a hushed tone. "You have to be. You are the last known remaining Belliona, the heir. The light of the Kingdom hasn't gone out because you are still alive. If you die, the kingdom dies. You know that. You learned it in your lessons."

I turn my head away from him.

He was right. I was seven when that lesson had begun to be drilled into my head. If the Belliona bloodline died, the kingdom's light could quite literally grow dim and die, leaving the kingdom in a bubble that is without any light, leaving everything alive in the kingdom to die, to wither away. The creatures, the people, the fae, they would disappear slowly without the power of my bloodline.

I rub my hand with my thumb, looking at my toes. If The Stone Queen drank my blood she could take my powers, and she would join the Belliona bloodline.

A lump rises in my throat.

"There's only so much that you can do without getting hurt, without destroying the kingdom yourself." Sebastian sets his hand on my shoulder. I do not flinch, more focused on Robin, who's head had turned slightly towards Sebastian and I, listening.

"If I don't fight for my place as the heir, then I don't deserve it. My father always fought." The word sends a pain through my chest. "Even if I die... I'd rather the kingdom be thrown into darkness then left to struggle under her rule."

Robin finally turns to us. His eyes are glittering with excitement.

"Fight, then."