Queen of Fire (A Light-Bringer Prequel)

Seven

When Marilyn awoke the next morning, she had a servant lay out a black tunic embroidered in gold and black pants as well as her black boots before she got into her bathtub.

She got out of the tub after twenty minutes and started dressing in her clothes. A servant towel dried her hair, parted it in three ways, and made two similar braids near the front of her head, before tying everything back and pinning it in place.

Her clothes were fancy enough to pass into the throne room for the coronation—and Ashlynn didn't give her anything specific to wear...

She stood in front of a mirror. Her cheekbones were a little more prominent and there were lilac half-moons under her eyes.

It's fine, she thought. It's fine, I'm fine, and after today, everything will hopefully be fine.

Marilyn turned away and walked to the throne room. She saw the crowd of people trying to enter, but they only managed to slowly enter by shuffling their feet. She walked to the heard of the crowd before she began elbowing her way through.

She made it through, and walked to the foot of the dais. As she waited, Marilyn picked at the gold embroidery on the cuffs of her tunic, and picked out the images of leaves.

The room continued to fill, however, a noticeable aisle was made. An aisle that Ashlynn would walk down. The aisle she should be walking down.

After standing for half an hour, the throne room packed, Marilyn watched as Ashlynn walked down the aisle, people bowing as she passed. As her sister approached the dais, Marilyn grudgingly bowed to her.

When she reached the last step of the dais, Marilyn saw Ashlynn raise a hand to the priest to stop him from speaking.

Ashlynn turned to the crowd below her. "I found the witch who killed my parents," she said, her voice reaching all corners of the room. She pointed a finger at Marilyn and said, "She's the witch."