Queen of Fire (A Light-Bringer Prequel)

Twenty-Four

Light started streaming in through the windows as the sun started to rise with the dawn.

Marilyn looked up at Akaljot, her hand playing with his hair.

"Morning, sleep lover," Akaljot mumbled, cracking open an eye.

"Good morning to you, too, bear," she murmured, snuggling closer to him. "Do we really have to start travelling today?"

"We have two monarchs to plead to for aid, and a little over three months until you stage your coup," he said. "I think we should. How do you feel?"

Marilyn sighed through her nose. "Tired. A little sore, too."

"That can be expected. Give it a day or two, and you'll feel better."

Marilyn got out of bed and picked up her clothes from the floor. "We have a whole day of travelling ahead of us," she said as she got dressed. "Might as well make the most of it."

Marilyn crossed the hallway to what was supposed to be her room. She grabbed her bags— already packed from the previous day. Bags in hand, she walked to the foyer and set them down, noticing the letter she wrote on the table. She picked it up, folded it, and ran downstairs into the street to find a messenger.

After five minutes of searching, Marilyn found one making his early morning routes. She gave him the letter, telling him to get it to the Emperor of Eirineftes as soon as possible. She ran back to the flat in time to saddle up her horse for the ride to Zashchita.

"Ready?" Akaljot asked her.

"As ready as I'll ever be," she answered.

—

They rode through the day and into the night. They stopped only when they needed to rest for the night and hunt for food.

When they navigated the mountains outside of Zashchita, they did it in the daylight, stopping as soon as dusk fell.

They ate their dinner of hard cheese, bread, and snow-hare while looking at the lights of Zashchita, a faint glimmer of the castle's lights on the horizon.

Tomorrow is when we make our way into the castle," she said. "The hard part is getting inside because it's on a cliff overlooking the sea."

"Use your name," he said. "Just say, 'My name is Marilyn Pyro, and I am here to see King Dmitri Dragos.' Simple."

"And if that fails?"

"Say it's urgent business, and that it can't wait. If that doesn't work, we can run right in and hope for the best."

"Right, because barging in will do us a lot of good," she said sarcastically.

They huddled together under layers of furs as the northern wind howled through the mountains like a pack of wolves.

Marilyn got up as the sun started to show itself on the horizon, illuminating the bay and the castle that towered over it. She pulled the clothes she wore into Soturi out of her bags, and quickly changed into them before the winter winds could freeze her.

She warmed the air around them as she ate. Akaljot woke up and joined her for breakfast.

"You changed," he observed. "And you have more red in your hair."

She looked down at her hair. "I'm going to need to cut it before the coup. Look at that. In the harbour."

Marilyn pointed at the ship that was sailing into the harbour. The flag it bore on the mast wasn't Lucinean or Krigerean. It was royal blue, white, and silver, with the cherry blossom of House Saki on it.