Secrets of the Crown Assassins

60

NOTE: This is the third chapter in a five-chapter update. If you have not read chapter 58-59 and the "Code of Thieves" chapter, which have been published in the past two days, please go read those first. They are integral for this chapter. Thanks!

ARIELLE

The pod soared over the Antarctic landscape. Isolone, the capital city of Nefaria, was a bit inland, located along the Ross Ice Shelf where the biggest research facility during the Old Days used to be. Of course, Isolone is much larger than the former research facility, amassing a population well over three million people, shocking considering the living conditions.

The ice shelf expanded below us, the unyielding white expanse stretching in every which direction. The horizon was marked by far off mountains in front of us, and behind lay the little speckles of shadow which outlined the shipping docks. The sky was a strange golden color along one end while the other was completely dark. Antarctica would be heading into its summer months in a few weeks, so the sun had yet to fully rise over the horizon, though its reflection created an illusion of late evening light. I wondered if we would attend Isolone's Sunrise Festival this year.

I looked over my shoulder where the others were seated, Phoenix and Damien oddly quiet. Xavier, of course, had not uttered a word, which left the whole pod to be basked in silence. It felt strange to not hear Damien's ramblings or Phoenix's occasional curses, but at least it gave me time to think.

I had pursued Phoenix for as long as I remembered, hoping she would return and claim the crown from the moment she left. And even though I had been so determined to force her to take it, I never truly thought that she would. I always thought Xavier and I would claim our crowns together and it would be the end of our relationship, and possibly of the Assassin's reign. But I ended things with Xavier on my own accord long before our possible coronation and it would be Xavier and Phoenix who claimed the crown together. I would most likely have to fake my death, pretending that Phoenix assassinated me. It was the only way we could possibly allow her to take the crown without having to admit to the tumultuous decisions my parents made all those years ago.

But that I meant I would have to leave everyone behind—Xavier, Damien, newly found Phoenix, and my just reconciled father. I would go into hiding, having to flee to Variatus and hope that no one recognized or found me. I would never be able to see the people I love ever again, forced to only watch them rule from afar.

The thought made me sick.

But that wasn't the only thing making me hesitate about Phoenix's decision. I always thought I would be ecstatic, completely blown away, if she agreed to claim the crown. After all, its what I had been dreaming of for nearly a decade. But, instead, I felt almost...nothing. I tried to act how I imagined I should act. I tried to energize myself, tried to force myself to feel excited by pretending to be. But I wasn't. And, at first, I thought I was just shocked and needed a few minutes to process what had truly happened. I thought the reactions would kick in a little later. But it had been hours and I still felt nothing.

No. That's wrong. I do feel something. But it wasn't excitement.

It was a constant nagging in the back of my mind, a pull at the bottom of my heart, a knot in my stomach that almost made me want to throw up. It was the feeling of my hands shaking, even though they were perfectly still.

It was the feeling that something was wrong.

But what could possibly have been wrong? Isn't this what I wanted? Wasn't I ready to leave everyone behind? Wasn't I ready to give up my titles? To renounce my name? To give my crown to a sister far more deserving of it?