Sekhmet

Chapter 6

Chapter 6
The future
Judith

Before the festival

Judith left Robin and her family to make her way to the Empresses throne room, her walk there was eerily quiet, the hallways were decorated with lights and lanterns. But Judith didn't really feel like celebrating. The past few nights she's felt a foreboding sense of dread, like something bad happened. She couldn't sleep without hearing from Atticus, she'd toss and turn till her hair was unruly and her blankets were on the floor.

That's why she was so desperate to get a letter from Atticus, she's already wrote a handful of worried letters but couldn't bring herself to send them. Cause sending them would cement the feeling inside her, it would mean a response and Judith couldn't stand the idea of receiving one in someone else's writing, because that would make her fears were true.

Judith entered the throne room to find the empress standing by one of the tall windows looking out at the city bellow her. She was dressed in pure white, she turns her pale eyes to Judith's hazel ones "Judith hello" Judith came forward closing the tall doors behind her.

"You wished to speak with me?" She said walking to stand beside her, the empress had prepared Judith for many things throughout her time here. Ranging from the basics to personal challenges she might face with been a young woman on a throne, it wasn't hard for her to learn which the empress expected but she warned her 'it'll be hard to do, you have to prove to your kingdom you're worthy to rule, you have to be more than your father but continue his legacy. All of this at your age with your sex will be hard'.

"Yes" the empress replied turning back out the window "I've had a vision." Judith was sceptical of the empress's apparent ability to see the future, she later learned that it was scarily accurate after she predicted Robin's and Calvin's night out. Of course neither of them knew of this, though Judith had a hunch Calvin was so use to his mother knowing about small secrets of his life that it no longer bothered him.

"Of what?" Judith asked suddenly fearful, that foreboding dread rushing through her.

"Someone will make a decision that'll risk all of us" she said turning to Judith, fireworks bursted by the window painting them and the throne room in bright colours.

"Who? When? Why?" Judith had so many questions and the empress only had so many answers.

She looked down at Judith like she knew everything, like she was seeing through her rather than at her "I do not know, but you will be faced with a decision of your own"

Judith tensed awaiting more information "will you stand by them or turn away?"

———

Robin

The festival was alive as the sun disappeared beyond the horizon, crowds gathered along the streets dancing, singing and drinking. It was hard for countries to bounce back after such a tense week leading up to the battle in Alderia, but now watching everyone let go made Robin smile.

He spent a lot of his time looking a stalls and shops that propped themselves along the curbs of the street, the empress surprisingly had no issue walking around in public despite her very obvious presence. Occasionally the crowd would get a little to thick but she seemed to know where and when to go, which Robin pretend was just her skills at navigation and not her ability to predict when crowds would get to much.