The Legend of The Lightning Girl: A Red Queen Fanfiction

Chapter 13: Dawn

I stared blankly at the healer.

"Come again?"

"You are pregnant." She repeated. I took a minute to process it.

"I have a baby in me?" I asked. She nodded. I took another minute. "I will tell them. You can leave and wave them back in." She nodded and did as she was told. They all filed in. I stuck my hand out for Cal, and he took it.

"What happened?" Farley asked. I put a hand on my stomach. She looked at it, then back at me. "Are... Are you sure?"

"The healer certainly was." I said.

"Whats happening?" Cal asked. I looked at him.

"I have your child in me." I told him. After a silent moment, he dropped to a knee and kissed me.

"You're going to stay on the base, right?" He asked.

"I will ride inside a War Wheel. The Silent Stone will be uncomfortable, but I'll live." I told him. He nodded.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

The thing jostled more than I expected. I watched the carnage from inside the War Wheel. Shrapnel pinged off of it. Bullets hit harder, but left no dents. Artillery rarely hit, and never a critical area.

I held my belly. The healer, Kya, explained that the baby was about three weeks along. Cal and I have spent months on the frontlines.

We eventually came to a stop. Gunfire and explosions became lessened.

"Officer Calore says its safe." The captain reported.

"Thank you, captain. I hope I didn't impede you."

"Not a problem, ma'am." He opened the hatch and I climbed out. I closed it behind me and dropped onto the ground. The air was rank with smoke and rot.

Cal came up to me.

"We have her."

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

I stood over her. She looked up at me, eyes fierce.

"You had my sister murdered. Coward." She said.

"Am I a coward for making the end of the Lakeland monarchy as quick and painless as possible? With Tiora on the throne, gaining ground- even with the War Wheels- was taking weeks. With you? I swept through twice as much territory in half as much time. Thousands of people are alive due to the death of your sister. Besides, I'm told we allowed her to finish her prayer before ending her. And you even got your pound of flesh. That man was a friend and he sacrificed himself for the cause."

"Make your excuses. You are as pathetic as the boy king."

"Maven schemed and plotted. We, the Alliance, are people of action. Maven was selfish. We sacrifice ourselves for the cause everday. Hell, I almost made the sacrifice a week ago. Don't be a sore loser, Iris. You can either die as a mewling, dethroned brat, or as the strong, fierce, final queen of the Lakelands. Choose." She looked at me with murderous eyes.

"Good choice."

We took her to her own gallows.

"For the crimes of oppression, misleading or dishonest propaganda, and the war crime of utilizing child soldiers, the Alliance Military finds you, Iris Cygnet, guilty. The punishment for oppression: life in prison. The punishment for misleading or dishonest propaganda: twenty years in prison. The crime for utilizing child soldiers: death. As the heaviest sentence you have recieved, you are assigned the death penalty, to be carried out by hanging. By your people's traditions, your body will be drowned with the proper rites." I read aloud from a scroll.