Pressure - A Wish Sequel

Her Torment

"You can't save him, you know. You're useless to him. You're useless to them all." The sinister voice hissed in Amaya's ear as a trail of green mist slid up her body like a snake, settling on her shoulders, weighing her down. Amaya ignored the voice, staring out of the small 'window' into the world she'd left behind. There wasn't really much to see, with the mirror at Asha's hip, just the pretty purple of the young girl's skirts, but she could hear the muffled voices of her citizens.

"Has Queen Amaya abandoned us in our time of need?" she heard someone ask, and she didn't know whether to be offended or hurt that her people thought she would do so. Had she not stood with them against the love of her life when he'd taken a dark path? Been at their side, fixing their wishes since? Had she not given them every part of her?

And now she had sacrificed her freedom to ensure they could be protected, and still they doubted her.

"The people of Rosas don't deserve you, do they? They don't deserve Magnifico. You should slaughter them all" the voice sang at her, hissing in her ear.

"Get off me" she hissed back, rolling her shoulders in an attempt to rid herself of the pressure she was feeling in them.

"Look at you. The Useless Queen. That's what the history books will call you."

"I don't care about the history books." Amaya snapped, "None of this is about me."

"Of course, it's not. It's never been about you. No one cares about the Queen. You're easy to ignore next to the King. Not as impressive. Nothing compared to him." The voice felt like it was everywhere and nowhere at once. It had tapped into all of Amaya's insecurities and was using them against her just to amuse itself. Was this what her poor husband had to deal with? Amaya could hardly bear the thought.

"But they talk about you. They always did. For generations" The voice hissed, transforming itself into the image of a villager who had long since passed, the green mist glowing in the darkness. Amaya frowned.

"You're not good enough for him," the fake-villager said to her and a chill ran up Amaya's spine. The voice was identical to the man she'd known, like hearing an echo of the dead, just as it had been with her father. "He could have any woman he wanted. Why would he want you? You couldn't even give him a child."

Amaya stiffened at those words, painful memories filling her mind, but she wasn't about to let this thing break her.

"The Barren Queen, we called you.." the villager chuckled. "But that isn't quite right, is it? That's your wicked secret..."

"Shut up" Amaya snapped, turning away to face the 'window' once more.

"Asha, there will be time to mourn later." she heard her husband say, her emotions torn. His voice filled her heart with joy but his words made her blood run cold. Time to mourn? They had lost people? Amaya could barely stand it. She had been too late in saving Magnifico, they had lost already.

The Forbidden Magic seemed to grow more solid before her eyes. It was as though her despair had given it power, made it stronger. It could sense Amaya's resolve beginning to crumble, and it was just biding its time to strike.

"Asha, why did you bring that out here?" Amaya heard Magnifico ask, and the purple dress she'd been looking at vanished, replaced by her husband's angry face.

"Because I told her to, mi rey. I wasn't going to wait behind alone, not knowing what was happening." Amaya pressed a hand to the glass, wishing she could touch him.
"Amaya, you're inside glass. Do you know how fragile glass is? No, I'm going to send you back insi—" before he could finish his sentence, things seemed to be happening again, the sounds of war filling the air, the mirror being jerked around so violently that Amaya couldn't make out a thing for long.