The Queen of Golden Flame

3. Ember

Ember stood with her nose pressed against the window, looking down at the town far below, praying to the Tamlock brothers above that her saviors would walk up the mountain any minute to whisk her away.

Her mother filled the once quaint and cozy sitting room with suffocating, hot breath. She huffed heavily with arms crossed over her chest, and if she didn't clear out soon Ember was bound to break into a sweat.

"I don't like it," the woman said sharply. Her ink-stained hair was pulled back into a tight bun at the back of her head, brown eyes narrowed at her daughter, the perfect depiction of precision and order. "It's dangerous and absolutely idiotic."

Ember sighed and faced her, leaning against the sill. She copied her mother's stance and crossed her arms over her chest, although she knew that she did not look nearly as intimidating. "The directions came from Queen Kali, the ruler of maybe the most well respected country. I'm sure she would not intentionally put us in any line of danger."

Her mother's jaw clenched. "Do I need to remind you that you are stepping into enemy territory during the middle of a war, Ember? You could get yourself killed!"

"But the fight is far from Juno or Marina on neutral territory. The queen assured it herself." She stood to her full height, and although her mother had a few inches on her she felt like a giant. "And I won't be alone-"

"But you will be with complete strangers," she argued, "Six other people that you don't know. That we don't know. They could be murderers for all I know, beasts! Criminals!"

"If Kali trusts them then I'm sure I can trust them, too. They were chosen for a reason." She spoke with confidence, her heart thumping with fear and excitement, adrenaline coursing through her veins, but her mother appeared as if steam were about to come out of her ears.

"I just want you to be safe," she said, her voice a hiss, cheeks puffed out and rosy.

"And I will be," she promised, "But Ma, I'm eighteen. You can't keep me in this house forever. I need to make my own decisions. I'm an adult now."

Her mother laughed humorlessly, sharp and a little shrill. "Oh, if only you knew, Ember. You might think you're all grown up, when in reality all you are is a child playing make believe. Pretending to be some- some warrior for a queen of a country we're not even from."

The woman stood with her back as straight as a needle, almost like royalty with her polite manners and dagger-like eyes, but her hands remained calloused from years of sculpting and her clothes constantly stayed stained with paint.
"I'm afraid that when you leave Narok, Ember, you'll be too far to turn back."

Ember mocked her mother's position and assured, "I won't turn back, Ma."

For long, torturous moments, the two women stared at each other, locked in a silent battle. Ember felt as if she were in the middle of a duel and she had to come out as the champion.

Unblinking, breath hitched, she waited until her mother opened her mouth first. With a sigh, she said, "We'll discuss this with your father tonight."

Then she disappeared down the hall without another word, leaving Ember to sit alone on the windowsill, waiting silently for the next battle to begin.

But that night, there was no sword swinging or drawn crossbows ready to attack. There was only her father, who had come home late from a hard day's work in the mines and just so happened to be in her mother's crossfire.

She knew it was not a conversation meant for her ears, and yet as she failed to drift off to sleep that night and the sound of her parents' voices drifted down the hallway, she couldn't help but listen. Ember slid down against the wall, knees tucked to her chest, terrified of being seen, but she could effortlessly picture her father's bent figure sitting at the kitchen table and her mother's still frame as if they were right in front of her.