A Court of Heritance and Destiny

Chapter 4 Amaya

The sun stood low outside of the windows, casting the hallway before her in a golden light. Her steps echoed around her as she walked towards the map room. The note had arrived just as she got ready for the night, calling her to attend a last minute meeting. Amaya lifted her hand and let the sand open the door for her, hoping that the display of power covered her nervousness. This was her first real meeting like this, and she had no idea what this could be.

The first one she saw was Etera standing next to the large table with the magical map. Her red blond hair braided from the top of her head and down to her waist, dressed and ready for a mission. Next to her Ikarad stood, also in his leathers, with the large wings folded tightly to his back, arms crossed.

Her father and Azriel stood on the other side of the map, both holding an unreadable mask. Azriel was also dressed in his leathers, the blue stones giving out a faint glow in the room, and her fathers powers swirled around him.

Amaya took a deep breath, feeling the tension in the room.

"Yes?" She asked, hoping that all that training, all that preparation paid off as she walked up to the map.

"She doesn't need to hear this." Ikarad protested, and Etera just scoffed in return.

"If anyone needs to know, it is her." Amaya snapped her head to the side as Orion spoke, finding him standing there in his darkness. "And she is the heir." He had been gone for three weeks, for three weeks she had waited for him to return, hoping that he would come to her bedroom at night.

"I agree." Etera spoke up and took a step back from the table. "Tell her."

"We have news from the Spring Court." Azriel started and Amayas heart sank. "Mostly second hand information, that we will need confirmation on before we can act on it."

"Stop dragging it out." Etera muttered at Amayas side, "Tamlin might be fading."

What was she supposed to feel? Amaya just nodded, trying to figure out what she was feeling. Sadness? Happyness? Or just nothing?

"Might is the big word here." Her father commented. "It might just be a rumour by Lord Escar as revenge."

"That is bullshit." Orion said and walked out from his corner. "Dorothea claimed that Escar is the heir to the Spring Court that is why... She did some of the things she did."

"Tamlin is still a young High Lord." Her father said. 600 and something, Amaya reminded herself.

"But he has faced far more heartbreak than most." Etera said. "I have all the notes from my earlier mission there, I can be in and out in a week or two. Gathering the intel to confirm or deny any rumours."

"No need to stress it." Ikarad added, "And even if the rumours are true, why does it matter?" Amaya looked at her brother, slowly blinking as she tried to comprehend what was being said around her.

"A power shift in the Spring Court will cause its disturbances." Orion said back, "And if it is Lord Escar who is the heir, we will need to decide how to handle him."

"We do the same as we have done with Tamlin for centuries." Ikarad huffed, "Nothing will change."

"I agree." Etera nodded, "But we still need to know what is going on, and if Lord Escar is staging a coup, we need to know that too."

Was he even capable? He had contacts, he was a Lord for a reason, once a general in Tamlins armies. Well connected... Amaya placed her hands around the edge of the table to hold herself standing.

"Why am I here?" she managed to say, holding her voice far more steady then she had imagined.

"Isn't it obvious?" Her father said, and she looked up to find him with a welcoming smile. "You are a part of the court's future, these types of meetings are a part of that."