ILLUSION || Jason Todd

SIXTY-EIGHT

❝AND THAT'S THE HARDEST PART❞

LITTLE MIX, NOBODY LIKE YOU

Waking up with a headache was not what Lorelei wanted after forcibly becoming Queen. Neither were the celebrations that lasted far longer than she hoped, the bottle of alcohol becoming seemingly endless until she caught her father refilling the bottle with fresh alcohol to ensure the night was never ending.

The party was awful. Filled with fake smiles and a false warmth to any laughter she let out in between grumpy men from the council trying to swoon business into her mind. It was an exhaustive night, to say the least and if not for the alcohol consumed she would have returned home hours ago.

But Lorelei knew otherwise than to jump through a portal with the dizzying mind of alcohol. She would return home soon, she prayed. There was just one more thing left to do before she could leave. Well, two if you included food. She had already skipped breakfast to let her headache settle down - there was no way she was missing lunch.

Her crown sat in its display case on the other side of the castle as Lorelei settled into her chair at the dining table. The french toast was small, a perfect meal to soak up any lasting alcohol swishing through her stomach. The salty meal mixed with berries to her side, a perfect mix of sweet and savoury as her mind strayed far from the realm she sat upon.

"There was no need to rush your party last night." Winston huffed as he came into the dining hall, an eye roll pushed from Lorelei's amethyst eyes at his complaints.

His presence brought her breath to hitch as he sat on his seat, the seat that was now, under a technicality, Lorelei's. She was Archmage and the Queen now. The head of the realm landed on her shoulders. The reminder earned a snicker from her lips after swallowing a blackberry, her father's attempts to regain a form of control Lorelei brought lack within his life bringing a new sense of humour to the young Archmage.

Lorelei looked at her food as her father began eating his plate. She was in charge now. All his power was shredding with each passing second, he was no longer King. His days were numbered. The young royal didn't have to play nice anymore, beating around a bush in fear of his actions was a pointless thing.

She could do whatever she wanted and nobody could do a thing about it. Lorelei understood her father a little more now. Why he would act unstoppable and so ruthless. It was simply because he could. He made the rules, he chose his life. And now Lorelei could do the same; she had that luxury.

"Why were you so interested in Jason?" Lorelei asked, her finger toying around a berry while she watched his face twisting in distaste for the question. She didn't care for the way he carried himself with the mention of Jason, his nose upturning at a mention of a commoner - a commoner not of his kind.

Lorelei didn't care for the way he took his time to swallow her question with the salt of his own lunch. She didn't have all day, Lorelei wanted to return home sooner than later, but patience was something she had, a thing she was stealing from him.

A stare too long was enough to make him feel uncomfortable. Lorelei knew intimidation and the power dynamic at hand. To cower at a state of restraint and contentment because she knew, deep down, an answer would soon fall from his lips. Having more magic, a realm at your fingertips and immortality flowing through your bones, was enough of a trip to bring a silent rage blooming through her question.

Winston, unlike most, knew that. He felt that. He had that. Winston knows, from his own experience, what comes of the explicit selfishness the power brings. It was a drug on its own, a weapon he feathered along the backs of everyone he knew. Lorelei included. Her father knew what was coming for him; the question was when. Karma, in the form of his daughter, was counting down his days.