Michrinor: The Fates of The Heirs

Chapter 40 - Revelations

The grand hallway of Smoreri Hold loomed around Ava like a suffocating shadow, the flickering torchlight casting eerie patterns on the dark stone walls. The air was thick with tension, almost tangible, pressing down on her chest with an oppressive weight. The revelation the Queen had just dropped on her—their shared bloodline—still echoed in her mind, a relentless drumbeat that drowned out all other thoughts.

Ava's footsteps were slow, hesitant, as she followed the Queen deeper into the heart of the castle. The cold, polished stone beneath her feet was a stark contrast to the warmth of the Isle of Loxca, where she had last felt anything close to safety. Now, safety seemed a distant memory, replaced by a cold reality that chilled her to the bone.

The Queen—no, Segulah, Ava reminded herself—walked ahead, her white hair flowing like a river of ice down her back, her movements as smooth and calculated as her words had been. Ava tried to reconcile the figure before her with the concept of family, but it seemed impossible. How could this woman, with her sea-green eyes that held no warmth, no trace of affection, be her sister?

The word felt foreign, almost absurd. Sister. Ava's mind struggled to wrap itself around the idea, but the more she thought about it, the more questions piled up. How could they be related when Segulah was so cold, so devoid of the warmth Ava had always associated with family? And what did this revelation mean for her—Ava, a girl who had spent her life in search of answers, only to find herself entangled in a web of lies and hidden truths?

Her heart pounded in her chest, her thoughts a tangled mess of confusion and fear. She had always imagined her family—her real family—as something different, something better. But this? This was a nightmare. And yet, there was something undeniably real about it, something that resonated deep within her, no matter how much she wished it didn't.

The hallway seemed to stretch on forever, the silence between them growing heavier with each step. Ava's mind raced, trying to make sense of it all. The tapestry, the revelation, the connection—how could it all be true? She had felt a kinship with the girl in the tapestry, a strange familiarity that had drawn her in, but she had never imagined this. Now, that same girl was walking beside her, grown and hardened by time, wearing a crown of ice.

Ava stole a glance at Segulah, searching for something—anything—that could explain what she was feeling. But the Queen's expression was unreadable, her eyes fixed ahead as if the conversation they had just had was of little importance. Ava couldn't understand it. Didn't this matter to her? Didn't it change everything?

But as she looked into those sea-green eyes, so like her own, Ava felt a pang of doubt. Perhaps it didn't. Perhaps this was just another piece in whatever game the Queen was playing. And that thought terrified her most of all.

The silence was unbearable, the tension thick enough to cut. Ava wanted to speak, to demand answers, but the words caught in her throat, choked by the fear of what those answers might be. She wasn't sure she was ready to hear them, not yet.

Instead, she swallowed her questions and kept walking, her mind a storm of emotions she couldn't control. The truth was out now, but it offered no comfort, only more uncertainty. Segulah was her sister, but what did that mean for her? For them? And how could she ever trust someone who had revealed this truth with such cold indifference?

Ava's thoughts churned as they continued down the hallway, the darkness closing in around her. She felt lost, adrift in a sea of questions with no clear direction, no guiding light to show her the way. And as they neared the end of the corridor, the only thing she knew for certain was that the path ahead was darker than anything she had ever faced before.

The silence in the grand hallway was broken by the Queen's voice, low and cold, yet tinged with a bitterness that Ava could almost feel in her bones. Segulah spoke without turning to face her, her gaze fixed ahead as she recounted a past that had long been buried beneath layers of power and control.