Traitor to the Crown

Chapter 12

"So why was it that you tried to kill the Empress?" Manx asked, gazing up at the stars. She wondered if Vaskin was looking up at these same stars and thinking of where she had gone. She knew he would be worried, but she had to hear Lyrica's side of things before she could bring herself to decide whether it was right to let Lyrica die.

"She was always such a hero. Even at a young age she was everyone's favorite, despite how hard I tried to stay atop my studies. And then the idea just occurred to me to stifle her success. You could say it was from my guardian angel." Lyrica replied wistfully as if longing for those days to return.

Manx nodded and said, "So...you felt insignificant next to her success?"

"Exactly."

"But then what made you think to try and kill her?" Manx said, repeating the question.

"A little voice in the back of my mind told me to. And so I did." Lyrica said, as if hearing voices was as normal as little children picking their noses.

Manx looked up at her, confused. "What do you mean? The only voices I hear in my head are my own, besides the voices from my memories of course. Are you saying it's like there's someone else in your mind besides yourself?"

"Yes and no. She comes and goes as she pleases, sometimes she is gone for so long that I wonder if she even exists. And other times she is as clear as day. She keeps me company, provides for my needs, and yet...I never see her except in the mirror." Lyrica said.

"How do you know that the voice is a 'she'?" Manx replied, perplexed.

"She told me so." Lyrica replied, getting slightly annoyed.

"Does the voice have a name?" Manx asked in curiosity.

Lyrica sighed and said, "I'd rather not discuss Celyn right now. It's getting late, and she sometimes comes to bother me when I try to sleep."

"Alright." Manx said with a shrug. "I don't think you could be making this up, but I've never heard of anyone who heard voices. Maybe Celyn is a telepath, or something else entirely."

"She's a mist when we speak in person most of the time. She sees through mirrors and looks a lot like me except white and transparent, ghostly almost in a way. She says that she can talk into my mind and see my thoughts because we are sisters." Lyrica said, shivering slightly when she mentioned the mist.

"Then why did this Celyn tell you to kill the Empress?" Manx said.

"She said that I would only succeed if Leif was slain. She said that the diamond scale on Leif's forehead marks her as chosen, and therefore she must be destroyed." Lyrica growled.

"So why did you trust me back there?" Manx asked.

Lyrica sighed and said, "You saw it. You saw something deep inside that I am never allowed to show. I cannot be what Celyn wants me to be, so I may as well die a failure because I know what she has asked was wrong. And yet, if I didn't listen, she said she'd leave me alone forever and slay anyone who dared call me friend. I both loathe her and love her. She is the only one who cares about me even after the things I have done."

"You talk a lot about her when you said you didn't want to talk about her." Manx sighed, yawning softly.

"Nobody else has ever cared enough to listen." Lyrica replied, somewhat indignantly.

Manx shrugged. "Well, I care about your opinion of what happened in the past." she said.

Lyrica fell silent and gazed up at the vast expanse of stars shining overhead. She lay her head down on her claws, thankful that the night was now so dark that Manx wouldn't be able to see the tear sliding down her cheek. After an hour of sitting in the contemplative silence, Lyrica wondered why Manx hadn't spoken for so long. Lyrica looked down at Manx's form outlined in the grass by the soft moonlight and listened to her steady breathing.