The Heirs of Death

2. The Black Fire

THE BLACK FIRE

Ramos's stares penetrated through my  heart, stripping my soul bare and piercing it sharply until I felt like shattered glass. Helpless and broken, spread everywhere, unable to see what was in his mind.

The echo of his voice still rang in my head as I stared at him, at how he stood, leaning on his ivory cane. His face was void and as blank as an ink-less paper, waiting. My throat tightened. Not angry, I noted, even though I knew it from the very start. Only disappointed.

''I ask you again, Celestia. What is it that you've found?"

"A solution," was all that came out of my mouth. But my voice was steady and cool. And bitter on my tongue. It was the voice I  learned to use with maids and servants, the one I wielded to speak my way with the soldiers. It was the mask of the queen I was supposed to wear, and not the Celestia Ramos had sheltered for long months and guarded with his soul.

But I had become a bit of both, still growing to be the steel-forged ruler my throne needed. And steel did not bend nor break.

"He is leaving, Ramos."

It was like the world spun all at once as the words reverberated around us. And Ramos loosened his grip, his long, beautifully carved cane fell to the ground, shattering into bits and splinters. His face fell, his eyes crossed by the phantom of fear. And pain.

He'd raised my father as much as he did with my mother, watched him grow into the mighty king all Ardoria loved and praised.

The Court Leader pushed his way to the dais, wobbling on unsteady legs before he sat on a chair Siltheres had carved just opposite us.

He rubbed the bridge of his nose before his hands fell in his lap, drowning in the mass of fabrics his cloak was made of. He took in one deep, heavy breath and eyed the three of us with a stare that showed just how much was already crashing on his shoulders.

"I received words," he whispered, and suddenly, I truly saw how mightily the seven centuries he lived pressed on him. "About a raid on the castle. My spies have been coming in and out with loads of contradicting information for the past week." His cerulean eyes fixed on my face, the ring of grey around his pupils seeming to glow. "This is why I haven't called you yet to seek the remedy. I would give the world, too, to have Aragon back. But not when we could be under siege."

Breathing became hard.

It was Siltheres that spoke next, voice deep and guttural and filled with power, "They will attack, but not here and not now. My own resources told me such." Siltheres flared his wings and leaned over us, his massive shadow swallowing us whole.

Ramos's shoulders slouched and his body ever so lightly loosened up. He extended one hand, mentioning at the book, and said, "Show me this spell you claim to be the one.''