The Mad Queen

Chapter Forty-Eight: The Capital

It has been two weeks since I weeded all the snakes out of the council. Two glorious weeks. Since my own people have been appointed, I have finally been able to set into motion all my plans for Vivelle. Being able to have proper council meetings without being talked over or blocked every time I dared even put forward any ideas has been so refreshing. My brother, however, has been acting a little odd. I cannot explain it. He has been quieter than usual. Locking himself away and staying up in the early hours of the morning. It is highly unusual. I want to know what is going on. However, if I send people to spy on my own brother, how would that make me look? I have been trying to see with my visions. But, I have not been able to see as much as I have been. It is strange. They still come, but they are of nothing useful anymore. It is so frustrating. I spent so many years terrified of them and now, when I finally accept and understand them I am failed by them. Still, I look for the book that my grandmother had told me about. Hoping that it will help me. But it is nowhere. My victory two weeks ago was a major milestone. However, I feel there is worse to come. There are still those who scheme against me. I will find them. When I do, they will feel pain like they've never imagined.

~Diary of Orianna Dulavelle

Fallon, Rayana and Shaelyn all gather in Shaelyn's room. Night has fallen over the city and they ready their black cloaks to sneak out.

"Are you sure this plan will work?" Fallon asks Shae. She shrugs.

"It's a longshot, but maybe," she replies.

"I trust you," Rayana replies as she pulls her hood up.

"Let's go," Shaelyn replies.

Sneaking out of the castle gets easier every time they do it. The longer Illyana is out there, the more knights that would usually be guarding the castle are sent off to find her.  Though the secret passages still help. It isn't long before they are outside in the city. Shaelyn leads her sisters through the city to the spot she left the Knights of the Pheonix. The small, run-down square is oddly silent and still as the three girls stand in the middle of it. It is dark also, the high decrepit buildings blocking out the little light from the moon.

"What now?" Fallon whispers.

"We track them," Shaelyn replies. "A large group of fighters and brutes leaving at the same time should leave some sort of mark," she continues as she crouches down to the spot that she had pinned their leader too. Her hands skim over the stone ground. A gasp ripples through her as her surroundings change.

The images she sees are blurry and unfocused. She sees the man who attacked her slowly stand up and stare at her own retreating figure.

"Come on, let's get out of here before the Red Guard descend upon us," he orders and runs to one of the passages. The vision disappears. Shaelyn gasps again, falling backwards.

"Shae," Rayana asks, rushing toward her. Shaelyn stands, ignoring her sister.

"This way!" she whispers and rushes off to the ally she saw him disappear through. When she gets to a fork. She skims her hands against the stone walls, feeling the rough rock against her fingers. The visions appear again as another Knight brushes against it as he runs down the left passage.

"Shae what's going on?" Fallon asks. Shae turns to her sister.

"I don't know, but I'm not going to fight it," she tells her sister as she follows the direction she saw the figure running. Shae's heart races with excitement as she continues to track the figures through the empty streets. When it gets to the parts that are usually busy, the visions become more difficult. Before long, the trails of so many people begin to cloud what she really wants to see and a headache begins to form. As she presses her hands against the stone, trying to pick up any sort of trail, a burst of pain springs in her head and she falls to the ground with a whimper. Fallon and Rayana are quick to help her and lean her against a wall.