Rise

Kira

I didn't get a goodbye, not even a note. I was told by a still-grieving Mia that they had left for a mission in Terram. It hurts me to think, but why couldn't Adara be more like her brother, wanting the crown and living a normal life as a queen, but no. Even when we were young she would tell me that she wasn't meant to rule, she wouldn't even let me play my role as her right hand.

"You're my friend." Adara would tell me. She would never let me think otherwise, never accepting our name, always trying to fight our destinies.

"Melanie, are you alright?" Mia asked me, biting into one of the sandwiches from the mess hall. Shit, I zoned out again. I shake my myself awake.

"What?" I reply

"Camila and I were talking about the outfit we saw Freya walking around in earlier it was absolutely atrocious" Mia drawls on about something that I just can't give my attention to.

"Uh, yeah it looked terrible," I answer both Mia and Camila smile at me, I don't know when the weaver woman showed up, but she is here now, being me a shoulder to cry on. The way Camila acts makes me see myself in her, loving people in a way no one else could. Mia snaps me back into focus with the clap of her hand.

"So, I heard from Mave that she has befriended Calore to spy inside the kingdom." She looks at Camila, but her words were meant for me. Even now you all are testing me, when will it be enough? You let Adara roam free why can't I? I sigh and put on my mask. A plastered smile and perfect posture.

"Good then maybe we can take down the ignition line for good." I force out. Do I want to hurt Cal? No, but that doesn't mean I won't do what's right. You mean whatever Adara thinks is right. Mia looks at me, I'm most impressed by my reaction. She gives one long look to the weaver next to her, Camila responds with it approving smile.

"So some of the others are throwing a small party and one of the buildings not far away. You're welcome to join us if you'd like." Camila says, her voice bittersweet. Party? We're in the middle of a war, who thinks that it is okay to throw a party?

"Yeah, why not?" I mutter begrudgingly. It's not something that I planned, nor did I want to go, but I don't think that I can manage to spend another night in this dingy hideout. They stand from the table, trays in hand.

"Good, we'll meet you in the building's entrance after sundown, dressed appropriately, I hope." Mia squawks out a bitter giggle before walking off. Mia and I never talked much when she visited Soevia, she seems stuck-up and pretentious for just being a lady. Even now she proves that by her actions. I was never fond of people like her, she may work with the rebellion but she still feels more entitled than the rest. Camila on the other hand, from what I heard she works with Nari, almost like me and Adara. She is a shy girl putting on a front to seem strong. You know a lot about that.

A group of people, Sano's by the looks of it, charge at my table. Not being in the mood for any more social graces, I quickly leave. Ducking out of the mess hall and scattering into the old, abandoned highways. I don't think, a fairly even wonder, just a ghost hunting a place riddled with death.

"You sound so sad." someone announces behind me. Quickly I turned to see a girl, barely sixteen years of age. She doesn't belong to the Sano's, nor a burner that we gathered along the way here. Cold blue eyes and gray hair that reminds me of a grandmother, stare back at me.

"Thanks for letting me know." I turn on my heels and begin to walk away.

"Look I'm sorry, that was very rude of me." She headed down the hall, the pittering of feet hitting the cement floor. She reaches for me, grasping for my wrist. She grabs my sleeve and turns me around herself.