Snow White Queen [NaNoWriMo 2018]

Chapter Twenty-Four

Neva had given Dorian two days to change his mind. As soon as she heard that he had gone home, she left. Several days prior, she had found an abandoned cabin that she would hide out in until she could figure a plan.

She figured that she would need allies. Humans were less likely to side with her cause, so that eliminated most of her options. Most likely, she would have to seek out vampires in hiding. Which would be difficult. Especially since she was technically dead.

Tamela had found her. Maybe she'd be able to find others.

Neva dropped her head into her hands. She was all alone. No allies, and enemies with what felt like the whole world. She had to face it: her chances of success were minimal. Hell, she barely had a plan.

Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to go to Lilia after all. Maybe Lilia's sentiment would allow Neva to survive.

No. Neva was immortal. If she turned herself in, she'd likely be imprisoned for eternity, if she wasn't executed.

She had to fight. It was the only way she, and vampires everywhere, would be allowed to live freely. If she didn't fight, who would?

She would start small. Lie low for a while. Try to find some vampires in the area. Build up a small group of people that she could trust. She'd work her way up from there. Speak up. Demand to be heard. Refuse to be silent until her demands were met.

Discredit and dethrone Lilia. Don't let her say anything that would counteract her movement.

Neva would fight. And she was determined to succeed.

But, for now, she'd rest. Save the planning for some other time.

~~~

Neva covered herself completely as she prepared to go out. Her plan was to find her way into a nearby town and see if she could get any information about what was going on.

The town she had chosen was small but well connected. The low population would decrease the amount of people she would be in contact with, which would decrease her chances of being discovered. At the same time, the town's information stream would allow her to easily get information on recent events.

A news vendor was handing out pamphlets. Neva approached him and took one of the flyers silently. She started walking away to find a place to read it, but stopped dead when she saw what it was.

Lilia had apparently given a speech regarding Neva's "death." She was holding a transcript of that speech.

I deeply regret to inform you that our beloved Neva Erythrodis was assassinated several days ago.

Anger welled up inside Neva as she read Lilia's words. She was making it sound like she had no hand in her death. Like she wished Neva was still alive. Like Lilia still loved Neva.

Neva scoffed at the thought. She was about to toss the paper to the side when she caught sight of the last line.

I love you, Neva, and I always will. Never forget that.

Something about this one line struck her as odd. The rest of the speech had all been in the past tense. It read merely as a statement of facts, even if there was some emotion behind it. It seemed to Neva as if Lilia had been putting up a professional facade to hide whatever emotions she was feeling, if she was feeling any at all.

This line... in short, this line seemed to be the admission of the emotions that Lilia had been hiding for the rest of the speech. If Neva had to guess, she would have said that this line was Lilia breaking.