The Armor She Wears

Echoes in the Snowy Night

Fitz nervously shivered in front of the large wooden door.
"Come on Fitz. I'm freezing" his sister whined from behind.
"I know! It's just weird. I haven't seen her in forever. She must hate us"
They were silent once more because they all knew what he said was true. Finally Keefe walked up and banged on the door. The sound echoed through the snowy valley and Keefe shivered.
The door creaked open to reveal a maid who beckoned them in.
"You must be the friends of my queen" she said.
"Queen?" Biana's voice echoed.
"Well yes, Sophie has been the queen of the rebellion for a long time now"
Fitz glanced at his confused friends and shrugged, "Where is she?"
"Right this way"
They followed the maid down cold, windowless corridors where the only light came from the floating lanterns above their heads.
They stopped in front of an engraved door depicting a battle on a cliff. Strange, Fitz noticed it looked just like the cliff near Havenfield.
The maid opened the door and ushered them in. A fireplace roared to the left of Fitz and he steered towards it. He stopped cold when he saw a figure near the window and asked, "Sophie?"
The figure turned and smiled at him. Fitz and his friends gasped at her. Sophie was in head to toe armor except for the helmet which lay next to her. A furry pelt was hung over her shoulder and a sword at her waist.
"I see you have arrived. Take them to their rooms" Sophie waved at the maid.
Keefe sputtered, "But Foster-"
"My name is Queen Sophie and that is what you will call me"
Her eyes glared at Keefe with a hatred he had never seen. The maid looked at them with scared faces and quickly pushed them out of the room, the door banging behind them.
The maid turned to them and said, "Now you've done it. She'll be mad and then she will-"
The maid raised her hands to her mouth to stop herself and said, "I've said too much. Just follow me"
Fitz is had to run to catch up and panted along. The maid brought them up six flight of stairs before showing them to a cramped, drafty tower room. A few straw beds were placed near a dead fireplace and ash covered the floor. Biana turned to complain but the maid was gone.
Fitz stepped carefully around piles of bird poop and sat down on one of the beds. "Sophie has changed so much"
His eyes pricked and tears blurred his vision. Keefe sat next to him, "I know. She hates us and I hate that she hates us. But we did leave her-"
"Because we didn't want to kill!"
Fitz's yell rang through the room and Biana flinched. He couldn't believe Sophie could be so... different.
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The echoes were strong that night and it took all of Sophie's will not to crumple to the ground. They weren't in her mind, they came from somewhere. On nights that snowed heavily they were strong, reminding Sophie she had to be strong.
Mr. Forkle said it was a new ability, one he had never seen. Sophie smiled at the thought that even her creators hadn't planned for her to become what she had become.
She had first heard them when she stood over Ruy during the clifftop battle in Havenfield. She could have just let him go, but she plunged her gold sword deep in his chest. Then the echoes came and Sophie collapsed.
She grabbed one of the clear crystal above the fireplace and closed her eyes. She filled the crystal with the echoes and soon they disappeared. When she opened her eyes, the crystal had turned red and she placed it in the velvet covered box she kept in her armor. There were only three other crystals and Sophie picked up the blue one.
Early on she had discovered she could manipulate the crystals to let her and only her do things. The blue helped take away the head splitting head ache from the echoes. Sophie released her held breath and looked up to see the maid once more in the doorway.
Sophie rolled her eyes and put the crystal away, "Let me guess, my guests are ready for dinner"
The maid nodded and Sophie smiled, fangs out.
"Let's see if my guests are ready to become my dinner"