Queens & Liars-Sequel to Three Broken Kingdoms (Completed)

Chapter Eight: The Draining Compound

Lysandra Crimson, Princess and Heir to the great Empire of Kallias and the closest advisor and daughter of the Witch-Killer, was tired of achy joints and stiff legs. They had been the road for a full hour, now, and it was really beginning to grate on her. She was restless. Struck by an urgent desire to do something, as the deserted terrain passed by them.

Usually she'd conjure shadows when bored, but with her mother in the same carriage, that certainly wasn't an option. The Empress would want to know why her daughter had hidden magic from her for twenty-four years, after all. Well, it was actually eighteen or nineteen, but they didn't remember the years before the witch had wiped all memory of her magic from her family's mind and replaced them with different ones.

"Where are we stopping off first?" She asked her mother.

"We'll have a brief stop-off at Kazimiar, naturally. Another at Cobalt. No speeches or marches, just passing through. Then we'll head to Celeste and Veron. A few other elfin isles after that, then we'll go to Miras."

"Celeste and Veron are a good choice," Lysandra agreed. "Layla's birthplace." Her mother only dipped her head in answer, and silence lapped over them.

Burning sun, this was boring.

"Are you certain we can hold the queens?" Lysandra ventured cautiously.

"The slivers have never faltered," Medea shrugged. "Why should they now?"

"Just wondering. Myra and Layla must have struggled against the crowns-did they cause any disturbance?"

"Of course not," her mother snapped, impatient. "Why would it? It's worked with the soldiers-whenever one tries to resist, I barely feel it." Everyone in Medea's army now had a sliver in their armour, in case they decided to desert, or rebel. After the Draining had begun, Medea had possessed enough power to be able to achieve such a feat. Before, it would have been nearly impossible.

"Myra has a very strong will," she said carefully. "Layla also has a very strong magic. They're not like humans."

"Neither are we," her mother replied, and that was the end of the conversation.

The miles continued to pass them by. She wished her brother was here to lighten the heavy weight of boredom. Clearly her mother was not interested in small talk, not with so much at stake.

Medea would never admit it, but the rebellion gathering in the mountains of Miras scared her. Unlike the Kallians, they had a clear vision of what the world could be. They weren't broken in from the birth. They did not accept that life would always be hard, and terrible, and filled with death. With goddesses to inspire them ever forward and symbols to lead them, they grew rapidly.

Their unity was their greatest asset-valkyries, elves and humans alike fought together. That was something Medea had never predicted.

Usually, her mother would never have entertained letting Myra and Layla, her two greatest threats, out of Dorgon. Usually, she would never have gone near Asriel and Miras. But with the rebellion gathering strength, this was her only move.

Lysandra knew that if her mother played it just right, it would devastate the valkyries and elves to the point of destruction.

Which meant they simply could not allow her to play it right. They had to turn this against the empress, and quickly.

Luckily, she was Lysandra Crimson, and ruining her mother's plans was a specialty.

————————————————

Stopping in Kazimiar was a welcome relief after a day of travel. Lysandra didn't see Myra or Layla as they left the carriages-they were probably still in their glorified prison wagon-and she didn't particularly care to. She had no interest in listening to the valkyrie general threaten her life and her mother's like a deranged madwoman.