Black Reign

Ellette

A sickly warm breeze wafts past my face, kicking up sand particles that kiss my cheeks with a subtle sting. The ground is rough beneath me, jagged edges of rocks so small I can hardly see them without squinting, dig into my skin. They have made their mark, deep pits already sunken into the heels of my palms and fingertips. My jaw clenches.

It is times like these, in the scorching heat of noon, where I miss Thorne most. The sheer absence of my dearest friend's presence weighs heavily upon my heart. I cannot help but ache for his presence; for one more training session which now, looking back, seemed so useless. Another joke, another jibe, laugh, taunt... anything. Because without him—without them—all feels desperately lost.

"How are you?" A soft, female voice tugs my attention from the growing misery of my thoughts. Warm, delicate hands rest on my shoulders, then run up and down the length of my upper arms. Nila.

I place a hand atop hers, freezings its motion, and smile gratefully. For her. Her comforts, her presence. "Peachy." I reply. "And you?"

She shrugs, dropping to the floor beside me. A slight wince twists her face as, what I can only assume is a rock, scratches uncomfortably against her skin. "As well as one can be." She adjusts her position against the ground, face scrunching. I throw her a sympathetic smile as she reaches into the pocket of her dress and withdraws something concealed by her long, delicate fingers. She parts her hands. I steal a glance at what she hides there, teeth coming over her bottom lip in excitement. She bares her palms, light streams through. Cushioned there, against sun-kissed palms...I gasp: are nuts. My hand jumps to my mouth as a whole-hearted grin sliced my face.

Nila chuckles. "Will you eat with me?"

Yes! The word gets caught in my mouth before it has the chance to leave. Guilt begins to seize my mind, my heart. I shake my head. "I cannot eat if they haven't." I gesture with a wide sweep to my people, gathered in haphazard groups around the arena. Laughs echo off the walls accompanied by the faint snores of men who doze in the shade, their wives giggling and glancing at them. I can only imagine the magnitude of teasing going on.

Nila's smile only widens, lips parting in a joyous smile that reaches her eyes. "All have had their share." She takes my hand in hers, unfurls my clenched fingers and carefully drops half in. "Eat, my queen. You must take care of yourself, too." We begin to munch on the nuts. Pleasure at the sheer saltiness of the green-brown food—a delicacy, at this point—floods my veins. Gods, Thorne would have loved these. Loved this. "The Scavengers wanted to give you some first, but I said no." Says Nila. "I knew you wouldn't like it. Besides, you looked like you were having awfully much fun with that soldier boy, Romir." She gives me a playful nudge with her shoulder, gaze locked on where Romir and his companions, Martell and Gawen, lie at the far, shaded end of the arena.

I snort. "If you say so."

"Oh please," it sounds as if she's scolding me. With eyes on one in particular that I've not the heart to identify, she breathes, "Dreamy, no?" She giggles. The way she laughs so freely—as if we weren't just abandoned by our only protectors, our only hope—makes me want to join her.

"If you say so," I merely repeat. My heart begins to ache once more. Thorne. His name becomes a chant in my mind, echoed by the emptiness of my gut. The more his name sounds, the hollower I feel. Thorne. Thorne. Thorne.

Gods, do I really miss him so?

She laughs again and dusts the crumbs off her hands as she finishes eating. "It wouldn't hurt."

"Nila, I'm a queen that has no idea how to rule her kingdom, who's only been ruling a city for her entire reign and I've not even being doing that well. I think men are at the bottom of my list of worries."