Stalemate | A Rise To Power

𝘑𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘢

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The mug of tea was still warm as she clasped it between her fingers. Someone had left it out for her while she was asleep, and she was thirsty. She lifted it to her lips and...

She stopped and put the mug down. If it was poisoned, no one would be able to save her in time.

She laughed out loud. I can't even drink tea anymore without being suspicious.

She tipped it out of her window before sitting on her bed after picking a book on The Red Princess from her pile of books in the corner. She read almost all day, skipping lunch. Her only company was Cloud, who entered at one point and refused to leave.

She read for hours, the turning of pages the only thing she could do. Elaina Everwood, nicknamed the Red Princess, was notorious for being ruthless and brave, a warrior princess while her older sisters giggled and flirted. Elaina was eventually killed in battle by Annetta Shadowhart, who was acting as regent while her husband negotiated elsewhere, and Annetta gave Elaina's head to her husband as a gift, hoping he would be pleased.

Her husband hadn't been impressed.

Junia wondered if he was jealous of his wife for defeating The Red Princess in one battle when he had been fighting her for years: he ended up annulling their marriage and exiling her to a nunnery on charges of unproved infidelity. It almost made her laugh. The man definitely had some masculinity issues.

She was so engrossed in her book that she wasn't even aware of someone entering before they were beside her.

"Miss, I have a message for you," her maid said.

"Yes?" Junia looked back down at the book. She wanted to get to the end of the last chapter and finish the book. Surely Annetta didn't just stay meekly in the nunnery?

The maid dipped into a curtsey. "His Majesty would like to see you in the throne room."

Junia nodded and the maid left.

"Dammit," Junia muttered, trying to skim read the last few pages before giving up and hurrying out.

Cloud followed her as she walked down the corridors, heading downstairs to the throne room. Two guards armed with pikes stood outside the mahogany doors and opened them for Junia, allowing her to walk in after telling Cloud to wait outside.

Junia was rarely allowed in the throne room and had only been inside a few times in the past. It was a beautiful room with a marbled floor and a long, red carpet leading to a tall throne made of smooth metal. To the sides hung banners of the lords of the South, and the large symbol of the South, a flower on a bloody shield, hung over the large doorway, next to the Silverling coat-of-arms. Short steps led up to the throne, and the light filtered in through stained glass behind it, depicting Edward Shadowhart, the first Southern king. The ceiling was painted with gold swirls and frescoes of angels flying around a bloody battlefield, blessing the souls of the dead. Pillars held it up, seeming to grow from the marbled floor to stretch upwards, and guards stood motionless along the length of the room, rigid with their eyes unblinking.

Ulysses did not look as good as Lachlan had on the throne. He was tall enough, but his frame wasn't broad enough. Even while he wore voluminous robes, he was still tiny against the metal. His ginger hair gleamed gold in the sunrise and his fingers curled against the armrest of the throne tightly, as if it would make his hold on it stronger. A small band of silver lay across his head: a simple crown for a simple boy.

Simple, sweet Ulysses. Went off to war and never came back the same, Junia thought. It sounded like a song.

Her steps were quiet, but she heard every small echo as she walked down the spacious hall to kneel before her brother.