Stalemate | A Rise To Power

𝘌𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘥

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Ethelind stood before the courtyard of Westerners, most of them regarding her with animosity. All had been captured or capitulated to her forces.

Ten hours later and I've secured a castle for myself, Ethelind thought proudly.

Katana had found her just as the battle was ending and shown her the twisted body of a young girl, her blue eyes glassy and her legs bent at an odd angle, splayed out like a broken rag doll. There had been a dent in her forehead as well as a knife wound in her chest.

Ethelind had pretended not to see the small details: ignored the tears that had streaked lines down the girl's bloody cheeks and those once gentle, trusting eyes. The crimped golden curls, the kind features and soft, pale skin.

She desensitised herself from feeling anything about the murder of a cousin she had barely known.

"My truce to you," Katana had said, her expression cold. There had been a dog at the corpse's feet, howling, and Ethelind had been forced to kick it to make it go away. She had not missed the flash of emotion behind Katana's eyes as she had looked at the body. Katana had not done it out of spite for the princess, but out of a stronger bond with Ethelind and a need to prove herself.

She respected that and pitied her for the burden she would carry. So she had kissed Katana on the forehead and thanked her, even if it had just been to comfort her.

Ethelind had then poisoned the drinks of all Adebiyi's elite men. She disliked their loyalty to Adebiyi and knew they had to be killed. Most of them had survived the attack on the West, showing their superiority of fighting, and all had been crucial in their swift victory. Killing them would pack a blow for Landon and Adebiyi, something that Ethelind gladly did.

Even their healthy, muscular bodies had been unable to miraculously heal themselves from poison. She heard from Chege that they had all choked to death on their own blood that night, one by one, clawing at their throats with watering eyes.

Making them unable to turn against her.

She felt no shame. It had been a crucial step to take. Choosing between her life and theirs had been easy.

She found it darkly amusing that she had demanded them as part of the negotiations between the East and the North, only to murder them all.

Then, a letter from Teravardi had arrived, addressed for Junia. Upon reading it and finding that it was from Audrey, Ethelind threw it into the fire, although only after reading it and seeing that her cousin seemed to be conflicted with emotions over some commoner. It almost made her want to laugh out loud; emotion still swayed the girl, but Ethelind was secretly glad that she had made it to Teravardi. Whether or not the Southerners would keep her around was a thread she did not pull at, and Ethelind almost felt sorry for Audrey's reaction when she found out Junia was dead, never to read her letter.

Katana stood in the crowds, her dark eyes watching Ethelind. Jax was the only person next to Ethelind as she addressed the people standing in the courtyard before her. The bodies of the Easterners had been hidden, but she knew it was only time before Jax realised what she had done.

"Hello," Ethelind said, her voice soft. "I know you will execrate me. I would too if I were you. But I do not wish to hurt any of you. I wish to be an ally to you. As you know, Lynne has escaped. And I will let her go because I do not want to kill her. I know she was a just queen, and I hope to be one as well." Jax was eyeing her out of the corner of his eye, his face still stoic, but a bit of confusion showed through. "I want to help you all to keep your democracy and, most of all, I want to pull you out of this war."