One Dark Destiny

Queen Rosalie chapter 4 - the deal

Prynn Chapter 4

Queen Rosalie - chapter 4 - War

Rosalie sits with Kalypso, Pandora, and high Priestess Aspen in the gardens of the Temple. The high priestess sent the other priestesses away, but still she speaks in hushed tones. She tries to explain everything, but hundreds of years of mounting conflict is hard to put into a paragraph.
"Two hundred years ago, before the reign of Queen Perylene, the king consort sent here from Redfort was the King's own son. The whole idea of this was to forge an unbreakable alliance between Redfort and Fennbirn. If Queen Perylene's king consort was to be the king of Redfort, we would be in union. But, just days before Queen Perylene was crowned, the king consort was killed. The stories say that when the king was told that he died in a storm, he went mad with anger. Since Queen Perylene was an elemental, he blamed her for his son's death. He swore that he would get revenge on Fennbirn, and for the last two hundred years the tension between Fennbirn and Redfort has only been growing. Now, the king of Redfort is building an empire. He plans to unite the states of the mainland under one name. He wants Fennbirn to be a part of it."
Rosalie isn't sure what she is supposed to think of that.
"What will it be called? The empire?" Pandora asks.
"Centra." the High Priestess' tone is dry.
Centra. What a dull name.
"Why now?" Kalypso asks, a hint of irritation in her voice.
"Because the people of Redfort are finally power hungry enough to challenge us."
She takes a deep breath.
"He has demanded that if we do not agree to surrender to him, he will march his army in here and take the island."
Rosalie stares at her. Take it by force? Something dark creeps into her chest.
Pandora catches her eyes, eyes swallowed in fear.
"And I think it important to ask why the Black Council did not feel the need to share this information with anyone in the past," Kalypso says coldly.
The high priestess shakes her head.
"It is a deep regret of mine," she says.
"I warned her, but Sofara was determined that she would take care of it.
"Sofara Milone. Proud and stupid. But what more can be expected of a naturalist?"
Rosalie hardly registers the words being said.
"And now we are all going to pay for your mistakes," Kalypso continues.
High Priestess Aspen looks up with sadness in her eyes.
"The Black Council is divided, as usual, hey argue amongst themselves. But no one is eager to give up Fennbirn without a fight."
A chill runs through Rosalie's body. She feels as though her mind is moving too slowly. There is going to be a war. The mainland are going to attack us. She feels eyes on her, Pandora's, Kalypso's, the High Priestess'. Rosalie wishes, not for the first time, that she were not a Queen, that she was not the one they all turned to for an answer. She looks down. High Priestess Aspen starts to speak, but she holds her hand up.
"I understand," Rosalie says. The wind slides through her hair. The temple's gardens are almost eerily still.
"We are going to war with the mainland."

A half hour later, Pandora sits across from Rosalie, in the Queen's chambers. Rosalie was glad to get away from the temple, tensions high and Rosalie's own mind spinning a thick web of questions. She looks up to find Pandora's eyes on her again. She doesn't meet them.
"Rosalie, it is not your fault."
Rosalie stares at the floor. She knows that. How can it be her fault, when the Black Council has kept her in the dark for sixteen years? And yet...
"Who's fault it is does not matter," she replies.
"It is happening. There is going to be a war, and Fennbirn is going to need a Queen." She forces the fear out of her voice.
Pandora nods.
"The sooner a Queen is crowned, the better. I wonder if..."
Rosalie glances up.
"I wonder if they will... change the ascension. I mean, to make sure that we have a Queen in case the king of Redfort does attack."
Pandora is right. Perhaps the Black Council will decide just to lock the Queens in the tower to end the ascension before it has even begun. The thought chills her. She would be dead before Redfort's army even reached the shores of Fennbirn. She presses her eyes shut and when she opens her again, Pandora's eyes are around her. She almost pulls away in surprise, but stops herself. Kalypso would never condone it. Rosalie stiffens and Pandora releases her.
"Rosalie," she says.
"Do not be afraid. It will be fine. I promise."
Rosalie looks at the girl next to her. It would not be an understatement to say that she has never seen someone as beautiful as her sister. To Rosalie, she has always seemed younger than she is - her round, childlike face, large sparkling eyes the color of lilac flowers, the warm glow that rolls off her skin. And she wonders then, what she would do without Pandora's soft innocence in the times Rosalie worries she will cut herself on the sharp edges of the Arron house. She smiles.
"Thank you," she says, unsure what the right reply should be. For a moment, everything is quiet. The silence feels like maybe time could have stopped just for a second. It feels like the calm before the storm.