Sleeping Nightmare

Chapter 20: rumours proven true | Tyler

Kye-Ann stood in front of her floor length mirror, her shoulders heaving, her cheeks red with rage. Her hairbrush was held tightly in her fist, and if it weren't for Sreya in the room adjacent, the garnet eyed siren would have smashed her mirror to pieces.

Immediately after Isabelle was announced as the leader, the sirens had dragged her into the market to throw her a party on her behalf. Kye-Ann had attended for the first half hour out of forced respect, but was quick to take her leave, followed by me and her followers. Notably, Sarah's family had not come to indulge in the festivities.

Arya and Harley had yet to return from visiting Bob and Sarah, so the royal advisor had informed Kye that the Queen was having a nap inside her room. I'd suggested to Sreya that she shove a few pillows beneath the covers to at least make it seem like someone was sleeping if Kye ever decided to barge in. It was unlikely, as Kye wouldn't dare disrespect the Queen of Narmia, but recent events had rendered me extremely paranoid.

Instead, Kye-Ann flung her hairbrush onto her bed and reached for the history book that seemed to be her closest companion. She furiously flicked through the pages, not stopping until she reached a certain spot, her fingers running over a paragraph of words.

"What are you doing?" I asked, still leaning against the doorframe. I never ventured further into her room nowadays.

"Isabelle cannot be our leader. She lacks the backbone and wit," Kye stated matter-of-factly. "She would allow other nations to walk all over us for the sake of generosity and kindness. What has she even done for our people? She can't think strategically. She can't protect us. She has no experience at all with leadership. All she can do is play nice and sing to children. She may have fed the poor to coerce them to her side, but she can't feed them forever. Someday, they'll realise how useless she is."

In the past, my usual response would be to agree. In fact, I was so used to the typical answer I gave that it nearly slipped past my lips without me even thinking about it. Now, I realised how long I had indeed been licking Kye's feet, in Tanzeem's words. In the three years I had been with her, had I ever really voiced my own opinion?

"You could assist her if she appears to struggle," I suggested. "She would love to take your advice."

Kye-Ann scowled. "If she's going to be leading Delmitii based on my orders, I might as well be the leader instead of her."

I sucked in a breath. "Give her a chance to prove herself. It's true that she is inexperienced, but with time, she can learn and who knows? She may be better than we expected."

When the garnet eyed siren didn't reply straight away, I began to panic. Did I overstep my boundaries?

"It's just an assumption. She may not improve," I added in my most calmest voice, glancing at the floor so that she couldn't see the terror in my eyes. It was reckless of me to say something so bold - I had to keep pretending.

"You're right, actually." Kye tapped her chin with a finger thoughtfully. "We should give her a chance. If she disappears too quickly, everyone will notice that something is amiss."

I nearly puked. If she disappears too quickly.

I looked up at her, perhaps for the first time seeing her for who she was.

She had gone beyond all morals. I wondered if it even bothered her that she was openly plotting the murder of yet another siren mere days after the funeral of a siren that she believed dead at her hands.

I'd vowed to myself that I would try to reason with her before it became too late for redemption - if there was a way to reason with a girl who had resorted to being a murderer due to her greed for power.