Queen's Scars

Chapter 36: Clara

Hey guys! How are you doing? Here's the next chapter. Some intense reveals happening. 😈

"Clov-Clara! Clara!" I rub my eyes.

"Wha?" I see the princess and princes outside my cell. Why?

"We brought keys. We're going to help you escape." Escape? Really?

"Where'd you get the keys?"

"Well, we found them in mother's room, but I think Lady Samos left them there and she got them from-"

"We get the idea El!" Elara rolls her eyes at Zeus.

"Shut up. You only say that because you wish you found them."

"I did not!"

"Did too."

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Did n-"

"Quiet both of you! Or the rest will wake up," Samson admonishes.

"You're not our mother," Hestia mutters, and starts twisting the key in the lock. I slowly stand up, shaky. I stumble out of the cell, into Elara's waiting arms.

"My colors, I didn't think you'd be that heavy," she grunts, trying to lift my limp body. "Z, a bit of help?"

"On it," he says placing one arm on his shoulder and other on Elara's. "Try and walk now." I want to take a step foward and another step forward and another and run until I'm free of this cell, but as I see the others in the cell sleeping, I know I can't leave them.

"Wait," I say, "free them too." I gesture to Sarah and Julian and Cameron. Hestia gives a sympathetic look.

"Look, we would free them too if we could. We love Uncle Julian. But Father will already be upset when he finds you missing. We could hardly risk freeing all of you."

"She's right you know," Cameron says, apparently up. "You can't free everyone. You can't have anything. Barrow learned that the hard way."

"What do you mean?" Elara says curiously, coming closer, letting go of my arm. Zeus prepares to face the brunt of my limp body, but I'm already standing by myself. Cameron looks at our faces, and laughs.

"You don't know? Ah of course you don't," she says to our surprised faces. "After all, the victor writes the history books. Why don't I tell you what happened? You have time. Take a seat." Hestia, Elara, Samson, and Zeus exchange a look, then shrug and sit down.

"Clara's father just died. There was mission. A mission to rescue some child soldiers from the choke, people like my brother, Morrey, barely older than fifteen. We flew on a jet to get there, but we were ambushed by the little king and his soldiers. They knocked the jet out of the sky and we fell, landing in the cold ground. When Barrow heard the voice of Calore, she went after him determined to kill him. Why? Maybe it was revenge for her brother, some revenge for the pain he caused her and her family, or maybe it was revenge for that brand on her collarbone." My cousins suck in a breath, to shocked and confused to say anything. "But she chased him and was caught by a strong arm with plastic gloves. She tried to fight, but was made powerless. That's where I come in. Me, along with Tiberius Calore, her brothers, and her best friend Kilorn," her breath hitches at his name, "started to be strangled by metal poles. Barrow, so desperate to protect what she had left of her family, gave in and surrendered to him. He took her in exchange for releasing her family and used her as a puppet and imprisoned her with Silent Stone. She was trapped, and she still is."

I'm shocked, but I can only imagine the looks on the faces on the people beside me. Their whole world was turned upside down.