The Lord ✔️

Chapter 11

Chapter 11: The Line

Andromeda's day had been excellent so far. She'd told Hunter's three "admirers" to back off, she'd persuaded Carol to ignore Queen Cora, and she'd managed to ignore Queen Cora for a while.
However, a while didn't mean forever—sadly, in this case.
Queen Cora had met with Andromeda when Andromeda was walking to her den in the Findrut Rocks, where are the royals lived. With a sigh of relief that was clearly fake, she smiled at opened her mouth to speak to Andromeda. In front of everyone. Andromeda nodded stiffly.
"Dear, I can't allow you to eat with wolves who aren't royals anymore. Or Third-Class royals. They just aren't civilised enough; it's for you own good. You also must never leave this cave without three guards supervising you."
Andromeda opened her mouth and closed it, shocked. How dare her mother forbid her for talking to anyone who wasn't "civilised enough?" What about her "not civilised" friends, like Orion and Sapphire, the gemstone sisters' cousin? Or even leave the Findrut Rocks?
Andromeda didn't know how to respond. She could always just nod, but sneak out anyway—however, she didn't feel like lying anymore. She needed to let the anger out.
"No!" she hissed. "You've been setting all these stupid rules for me, mother, but I won't stand not being able to see my friends—or leaving his cave! If you continue like this, I'll leave. Choose now, Coraline."
Queen Cora looked shocked. "You must!" she said. "I am your mother, and I have full control over you! If you disagree, I'll get my most vicious guards to rip off your legs. You can't decide."
It's going to be hard not to explode, Andromeda thought, taking deep breaths to calm herself. Cora's being an idiot—no, wait. She is an idiot. She laughed at her own joke.
"I am a wolf," Andromeda said. She was relieved that she sounded half-patient, but she was angry—her mother was acting so much like a pup! An idiotic one, too. "And—mother—wolves have brains, if you didn't know. They have hearts, they have minds, they have wants. They also have opinions."
Queen Cora sniffed haughtily. Does she not get it? Andromeda felt frustration zoom through her.
"I know wolves have all those—things—that you have listed," Queen Cora said, scoffing slightly, "but I also know that as your mother and the queen, too, I can make any descions regarding what you do, where you go, and how you leave your life—dear," she added the last word after a moment.
"I WILL!" Andromeda yelled, louder than she'd predicted. Some of the wolves in the cave winced. "YOU ARE MY MOTHER, NOT MY DICTATOR! I WILL REBEL. JOIN ME IF YOU MUST, OR STAY WITH THIS IDIOT!"
Maybe Andromeda had crossed the "line." It seemed like Queen Cora had finally lost her cool, screeching like a cougar. "How dare you!" Queen Cora screeched. "I am no idiot, and I am the queen! You will listen to me, or face punishments unimaginable. I forbid you for making any decisions yourself."
"Goodbye, Coraline." Andromeda's voice was steely and cold, before she vanished from the queen's sight. Half of the resident wolves at the Findrut Rocks charged after her, shooting murderous looks at a angry and horribly surprised Queen Cora. Orion and Sapphire led the team of Andromeda's new followers.
The sky had darkened considerably. King Kai seemed to be whispering a quick goodbye to Hunter, and then heading off to the neighbouring kingdom. Hunter ran after his sister, but Andromeda's only thoughts were rage, rage, rage; all because of the mother who had never, ever treated her right.