Queen of Ash

The Morning Of

Emerson

I slammed the carriage door behind me, as I piled my dress onto my lap. Lelon sat next to me as he pulled off his lion mask.

"Did you learn anything else?" He crooned. I knew he was watching me, watching the flirtation that passed between me and the King. Truth be told I did learn something I learned a lot of somethings. I learned that he ran his hand through his hair when he was nervous, how he had a small right dimple, and he had an accent.

An. Accent.

"Nothing more than what I told you earlier." I looked away from him and out the carriage window, the trees moved in a blur. Earlier I had told him that there was only one time during the Search where Rye would be unguarded, when he was visiting with the other heirs. He would also be distracted, distracted looking for me and that was when we— when I would strike.

Unease grew in my stomach and turned into acid pooling at the bottom. I felt something when we were so close together, when our hands touched through my gloves. I shook my head, it was just because he was charming, nothing more. I was only saying this because he was a little bit cute with his accent and a little bit charming, but he would get married anyways and I had to get out of the Hellas of a house I was living in.

The carriage stopped in the front of the guild. I didn't notice Lelon had gotten out until he swung open my door. Coming back to the present, I shoved my gown out the door. Lelon grabbed my hand and helped me climb down the stairs.

I lifted my head up to the sky, to the millions of stars, and I smiled. The sky always reminded my of my Mom. I wrapped my arms around myself as I gazed up at the twinkling balls of light.

"Be careful," Lelon whispered in my ear. "You're starting to glow." A shiver went through me and I tore my gaze away from the sky, ripping away the connection with it. I slammed the door on that innate part of myself, the part that I kept under lock and key.

I rolled my eyes and walked away from the street, leaving the stars shinning behind me. I opened the door to the guild and walked in, Lelon on my heels. "Clara messaged me while at the ball, she can hold the enchantment until morning, so we have until then to run through the plan again," Lelon said. I didn't want to run through the plan again. We had done so three time a days for the last week. My head wasn't in the space to run through this plan again.

"Is that an order?" He turned slowly, I let the rage inside of me slip for a second. To let him see the simmering rage burning in me.

"I suppose not," he drawled.

"Good, I'm going to the bow range," I said quietly. Lelon didn't say anything. He knew that I went there when I was upset or anxious about a big kill. I went to my room in the guild, the room I was going to live in before Adrianus caught me and threatened to tell me secret. So now, it basically just held a spare change of clothes and I few weapons that I had tucked away for emergencies. I unzipped the back of my dress and let it fall to the ground, forming a heap around my ankles. I stepped out of the dress and I walked to the wardrobe in the corner. I pulled out some undergarments and a plain pair of black pants and a black shirt. I kicked off my heels and replaced them with fur lined boots. I walked out of my room, the dress still on the floor, and shut the door behind me.

I walked into the weapons storage and pulled Ashwood from his spot on the wall. I slung him and a quiver over my back and left the guild, my thoughts in a fog. The streets were empty at this time of night, expect for the occasional straggler too drunk to know where they were. I walked to the city center and opened the door to the community training center.

The lights were dim and the lobby smelled like old sweat. The building was open for twenty four hours, but no one was here at this time of night. I walked past the girl at the front desk. I flashed her my card and she waved me through. I came here often so it was no surprise that I was here again. While I was permitted to use the Royal Sector Training Center I hated it there. It was too clean, fighting and killing was anything but clean. Not to mention that whenever I went there someone would start a fight with me, and I wasn't allowed to win.