A tsunami destroying a wildfire.

A crumpled paper cutting through rock.

An eruption of silence bringing down a fiery cry.

Everything came to a standstill, and no one was able to believe it happened.

But it did, didn't it?

It really did.

"What have you done?" I whispered to my sister, struggling to keep my head high.

She refused to respond, facing the crowd with a strong stance and a tight smirk.

In the midst of the speechlessness flattening every other emotion, Zyanna slowly came to the front, going to stand next to Aaliyah.

I couldn't tell what she was thinking. Zyanna's face was completely blank with every expression concealed as she stared at the people who were staring up at her - absolutely shell-shocked.

I switched my gaze to Lia again, too stricken to pay attention to anything else.

What the hell has she done?

"Is this a decision collectively made by the whole kingdom?" A villager - the fish distributor - questioned, fixing a suspicious glance at Zyanna.

This should not be happening.

I cleared my throat, prepared to say something and—

"Yes. The decision has been a strong idea in progression, but it hasn't thoroughly been run by the royal council as of yet." My mother stepped in before I could, coming to stand between me and Aaliyah.

I narrowed my eyes at my mother, slightly confused.

"By 'thoroughly', do you mean to say you haven't discussed the thought with us at all...or am I hopefully getting it wrong here, your majesty?" The training royal advisor queried, appearing to be stuck between confusion and surety.

"The hierarchy suggests that though your title is of royal significance, we are still at the top of the chain, Seldon. That means we are not completely obligated to inform you of our decisions beforehand all the time," Lia cut in and presented him a tight-lipped smile, turning back to the crowd. "Besides, this is something we want our people to stand by and accept before anyone does.

"Hence now, we ask you, with all our hearts and minds. Do we or do we not accept Zyanna Samaria Karas - a female representing the people of Yandestine, royalty be damned - as the future Queen of Yandestine?"

Not even a whisper.

Tiny pebbles and stones painfully rolled through the sand, fleetingly pressured by the wind, and at that moment, I wished that was the only thing that mattered.

Slowly, without any certainty in the way she crept forward, a woman spoke.

"Z-Zyanna? Is that the Zyanna we know? The female that showed us through the palace during the night of the ceremony?"

I tilted my head and looked at the middle-aged woman, who seemed too fatigued to even hold herself upright. Tired eyes, frail cheeks that seemed worn out by one too many tears.

I knew her.

That was Rain's mother.

Zyanna's gaze calmly moved to her, and a smile graced her face, as she nodded her head at the lady.

"Hello, Mazani." Zyanna greeted, the sound nearly falling into a cracking murmur.

Mazani tenderly smiled, hesitantly inching forward a bit more.

"We...we buried Rain last night." She breathed out, knotting her fingers together as she looked down.

Zyanna delicately pulled in a breath and stepped down the stairs to meet Rain's mother.

"I know, Mazani. I was there."

She was?

Her head shot up to face Zyanna, and though her whole body stiffened, her eyes dropped into a shiver as a sad smile tentatively flew in.

She tightly closed her eyes, and quickly nodded to herself before taking Zyanna's hands, and faced the crowd of villagers with her.

"Many of you don't know me, but I'm Mazani - Rain's mother," At the mention of the little girl's name, immediate nods of recognition sailed in, and Mazani continued with a stronger smile. "This female next to me here, I don't know her much at all. The only thing I know, in the little time I spent with her - actually - the little time my d-daughter spent with her, is that she is someone who deserves to be in our memory, and someone who deserves to stay in it.

"She, s-she, was with Rain till her very last moment. She was with Rain when she was in danger. She protected my little girl when the kingdom couldn't - in their own palace. She may not realise it, but she was the one that made sure my daughter left me peacefully with a smile on her face."

Tears fell, and Mazani helplessly wiped it away, and straightened her shoulders.

"I'm not asking you to sympathise with me. I'm just telling, everyone here, that this is the reason why I'm going to stand by the kingdom's decision. And I don't care if no one else does."

Zyanna shook her head, and quickly placed her hand over Mazani's shoulder. "You do not have to do this—"

"No. I want to do this," Her gaze softened as she whispered, "Rain would never let me near her if I don't do this now. I'm just doing what my daughter would have pushed me to do anyway."

Her shoulders fell again as she turned back to the crowd.

"That's all I have to say."

The royal advisor's brother, Arnold, doubtfully flickered his gaze over Zyanna one last time before lifting his head.

"I accept." He haltingly uttered, meeting our eyes.

Everyone spun their heads in his direction, as they exchanged questioning glances.

"I accept," Arnold repeated, with a slightly louder voice. "If this female, as little Rain's mother says, was able to protect one of our people when no one else was able to...or brave enough to," His eyes quickly flew to Rhea as he said that. "Then, then I don't think there is anything left to say about taking Zyanna as our Queen."

Rhea suddenly thundered out of the shadow, despite her mother trying to stop her.

"What do you mean by that, villager? The royal family were tied up, preoccupied with their own struggles that nearly took them to the edge of death. Who are you indirectly insulting by saying 'not brave enough'?"

Stop.

I shook my head and moved to stop Rhea but Lia tightly clasped my arm and desperately shook her head, holding me back.

"Princess—"

"Say it."

Arnold flinched back but still managed to speak. "Word gets around, Princess Rhea. You were the only one in that place that wasn't completely lost in bruises. You were the one that could have helped. You could have at least put up a fight. But you didn't, did you?"

Rhea clenched her fists as her features hardened to a point of no return. "You do not know anything. My mother almost died. I'm meant to be the Queen of Yandestine—"

Arnold's friend timidly raised his finger, cutting her off. "You weren't there with Prince Elijah to meet us during the pre-coronation ceremony, your highness. You were supposed to be there - with all due respect - that was one of your duties. Now, we don't know what to think anymore."

Lia let go of my arm and sauntered forward with a smile. "What these nice men are trying to say is that you already failed them with such a simple task. How could we expect them to believe in you for the rest of their lives after everything that has happened?"

My sister ignored Rhea's glowering silence, and placed her finger under Rhea's chin, lifting it up. "He's right, darling. You aren't brave. And yes, I know that you were busy holding your unconscious mother in your arms, but a Queen would continue to fight even if her own King falls to death beside her. Till the last breath, Rhea. Till your last breath, not your mother's."

I didn't even realise I wasn't breathing.

Rhea stood there, with shaking fingers and quivering eyes.

Slowly, she fluttered her gaze to me.

I looked back at her, without letting a blink escape.

Lia's voice settled in the background, as everything around me started to slightly blur. "Yandestine. We leave it to you to make the final choice. We want to hear it from every person here. The future Queen of Yandestine, here for you and you only. A true bond – genuine, enriched with the belief that we whole-heartedly trust our own people and will never fail you. One word is all we need. Do you accept or deny?"

It was quick and swift. It was gentle and furious with clamouring splatters of passion. Fervent voices began rising throughout the crowd, and the one word Lia wanted to hear stood out in every convinced chant.

Accept.

Accept.

Accept.

No secret emotions, no struggling heartbeats, and no pain.

In that second, I knew.

I lost my best friend.

And this time, I wanted to go down without a fight.

I can't fight for her.

Loud claps and cheers flew through the crowd and Zyanna glanced at me.

She seemed blank, just like before.

And me?

I just felt kind of empty.

~~~

"Elijah. Eli, please. Just, please, please listen to me once."

My steps didn't cease, and I especially did not want to stop for a second in her presence.

"I can't do this now. I don't think I speak about this with you, not now, not ever."

"Eli, all of this won't matter in a week's time and you know that you're going to forget about it too—"

I wanted to stop. I wanted to halt my steps and just give her a piece of my mind. Tell her exactly what I wanted to forget, what I wanted to remember with the memory that was already stained with too much dirty blood to be saved.

Something I thought I could at least protect her from.

It was stupid of me to think I could ever protect her from something that came from her own veins.

That dirty, unpure blood.

I fastened my steps without another thought.

"Firstly, forgetting won't do me any good at this moment of time. I do not want to converse with you for another week. However, I do want to know where your father was when absolute chaos broke out three nights ago, because we really could have used his help."

I turned the corner leading to the dungeons, and swung open the massive doors.

"Unless of course your father would have reacted just like you; too lost in being a mess to actually be any use at all, because then you can thank him on my behalf for disappearing at such a convenient time." I swivelled around to face Rhea, giving her a sardonic smile.

"Eli, please don't do this. Please—"

I grabbed her arm, pulling her towards me.

"Princess," I looked directly at her, my nails prodding into her wrist. "Do you realise what you've done? Do you see me? I'm the consequence. I'm the one that's hurt. In a perfect world, I would hide that and act as if everything you did hasn't affected me at all. But, I can't do that, Rhea. I have to keep going, whatever happens, regardless of who dies. So, please, step away and get me a good, valid reason as to why your father hasn't been in anyone's sight since the ceremony."

"Elijah!"

I released her and she faltered back, tears edging forward.

"That's exactly how I sounded, begging you, screaming at you to help me that night, Rhea."

I lost my best friend a while ago - I knew that.

But after that, I also abandoned her.

And I just, couldn't stop.

~~~

She sighed and threw her head back with a nonchalant yawn, cracks of dried redness and spots of fresh blood flittered across her neck and collarbone.

I raised my brow. "Does that not hurt? Or is this not the first time you've been whipped, tortured and left to bleed for hours?"

The dancer beamed at me, and folded her legs with a well-covered wince. "Do you know what hurts more? The fact that you can't find it in yourself to address me by my name. I'm sure you know what it is by now."

"The fact that someone actually found it worth their time to name you, that mildly disturbs me."

She rolled her eyes, but her hand shivered and slightly receded back with a cold flinch. "Your insults disturb me."

I reached into the gap between the prison bars and tightly grasped her wrist that made that movement.

I encircled my fingers over the part where her pulse could be felt.

Steady.

Then, I pressed hard.

The colour of her vein ticked and she gritted her teeth together.

"S-Snapping my wrist? Is that supposed to get something out of me?"

I loosened my hold for a petite second, and then my fingers went in to grip, dig and press much harder than before.

"I'd be flattered if it does. But either way, seeing you control the urge to flail and cry - that just gives me pleasure. Something that becomes new every day, right?"

Her eyes stormed straight into mine, and she pushed out a smirk.

"Let me go, your majesty." She whispered, clenching her fists.

I retracted my hand, and placed it over one of the thin iron bars.

The dancer's battered breaths slowly reigned itself back to where it came from, as her eyes violently pulled away from mine.

"I won't tell you anything."

I gently let out a low breath. "You won't tell me what?"

She stayed silent, and swiftly drug her nails across the cold, mucky floor.

I found it strange. She moved her nails across that floor in the exact same way they crept down my back that night.

I leaned forward. "The Kingdom of Mayarvi stands at one side. Those people behind your back are so dangerously powerful, but that one fact doesn't suddenly force everything else to make sense. My father knows that. You know that. The thing is, how much do you truly know?"

Silence.

A silence that didn't want to be bothered by anyone.

I reached through the gap between the bars once again, and lightly touched her bruised cheeks.

"Jena. Who's Rela?"

Silence.

A silence that was so desperate to become filled with something else.

She calmly took her hands away from the floor and inched back, shifting herself closer to the mustard wall without standing up. She then leaned back against the wall and looked at me from the dark shadow that surrounded her body.

The little sunlight that came through traced her skin with hesitation, keeping its light beneath her eyes.

Without a word, she started to drag her nails across the floor again, keeping her eyes aimed straight at me.

I smiled and got up.

"The night ends. The sun rises. The night we meet again, you said my curiosity would have disappeared because I would know everything by then."

I scratched my neck, and adjusted my sleeve, preparing to leave the dungeons.

"Jena, you were wrong. I don't think I'm going to be the one burnt out at the end, not knowing what to do. The sad truth is that you're behind the cell, and there are so many ways for you to die before you're given the chance to burn."

Burn.

She wouldn't even be able to speak or scream.

Or even breathe.

Perhaps I wanted to watch her breathe as she burned.

And I wouldn't stop.

***

This is such a late update, and I am so sorry for it, I've just been having a phase for the last two weeks where I've been writing but I just haven't been as involved.

And that's on lame excuses, but I really will try better next time and get back to the schedule.

Thank you so so much for all the constant support, as always.

Stay blessed and safe,
OceanaCamerons 🌹🌹🌹