Wings of Ice

A Story by Gabby Amaya

The next three chapters

Chapter Four

“Whoa! No no no no.” I backed away and nearly banged my wings on the sink. “I can’t be it, I can’t be some special girl bent on becoming Queen. No no no no no. You’ve got me all wrong.”

“No we don’t.” she stood up and went over to a fussing Flora, making her go back to sleep after almost waking up from my shouting. “We know because of her.”

“Flora?” I looked at her and was even more confused, I mean how could a child pick who was going to be Queen or not.

“Yes, you see there are four human girls for each Kingdom. Four to Earth, four to Air, four to Fire, and four to Water. Our job upon coming here was to find one of the four that was of perfect age and health and had the personality of a leader. And once it was decreed that we start looking in the order of the poem we started looking. When we first came here we found little Flora and traced her ancestry back to our people which made her one of the four. Then we found out that the second girl had committed suicide at a young age, and that was a huge sadness to us, especially when bullying was involved. So we helped the family as much as we could without being detected and started looking for the third. And sadly that’s an elderly woman in a faraway state from here. And we couldn’t very well turn an elderly since her body isn’t strong enough to deal with her wings emerging. And then we found you. And the way we did was because of Flora.”

“How and why in the world would you let a child pick something that important?” I hissed, feeling so very confused and dazed and like I was standing in front of a crazy person, which I was.

“It’s not that we let her actually pick. It’s just that we know that the four girls of the same element, once we were to find them, they would take a liking to one another very quickly. Becoming fast friends and trusting each other without question. And since we’ve been watching over Flora since we got here and since she’s an orphan we decided to watch her and see who would take a rapid liking to her or vice versa. And after a few long weeks we noticed that Flora distrusted any one that wasn’t near her own age, fearing that they would yell at her or hurt her in some way. And then you came along and defended her and she didn’t run away when you reached out to her.” She beamed at me again, brushing Floras hair aside as she started to wake up again.

“So… now you think… no I can’t, I’m nineteen I can’t rule a bunch of people. Hell I’ve never been in a fight before, how am I supposed to fight some damn war?” I looked back and forth between her and Flora, feeling afraid, confused, and utter disbelief. “This whole thing… it’s all just crazy… no I won’t do any of those things… I can’t I’m just a college freshman I can’t.”

“It’s alright; you’ll warm up to the idea soon. Either way, we have to bring you with us once we leave so be prepared. We won’t be staying long alright; we’re all leaving in two days’ time and everyone here that has become one of us is coming, which includes you.” Flora opened her eyes and smiled up at her, rubbing her eyes and looking around until she found me.

“Sissy.” She whimpered, flashing me a sleepy smile.

“Hey sweetie.” I waved at her and smiled, biting back my other remarks as Pearla picked her up and started for the door.

“Hey wait a minute.” I walked up to her just as she was about to knock, remembering something she’d said when I first woke up. “Why were you allowed in here again?”

“Oh that’s right; they allow me in here to show you how to tuck your wings in your body. If you’ve noticed they don’t allow us to have them out.” She frowned slightly but set Flora down on her feet to watch as she neared me.

“Ok, so how do I do it?” I turned my head back and felt a tingly sort of feeling come from the base of the wings as they started to flutter.

“All you do is relax and envision it in your head, your wings are just another muscle to flex and bend at your own will. So picture hiding them in your head and they will do what you ask.” She stood in front of me and tucked in her own wings, turning around to let me see how they left no mark or evidence of ever having been there.

I nodded my head and tried to do the same, taking a deep breath in and picturing my back normally, with no wings or pretty soft feathers touching my arms. Then I opened my eyes and saw them both smiling widely at me. Flora was clapping and spinning around and Pearla was beaming proudly. So I went over to the mirror and relaxed, no longer seeing my wings there yet somehow feeling strangely empty and incomplete without them.

“Don’t worry you won’t have to hide them forever.” Pearla smiled at the reflection and lifted Flora again, knocking on the door and looking back at me with a small smile. “Hopefully you will accept the path you must go through Anny. We all need you.”

And with that the doors opened up and she stepped out. But before closing the door I heard a small whine and Flora came rushing in, jumping on the bed and hiding under my jacket.

“See, she’d rather be with someone like herself.” I heard Pearla say, and I sighed as the door finally closed.

I sat at the end of the bed and smiled at Flora despite the way I felt. Playing with her and enjoying her sweet laughter as she started to get sleepy again. Then as she closed her eyes with a small smile on her face I lay next to her and welcomed the dark bliss of sleep that spread over me. But as my subconscious took over, a thought consumed me that quickly became a dream that, to my surprise, I remembered when I woke up.

I was chasing Flora through the woods, laughing and calling out to her as the silver light in the sky shone down on us. Once I caught her I kneeled and looked around, feeling breathless and shockingly full of peace. As I calmed my heart beat I smiled at the tall trees all around me, helping untangle Flora’s adorable sea-green dress from a low branch. The fabric was soft and silky, and when she was free I noticed her matching little ballet flats. She smiled and hugged me, jumping back and tugging at my own dress. Curious, I followed her lead and stopped in front of the river beside us, looking down to see my entire outfit as Flora played with the fabric.

The dress was long, with a long slit going up my left leg, stopping a few inches away from my waist. It had white faded ends and as one went up the length of my body to the breasts and strap the color darkened to a deep blue. The one strap it had was cut into three even ribbons that held my right forearm. My shoes matched the blue and my bright hair stood out against it all, making the freckles across my nose more noticeable. And as I kept examining myself I noticed many things that shocked me.

There were swirling, jumping blue tattoos on my wrists, ankles, and waist. I had a small dagger strapped to my inner left thigh. And there was a silver, downward pointed crown on my head that dangled a beautiful blue-green gem on the center of my forehead. I felt astonished beyond words and as I turned to look at Flora everything changed.

The moonlight darkened the stars left and the woods were covered in broken trees, black smoke and scattered weapons. Flora was cowering beside me, her dress full of holes and her pretty face shadowed by bruises. Then, out of nowhere, the voice of my mother sounded out from deep in the trees.

“Why would anyone ever think to trust a child like you? You’re no leader. You’re no special girl. You’re not smart or skilled in anyway. Your brothers should have been picked for Royalty. Hell, even the neighbor’s dog has a better chance at saving anyone than you do.”

As she spoke tears sprung into my eyes, making my body shake and back away from the harsh words I’d always battled to ignore. But as I backed away I tripped over my own feet and fell back, landing on my a*s… and knocking Flora off the edge.

I quickly turned and found that the river was not only dry, but it had vanished and turned into a cliff.

“Flora!”

I reached down to help her as she held on to a dry root, but as I did, the crown on my head slipped off. And sweet little Flora watched as the crown tumbled down beside her then as she looked up with tears spilling down her eyes she said, “You can’t be Queen anymore,” and she let go, twisting her small body so she wouldn’t look at me as she went after the crown.

The next morning I woke up shaking, with my hand holding Flora’s as she curled up next to me.

“The hell?” I whispered, slowly sitting up and attempting to relax.

I sat there for a few minutes, thinking about the dream, wondering why it was so vivid and why it even happened in the first place.

“Sissy?” I jumped at Flora’s sleepy voice, nearly falling off the end as I stood up and kneeled in front of her.

“Good morning Flora.” I smiled and brushed aside her hair, helping her sit up as she rubbed her eyes.

“Hi.” She smiled back and jumped off the bed, tugging me along as she went to the bathroom.

Once in I combed our hair, brushed my teeth and splashed a little cold water on both our faces to help wake us up.

“Alright,” I said in between laughter. “Let’s go get breakfast.”

We sat in front of the door until it unlocked. But as soon as we stepped out of the room I noticed that people were acting different. Strangers would look and smiled kindly, tilting their heads forward slightly as we made our way to the door. Others would stop or step aside as we walked by them, earning smiles, greetings, and even a couple hugs as well. Then when we were inside the lunch room everyone froze for just a moment. They stopped in line, as they sat down, walked in and there were even some that froze in mid-bite. And as they took just two or three seconds to stop, they looked at me. They locked eyes with me as I made my way to the line, and even as I stood there they stared, or let me step up ahead of them.

Confused and somewhat tense, I walked Flora and our food to the awaiting table with Azarius, and Pearla, who looked rather joyful as they looked around at every person watching me.

“Ok…” I said quietly. “What’s with the staring?”

Pearla giggled as Azarius explained, though he had a big grin on his face as he spoke.

“It’s nothing out of the usual really, just that word spreads overnight around here.”

My eyes widened as it dawned on me, making my jaw drop slightly as I stared at them.

“You… you told these people about your whole ‘Queen’ nonsense?!” I hissed.

“It’s not nonsense Anny, it’s what you’ve been chosen for. Remember what I told you?” Pearla smiled patiently at me, as if the staring going on around me was nothing to be bothered by.

“But I never even agreed to that stuff. And to be honest I don’t believe anything about it either.” I sat back and began ignoring them, shoving food down my throat to keep from telling these people that I’m no ‘Queen’.

Flora started doing the same thing that I was, the only difference was that she found the staring and arguing with the Everest couple very amusing. She would smile as she looked around, giggle when I looked at her, and watch my conversation with Pearla and Azarius with a big, bright grin on her face.

And when we were herded back into our rooms Flora beamed at me, whispering the names of the people staring as she rode on my back.

I sighed.

“Why do I, of all people, have to be this so called ‘Queen’ they want? Why can’t they pick someone else?”

“’Cause no one can be a better Queen than you sissy.” Flora whispered.

Chapter Five

The next day was the same, loads of staring, hugs, and half-formal bowing and even more lectures from the Everest’s. After dealing with them during breakfast and lunch I just sat in my room, joking around with Flora until she fell asleep. I, on the other hand, lay back on the floor and thought about everything. The disease that came and went away, being forced into this prison of a lab building, the Everest’s and their story, Flora being so young and alone and brought into this terrible place. But the main thing that was popping back up into my mind was the fact that I had had wings sprouting from in between my shoulder blades not that long ago.

Even as I lay there trying to think of other things, I could feel their shadow on my back, remembering the silky red feathers that brushed along my shoulders when I moved even the slightest bit. It all seemed like a dream, like I’d gone mad and thought it all up, but I could still see them in my mind, feel them on my back as if I’d brought them out again.

Loud hissing and Flora’s frightened voice woke me up, making me realize that I’d fallen asleep.

“What is it Flora?” I asked, brushing my hair out of my face as she continued to shake me awake.

“Voices outside.” She whispered, her baby blue eyes wide and afraid.

“It’s alright sweetheart just stay behind me ok.” I stood up quickly and grabbed my jacket, draping it over her shoulder as I neared the door.

“Who’s there?” I hissed, seeing shadowed feet from underneath the door.

But as I got closer no one responded, and just as I was about to grab the door to knock, it opened up just a tiny bit, and Pearla popped her head in.

“Jeez woman you were scaring Flora.” I hissed, earning a big smile from both of them as Pearla reached for my arm.

“Come, its time.” She tugged at me and motioned for Flora to follow close behind me.

“Time for what?” I held Flora’s shoulder to keep her close as Pearla quietly closed the door behind us.

“Time to leave this place.” She grabbed my hand again and continued tugging, looking back at me and Flora, telling us to keep quiet as we made our way through the dark room.

Suddenly she turned into a hallway and pushed us behind her as she twisted around and looked behind us. Azarius appeared out of the dark hallway, he smiled kindly and made room for us to pass by him. As I watched the two of them keep watch I noticed that there was another hallway right in front of us and every other prisoner was walking down it, vanishing in the darkness of the hallway.

“Why are they taking a different path than us?” I whispered.

Azarius turned for just a moment and shot me a look that obviously meant to make me shut up.

“No, not until you explain how the hell we are getting out.” I hissed, narrowing my eyes as Flora pressed her back to the wall next to me, letting go of my hand.

Pearla sighed and rolled her eyes as she made her way to me, switching places with her husband.

“Look, I’m sorry that we can’t explain just yet, but please trust us and keep walking down the hallway.”

“Why?” What’s down there?” I turned to look behind me and slowly took a small step to try and see more into the darkness.

“Just trust us ok. Oh, and make sure to be alert once you reach the Gate alright. And don’t lock your legs ‘cause it’ll hurt really badly once you land, so try to loosen up and land on your back so it absorbs the impact.” She gave me a gentle push and returned to her watch post.

I felt confused and even a little scared of what she was talking about, then, when I turned around to hold Flora, she was already a few feet in front of me, her outline and blue eyes the only things visible in the dark.

“Flora.” I hissed, “Wait.”

But when she turned back to look at me she smiled and kept moving, her little hands were pressed against the wall to guide her. Then, as I slowly caught up with her, she gasped and vanished, leaving nothing but the quickly fading sound of her screaming.

“Flora!” I pushed away from the wall and ran into the darkness, panic rushing through me as the ground suddenly disappeared from beneath me.

My screams were stopped by the chocking shock that made my body freeze over, feeling the air rush upwards, making my hair trail in front of my face. As I looked up I saw a dark black hole the size of a small car and all around it was the night sky and millions of brilliant stars. Then, as I was falling, an icy sensation exploded from my back, surprising my already shocked mind, losing my strength as my eyes began to close, allowing sleep to take me away from this horrid reality.

~Jasper~

“So how do you think the new Queen looks like?” I turned and shook my head at my partners, who once again brought the topic up at the most unneeded time.

“I’m not sure man, just hoping that she’s worth looking at, you know?” I chuckled once at his comment, but before the others could add their input, a shrill scream broke through.

“Now!” I shouted, arching my wings in mid-flight, tucking them in to drop from the sky like a bullet.

But just as the river below rushed up to meet me, I opened my arms and my wings followed, lifting me up in an arch shape, heading straight to the opened Gate in the sky. The others all came in faster than me, making sure that our Queen would be caught no matter from what side she was falling in from. Yet as I drew closer, watching as one of them caught someone, I noticed that she was much too small to be the Queen.

“Whoa whoa easy little one.” Royland held a shaking little girl in his arms, she pushed and shoved away from him but was still too scared and weak to do much.

“I want sissy, where’s my sissy?” she shouted, looking up at the Gate above.

“Come on let’s get her back to base.” He said, taking two with him and leaving two with me.

Yet as I watched the struggling child staring at the Gate, her eyes widened and she started to shove again. I followed her gaze as the others relaxed, and immediately I saw what she did and rushed upwards.

This person was much bigger and obviously female as well. But as I rushed up to catch her I saw her wings spring out but she wasn’t slowing down. With my arms extended to catch her I braced myself, getting hit in the face by one of her wings as I dropped down to meet up with the others.

“Holy crap man how’d you see her?”

“She’s unconscious, let’s go she needs Arya to look at her.”

They both flanked me as I followed the others to base. As I flew with her in my arms I avoided looking down at her, not caring about what she looked like, following protocol: Protect the Gem of the Ocean.

Once on base, I landed and called out to Arya.

“What is it?” she came out of her tent in a long green-blue dress, her eyes widening as she took the unconscious Queen in my arms. “Blessed be! Set her down inside, hurry.”

She followed behind me and started preparing her herbs, potions and tools to see what had made her faint.

“Alright, I’ve got it from here.” I nodded, setting the Queen down and stepping out without looking at her. But as I walked out the little girl rushed in, bumping into me and nearly falling back.

“Take it easy little one.” I kneeled and held her so she wouldn’t fall.

“Sissy, did you catch sissy?” she said urgently, trying to see behind me.

“Yes I did, you want to see her?” she bobbed her head fast and I stepped aside, looking at Arya to make sure that she was fine with a child in the room. When she nodded I stepped to the side and closed the tent, guarding the entrance with a fellow Warrior.

“Did you catch a glimpse of the Queen?” he asked.

“No, I’ll wait with everyone else until she’s awake and well.” he nodded and returned his focus on guarding.

After a few hours I stepped out and allowed another to stand guard, as I went to get food and sit with the others by the campfire. Just then, Pearla and Azarius appeared, walking right up to the fire. I stood to greet them as the others did, but they were looking for something, or rather someone.

“They’re both with Arya, don’t worry it’s noting big, the Queens just unconscious from the fall.” They nodded and relaxed, greeting friends and strangers alike before getting food and joining us.

As I finished my food I stood up and showed the Everest’s their tent, which was right next to the main tent reserved for the Queen.

“Flora’s with her isn’t she?”

I turned to look at Pearla as we neared their tent.

“Who?”

“The little girl that came down before Annett.”

“Oh, yes. She’s with her.” They both smiled at each other before going into their tent, saying good-night and closing the drapes.

I shrugged and walked back to the campfire, enjoying the company of my fellow Warriors and their jokes as the sun started to rise. Laughing as they cleaned out their plates, I put out the fire and went to my own tent to rest. But not long afterwards, I was woken up and pulled out of bed, stepping out of the tent and seeing that the sun had risen enough to brighten everything around us.

“The Queens awake.” They said, marching up in formation to welcome the new Queen when she appeared from Arya’s tent.

Chapter Six

~Annett~

I groaned as I rolled over, feeling a shiver pass through me. Lifting my hand I rubbed my eyes to clear the fogginess, but once I was able to see I nearly jumped out of bed.

The ceiling was a tan color that made me think of Indian tarps, and they were held up and interwoven with dark brown wooden poles. And from those poles hung little bags and herbs and even a little vial of some grey liquid. Gasping, I sat up and looked around in utter amazement.

The bed I was on wasn’t even a bed, but a cot of some kind with a feather filled pillow and quilted blankets on my lap. I slipped out of the cot and found more hanging herbs and baggies and vials. And in the middle of the room was a large table covered with more herbs and things I didn’t recognize. Across from me, standing beside a pulled up tarp that was probably the exit, was an older woman with greying brown hair that hung just above her shoulders. She was dressed in a green-blue dress with one strap and gold trimming that matched her shoes and bracelets. Her arms were crossed over Floras chest, holding her back as I stepped off the cot and managed to stand without falling.

“Merry meet Your Majesty.” Said the woman, letting go of Flora and bowing formally at me. “My name is Arya Vedis, I’m the Herbal Woman that looked after you while you slept and recovered.”

“Uhh, thank you… Arya.” I looked down and smiled at Flora, who looked ecstatic to see me awake. “Hey sweetheart.”

She beamed at me and pulled away from our hug, twirling around in a silver strapped grey-blue dress.

“Look sissy look, I got a new dress.” I laughed and kneeled down next to her, but she stopped me. “No no sissy, you’ll get your pretty dress all dirty.”

Confused, I looked down and noticed that I was in a silver strapped bright blue dress. It hugged my torso and waist and turned into a cocktail skirt with a slit going halfway up my thigh on my right leg. My shoes were silver flats that matched Flora’s and I had a silver chained necklace with a teardrop shaped gem hanging from the center. I lifted it up and twisted it around my finger, seeing the clear blue facets glimmer with the light from the exit.

“It’s Aquamarine Your Highness.” Said Arya, stepping closer to Flora and me. “That necklace is to be worn by the future Queen before she’s gained her gift. I placed it on you since it’s exactly what you’re going through.”

Looked up at her then looked around, feeling confused yet somehow knowing what was going on.

“Arya, where are we?”

She smiled and said, “Allow me to be the first to welcome you to your new home Mistress. We are in Aether, just in the outskirt of your Kingdom. The land of Isis Willow, in other words, the Water Kingdom, or land of Water and Ice. In all honesty, Your Highness the Water Kingdom has three names, but the official title is Isis Willow.” She laughed and smiled kindly, flashing a grin to Flora who beamed back.

“Ok… so that hole on the�"“

“You mean the Gate? Yes, that’s how you got here.”

“Alright then…” I sat back on the cot as my head began to spin.

This is not possible, right? It has to be a dream or nightmare or something, it has to be. I’m probably still in that prison room with Flora, fast asleep on the floor. Or even better, I’m asleep in my dorm room, sick and just imagining everything around me.

I shook my head to clear it, but Flora came closer to me, her face dropping with worry.

“I’m alright sweet-one, don’t worry.” I stood up and looked toward the exit, mumbling. “Just hoping to wake up soon.”

Arya gave me a confused look that soon turned to understanding as she leaned against a support beam for the tarps above.

“Your tent is ready for you My Lady. Pearla and Azarius are waiting for you inside to talk to you and explain everything.”

I nodded, feeling strangely nervous to see what things looked like outside.

“I’ll show you the way, and also introduce you to your Warriors. One of which caught you before you crashed into the river and injured yourself.” She pushed away from the beam and started walking toward the exit, waiting for me to follow.

“Warriors?” I whispered, looking down as Flora as she held my hand.

“Oh, and be careful with your wings My Lady, if they spring open they’ll take down the tent, hold them just the way you are until we are outside.”

Shocked I stopped, reaching back and feeling the familiar silky soft arch of my wings that were, surprisingly, tucked up against my back. I nodded at her and locked my back, hoping to soon learn how to control these feathery things without tensing up so much.

She held the loose tarp aside for us and followed behind. I shielded my eyes from the bright sunlight, adjusting to it quickly and seeing rows of men and a few women in leather and denim shorts and pants, with or without a shirt or cloth covering their torso, with boots and weapons of all kinds hanging from the backs, wrists, thighs, pockets, coats or anything else. They all had a marking on either arm and each marking was different, but the main thing was that they all had wings that matched their hair color. And once they saw me they bowed down in unison, saluting me and spoke all at once.

“Welcome Lady of Ice and Water.”

Then, the one with his marking on his chest stepped forward and kneeled before me, gracefully standing up and motioned to the others behind him.

“My Lady, I am Balthasar, the head of the Royal Guard. And I would like to pledge your safety and honor as high priority to myself and to all my Warriors present here before you.”

It took a moment for the shock to leave me but once it did I nodded, forcing a smile and attempting to stay calm.

“Yes, thank you Balthasar.” He smiled kindly at me and Flora and bowed, turned on his heels, did some type of sign with his hand and walked away.

I watched for a moment as the others stepped away from their rows and went on with whatever they were doing. Some smiled others bowed and some just waved at me as Arya guided me toward a much bigger tent than the ones around me. And I hoped as I went, that I would get a chance to sit down before I fainted again.

~Jasper~

We were all lined up in front of Arya’s tent, waiting to greet and welcome the Queen. I was standing to the left of our leader, who was as stoic as always. Then, effectively making us all shut up, the tarp moved and out came little Flora and the Queen, who were holding hands. She held out her hand to shield the sun from her eyes, then when they adjusted to light her hand dropped and her eyes went wide, seeing us all standing there obviously waiting for her.

But as I stood up from greeting her, I saw her for the first time.

She was short, with lightly tan skin and a dusting of freckles across her nose. She was thin but curvy, with short arms and long legs. Her chest was well filled out and so was the rest of her body, toned like an athlete but not over doing it either. The dress she wore emphasized her chest and curves and allowed for a clear view of her creamy right leg. Her face was round and tender looking, with high cheek bones and a small rounded nose. Her lips were a plump pink with the bottom lip a bit fuller than the top one. And her curly red hair hung past her shoulders, gleaming with the sunlight in a brilliant copper shine. Her wings, matching in color, slightly un-tucked themselves from her back as she stood there, allowing us to see more of them. But her eyes, her eyes were what held me. They were a bright ocean blue, like turquoise gems with light shining from the inside.

She was astonishingly breathtaking.

Dumbfounded, I stood frozen for a few seconds, watching her walk toward her tent with Arya in the lead and Flora skipping beside her. Then, after shaking myself awake, I went back to my tent, lying back on my bed and tried to sleep, but the noise outside became unbearable after a few hours, so I got out. Heading for the make-shift stable in the back of base, I called for Hades and climbed on top the eager black stallion, taking a ride around base to try and clear my mind of those shining blue eyes.

~Annett~

Pearla and Azarius greeted me once I walked inside the big tent. They beamed and smiled and lead me toward a small round table with�"thank goodness�"chairs. Once seated Arya stepped and quickly returned with another girl following behind her. They both held trays and set them down in front of us. Tentative about their ‘food’, I watched as Arya went out again and brought back a pitcher of water and cups for all of us, setting another tray for herself once she was done.

“Are you feeling alright?” I turned and noticed that Pearla had been watching me, concern written all over her face.

“Yeah, I’m fine… just extremely confused and desperate to wake up from all of this.” I sighed, rubbing my forehead as Pearla shook her head at me.

“Nothing here is a dream Annett. This place, these people… the upcoming war. It’s all real.” Her Jade green eyes widened with an obvious need to make me believe her words.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t think that anything can be done to make me believe in any of this.” I said, hoping that I looked apologetic as I lifted my tray and seeing, to my grand surprise, chicken soup with cherries on the side.

“Isn’t being here enough proof to you?” Asked Azarius.

“It can all just be an illusion. I might be sick and hallucinating, I don’t know.”

After that we all stayed quiet and tried to eat, but someone crashed in and nearly ran into the table as they came to a stop. It was the girl that had walked in with Arya just moments ago.

“How can you say that!? How can you think that all of this is an illusion?!” her hands shook violently, spilling water from the pitcher she held. “You’re here aren’t you?! You can see where you are and touch everything right?! How can you think of this being a dream?!”

“Letzia, relax.” Pearla said calmly.

“Enough shouting child.” Said Arya, who seemed to know the reason for her outburst.

“NO! I won’t calm down, I won’t relax! I can’t!” she lifted the pitcher and crashed tit on the ground, glaring pointedly at me as her shouting grew louder. “You think all of this is fake!? Then tell me how I get my mother back?! Tell me how to make up from this damn dream if it’s not real?! Tell me why I have the image of my mother bleeding to death in our own home engraved in my mind since this whole war is fake to you!” she leaned across the table to get more in my face, her hands shaking the plates as tears rushed down her cheeks. “You have no right to sit there and say that it’s all a dream when you alone can develop the power to stop it.” She shoved away from the table and kicked at the shattered pitcher pieces on the ground. “Everyone here thinks the very best of you without having to know anything about you and you’re just desperate to run away… some Queen you are.”

“Letzia!” Arya stood and knocked her chair back, her voice astonished and even ashamed of the girls’ actions.

But she ran off, but not without flashing daggers and wishing death upon me with her eyes.

Silence followed her as I sat there, staring at my food without really seeing it. Yet, as I sat there, I felt everyone’s eyes on me, as if expecting me to do or say something marvelous. And that was just too much.

I stood from my seat and turned to leave.

“Annett?” Pearla’s voice was filled with concern as I heard her chair scout back.

But I shook my head and kept it low, not wanting anyone to see the pain and fear I’ve hidden my whole life.

“I didn’t ask for any of this.”