My fingers shook as I sat down, situating myself in a rickety old chair before resting my head against the wall, my vision swimming and stomach rolling.

Breathe in... Breathe out... Breathe in...

"Shae? Are you okay?"

I flinched at the words, looking to the right of me to find my friend Jin sitting with a bottle of water. "You look like you're about to vomit, I figured some water would do you good."

I studied the bottle, the color of the plastic wrapping, the way the cap sat on the bottle, how he held it out to me. Had someone else gotten to it before he did? Was it the right brand? Did he get it from the fridge or the random bin out front? He's my friend, but he could've put something in it, right?

Swallowing the bile in my throat, I clamped down on the thoughts running through my head as I took the bottle from him with a smile. "Thanks. Just nerves I think." My hands tightened on the bottle as I watched a pair of black combat boots march past, adrenaline shooting through my bloodstream while my heart sped into overdrive.

"You don't have much to worry about, I'm sure you passed your exams with flying colors." He patted her on the knee as he stood. "Every purebred soldier does, just keep an eye on that mouth of yours, it could get you in trouble one of these days," he chuckled, making his way down the crowded hallway.

I tapped my feet furiously as the hallway thickened further, bodies slipping and sliding around one another as they rushed off to their classes and lab assignments.

Breath out...Breathe in... Breathe out...

Now! My eyes flashed open, darting back and forth until they fell onto the feathered frock of the woman I'd been hunting for the last six months. Her hair was pinned back, auburn curls trailing down the nape of her neck while amethysts adorned the heavy lining of her gown. One would think she had fallen into the wrong side of town if it weren't for the amount of artillery she had hidden above and beneath her skirts.

Everyone paused, stepping quickly into their classrooms until the hall was completely empty as she made her way through, while I swung to my feet and followed after her.

My own skirts clung to my calves as I worked to reason with my heart. This needed to be done, I had to do it, the consequences of failing my Captain far outweighed those of succeeding. Jin and everyone else might have thought I was nervous because I was dreading the announcement of acceptance into the Academy, but the truth was I was never going to make it to the Academy.

If everything went to plan, I wouldn't make it out of this building alive. And neither would she.

The woman walked a few more paces in front of me before turning to the left, ignoring the others around her as she unlocked the door to our commanding officer's quarters and stepped inside.

"Shae!"

Don't listen to them! You don't have time! I raced ahead of the voice, rushing into the open door, fighting the black dots that ran through my field of vision as my thoughts collided, iron will against steel emotion.

"Hello Shae," the woman whispered, her hands gripping me by the neck as she pulled me into the darkness, "it's been a long time hasn't it?"

I swallowed, teeth chattering as I scanned the room for any light, window, something. "Yes it has, Mother."

"What a shame we had to meet like this." Her hands tightened, my chest aching as the oxygen fled my lungs. "I'd have preferred to dispose of you properly in front of your father."

I smiled, the metal that had been resting in my sleeve now sliding into my palm, pins and needles ticking my skin. "If only I had gotten rid of you both at the same time, it would have saved us both the trouble."

Her nails dug into my skin, her lips brushing over my ear as she whispered, "Do you find me to be a fool, Shae? Because I can promise you...the Queen has never been nor will she ever be a fool."

"We'll see about that," I murmured, butting my head back into her nose with a satisfying crunch.

Crying out, she fell to the floor while I came at her, blood streaming across the patterns of her skirt as she pulled out her own jagged blade.

Hurry and kill her now! Before she sounds the alarm! I raised my knife, slashing and stabbing at her, trying to connect with any flesh that I could find, but she parried, grabbing me by the lace of my skirts and throwing me to the ground.

My head spun as she straddled me, pressing her blade to the soft dip where neck met collarbone. "I wonder if this is how your poor father felt," she growled, pressing the metal further into my skin, "when you murdered him in cold blood."

I smirked as her blood dripped onto my cheek, stirring awake the beast that prowled beneath my skin. "How would you expect me to feel any sympathy toward a man who murdered millions, Mother? Who stole children from beneath their families noses and sold them for his own gain?"

    "It was all for you," the Queen seethed, "all for you, and you squandered it on something as pathetic as emotion. Betrayed your own family for it."

    "I never wanted it, so to hell with family if that's the morals we stake our lives and kingdom on," I spat, edging a smaller blade out of my waist band. "For God, glory and gold, right, Mother? Well, this is for Cathleen, and all the other children whose lives Father destroyed."

    With my hand tight on the handle, I plunged the blade deep into my mother's chest, staring at the blood that gushed from her wound rather than the hazel eyes filled with murder.

    I pushed her off and scrambled to my feet, backing away from where she lay dying, coughing and gasping for air as she held a hand tightly to her side.

    My body froze as she lifted her bracelet, a small indent on one of the gems flashing brightly as she chuckled. "I knew you would follow me, murder me, then be on your merry way..." Her eyes bore into mine as her iron stained teeth gleamed back at me, "but didn't I tell you that you'd be hunted?"

~*~*~*~*~