Mare

You thought you could lock me in your grasp, but my sword is sharp, and your grip loose, and this is how I become queen.

Chapter Music: And so I Become

The sun dips behind the horizon, taking its light with it. I wonder where I'll be the next time I see it rise again.

My pen tip pushes hard on the paper as I scrawl out the note. My writing isn't elegant, but messy, and the ink smears ever so slightly casting a shadow on the letters. A Warning. If Maven takes the bait of the letter, his and my fate will be sealed. They were always entwined ever since Cal threw that coin at me in front of a bar.

I fold the paper and seal it into a small letter. Around me, balled up pieces of paper sit on the desk from failed attempts at the letter. Words never came easy to me, Maven was the speechmaker. Even before he took up the throne, though then he never got a chance to actually make a speech.

I get up from my seat and take the letter to the door. I open it, and I give the letter to one of them. "Take this to the King." The guard takes the letter, leaving down the hall. I turn back into my tomb, closing the door behind me, and again find my seat at the desk.

The storm still rumbles outside, twisting and writhing. Every now and then a stray bolt cracks out of the storm's fury— breaking the silence in two. Cal had slipped out of the doors and left for what seems like a lifetime ago, although it couldn't have been more than a few hours. My heart shook when I saw him, splintered when I sent him away, and now I can feel something cold forming in the cracks. What's happened to you? I don't know, Cal.

The tears came when the door closed behind him, and anger soon followed. The tiaras Maven had made for me have long since been discarded on the floor— smashed and pulled apart soon after he left and I had signaled to Evangeline to ready ourselves.

The pearls and diamonds that flew from them, now make the world sparkle as the firelight dances on them. It's a shame, I never wore one of them. They were beautiful and now they lay dead on the floor. I've torn the dresses too— I've never liked them. All except one. The red one I wore after I promised Maven I would be his queen. I wear it now, for the irony of it all.

In the mirror, my reflection stares back at me as I sit perched on my chair, listening to the hum of the silence. I feel my muscles tense throughout my body, and my fingers drum against the table. I do look different from the girl I was when I first came to sit in this chair, hurling forks into the wall. I don't look far from her either.

My heel thumps quickly on the floor as I wait for a sign of life in my hall outside the door. I continue to stare out of the window from the seat as I let the freshly forged manacles in my hands roll between my fingers. From where I am, I can see the tops of the pillars from the courtyard below. Another bolt rumbles outside. It's a natural storm. The manacles stay tight on my wrist, but when they come off... I doubt the storm will be natural anymore.

I snap my head towards the door as I hear footsteps come to a stop outside my door. My head throbs, reminding me of the danger that brews. Did Maven see through the letter? Does he know what I'm trying to do?

I slip the bands into a pocket of the dress and walk to the door quickly. If it is him, he doesn't need to see the mess I've made in my room. I don't want anyone to see it, let alone him. When the doors open, I take a quick step out of the doors. Thankfully, the guards shut the door quickly behind. The worry of the scheming fades as soon as I see him. I can see it in his eyes, he trusts what he read in the letter. Got you.

"Can we take a walk?" I ask. His eyes glitter darkly at me, the polarizing blue creeping through my heart. It hardens against it, reminding me of what I must do next.

"Of course."

I lead him down the hall. My guards stay put at my door after Maven waved a hand at them to stay behind. They are good at pretending where their loyalties lie.

The hallways have turned into a realm of shadows now that only the storm lights them up. Thankfully, my eyes have already adjusted to the darkness from spending the past hours in my dark room. When we stand in front of the throne room doors, I'm the one to push them open.

The throne room is as dark as the rest of the palace. Every pillar boasts the Calore flame sigil, the blood-red is vibrant even despite the lack of light. Even the thrones have started wearing a strip of fabric down it, a new addition since the last time I've been in this hall. As we come to stand by the thrones, my eyes catch the doors that lead out of the hall. I walk slightly ahead of Maven, stopping only when I am nearest to the largest of the two thrones.

"Mare," Maven says slowly as if chewing on the words, "I'm here. You said you would explain."

"Why would you not believe it?" I say, taking a step towards him, "I told you once already. You believed me then." Maven's features have changed, altering themselves back into the prince he was so long ago. He keeps silent, only responding with parting his mouth and then closing it again. "Maybe because you once sang that same lie once before. To me?"

"That wasn't a lie. I did love you, Mare," He murmurs. I let a smile split across my face. Love is a weapon to wield, Elara's voice comes singing. I'm so close now I can see the blood vessels under his skin, the veining in his eyes. I lean in towards him, quickly planting my lips on his. I can feel his shock ripple out towards me. I can't remember the last time I kissed him. I recall it being that day on the riverboat; when he promised to protect me forever. So much for promises. I let him ease, I let him kiss back, I let us have this last moment even if it repulses me that I still miss them. I slide my hand carefully into his, but I don't entwine our fingers. I twist the manacles on.

He recoils suddenly as he rips himself away, though he stumbles from the fresh weight of the stone. His eyes dart down hungrily at his hands. I can't help but smile as I watch him recognize what the bands are— more importantly, what they mean. He looks up at me dumbly. "You're betraying me." He says it slowly, as if explaining it to himself and to me.

"Anyone can betray anyone, isn't that what you always told me?" I see his throat bob as I quote him. I recognize a new look in his eyes. Fear. When Evangeline steps around the throne next to me and Julian and Wren walk through one of the doors, Maven's face has gone sickly white.

"I warned you once to keep an eye on your little pet. You should have listened," Evangeline says sharply from behind. We must look like quite a team: the lightning girl and the steel girl side by side.

Maven's eyes dart from us to his uncle, to the doors. But he stays put. He sets his eyes on me as he recomposes himself under the stone's weight, "What's your plan with this? Leave and hope no one comes after you?" Evangeline's laughter splits the air as Julian comes to stand side by side with me.

"Actually," I draw, letting a smirk spill across my face, "I've come to take your throne." Piercing blue eyes stare at me in wonder. His mask has slipped, and the boy staring back at me isn't the same one I saw just moments before. I nearly laugh out loud as I register what I have done. I've stolen his throne. But then again, you can't really steal something that was never theirs. Under normal circumstances, I think I would be afraid of what I have started. But I'm not afraid. I am angry, and that's the more productive cousin of fear.

I see his mind work behind his face. He's not asking any questions, which means although he may want to ask them he's figuring it out on his own. The threat. My strange disappearances. The letter. Maven has always been clever, and now as he stands there in his chains he knows. He knows that I have repaid my debt to him. That I have ignited the fire he spoke of, the storm.

I would have chosen you over him. Funny how that's still true. That even now I chose to stay here instead of going back to the Guard. In a way, I chose Maven all over again.

"The nobels will never support you. The houses rebelled against me, a silver king, they will never bow to a red queen," Maven snaps, like a child trying to prove himself in the classroom. I walk towards him carefully, but he doesn't move away.

"You are not Elara, Maven. Don't try to speak like her." His throat wavers, and I see his jaw clench tightly at the mention of his mother. Love is a weapon to wield, the soft reminder comes for the second time since we've entered the hall. "I must say she would have been proud of the King you have become. She always knew you were never better than Cal, someone who would not let his red prisoner usurp his throne. You've exceeded her expectations," I lean in, letting him take in my sharpened features as I give the final twist of the knife, "for once."

His hands dart towards my wrist. I feel the panic all over when he grabs one. The fear shows through and I can see the amusement in his eyes. "You're not better than me. You still have those things on your wrists, just like me. You always will, even when they are no longer there. You've exchanged one prison for another."

"No, she hasn't," Evangeline says. Her fingers twirl in the air, with her twirl my manacles click open, "Not much of a prisoner anymore." I yank my wrist away from Maven and they clunk to the ground loudly in the stillness of the throne room. I can't help but stare at the bruised flesh from where the manacles used to be. I almost expect to feel the room come alive as my lightning floods my sense, but then I remember Samson's interrogation. How it never came no matter how strongly I called.

"Wren?" She walks towards me quickly in response. When her hands meet my shoulders I nearly cry out in apprehension. I've waited for this moment for months. Dreamed about how it would feel to have my spark back. My muscles are rigid as I feel her warmth spread through me, binding broken bits that have been so used to being broken I didn't even notice. I call for my spark, wanting to feel the lightning race across my arms and fizzle throughout the air.

At first, it is low. A soft thrum in the silence. I can feel everyone's eyes, but they have become nothing to me as I shut my own. I call again, stronger this time. When I call once more, lightning flashes in the window and thunder roars soon after. I can feel the thrum. The piece of me I forgot I needed. Wren yelps and she pulls away sharply. In my own power, I had forgotten her hands were on me. Already, her palms are a bright red. I caused that. "I'm sorry, Wren. I didn't mean to-" She holds her burned hand up calmly, quieting me.

"I'm fine." She smiles for a moment and then turns away from us, going back up with the others. If Maven was scared before, he's terrified now. He's never had to handle me like this, in full use of my ability. He's careful not to look at me for too long before sinking to his knees.

"Kill me," he says. "You have that throne, although you won't be able to keep it for long. Kill me with your lightning, the way my mother died. Let my skin turn purple as you strike me down. You know you need me dead to ascend. So do it." For the first time tonight, I feel afraid. I want to kill him. Hurt him for everything he has done to me and all the rest. But, something inside of me won't allow it. I won't make the wrong choice, I promised Julian that once. Jon once spoke of a great sacrifice I will have to make, but as I look in Maven's eyes I know. He is not the sacrifice.

"No."

"You don't have it in you?"

"At the moment, your valuable. But only if everyone else thinks you're dead."

"What?"

"You will stay here, in these walls, and rot." I grab his face, the full force of adrenaline causing my fingers to push harder into his skin, "Like you did to me, you will be my creature. Because as you once told me, death must be earned— and you have not earned it." I send a wave of electricity into him, strong enough to knock him out cold. For good measure, I check to make sure he's still breathing.

I turn towards my unlikely allies. For the first time, I notice something in Evangeline's hand. A crown. But not like the ones Maven had for me— decorated with jewels and pearls. No, this one is pure metal. She arches a brow, giving me a message all on her own. I kneel carefully in front of her, and in turn she sets the spiked crown on my head.

"Mareena Barrow," she says, using the name I was given when I first came to court, maybe because it sounds more regal than just Mare, "With this crown, I bind you." she steps back, letting Julian fill her place. He takes my chin carefully and directs my eyes towards his.

"With this crown, I bind you." His golden eyes flash in warning, don't let it destroy you. Wren follows in pursuit, chanting the same words. When she has finished she waves me up. "We will have an official coronation, but for now that will be enough." When I stand, I already feel the weight of it.

"Maven will be locked away. Silent stone cells have already been installed in the dungeons of the palace, we will put him so far down even the rats won't bother him. Ironic really, he made the cells. Now he'll rot in them. Though I don't know why you want to keep him breathing," Evangeline snips. I don't offer an explanation as I look back at Maven. That's something I don't even know. He is splayed out on the floor, legs twisted in awkward angles. He's even begun to drool. I look back towards Julian.

"I'm not sure if this is right, but I will try. Julian Jacos, you have been my closest ally from the start. Will you join me and become the Queen's Aid and help me keep my throne?" Julian's eyes light up. He didn't know I had learned about the Aid of the Monarch, a role given to the one the current monarch trusts completely. I read about it nearly two years ago, when I was in his library and he was explaining to me the history of Norta. He dips his head respectively, "I swear to protect you and advise you till the end of my time." His smile is warm as he squeezes my hand.

I turn my gaze towards Evangeline and Wren. "From now on, you three will be apart of my private council. Evangeline, I ask you to be the Master of the Queen's Armies and Fleet. Wren, I ask you to be my Master of Whispers. Listen to the snipes of my enemies and to the whispers of my people."

Together they say, "We swear to protect and defend you till the end of our time." There was once a time Evangeline and Wren despised me, probably even plotted on ways to get me out of the way. Now, they stand before me, and in their eyes I do not see the fog of betrayal.

I smile at my council, my family, "So it begins."