Queen Astra/Samara Shaw

He was very different from the way he used to be before. Now the spell was broken and all my memories flooding back in, it's easy to tell the great difference in things. Accius looked stronger than he used to be while he was still cocooned in the care of the castle. Truly, he was the strongest man I knew but his strength never really went to anything with numbers of hefty men guarding the walls of his home and thousands to fight with a single word of his command. That was the reason he was just the mysterious prince to the people outside and a coward to those who knew what happened in the walls of the castle. He'd gained more muscles, yes, and quite bigger in size like a boy in puberty. He also saved me from his sister and came to Bellum with a hybrid blood. I guess experience truly is what makes a man.

While I could go on and on about the things he'd done, it would a foolish of me to forget he was the same man that wanted our child dead. One can say those were the days of old when he wasn't half the man he is now, but as his own mother would say, a Queen never forgets. He considered killing our child and not just that, the heir to the throne and maybe the only future for this forsaken land.

"Do you know anything about the child?"

"The child? Tell me Accius, which one of them? The one your wanted dead?"

"I'm sorry I ever told you to do that but you also need to understand my life was at stake too. If my brother knew of the child t_"

"He would've killed you? Your safety is what matters?"

"Vince has the whole of Bellum subjected to him, he would've killed me the moment it's discovered and this isn't just about my safety, it's about the future of the land. You know what'll happen after I'm gone? Then he would join forces with Marianah, you'd be removed from the story and he'll be king. The people will suffer, the land will suffer, you'll forever live your life as princess Samara, on earth with no idea who you truly are. Is that really what you want? Cause we can lose the chid, fight together and we'll make many kids. I'm not that much of a coward Astra, I just think differently from the rest of you"

"Then why didn't you make me declare you king?"

"You weren't properly trained, you were young and naive. I can't make you choose me king, it's up to you to make that decision. I let you have your opportunity with him because I wanted you to choose yourself, that's why you were chosen Queen. The future of Bellum is in your hands and you can't choose me just because you love me"

"You could've said that sooner. Maybe I wouldn't have had your sister put a spell on me"

"Marianah kept a spell on you?"

"Most likely. I was another woman while I carried your child and then she was taken away from me for long long years, then I remembered everything and she did it again, I forgot everything but I wasn't just another woman, I was the daughter of a queen"

"So where's the child now?"

"How am I supposed to know?"

I discarded the thought of Marianah killing her, if she would've, she would have done if before she even came to life. Likewise, there's a big question on what happened when I switched from Audra Farley to Samara Shaw. I could roughly estimate the years she spent there as fifteen but what happened after or why she was taken away, I didn't know.

"I'm sorry Astra"

My eyes snapped back to Accius, now a little apologetic knowing his reasons for doing what he did but wasn't and would never be willing to breathe a word of apology. I never stopped loving him and he had, in every way, proven himself a better king than his brother. However, we were far past the times I had the opportunity of simply choosing. Nothing's going up now without a fight. There's no crown without one losing a life for it and as it is, it's one of Accius or Vince and less likely, me.

Marianah was a trickster, a very good one in fact. So much, that that was the only trait of her I knew. Her powers complimented it, being a shape shifter and one of the best warriors of the land. I guess if things went as it was meant to and the Royal Family did more than completely hate one another, she could've been my right hand.

"Keep your apologies for later, we need to find my child"

"Back to earth then? To your palace?"

"Yes, will your hybrid come with?"

"He used to be Justin to you and you never saw him as a hybrid"

While he went to fetch the boy, I opened a portal to earth and through the glowing circle was my room or should I say Samara's room. It was just as I remembered, clean and spotless. Katherine never allowed a speck of dust in her home and most importantly, in my room.

Accius was back with the boy and the former, without delay, jumped in. Left behind was Justin, which I would no longer refer to as hybrid, and I. Truly, he'd done more than even a true blood of the land would do. Such a warm hearted and naive young man. If it wasn't for the fall, he would've been a complete outcast, not even worthy of seeing a Queen.

"It's nice to have you back Astra, we have a lot to talk about"

"If I jump in, that portal will close and you'd remain here alone"

"Who would've imagined you'd lose the accent so quick?"

"Don't test me boy, jump in"

With a giggle, he jumped inside and I followed and then the portal was closed above me. It was a different atmosphere, yes, but this came with memories, very bad memories. Times I was treated like a slave, subjected to the commands of a mere woman. People that held no more than titles to their names.

"Let's get to it, her room is right across mine, it's too early for her to be in the tea room but we must not forget that as well"

"There's something like a tea room?"

"What if someone notices us?" Accius pointed out "This place has maximum security, doesn't it? They're cameras everywhere"

"I do not care about cameras and they're just humans, show them the spark in your eyes and they'll scurry away"

"Um, someone needs to tell her how it works here" Justin said "You can't just do anything you want, this isn't call of duty"

"Astra, we can't make too much noise, we can't damage anything or anyone. If we leave a mark here, the next thing is the government is looking for us"

"Plus, these people hold a lot of power and influence, you can't just make havoc here and get away with it"

" I'll go then and you both wait here for me"

"How do we know if you need help?"

"You're quick to forget I'm no longer Samara"

"So are you to forget you no longer know or fear this place as much as Samara did"

"I remember every minute I spent here and I don't expect you to ever understand"

Without waiting a second for a response, I left the room, in haste to meet her before anyone important noticed my presence. It's difficult for anyone to believe I would be back in the walls of this house without a grand feast to celebrate my arrival or gossips here and there on how it came to be. I do, however, assume I could slip off the radar since I would have made it to Kathrine sooner than the news would get to my dear forsaken twin brother Jonathan.

At least, I was in a dress. It may not be smooth looking enough and I may not have diamonds around my neck and pearls on my wrists but at least it's better than strolling around with tight leather pants and a sword hanging off my waist. I guess I could be at least grateful the situation wasn't as bad as it was supposed to.

I got to her room, although unable to move without a few eyes meeting me. I got a few greetings and the best courtesy and was thankful to see the familiar blonde haired in her room when I walked in. Women surrounding her as she sat in front of a large mirror, her eyes snapped swiftly to mine and then a look of surprise evident on her face.

Kathrine Shaw had never looked less of a beauty, age wasn't telling on the woman a single bit. If it wasn't that I knew who she was, one Could make the mistake of calling her a young woman in her twenties. As much beauty as she held, however, she had the worst of attitudes and a rock as heart. Very brutal and dangerous, selfish enough to end a life to clean a speck to her reputation. I knew this woman more than I knew anyone on the planet, if I knew less I would say I knew her even more than I knew myself.

She signalled all to leave her side and quickly, they scurried out of the room. It remained the queen and I, she a few feet away from me and I, a second away from tearing her apart.

"Samara, or should I say, Queen Astra? Cause as I've come to discover, I housed a queen all these years without my knowledge"

"Katherine, understand it's either my child or your life, you choose"

"By all legal means, the child is mine"

"Do you realise that what is written in the Constitution does not matter when I can literally end your life right here and now. I don't have time for a conversation, where is my child?"

"I can assure you, you will never lay your eyes on her ever again"

Not only did I not expect the daring attitude but that she would only act this way if she had support. For a being like myself, this support couldn't be just an ordinary one, it had to be someone like myself, someone she believed to be stronger than I am.

"I had your child taken at birth, I managed to raise her and bring you back to fill the place of the same child and yet, you still think I would've done all of that without help from one of you" Katherine clapped her hands in the air twice and immediately, I felt a figure drop on the ground behind me "Allow me to introduce to you, my backbone, Queen Marianah of Bellum"

"Oh, you have to be kidding me"

"You know it's time we had a real fight Astra?"