Queen Astra

A year into my stay in the palace and Queen Irene had taught me enough to be a replica of herself. Very commendable that she brought me from swearing on my life to be nothing like her to understand why she had to be what she was. She was strong, yes, and she had every being in the land under her command, even her husband to an extent, but with all she did, there never was the opportunity for her to feel as a normal being should or should I say as a normal woman should? There was no love in her life, and even if there were specks of it every once in a while, one would never truly see her express it. She never taught me how to speak to the next king as a woman to the one she loves, it was always about obligations to the Queen. My duties, what I had to do, what the people needed to see in me.

In every way, it was difficult. From the way I dressed to the morning physical trainings and the etiquettes at night time, life truly was difficult for me. I'd gotten used to most of them at the end of the year but nothing could compare to the peace of being in my father's comfort, even if it was in a pile of potatoes or spring onions at the corner of the room. I made myself believe there was no better joy for a woman of the land than to have the crown on her head. After all, I'd once wished to be Queen.

There was this time, however, where I had my usual morning training with the Queen and it was just as every other morning. The only difference, and perhaps the greatest difference, is that the tables had turned and instead of her sword at my throat, I had mine at her's and during the process, I'd given her a nick on the cheek. It was the first time I'd never seen the stain of blood on her glowing dark skin. Never had I seen one in the field as strong as winning a fight against her. I'd caused a cut on her perfectly sculpted face and I could feel the impact of it as every other being in the arena went still in wait for her response.

In her words ' You will never draw blood from a Royal like you, Astra. We are family '. More was expected and out of all, it was just a single lesson to gain and this wasn't just any ordinary lesson, it was the first time she taught me anything that wasn't related to my duties.

It was not my intention to hit Marianah even though this sadly unfortunate being assumed my position for her. I knew to stay as calm as possible, since all I came for was information. I did not need a fight or argument to know where my child was, this had gone far from my original expectations.

"I will not fight you Marianah, you are my family"

"Good to see you're back Astra, didn't think it was going to stay for that long anyways"

"Where is my child?"

"You want to know where your child is? You have to hit me. None of this is coming down without a fight"

"Marianah, do I need to remind you of your mother's teachings?"

How much she hated to hear of her mother? There was no relationship like the one between the Queen and her princess, none of them loving enough to acknowledge the other's existence. They didn't speak much to each other and the times I'd heard them talk, it was everything but a conversation between a mother and child. Marianah had, in a few times, joined the dinner table to honor the king on important events and even during those times when the tension in the room was evident, one word from the daughter, followed by correction from the mother and all goes down from there.

I never really discovered what happened between the two. One, because there wasn't really a warm family atmosphere in the family to begin with and second because I never really cared much about it. I never cared about Marianah or her business and I never interfered or spoke much to her. I had my own problems and I couldn't carry the burdens of another, selfish as it may sound, it was the only truth.

"My mother is dead"

"And her legacy lives on, it's such a shame you are nothing like her"

"Let me guess, you're like her? Because you have pretty clothes and maids at your service? Even if you become Queen, you will never be as my mother was, you will never accomplish as she accomplished and you will never make a mark like hers"

"Should I remind you you once had a hybrid as lover?"

"And should I remind you I had you under a spell twice, took your child, the so to be heir of the throne, away from you. It's so easy for you to point fingers but difficult to pick a king when you should've"

"That I didn't choose between your brothers happened for a reason, I still needed time and lessons from the Queen, I wasn't ready"

"I see, but you were ready to have a child for one? Very promiscuous for a destined Queen, isn't it?"

"You will never understand what it means to love"

Down to the ground she wet with eyes turning as silver as blade. Her grey fur replaced her skin and paws for hands and feet with nails long and sharp. A big one she was indeed, with her height almost enough to reach my chest and size bigger than an average wolf. Normal for one with blue blood but Marianah had trained so much, she was more than ready for a fight.

What a waste? No matter how far she would go or how bigger she could be, her strength could never compare to mine?

It's just how it's meant to be, it's what made me Queen.

I bent down, my eyes a few inches away from hers and whispered "You will never be half of what I am"

She was first to attack, aiming her sharp fangs straight to my neck. She was close to my skin when my hand came  up to her jaw and hit it hard enough to throw her off balance. "Too soon to end my life, don't you think?"

She attacked again, this time it was her sharp claws aimed for my face. She was swift, so swift, she just happened to make it so close to me before I could, once again, give another strike. I guess I underestimated her new abilities. She was strong and it took more energy to avoid each hit from her as she fired one immediately after the other.

Marianah was a good fighter, no one would argue that, but she didn't fight like a warrior would. She was trained every day like I was too but the king never wanted her to go as far as smell the air of the battlefield like she did before and so her trainings were restricted. It was a father protecting his child and not just any child, his favourite of all, but it was during times like this, when something unplanned for occurs than she needed skills enough to fight like a man. All his time I always imagined her to be the perfect warrior but I guess her mother was right when she referred her to be an ordinary princess.

Katherine had left the room and it was just us two, she hitting and I defending. I used the perfect opportunity, grabbed her throat in my hand and pushed her against the wall. She wrestled against me, nails hitting my skin and leaving it's marks while I tightened my grip against her throat. We went on for a few seconds, if not a minute or two, till she lost the strength she had and her body went weak.

Slowly, she morphed back, her legs dangling a few feet away from the ground and hands, straight to my wrists. Her grip on me was just as weak as the rest of her body as she struggled to have each breath.

She had gone through this whole ' fight ' as she called it, without any serious injuries and I, with blood marks and scratches on my arm. She only had a bruise beginning to form from where I'd hit her jaw, nothing that couldn't heal in a day or two.

"You seem to forget I am no longer Samara Shaw, neither am I Audra Farley. I'm Astra, the woman that spent every single day in the castle struggling to be like your mother. If you weren't as you are, I would have your heart out of your chest"

"Bravo Astra" The voice came from behind me, masculine and strikingly familiar. It was one I'd heard so many times but only for the first time now in my right senses. I fought the urge to let go of Marianah but she'd gotten just enough to show her who was on the upper hand.

She fell to the ground and like someone that wasn't just pinned to the wall by her neck, jumped back on her feet. While she took in deep breaths, she took steps away from me, close enough to the window to show she was about to something she knew how to do best. Running away.

As if on cue, Accius walked in and slammed the door behind him. Sweat dripping from his face and an open cut across his arm, he looked like one involved in a real fight, unlike I could say for I and his sister. I realised I didn't see Justin and quickly ignored the thought that whatever caused this to Accius would most probably have taken his life.

When my eyes met Vince at the other end of the room, I noticed he too wasn't looking as he usually would. He had parts of his clothes torn, cuts in most visible parts on his body and thick crimson liquid dripping from his hair and yet, he looked as calm and reserved as possible. While both of us had a fight, the brothers had theirs too and the later, definitely, was the real one.

"At least now I can all you by your name without worrying you'd object to it"

"I don't need anymore pointless conversations Vince, I need my child"

"If you've learned anything from my mother, it would be that the safety of the land comes first, even before his child"

"Don't listen to him Astra, the land is at peace. Everything is back to normal, I saw it myself"

It could only mean that in one way or the other, during this little time we'd spent here, the tribes were back to the rightful heir and the fall that caused most to die, including the King and Queen was over. It was difficult to believe seeing we'd only just left there a few minutes ago but I guess the effects of magic was one to easily wear off, just like Marianah's did on me.

"The land is not at peace until you declare king" Vince said, taking a step closer to me "The people are moving back to Bellum before midnight and the land cannot remain without rulers"

"Which is why we find the child from wherever your incompetent self kept her,  the child is an heir and a rightful ruler of the land"

"No rulers, no laws, the people will scatter"

"And what are we supposed to do? Leave a royal blood here on earth? She's just a child, you know what comes with the coronation, nobody's going to have the time to come here to find her"

"We do not know where the child is brother. I don't, sister doesn't, Astra definitely doesn't have any idea and neither do you, she ran away herself"

"Enough" I said, amidst their arguments. Whether or not they knew where the child was, the problem would first be solved before anything else. Afterall, it was the delay of my decision that had Marianah thinking of herself as the rightful Queen, Vince taking position of leadership and Accius in the shadows like a bastard to the throne "Have everyone in the grand hall in the morning and every preparation be made, I'll choose king"

A/N

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