The two soldiers had let go of her shoulders and jumped back as she was sick all over the floor. When she was finished, she straightened up on unsteady legs.

"Well, that isn't the way you greet your mother, darling."

Elora jerked her head up to look at the woman in front of her in shock. Her face was young and unmarred, her skin was as pale as Elora's, if not whiter. The tight black dress she wore made her light hair shine brighter. Her eyes glowed a blazing blue, intense, their disturbing gaze bored into her. A million thoughts raced through Elora's mind as she tried to comprehend what was happening.

The woman, her mother, stepped delicately down the steps, her dress swayed from side to side.

"It's been so long; you simply cannot believe how much I have been looking forward to this!" Her voice was almost louder than a whisper and lilted at the end of her every sentence. Even her steps were light as if she floated across the smooth floor. She stopped in front of Elora, sidestepped the mess on the floor, and opened her arms.

An awkward silence ensued, as Elora stood unmoving and she watched as anger flickered in her mother's, otherwise, gentle eyes. Stiffly, her mother lowered her arms to her side and took a step backwards, to look her daughter up and down.

"Are you going to say anything or just stare?" She asked the lilt in her voice hardened as impatience grew.

Elora thought for a moment, she had a million questions for this woman who claimed to be her mother, and as much as she wanted to deny it, she knew deep down it was true.

"Why?"

"I'm sorry my dear, I'm not sure I understand what you're asking me."

"Why now? After all these years, why now did you choose to reveal yourself to me?" Her face remained blank, yet her voice failed to hide the bitterness and resentment of a lonely childhood. The floodgate had been opened and a river of emotions rushed out.

"What? Did you really think that I would run to you with open arms, after all this time? You LEFT me there in that prison." She scoffed and crossed her arms across her chest. "I'm not sure kidnapping your daughter, locking her up and draining her blood is the best way to win back affection either. As far as I am concerned, you're just a crazy lady living in this.... place." She spat the word out, unsure of how to describe the Red City.

Her mother lifted her chin and the guards behind Elora took a quiet step backwards. Elora could feel the air still.

"You will address me by my title, Queen Ameda." Her voice echoed throughout the grand room, like a roar from a mighty beast. Elora became alarmed as Ameda reached forward and wrapped her black talons around Elora's throat.

"Don't you ever speak to me like that again, I am your Queen. Just because you are my daughter, doe not mean I won't rip your throat out."

Her fingers squeezed tighter, drawing a drop of blood where the tip of her nail had dug into the soft flesh, trickling slowly down the slope of her neck.

"Do we understand each other?"

Elora nodded her head. The hand tightened. 

"I'm afraid I can't hear you, darling."

"I.... understand..." She croaked out, her voice barely a whisper.

"Splendid." Ameda withdrew her hands from Elora's neck, not before wiping the drop of blood from Elora's neck and popping the finger in her mouth.

Ameda walked back up the steps and sat on her throne and watched her daughter wheeze and catch her breath.

"Now that we have gotten all pleasantries out of the way, welcome home!"

Home. Such a simple word that held so much meaning. All her life Elora had been waiting to find a place to call home, and she sure as hell knew that this, this wasn't it. There was something terribly wrong with this place and her mother.

"Who are all those people locked in the basement?" Elora asked, being mindful of sounding polite.

"Why they're the lifeblood of this city, literally." Her lips curled upwards into a grin, revealing pointy white teeth. Again, she stood up and moved away from her throne, pacing across the raised platform.

"Over the years it had become apparent that our supplies have been running low, which in turn affects my power. You know how the story goes." She waved her hand in the air as if this conversation couldn't be less important to her.

"You, however, my sweet daughter, are the answer to all my problems."

Dread curled in Elora's stomach as she watched her mother walk towards her again and stood frozen as cold fingers slid up and down her arms.

"The blood that runs through these veins is strong, stronger and more powerful than you could ever realise." She gently took Elora's arms into her own as if to embrace her. "Which is why you're going to be the perfect daughter and give it to me."

Elora ripped her arms out of her mother's hold. "What? No!"

Ameda reared her head back and let out a soft laugh. "Silly girl, I'm not asking you, I'm telling you. You are."

"It's a real pity we couldn't bring you here sooner than I could have spent some time with you before ...you know." She said regretfully. 

We? Elora thought back to the robed figure in her room the night of the prison attack, the vision that had followed their contact.

"It was you in my room that night! You used transference magic on me. You wanted me to come here, that was you." Elora burst out. "If you needed me that badly, why didn't you just kidnap me right there? Why all the visions and wasted time?"

Ameda laughed again, her daughter's naive confusion was amusing. "No dear girl, that wasn't me. Well actually that was me in your visions, but I didn't make the connection."

She turned around and called out to a hidden figure that had been waiting in the shadows. "Come on out, old friend."

A man stepped forward into the light, his face old and weathered. Elora wasn't sure who this man was, his face was vaguely familiar, but she couldn't place it. Confused she turned back to her mother. "I don't know him..." Ameda tutted and reached out to turn Elora's face back to the man. He smiled, and she remembered! In flashes, the pieces fell together. The old man from the prison garden, his hand had squeezed her shoulder and the awful nightmare that followed that evening. That nightmare was the first time she had seen her mother, the figure with glowing eyes. With all that had happened after that she had forgotten about the dream, it had been pushed into her subconscious. 

"Oh, I'm so happy you recognize him." Ameda fondly placed a hand on his shoulder and smiled at him before nodding at him. He smiled back at her and Elora watched in amazement as the skin around his face tightened and grew darker, the wrinkles became smooth and his posture straightened. Elora watched as the old wobbly lips morphed into a familiar grin.

Banu.

The blood drained from her face as she stared into the face of her friend, her heart stopped beating as she focussed solely on him, her Banu. "Banu... I don't understand?"

Ameda lifted her hand off his shoulder. "Oops, I guess I didn't explain fully. It was Banu who used transference magic on you. That coin you found, is what connected us and is still keeping us connected. To answer your question, yes, we did contemplate kidnapping you, but our magic was not strong enough in the Northern Realm, thanks to that useless king!"

"We needed to get you close enough to Khogassek so that my men could just pick you up and be on their way. That's where Banu came in, who could resist such a handsome face." She reached out to caress his cheek, to which he lifted her hand and placed a kiss upon it.

Elora felt like someone had reached into her chest and ripped her heart out, her Banu had betrayed her. How stupid she felt for believing his lies and worse, she had begun to develop feelings for him, that kiss flashed in her head painfully. Ameda, bored now, snapped her fingers and the soldiers moved alongside Elora, lifted her again but she barely noticed. Instead, she stared ahead at Banu and addressed him in a broken whisper as they carried her out.

"I trusted you."

He grinned at her. "Rookie error kid."