A Trial Of Emperors and Empresses

Chapter 14 - Amaryllis

"Steven is not your father."

Every time she remembered that moment, Amaryllis was forced to also remember her question.

The question that had hid in the back of her mind ever since the moment the words were spoken.

Then who was?

***

Amaryllis panted, staring at herself in the mirror.

Who was?

She slapped herself. Keep yourself together for the vote, Amara. This important. You need this for the fight.

***

Aisling's sly smile shook Amaryllis to her core.

She took a slip of paper out of the small red box. "If you do not hear your name, you will be participating in the final Trial. If you do hear it, you will be eliminated." Aisling called.

"From the Northern Kingdom... Shawn Via."

"From the Western Kingdom... Ariana Summers."

"From the Southern Kingdom... Max Valdez."

"From the Eastern Kingdom... Phoebe Canterbury."

"And from the Central Kingdom... Katya Sanders."

"Mark Fields, Lauren Smith, Warden Lang, Evangeline Mirrors and Amaryllis Van Gulierro, congratulations. You will be participating in the final Trial."

It took a few seconds for the words to register in Amaryllis's mind. Then she burst out with joy. For now, she was closer than she had ever been before to getting back her stolen glory.

***

"Amaryllis." Aisling said, creeping into her room.

"Madame Aisling, Sorceress Supreme. How may I assist you tonight?" Amaryllis asked bitterly, not looking up from her sketchbook.

Aisling bit her lip. "I'm sorry."

Amaryllis held up her hand. "It wasn't your fault."

Aisling smiled as if remembering something bittersweet. "Hera always loved you. She would have wanted you to be her successor."

Amaryllis flared up with anger. "You're right. She would have. Yet here we are."

Aisling sighed. "If you surrender, I will give you the position. I swear it on my life."

Amaryllis leapt up. "Surrender? Who says that I won't fight to my very last breath? And even if I do surrender, you are way too greedy to give this up."

Aisling sighed and sat on a stray chair. "Let me tell you something. The Trial is never fair. It's hardly ever random. Each one of you are carefully and thoroughly individually chosen by the advisor. In this case, Lord Cassius. And though he will not tell me it exactly, you are here for a very important reason. The Trial is always rigged. It seems like the population has the choice, but they don't. The actual emperor or empress is chosen at the start and the Trials are changed in their favour."

Amaryllis snorted. "Yet again you are useless. You think that I don't know that? In an empire this vast, nothing is by chance. Everything is plotted."

Aisling met Amaryllis's eyes with a cold, fixed stare. "Yes. Much, much more than you would expect. Rest well, the parade will be dire."

***

"It feels wrong." Mark whispered to Amaryllis. She agreed. The previous competitors would be marching around each of the finalists carriages. It was saddening, to see them as if they were but simple machines, not organic human material. They were living, breathing people, not robots programmed for a single purpose.

A stage runner came dashing towards them. "It's your turn."

When they got there, Lauren's was already leaving. Amaryllis watched the feed on the TV.

Her bronze skin glowed in the sunlight, and light bounced off of her honey brown curls and illuminated her neutral orange gown. It was layered and ruffled, just up to the base of her feet. Katya walked to her front, with Drew and Julian on Lauren's left and right. They wrote suits and Katya a simple skirt of the same orange. The colour of the Central Kingdom. The carriage was gold and bore the symbol of the empire on the back. A navy wolf, a purple fox, a green snake, an orange lion and a red tiger moving around a golden palace.
Another crest was on the front, the one of the Central Kingdom. An orange lion's head roared above an imperial golden palace. Warm brown stallions pulled the carriage.

Then Evangeline went. Her name was blasted over the announcement. She wore a dress of navy. It was sleek and silky, a corset until her waist then an explosion of fabric. Shawn, Caleb, Joshua and Kathleen flanked her left and right, wearing matching outfits to Lauren's parade but with the colour of Evangeline's dress. Her hair was up in a tight bun unlike Lauren's, which was left to fly around freely in the wind. Her carriage was white and slid along on silver skis on ice that magically formed and unformed with the carriage's path. The empire's crest was on the back and the Northern Kingdom's in the front. It had a navy wolf howling at a silver moon, overtop a silver and industrial palace. Snow fell lightly over Evangeline's parade as they went down the road, dragged along by horses with coats as white as fresh snow and sleek black manes that looked like ink.

"Warden Lang of the Western Kingdom!"
Warden grinned sheepishly at the crowd, this kind of attention new to him. He wore a suit of scarlet that matched his guard: Ariana, Sadie, Luke and Henry walking gloomily.  His sunshine yellow carriage had the empire's crest on the back and the Western Kingdom's on the front. A red tiger opened his mouth wide, displaying its deadly fangs. It was overlooking a modest and old fashioned ruby castle. The horses were dark, their manes like chocolate and their hooves black, galloped rather slowly along the path set out for them.

"Amaryllis Van Gulierro of the Southern Kingdom!"
Amaryllis's carriage launched off. It was pulled along by white mares with blonde manes. Their hooves clattered against the smooth stone road. Amaryllis sported a straight pale pink dress that was floor length. Her heart dropped, heavy with guilt when she noticed Chelsea and Logan to her left and right, with Max in front of her. While she couldn't see them, she knew the empire's crest was on the back and the Southern Kingdom's on the front. It was an image that Amaryllis knew Luke the back of her hand. A green snake preparing to strike a majestic and towering emerald palace.

She managed to keep an eye on the televisions all over the square to watch Mark enter.

He wore a suit of emerald green and waved modestly to the crowd. He rode on in a mint carriage pulled by tan ponies with light manes. Phoebe, Seamus, Oliver and Daniel surrounded him in their own uniforms. The crest of the empire on the front, and the mark of the Eastern Kingdom on the carriage's back. A purple fox slunk across the image of a large castle. Curved trees fenced the edge of the symbol.

Amaryllis put on a large smile for the crowd, who went wild. But as soon as she was out of sight, her happy and calm demeanour dropped. After all, they were in the finals now and winning was a matter of strength.