VIOLENT DELIGHTS¹ ━━ John Murphy

𝖎𝖎𝖎. Unlucky

𝖚𝖓𝖑𝖚𝖈𝖐𝖞

BELIEVE IT OR NOT, Glass hasn't spent her whole life just doing whatever she wants. She knows, she knows - it's pretty hard to believe, coming form the bratty queen herself, but trust her. Sometimes she feels like a rag doll tugged to and fro with duties and responsibilities. A dark shadow in the back of her mind that sounds suspiciously like the Queen that silkily reminds Glass who she is and who she must be and what she must do to get there, no matter how dark and twisted it might seem. A hungry, insatiable cycle of musts.

You will one day be Commander, the Queen vowed to her before sending her to Polis, when Glass was only seven. And you will do whatever it takes.

That's what's sent Glass off on this mission. Trikru is hiding secrets, hiding away these people from the stars. People that could try to usurp Glass and Azgeda's power - Glass will not allow it. Glass cannot allow it.

AZGEDA DOES NOT TOLERATE FAILURES, the Queen screams in her mind. YOU ARE A GOD - YOU WERE BORN FOR THIS!

I was born for this, Glass had promised then and as her heart whimpers, she promises it again.

Trikru wants battle; Glass will give them war.

Of course, Glass does wish she planned things out maybe just a little bit better.

Don't get her wrong, it was a great idea, deciding to take initiative and leave Polis by herself. Kind of. The less great part is the fact that she left completely unprepared; she's no map, no rations, no supplies. Only the diadem that rests in her icy locks and the daggers she never goes without. Oh, and Ghost.

Wait a second. . . what is the plan, anyway?

Huh. Glass didn't think that far ahead, did she? She's so used to everyone, always, telling her what to do - an endless cycle of do's and don'ts - her entire future laid out ahead of her. But. . . those are her choices too, right? It's not like anyone's ever forcing her to do stuff she doesn't want to do - because she wants the life she lives, she life she's promised - she does!!!

But Glass digresses.

Whatever. She'll figure out something eventually. She always does.

And so she rides on.

By sun high, she thinks she's finally reached the Trikru border.

A river. It seems possible to cross entirely on foot, if you don't mind leaping across stones, wading through deeper parts of it, and probably getting muddied and soaked in the process.

Glass minds all of these things and rides Ghost through the river.

Then she's officially in enemy territory.

Suddenly Glass is very on edge. If Trikru finds her here, second to Azgeda's crown prince and Ice Nation's bid for the Commander. . . well, that has potential to be problematic. She doesn't quite know what they'd do, if she's being honest. Kill her? Maybe. It's what the Queen would do if she found Lexa in Azgeda. Of course, they could always try to use her as leverage, too. That'd be strategic. Glass likes to think that the Queen would stop at next to nothing to get her back.

As if he too can sense her sudden shift in mood, Ghost whiskers nervously, his tail brushing back and forth. Glass touches his muzzle.

"We won't get caught," she says to him. "And even if we do, they can't hurt us."

Then she pauses. His fur is sleek and icy, beautiful compared to the grimy forest. He stands out.

Jok.