The Heirs

Chapter 25- That Endless Love and Desperation

heavenly Hurt, it gives us -
we can find no scar,
but internal difference -
where the Meanings, are -
none may teach it - Any -
'tis the seal Despair -
an imperial affliction
sent us of the Air -
when it comes, the Landscape listens -
shadows - hold their breath -
when it goes, 'tis like the Distance
on the look of Death-
-

Where the hell was her quill?
Selene didn't like writing letters and usually got Jem or Perrin to write them for her- unless it was to Uncle Sameer- but that didn't mean that she had lost her quill.
Sure, she didn't keep her things as tidy and meticulous as Seraphina was- the only time her sister's room was disorderly was when she was packing- but it didn't mean she lost her stationery! Of all the times her possessions had to be misplaced- it had to be now, just as she was going to set out after her brother and that termagant.

"There you are, you little-" She muttered, noticing the feathery tip hiding behind the miniature chest she kept her tiara in.

She had several tiaras, but this was the one for royal events- it was dark silver and shaped like a crown, instead of a circlet- it was inlaid with onyx stones and emeralds, with nets of silver interwoven through, connecting the gems like vines and buds. Seraphina had a similar one, but with pearls and in rose-gold.
She didn't think she would wear that tiara again- such a thing of beauty ought not to be on someone as hideous as her. She remembered that she had worn her tiara to Jem's coronation, and to King Cor and Queen Aravis's as well- and at both events, she had been assured that one day, she would attend events wearing the Rihaayan Crown.

Grabbing the quill- she knew where the inkpot was, thankfully- Selene turned to move towards her desk, before pausing and looking back at the chest.
She knew a similar one carried the Rihaayan Crown, all the way in Azraq. No matter how beastly she looked- that crown was not for beauty. That crown was of duty. That one was silver- it had irked her grandmother, who had preferred pure gold- but with gold sapphires and a pattern of waves. Her mother had worn it, and she had hoped one day her elder daughter would, too.
With a sad smile, she whispered, "Soon, Amma."

'𝘋𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘜𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘦 𝘚𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘳,
𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘒𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘶? 𝘏𝘰𝘸'𝘴 𝘚𝘰𝘧𝘧, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘊𝘢𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘢 𝘒𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘢? 𝘐 𝘥𝘰 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘈𝘮𝘮𝘢'𝘴- 𝘐 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘵. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘐'𝘮 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘨𝘰 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭.
𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯, 𝘐 𝘢𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘐 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦. 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨, 𝘐 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦, 𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘕𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘢 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘺.
𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘴𝘬- 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵, 𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵. I̶ l̶o̶o̶k̶ l̶i̶k̶e̶ a̶ m̶o̶n̶s̶t̶e̶r̶ f̶r̶o̶m̶ f̶a̶i̶r̶y̶-t̶a̶l̶e̶s 𝘔𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘦, 𝘴𝘰 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩. 𝘉𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵.
𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢 𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭-𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳. 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘰 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘑𝘦𝘮- 𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘨𝘰, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘯𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘶𝘱 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘪𝘮.
𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵- 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘦 𝘥𝘰 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵, 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘈𝘮𝘮𝘢. 𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩, 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺, 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘦𝘳. 𝘚𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥'𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘢𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘦𝘳- 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘐'𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳. 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴- 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘐'𝘥 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘯𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦.
𝘐 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘯𝘰𝘸- 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘐 𝘥𝘰 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘒𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘶- 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘰.
𝘐 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘰𝘰𝘯- 𝘸𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘯𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘦'𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮.
𝘎𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘚𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘬𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘶𝘥𝘥𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘮𝘦- 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘩 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘦𝘵? 𝘚𝘩𝘦'𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘰𝘯, 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘴𝘬 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘶𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘮𝘦. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘩𝘶𝘨𝘴.
𝘓𝘰𝘷𝘦,
𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘷𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 n̶i̶e̶c̶e̶s̶ 𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳'𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘯,
𝘚𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘦'