The Red Queen | Lucien Castle & Tristan de Martel

Chapter 9

"You're allowed to have fun, you know," said Vivalda as she walked past Antonella and Aya, the two practicing with staffs. "You don't need to punish yourself for it."

"An old habit," said Antonella, twirling the staff and blocking a hit. "One I don't quite mind."

"You mind it enough to be here," said Aya, hitting low, then high, and headbutting Antonella. "It makes you slow."

"Fine, perhaps I do notice I am more easily distracted afterward and training helps sharpen my mind."

"Then train with him," said Vivalda, swiping her sword between their staffs and sending the two away from each other. "Not with Aya."

Aya made a face, as if she'd already given this advice and Antonella hadn't listened. "It happened to me, with Elijah," said Aya with a shrug. "I used Vivalda as my way to clear my head but it did nothing."

"Train with the one who leaves you cloudy," said Vivalda. "If you can keep your wits about you while dueling Kol, no one can overpower you no matter what your partner recently said or did– and this goes for good things and bad things. Master your emotions and it will ensure that being in love does not weaken you."

Antonella wiggled her eyebrows. "Do you mean, dear friend, that loving someone makes you weak?"

"It can. Not because only weak people can care for others, but because caring for someone after having put up walls makes you vulnerable. You let your guard down in more ways than one without realizing it. It happens to the greatest of warriors. First, they are vicious, they make no mistakes, they kill all their enemies. Next, they have someone they care about, someone that can be used to hurt them, and they become sloppy. Overcome it, and no one will be able to hurt you. Conquer your fleeting moments of guilt and you will remain strong and be able to love without bounds. We need love to be whole but we cannot let it be our downfall, either."

Antonella tried to surprise her, hurling the staff at her head. Vivalda caught it and kicked her to the ground, holding the staff up and slamming it into her chest, what would've been a fatal blow if she had dared to let it pierce her skin.

"I said it happens to the greatest warriors," said Vivalda smugly. "But not to me. For I am not simply one of the greatest. I am the best."

"That high horse is looking taller than usual," chided Antonella as she got to her feet. "It's only a matter of time before your brothers make a fuss about it."

"And that's why I am here. Staying strong and keeping out of my family's drama."

"They are all as strong as you and they have fallen. Mikael, Finn..."

"They may have been older than me, they may have transitioned before me, but the siblings that remain are not stronger than me. Strength comes in many facets. Mikael was the strongest among us because he had a grip on his emotions. He didn't succumb to fear or pain, he was driven by anger and had nothing left he cared about that might make him vulnerable. I have modified his teachings because I do not wish to be loveless but even then I know how to approach a fight without being distracted. Elijah had Klaus's heart in the palm of his hand and he wavered. And while they've been doing god-knows-what throughout a thousand years, painting and adopting kids only to be terrible parental figures... I trained. I spent every waking moment looking at how I could make myself better. How I could be more precise and knowledgeable, how I could make weapons so perfect they would do the majority of my job for me. I am the strongest Original alive, I don't care that Nik is a hybrid, he cannot beat me because I've already grown accustomed to wolf venom, and I don't let him manipulate me."

Antonella let out an exasperated sigh. "There is white oak out there, Vivalda," she warned. "A stake that cannot be destroyed. The doppelgänger girl already has her hands on it. You are not as unkillable as you thought you were. Surely you realize that."