Master of None: A Wings of Fire fanfiction

28.

"It takes time," I hiss. "It's hard to do when I can't pull them back from the battlefield. You should know that, Whiteout."

"Of course," Whiteout says, staring out at the kingdom. "Of course."

***

I have laid the dining room out beautifully–I've brushed away the dust from the chandelier with the flick of my talon, cast the room in a silver-white glow from above. I've set five places–once for myself, one each for the leadership of the New Star.

I have prepared for an evening to outshine all others.

I don't need their help.

I don't.

I flick my wrist, the wall opening up to allow my guests to enter. Gingerly, my four worst enemies walk into the Great Hall, puny and useless against my might.  I stare into Gaze's eyes for a moment, zeroing in on her thoughts. Ever since the new body, it's been easier and easier to control my power. No longer do I feel as though being swept away. 

I hope we're making the right choice.

Gaze is thinking about her catastrophic love. She's thinking about her parents. She's thinking about the visions. The visions–

I flinch, backing away from her mind. 

I don't want to hear the visions. I straighten my posture, banishing even the thought from my mind.

"Lucidgaze. Epiphany. Dreamsinger. Brightmind. I've been awaiting you. Take a seat."

As I say it, an elaborate feast appears before them. They sit at their places, their names written on little cards, but none of them take a bite. I made sure the spread would be personally tantalizing to each one of them–Gaze's father's apple pie rests at the centre of the table; lamb prepared just like Epiphany remembers from her childhood; the croissants Brightmind used to get at the bakery; the soup Dreamsinger used to prepare for her sister on winter nights.

"Sharp-eyes, what is this? What are you doing?" Gaze asks, wrinkling her snout.

For a moment, I imagine tearing her eyes out. Imagine breaking her neck. Imagine–

Such acts of violence are senseless, I remind myself. Illogical. And she still has a use to me.

I'm not like Vigilance or Allknowing. I will not allow emotions to carry me away.

"I wanted to speak to you. Come on, eat. We may be enemies in ideology, but you are still dragons under my rule."

I'm better than all of you. You will be footnotes in the scrolls they will write about me one day. My legacy will reign immortal while yours will crumble.

"This is poisoned," Epiphany says. "This is definitely poisoned."

"If I wanted to kill you, there would be far less dramatic ways. Now, tell me--how's your little democracy going? It's an interesting idea, I must admit. I hadn't heard about that one in quite some time."

"Drop the act, Sharp-eyes," Gaze snaps. "We know you know everything. You don't need to be asking us these questions."

"We just had our first debate," Dreamsinger offers. 

"Mmm. Yes. I made the time to watch; it seemed like such a momentous occasion."

Dreamsinger reluctantly nibbles at one of the delicate little pastries on the table, and I know she's impressed.

That one, she's spent her whole life scrimping and saving and doing without. Her mind is constantly spinning through what's needed and what's not, upcoming responsibilities and ongoing headaches that have to be resolved. For someone who's not even fully grown, she has aged beyond her years. She's never known a life of only looking out for herself.