Shadow Queen (Gods & Dark Creatures Book 2)

Chapter 20

The days passed incredibly quickly and slowly at the same time. It seemed like an eternity since they had seen Hiraeth lay in ashes and since they had left Deira. But the new moon seemed years away. Day turned into night and night into day again. One day was replaced by another. Seconds lasted for hours and hours for weeks.

The commander took Ciaran as an assistant in the armory. Ciaran knew weapons and was very good in combat. He welcomed being back in a place that was close and familiar to him. He didn't enjoy the fight much with Amaya as she immediately unleashed her shadows on everyone. They tore their victims apart and left behind nothing but devastation. Now he could once again hold a sword and defeat his opponents.

"You are very good," the commander praised him. "I understand why Amaya had trouble defeating you."

"I was just lucky because she was distracted," argued Ciaran.

It took a few days before the commander decided to include Ciaran among the recruits in the royal army. Ciaran enjoyed being a soldier again. He always considered himself a better soldier than a prince, or rather a commander of the army, because he was not good at listening to orders. The commander passed him off as his sister's son, who had died in childbirth a long time ago. He was supposed to grow up in the south with his father and now he has arrived in the Golden City to join the royal army. Everyone believed it. No one questioned the commander's words. They didn't remember Ciaran from Deira. Little did they realize that it was the prince who had caused so much commotion. And that played to their advantage.

Amaya was glad that Ciaran had found his place in Amorite. He returned from training happy. Sometimes she felt like she was making him unhappy. She didn't understand why he stayed with her. But maybe it's love. We love even when it hurts.

She remained closed in the house most of the time. It was too dangerous to go out without someone recognizing her. However, this did not prevent her from sneaking through the city during the night, when the streets were almost deserted. She knew how to move through the dark unnoticed. She walked the streets and secret alleys she once knew so intimately. It seemed like just yesterday that she was that little girl running out of the palace to join the fun in the streets. There was always something to celebrate in the Golden City.

"You've been locked inside for long enough," Mathias told her once, holding out his hand. "It certainly won't hurt if we go for a little walk during the day. Nobody is looking for you here anyway.''

He handed her a warm cloak. He threw the hood over her head. It fell into her eyes.

"No one will recognize you this way," he said.

Ciaran and the commander were not at home, so they could not object. They went out into the streets of the city. The sky was without a single cloud. The sun was pleasantly warm in the winter weather. Many people were walking along the snow-strewn cobbled streets. Mathias and Amaya were completely ignored. They made their way through the crowd.

They went to the local market. The air was filled with the shouts of sellers trying to attract buyers. In the middle of the market, the fire eaters demonstrated their art. People stood around and watched the spectacle in amazement.

Amaya stared at the bracelet that looked like a rose wrapped around her arm with its thorns. She looked at it with a sparkle in her eyes. At that, she coldly turned away and continued on.

Mathias saw her looking at the bracelet. When he saw it, he remembered something. He decided to buy it for her.

"Amaya, wait," quietly called after her.

She turned to him.

"Give me your hand," he told her.

Amaya handed it to him without hesitation. He put that bracelet on her wrist.

"You didn't have to buy it," she told him with a smile.

"But I wanted to," he replied. "Do you remember how I used to bring you roses? One every day. And when they stopped growing, I went to the smith to forge you some roses."

"I remember," Amaya said. "There were so many that I had nowhere to put them."

"Now you have another one to your collection from me." he gave her a smile.

Amaya looked at the bracelet on her wrist. She looked at Mathias. "Thank you," she told him.

"I still think I'd be better for you than him," Mathias said as they walked along the river.

"Logically it goes without saying that you would be, Mathias," Amaya told him. "But maybe my heart doesn't need logic, but total chaos."

⸸

It was night. Ciaran slept peacefully. Amaya couldn't sleep. She climbed onto the roof of the house, lay down in a thin blanket of snow. It wasn't as cold as she'd expected. Maybe she was just so out of her mind that she couldn't feel the cold. She lay there watching the night skies. The ebony veil was decorated with millions of stars. A gentle breeze blew.

At that, Ciaran suddenly climbed up to her on the roof. It surprised her.

"Aren't you sleeping?" she wondered.

"I can't sleep without you by my side." he gave her a mischievous smile.

Amaya returned it to him, but it was not reflected in her eyes.

"So this is where you hide every night?" he asked her.

He sat down next to her. She was looking somewhere in space in the sky and he was looking at her.

"I just need a walk in the fresh air sometimes," she replied. "Do you like being among the soldiers again?"

"It would be more fun if you could be there with me. You are a formidable opponent, Amaya. It's too easy with them." he said.

"You just managed to insult the entire royal army right now." she laughed and this time her eyes sparkled as well, not just her lips.

A star has fallen.

"Look!" Amaya pointed to the heavens.

Ciaran caught sight of the bracelet on her wrist. He took her hand in his and looked at it carefully.

"That one is new," he noted inquisitively.

"Mathias gave it to me," she said.

"He's still trying to get you for himself?" a hint of jealousy echoed in his voice.

"Jealous?" Amaya smirked.

"Should I have a reason?" said Ciaran.

"You forget that I promised myself to you, dear Ciaran, not to him. My heart beats only for you," said Amaya.

"We seem to have a problem because neither of us is able to let the other go, even though we would be better off alone."

Amaya looked at Ciaran with concern in her eyes. "What are you trying to tell me, Ciaran? That you'll be better off without me?" she said with venom on her tongue.

"Rather you without me," he replied.

"When I wanted you to leave, you didn't. Don't you dare now," Amaya told him. "I will burn this whole world until I find you."

"And what will you do after you find me?" he smirked.

"I'll cut your heart out of your chest alive, which you gave me anyway, and I'll take it," she said.

"It's all yours," said Ciaran.

A star has fallen. And another and another. Amaya pulled Ciaran to her. She pointed to the sky.

"Watch," she said.

Ciaran turned his gaze from her to the starry sky. The stars were falling. They were beautiful. Their glowing tails cut through the darkness of the night. Dozens of stars fell behind each other like star rain. They looked at the heavenly spectacle in amazement.

"Always at this time of the year, a swarm of stars appears in the sky. For several nights the stars fall from their heights and are lost in the darkness." Amaya said, not taking her eyes off the beauty.

"What happens to them when they fall?" asked Ciaran. "Will they hit the ground?"

"No one knows," she replied. "They are perhaps a greater mystery than the gods themselves."