The Tyrant's Queen

Darkness in Your Heart [Feya]

I don't know why I did it. Maybe it was to rid myself of the vestiges of my former husband, but by the time Emi entered my chambers, she was greeted with a scene of disarray. Whatever clothing or personal effects that had belonged to that man had been found and collected into a haphazard pile. I sat beside it, staring at it all with a look of antipathy.

"My Queen?"

The sound of Emi's voice seemed to snap me out of my stupor. I looked up at her, watching her look over the heap with confusion.

"I want this gone," I finally say as I motion to the pile. I push myself to my feet, smoothing the skirt of my dress before looking at the pile again. "The last thing I need is something in this room to upset the new king." The reasoning is sound, but I found that I couldn't care less for what Ruslan thought about what I kept.

Emi glances from the pile to me, "Are you sure, My Queen? There is nothing of your husband's that you would wish to keep?"

"I have the items he had gifted me during our marriage," I reply quickly. I look down at my hands, noting the ring on my finger. I fight the urge to pull it from my finger and toss it into the pile of belongings. "These were personal items and nothing to do with me."

"What would you like done with them?" Emi asks, moving to put down the small stack of papers she had been clutching.

I shake my head, "I'm not sure. Throw it away. Burn it. Divy it amongst the remaining staff. I leave it to you, Emi. I just don't want these items to be here anymore."

"Of course," Emi replies with a quick curtsy. Flustered she moves to the door and converses with the guard.

I turn away from it all and move to the windows. They're large, the sills deep enough for me to comfortably sit. It was something I had done many times before, losing myself to the view of the gardens below and the trees beyond the walls.

Sitting, I rest my head against the wall as I stare at the garden. Perhaps it was just my desire to be anywhere but this room, but I would give anything to wander the rows of flowers, to feel some sense of normalcy.

A pair of guards stroll through the garden, bearing Ruslan's insignia, and I frown slightly at seeing them. Their body language was tense, but their weapons remained sheathed. They moved with a purpose that I recognized. Ruslan had evidently set up patrols through new parts of the palace grounds. He had voiced his concerns of dissent.

My thoughts come to a sudden stop as a figure strolls into view. If they had appeared any sooner, I may have guessed the guards were escorting them, but by their lackadaisical walk, it was obvious they were viewing the garden. They seemed to glow in the sunlight, their white robes and hair almost blinding in the midday light.

The person paused at a collection of flowers, turning to look them over. I find myself leaning closer to the window, trying my hardest to see more of them. They reached out with a slender hand to trail their fingers along the petals of a flower. I caught the glint of gold on those fingers.

Without warning, the person suddenly snapped their attention towards the castle. I suck in a sharp breath at the realization they were looking directly at me. Gold eyes staring unblinkingly. Sharp features and pointed ears. This was no human.

I pull from the window with a soft gasp, startled as I feel a hand on my shoulder. I turn quickly, surprising Emi in the process.

"Is there something the matter, My Queen?"

I glance back towards the garden. The stranger was gone. "No," I say slowly. I move back to the window and scan the garden a little more thoroughly. It was as if the stranger had disappeared into thin air. "It's nothing."

Emi followed my gaze out the window. "I did bring what you requested, My Queen. The parchments and writing set."

"Do you know how to write, Emi?"

"Not well, My Queen."

"No matter," I sigh. I turn to Emi and motion for her to hand me the items. She hurries to the table she had set them on without another word. "Are you able to leave the palace grounds?"

There is a pause in Emi's movements, just slight enough to notice. "I have not been told that I was to remain within the palace," she explained slowly. She returned to my side and held out the objects.

"Thank you," I murmur. Swallowing my nerves, I meet Emi's curious stare. "I know you've only been in your position for a day, but I need to know that I can trust you."

Emi's eyes flick from my own to the papers in my hand. I see the moment when things seem to piece together in her thoughts. "You can trust me, My Queen. I swear."

"Good." I moved to the desk the previous king had kept in the room and sat. With the few papers splayed before me I take in a slow breath to steady my nerves. "I am going to be writing a letter to my parents and elder brother," I say slowly, looking at Emi as she stands beside me. "Even if I wasn't barred from leaving my chambers today, my every movement would be watched. I need you to get these letters out of the palace and into the hands of a courier."

"My Queen," Emi's voice drops to a whisper, "I will try my best, but what if your letters are intercepted?"

"They're expressing nothing more than my want to see them and that I am doing well," I reply. That much was true, but since I had been wed, I had never written them. The arrival of a letter would surely be a curiosity, more so when the news of the king's death and the usurping of the throne. I could hope that perhaps my brother had connections, something to help me escape what my life was quickly becoming. "I don't know how they will receive the news of the previous king's death, but I want them to know I am alive. They need to know that I survived."

Emi nods. "Then I will do everything possible to get your letters to a courier."