ODE TO THE END: A BALLAD OF BROTHERS

CHAPTER 35

MAVE

It was the height of day. Noon. Mave usually saved her finest wines for the evening hours, but today called for a long pour into one of her tallest glasses. A liquid gleam of well-aged amber filled the container with a sizzle and Mave set the foreign-born vintage aside. She often waited for the wine to settle before she went to sip it, but there would be no admiration today. Her trembling fingers would never allow the drink to still, so it shook in her grip as she chugged the expensive brandy all at once. Dropping the glass on her glistening mahogany desk where she often set it gently, the Caitlyn Queen fell into her large chair. The unfamiliar way she sunk into that upstanding seat caused it to buckle at the joints, but Mave did not have the mind to mend her ragged position. She poured another drink instead and filled her ears with buds that played her most tranquilizing tunes.

The woman sat on her phone, swiping through a selection of ambient sounds mixed with an array of heavy metal jams known only to her and her closest kin. The heavy metal would do today. The chaotic happenings outside of her oval office matched the screaming melodies well. Such synchronized feelings moved her. They helped the world make a bit more sense no matter how haphazard everything proved to be. So, with eyes closed and her wine in hand, Mave pulled her trembling fingers from the selection screen of her phone and escaped the moment by drowning herself in music. It was a tried-and-true strategy that carried her through her hardest days, but not today.

Mave attempted all the methods of holding her composure. The indulgence of liquor was typically all it took, but sound often added an extra layer of effectiveness when her wine failed her. Even now though, as she sat and sunk deeper into her modern throne, her fingers jittered along her desk divorced from the cadence of her music. Her heart would not calm, her mind would not sooth and her reflection in the wide window behind her desk revealed a woman unraveling.

It began with a single strand of hair pulling from the bun. Mave attempted to press the loose strand back in place by adjusting her clips, but she did not act with the steady hands she was known for. Her flickering motions caused her due to collapse, leaving a poor imitation of the militant standard Warden employed. Mave had failed, but still she struggled. Fixing her hair was the least she could do right now, but every attempt only resulted in a further loss of control. Before Mave knew, her pin had snapped beneath the weight of her aggressive hands and her well-pressed hair burst into a mess of natural kinks. As the Caitlyn Queen saw her reddish hair drape along her back, she clenched her fists and ground her teeth. Her dark eyes saw only ire the more she peered into the reflection. Oh, how she resembled her foolish daughter now.

"DAMN IT, NAOMI! DAMN IT, DAMN IT, DAMN IT," Mave shouted. Her hands slammed against her desk with each curse and the furniture bent inward every time. By the time Mave was calm enough to wipe her hair from her face, her desk had nearly been split down the middle. She ripped off her headphones soon after and stored the vintage and glass that had been blasted across the office – but not before pouring one last drink. She took a breath. It was a little easier after that brief rage, but her fingers still trembled. Even so, Mave clicked a button at the edge of her shattered desk and waited patiently as the furniture rang.

"Colonel Damian here."

"We will begin soon, Colonel. Prepare the prisoner for The Pit. Tell the agents I want an exclusive interrogation with him. Only a few agents present. The ones we discussed."

"Understood, Warden General," said The Colonel. Mave heard the man give the command to those in his company with gusto, but he did not end the call upon executing the order. The Colonel spoke again in a hushed tone. "So you're going through with it then?" Said the man behind the rank.

"We've already discussed this, Marcus. I cannot wait for Warden to rally," said Mave. "I need to rescue my daughter quickly, and, even though York has spent decades preparing, we simply do not have the technology to stop a menace like them."