In the Kingdom
THE COLD WIND HOWLED AS IT SWEPT BETWEEN TWO TWIN PEAKS THAT SEPARATED THE WILD FOREST FROM THE SLEEPING KINGDOM. It spiraled its way through the stone towers and brick buildings before finally caressing the side of the massive castle. Then, it swirled away, fading back into the depths of the frozen forest.
Anastasia shivered from the wind as she shut an open window. She latched it closed before hurrying back to where the Queen was lying in bed.
The Queen rasped, "if she's of the wind house, she'll need it opened," to Anastasia as she sat down.
"Yes, but if she's of flames, she'll need it warm," the midwife responded, gesturing to the crackling fireplace.
The Queen grimaced, and turned away from the fire. Anastasia could not help but agree with the Waves Queen; the House of Flames was filled with the most horrible of people, each one violent and cruel. They were the most destructive House of the four.
But, although she hated them, Anastasia was silently wishing for the new Queen to be a Flame. The last monarch that the kingdom had hailing from the House of Flames ruled over 100 years ago. Since then, nothing had flourished quite the same as it had under the rule of Queen Blaithe. And Anastasia knew that the kingdom needed a strong Queen desperately.
The Queen gasped in pain, and shut her watering eyes. But the young midwife knew the tears weren't from pain, but from the tendency of every Wave to shed water.
Anastasia turned her attention away from the Queen, and chopped up a small pile of herbs, and slid them into a golden goblet filled with water. Silently, she handed it to the Queen to drink. The older woman accepted it. Even in labor, she was poised and graceful in a way Anastasia could only hope to be. She made up for her lack of strength in her flawless mask of dignity.
The Queen's body shuddered violently, and the woman whimpered. The young midwife was on her feet in an instant. She knocked twice on the heavy door separating the Queen's chambers from the rest of the castle before dashing over the bedside.
Anastasia heard the door behind her creak open, and the familiar footsteps of Hazel, a much more experienced midwife than she was, walked towards the Queen. The younger girl kept her head down, and took the Queen's hand into her own. She rubbed her thumb in a circular motion on the soft backside of the hand.
The birth of Queens was much different than the birth of normal human. The Queen's entire body fought it off; it did not want to give up the power in which the newborn Queen carried. As a member of the Earth house, Anastasia was there to help the Queen with the pain.
Minutes passed. Anastasia did not dare look over her shoulder, towards Hazel. Though the Queen's whimpers of pains (the herbs had muffled the extremity of it) continued, the lack of a baby crying told her that the girl had not yet been born.
The flames in the fireplace had grown considerably smaller by the time a cry pierced the cold night air. Anastasia smiled to herself, and stood up. She pushed the wooden chair in which she had sat back, and circled to the bottom of the bed. Hazel was cleaning off a small baby girl, and wrapping her in a blanket. Without smiling, she thrust the now swaddled child out to Anastasia.
The baby weakly reached out with small fists, grabbing at air. The young midwife laughed softly.
"Anastasia," Hazel barked sharply. "There's another one."
Anastasia turned, careful to move slowly. "Another what?"
"Baby."
Frowning, Anastasia cradled the small girl in her arms. "What? There hasn't been twin Queens since..."
"I know!" said Hazel, glaring at the younger girl. "Let's just pray there's only the two."
Anastasia nodded solemnly, knowing all too well what would happen if there were more. The kingdom could only hold four Queens in it, a limit that had not been surpassed for 300 years. If there were more than four, one would die. Their combined power was too much.
It wasn't until half an later that Hazel spoke again. Two other baby girls had been birthed after the first, each one swaddled carefully. And, by the sound of it, another one was coming.
Anastasia was tense as she whispered a lullaby to the three babies. Due to her powers as a member of the House of Earth, the girls were each able to stay alive despite the lack of food or real warmth.
"Anastasia," Hazel's voice cracked, "there's another."
Anastasia stopped mid-song. "Then that means-"
"I know," the Queen's regal voice interrupted. Both midwifes jumped. "I am going to die."
"Your majesty," Hazel murmured, "if there were anything that I could do-"
"You could kill one of the babies," the Queen said coldly. Fear crept like ice into Anastasia's heart, but she did not dare speak a word.
"But, I would never order that," the Queen said, her breathing labored. "I have names for them. For each House. Nova for Flames, Callisto for Wind, Selena for Waves, and Cressida for Earth." Her words were rushed together as she struggled to push the last baby out, but there was no hint of pain. The herbs and her determination mixed together to override the hurt. "If there are four girls, just decide their names from those four, I have no preference."
Her body convulsed, and Hazel inhaled sharply. The Queen closed her bright blue eyes.
"The Queentide," she said weakly. "It will destroy them all, and I won't be there to guide them."
"One will survive," Anastasia reminded her gently.
But the Queen shook her head. "They will all be destroyed. Killing isn't easy."
Her eyes opened wide, and her mouth separated into an "o" shape. The Queen collapsed back onto the pillows, and did not move again. A cry filled the air.
Horrified, Anastasia reached out, as if to touch the still Queen.
"She's dead," Hazel said roughly. "Help me with the babies."
Dragging her gaze away from the Queen, she went to Hazel's side. The older woman was washing the newest child carefully while the baby howled at the top of her lungs. Hazel winced, and handed her to Anastasia.
"Have you opened their eyes yet?" Hazel asked while shuffling over to where the three other girls laid.
"No," the younger midwife responded, her voice weak and shaky. "There's supposed to be a ceremony..."
"There'll be no ceremony now. Four baby Queens...there's never been such a thing. No, open the eyes now, and spread the word. Here," Hazel moved aside, creating space for Anastasia, "you do it."
The young woman paused. "Me? But it's the Queens, and I'm just a new midwife!"
Hazel rolled her eyes, and walked to the door. "I must alert the Council of the Queen's passing, and tell them of our situation. It's an honor to open the eyes of the Queen."
With that, she left.
Timidly, scared that Hazel would come back and change her mind, Anastasia reached a shaky hand out towards the eldest girl. The baby Queen squirmed at her touch, and the midwifed gently laughed. She carefully peeled back the girl's eyelids, revealing the Queen's eyes.
The result was immediate. Anastasia felt as if she had been jerked off her feet. Not breaking eye contact, she saw images flood through her mind.
A dagger stabbing through pale flesh, slicing it open to reveal the deep crimson of blood. The wings of a falcon. A shining blue orb on a silver staff. Howling wind over a night sky. A full moon. A tornado swirling over the tallest tower in the kingdom. A dark-skinned girl being dragged in chains. A silver crown stained with blood. A pale girl with near-white hair and black eyes standing over a fallen body, dagger in hand.
The images disappeared, and Anastasia was thrown back into her own body. She couldn't breathe.
With a hand on her throat, she stepped back from the Queen, who was now innocently gurgling and blinking her dark eyes. But Anastasia had seen what she would do; what she would become.
She wanted to leave the room, let someone else open the other eyes. Let someone else see.
The flames in the fireplace flickered out, casting the room in near darkness. The only light was a candle, and that only gave a dim light. It cast an eerie glow on the four Queens.
Anastasia steeled her nerves and, before she could convince herself not to, reached out for the second eldest.
A red rose with thorns spiking from it. A pair of bronze eyes staring. A howling wolf. Long and curly blond hair flying behind a running girl. A tanned hand holding a wooden bow while the other was nocking an arrow. Bared teeth. Blood-stained hands fiddling with the hem of a white dress. A wall of thorns and spiky branches surrounding a village. Feet stained with dirt. A flock of birds flying away. A metal crown with flowers and thorns wrapped around the spires.
"She's of the Earth House," Anastasia murmured once it was over. "Like me."
Giving the girl a warm smile, a courtesy she had not offered towards the first girl, she moved on to the next baby.
A tall waterfall spilling sapphire water. A boy standing in the water, reaching out a hand. Dark hair spilling down a girl's back. A necklace with a large blue stone. A long silver sword stained with blood. A leopard's claws. The boy looking over his shoulder as he was dragged away in chains. A silver crown hemmed with small blue stones. A strong rainstorm. Silver eyes opened wide in surprise. A flooded village.
"Waves," Anastasia said, feeling the need to tell the girl. "Just like your mother."
There was one Queen left, and she was the one who had caused the death of the Queen. Apprehensively, Anastasia forced herself to open the final pair of eyes.
Flames brighter and hotter than the Sun. Golden eyes surveying a battlefield. A gold crown with red stones. An array of weapons littered around the floor. A beautiful red-haired girl dancing alone in a crowded room, being watched by those golden eyes. A burning village. The red-haired girl leaned in closer to the one with golden eyes and dark hair, and pressed her lips against the Queen's. A hand stroking a wall, covering it with blood. Sparks raining down over the castle.
"Wind, Waves, Earth, and Flame," Anastasia said right as Hazel opened the door. "One of each."
The other woman gasped. "But that has never happened before! What did you see?"
Anastasia told her every piece of her visions. She repeated them to the Council several times before they were satisfied. Afterwards, she was instantly relieved as her position of a midwife, and was sent back to the House of Earth with nothing to show for it but startling memories.
But back in the castle, four young Queens were growing up. They stayed together there until they were five years old. Then, Callisto, Selena, Cressida, and Nova were each taken to their own House.
They were not to see each other until the Queentide, which would occur fifteen years later. Until then, they would train to win.
Train to kill.