Elred strode through the halls of the Vertinso Mansion, her bare feet making no sound against the glinting floor. The spike-studded ceiling glared at her as it towered over in its domed expanse. It's as if it's threatening to start fracturing any time soon.
Her fists clenched by her sides. Her nerves and muscles felt like they've aged a hundred years in the past week. Which was bad since her mother could sense old age from a mile away.
Elred and Reeca were in the middle of hashing it out with the Herkalyn clan in Xixora after getting the nobles from Gingow to cooperate and spread word out to Eryphos and Loni as fast as they could when the summons from Abshire came. That required Elred to leave Reeca with the evacuation plans, rush back to Abshire, and meet her husband for a cup of morning cousa.
A ball of guilt dropped in Elred's stomach. She had meant to tell Savel about everything that's been going on over those past few days but she couldn't just get a proper timing with either her father hogging Savel or Reza demanding her attention. She couldn't just leave him purse his lips while forcing himself to understand her excuses and absences. It's her duty to acquaint him with the royal way of things so he could reign with her when she was crowned Helinfirth's Queen. He's already suffering under the clan's expectations. Elred didn't need to add to that with her secrets.
Still, she didn't hear Savel complain, not even once. It seemed to make the ball of guilt in her gut bigger and heavier. She strode through the mansion's grand corridors and past the carved head of Zagwyn, a mythological monster that looked like a fancy version of a pelgar with tail fit for a snake. She's nearing the court hall.
Elred sighed. It was all a mistake. The Sovereign had promised Elred assistance in transforming Helinfirth into a fortress like Peltra back when Elred asked for Synketros's help. It was for the benefit of the territory. Everything Elred has done up to this point was for Helinfirth.
That included following the Sovereign's whims and serving under Synketros' banner. Elred had endured all of it, even that journey to Cardina, believing that she would get her prize in the end of it all.
Well, what a fool had she been. It was a slap to her glamoured face. Not only had she not gotten what she wanted, she also had unwittingly put Helinfirth, a territory with no standing army and no protection, under Synketros's waiting axe. Elred had seen the size of the Sovereign's army. Just a third of that and they would raze Helinfirth to the ground in a matter of minutes.
In her fear of Helinfirth being powerless in a hypothetical war, she had brought a literal one to their doorstep. Elred stomped through the stairs, slogging her way towards the court hall at the Vertinso's second floor. Past fancy chandeliers and bustling servants, Elred gritted her teeth as she walked with a flimsy resolve rustling in her veins.
She had to stick it out until the end. Judgement in Pidmena's courts awaited her if Helinfirth fell because of her mistakes. She glared at the painted portraits of everyone who has had the chance to call themselves a Valkalin displayed in this particular corridor leading to the court hall.
Elred would not die here. Not without Savel hearing the truth from her. She would see Reza grow up. Her guilt would not atone itself.
If anything, the summon for a court hearing would give her a good way to tell the Royal Clan everything in one hash. She would need their influence and power if she's going to save the Glass Mountain and get her family out of the way.
A pair of floor to ceiling doors carved out of glass swung inward, revealing array upon array of seated nobles. Heads swung to her direction as a Court Marshall announced her presence. The Queen's eyes flashed from her place in the center of the room. Scarlet eyes common to all Valkalin offspring followed her as she strode towards the throne where her parents sat. As usual, her brother was absent with his chair beside her father remaining empty.
Elred narrowed her eyes. The number of chairs and relatives present seemed to be bigger than the last time she was here. A scoff shook her shoulders. Looks like the Queen brought the whole family.
She smoothed her skirts and dropped into a bow in front of the Queen. From the corner of her eye, she saw an imperious woman that made her raise an eyebrow. Whoa. Great Grandma was still alive. Great. Elred curled her mouth with distaste. No. Not great.
Her eyes swept through the crowd gathered around her today. All these people with Valkalin as their last names. All of them, cowards.
Pale faces enhanced by Helinfirth's altitude stared at her like stone masks. The amount of garish gowns and coats present in this room alone could have clothed the whole of the Disfavoreds. The versallis used for them could have established borders in Entobern or fed Rabante for a whole year.
Elred clenched her fists by her side as she stepped back once, following the common royal protocols in appearing at court. Was this what being a Queen like? Would she have to spend her days stuffed in a stiff corset with heavy necklaces bearing down her neck? If so, being exiled sounded appealing.
Ah. That's why the whole clan dragged their pampered asses out of their estates. Today might turn out into an heir lottery that could put one of their own offspring on the Helinfirth throne as the next Crown Princess.
"All rise for the Sovereign Heir to the Crest of Helinfirth, Crown Princess of the Valkalin Family, Bearer of the Abshire Rose," the Court Marshal announced by the doorway. His voice rang in thick waves around the room. "Pledge your blessings. All that transpired in this very room will be recorded in the Holy Annals as testament. Rio Zeral and Rena Anahel, may the gods guide your judgement."
A sliver of murmured blessings swept through the crowd. Elred kept her face straight, but her insides ran along with the common line uttered before a court proceeding. Highest Crintine, may you guide this soul to stay true in our courts.
As if Crintine really gave her guidance to anyone.
"Proceedings will begin," the Court Marshal said before disappearing into a separate room in the far side of the hall, no doubt listening to and recording everything that would transpire.
"Elred," her mother's voice would forever be an insult to Elred's ears. "We have noticed erratic behavior on your part."
"Oh, congratulations for not calling me sooner then," Elred crossed her arms against the Court's numerous rules against showing aggression in front of the monarchs. Well, screw it. For the past seventy-seven years she'd lived in this mansion, she had an earful of their long speeches about royal behavior and conduct. She's not going to have this conversation again, especially with the whole clan present.
Her mother's face was stone. "Is that how you treat your Queen? Do you know we, as a full Council, could revoke your title and your privileges?" she waved a hand in a vague direction. "Think about Reza. How do you think he will fare without this comfort? The lower world is harsher than you think."
As if they've been there. Elred gritted her teeth until her jaw throbbed. For all she knew, her mother wouldn't even know what a soul port was. Leave Reza out of this.
Elred scoffed. "Is that all you called me for? Mother, I'm not a child anymore. I can think for myself and my son," she narrowed her eyes. "The erratic behavior? Well, I'm sorry I haven't been able to throw a congratulatory party for a grandniece that happened to carve her first glass pot. I have other things to attend to like ruling this territory, for example."
A collective gasp rippled through the crowd. The Mashall's probably snickering inside his booth. Her grandmother coughed into a cloth as the Queen's lips pressed into a tin, pale line. Elred turned to the rest of her clan. "Unlike all of you, I actually am doing something for this kingdom," she put a hand to her chest. "I'm the one crawling on mud pits you wouldn't get within an inch near."
"Is that disrespect I'm hearing?" Elred's granduncle from her mother's side demanded. His blinded right eye was applied with at least twenty layers of glamour to get the iris back. What was his name again? "Child, you don't know what you're saying."
"And you do?" Elred stared him down even when she was paces away. "Last time I checked, you're not a god. Should we build a temple for you?"
"Elred!" her father, the King, stood up from his throne. "What are you doing?"
Ah, finally, a sensible question. Elred faced her father whose eyes reflected her scarlet ones. "If you're calling me and the whole clan here just to berate me for the way I'm acting, you're wasting your time," she stared up at the monarch's thrones. "We should be doing something important right now, such as getting our souls away from Helinfirth and seeking refuge in Narfalk."
Mutters rose in a wave as her relatives began talking all at once. From the throne, the Queen had the fan she always carried pressed to her lips. She's trying not to laugh. Elred clenched her jaw and her fists. She hated all of this.
"What's gotten into your head, child?" a voice belonging to a line of her aunts from her mother's side stood from her chair and pointed an accusing finger at Elred. "There is no way I'm leaving my precious forsaga pots!" her aunt scoffed. "Why Narfalk? That place is hooligan territory."
"Why would we be doing that?" her more logical uncle from her father's side inclined his head at the aunt. "This is not the purpose of the Council."
"Elred, honey, what have you been eating?" the Queen said with an amused tone. She waved her fan at the air around them for emphasis. "Helinfirth's in no danger! We're friends with every territory and race!"
About twenty statements disproving everything the Queen has just said popped in Elred's head, but she shook her head and held her tongue. "It's not a territory we're facing now. It's an ancient organization that I mistakenly served and was now going to attack the plateau if I don't give her what it wanted."
There, the whole clan burst out in laughter. A barrage of overlapping jeers bled into Elred's ears. "She has lost her mind!", "Like her brother?", "It runs in the family!"
Blood rushed to Elred's face. Should she just let these mindless fools die in the upcoming siege? It's a tough choice.
"Gods," a great grandmother wiped fake tears from her eyes. "What a story! I never heard a story so silly since Ariely told us about the golden mirrors."
Another round of laughter. Even her parents were joining in even though their eyes held no amusement. Elred clenched her fists. She opened her mouth to speak.
You defy me. A voice as sharp as a shard cut through the laughter. Everyone froze. Elred's blood dropped to her feet as fast as it rose to her head. What? The Sovereign never contacted her outside the shack she disappears to every night.
The Virtakios is in Lanteglos. Cardovia has won. Elred stepped back, blinking at the air where the voice manifested. Her eyes widened as she stepped back. That couldn't be. What happened to the men she sent? Where was Nyxis? If the Heiress got her hands on Xanthy, that only meant—
YOU FAILED ME.
Elred swept her hand in a large arc. "Everyone! Run! Take cover!" Explosions racked the mansion. A chandelier snapped off and shattered on the floor. Elred ducked her head under her arms as a window cracked before shattering in a booming crash. Panicked screams filled the hall.
"Elred, what is this?" the Queen stood up from her throne even with the shaking ground. Elred faced her, the first time she ever did.
"Get the whole clan out of here. I'll deal with this," Elred hissed, summoning a glass sword out of her hands. Her mother opened her mouth to say something but Elred extended her hands towards the floor. Her magic wrapped around the glass beneath the clan's feet. She willed it to disappear.
The Court's screams as they fell backwards straight into the caverns Elred had dug underneath Abshire were the first grace Helinfirth ever blessed her ears. Looks like it was a good idea to build an entrance right in the middle of the court hall. Let them figure out how to survive in Elred's bunkers.
When the last of the nobles disappeared through the opening, Elred swept her hand in another arc and the floor solidified. Another explosion shook the paintings off the wall. Glass snapped. Cracks spread. It's only a matter of time.
Elred snapped her fingers and the walls turned transparent under her magic. Outside, a mass of spells rained down at her Abshire. Had Reeca finished evacuating the other clans? She shook her head. Worry about them later. Evacuate Abshire first.
Elred spread her hands and wrapped her magic around the Vertinso's walls. The resounding crack was loud in her ears as the shards flew into her waiting palms. Magic surged into her soul as she stepped forward and gazed at the beginning chaos.
Her wings flashed into existence behind her. She wasn't going to hide. Not now or ever. With a cry, she launched herself into the air.
She's going to fight even if she's the only one left.