The Flame of Wrath (17 page)

             
“Fear what?” Aurea's heart beat wildly inside her stomach. Her hatred of the druids manifested itself within the pupils of her flaming eyes.

             
“Wrath.”

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              She raced through the halls of the palace with a quest spiriting her onward. Her flaxen curls flashed in the light as a banner to her cause. She threw her hands forward then shoved the massive doors apart.

             
As she entered the room breathlessly, her azure eyes were brightly shining. She smiled slowly with a fierce hunger stoking her flames.

             
The royal Knights clamored to their feet. The four present stood with tense erectness, awaiting orders from a Queen who had been within the throes of self-imposed isolation for weeks. Her exile had been a fearful time in which many feared that her grief over Autumn had caused her to lose her mind. The glint in her eyes made them further wonder as to whether that theory was true or if it prefaced something far more ominous.

             
Aurea confidently circled her Knights with her hands smoothing her hair into place. “My dutiful Knights,” she purred. She stopped then took a seat beneath a glorious painting of the Pyrosian kingdom.

             
In that moment, Aurea appeared so small. She might have been the child who ruled the world, but her eyes were not the eyes of a child. Nor was the sensuality with which she moved.

             
Leisurely, she crossed her legs. She sat in silence for a moment to survey her pensive children of the sword.

             
“You are princes and princesses in my eyes,” she said. “I have always known this.”

             
The siblings of Shadow Reign swelled with pride while Angelos IV shrank into himself, feeling very wary of the honey-laden words leaving Aurea's sweet lips.

             
“Today I make this far more than sentiment. Today it is my decree.”

             
Gasps robbed the room of precious air for a lingering instant. Aurea reveled in their surprise, but not nearly as much as she savored the undying gratitude she saw present within their eyes. She had bestowed a gift upon them and now they were eternally indebted to her.

             
Olivia lifted her hand as if she yearned to reach out for her Queen, but stopped. Embarrassed, she lowered her head. Her chest wriggled with her disappointment in herself for presuming to do something so familiar with her sovereign.

             
Having easily read the youngest sibling's intentions, Aurea released her loose grasp of the chair's arm. She lifted her hand only slightly, exposing the softness of her palm. Her eyes bid the beautiful young woman forward.

             
Always, Olivia had worn her timid shyness like her very skin. Yet it fell away from her as a forgotten husk. She left it where once she had stood as she took steps forward to kneel at Aurea's feet. Olivia closed her eyes with a wavering breath. Aurea's hand moved to rest atop her head. Olivia could feel skilled fingers lost within her hair. She could feel the silken softness of Aurea’s palm touching itself warmly to her forehead.

             
For Aurea, Olivia had come as a dog summoned to its master. She was aware of her tamed reaction to the young Queen. It both intrigued her and baffled her. What spell had Aurea cast? What was the power she wielded which could inspire such blind devotion?

             
As Queen Aurea gazed around the room, exchanging stares with all those present, she captivated their souls. “I believe,” she voiced melodically, “that now is the time for all of Pyros to know the wealth of our people's existence. Pyros has been blessed for so many years. A sovereign alone should not enjoy the spoils. We should all be so rich.”

             
Galen smiled with a genuine warmth. “Our Queen is a loving ruler,” he said.

             
Aurea smiled with an air of humility. She shook her head. “No, I'm merely a shepherd attempting to guide my charges to the lushness on the horizon.” Her eyes deepened to the earnest embodiment of what truth must be. They were a blue so clear that one might easily envision peering out to the ocean and staring deeply into the splendors of the sea. “There is so much more we can obtain, so much good we as the nobility of this land can do for our people if we only venture to try.”

             
Markus spoke in a low voice. He asked the question which plagued the minds of his peers. “What is it that our Lady wishes?”

             
“I wish to rule with virtue,” Aurea answered. “I wish to bring Light to my people.”

             
Markus frowned slightly, unsure that he understood. Was this a result of her grief? Was Aurea hoping to garner favor with the cosmos by performing such noble deeds? Did she believe that those things might somehow restore Autumn to her?

             
The Queen favored him with a patient smile. “Don't fret, Markus. It will all become clear in time, but for now we must prepare. Our land is about to undergo its greatest evolution and you shall all be the honored Knights to aid in our prosperity.” She watched over them with a slightly maternal air. “My Knights of Virtue.”

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Every soul possessing magic or the gift of sight had come to feel a sense of dread. They had come to fear the great power they knew was gaining in strength within their enemy across the End of the World. Lucidia had yet to place a face to the ominous darkness it felt coming from Pyros, but it recoiled from its likeness nonetheless. While lost in their revulsion for its very life, they looked to their Queen, the Vessel to the Dragon, to guide them.

It was because of her that the world of sorcery had all gathered in a circle of black cloaks. The seers gasped at the sudden arrival of the beautiful Sisterhood of Tears. The order appeared within the growl of thunder on a clear winter morning. Some materialized within the solidifying of shadows while others took shape after ravens had collided together into the staggering beauty of a woman in black. However they came to be, it was clear that they radiated with magical strength.

The Sisters upturned their faces to the sky. Then with an ancient wisdom in their purpose, they cast their eerie song to the morning. The sun reflected almost blindingly against the white drifts of snow as they gave their melodious summons for a sign which would guide them.

As the Sisters sang, the Lucidian sorcerers and sorceresses could only lower their head in reverence. They prayed for the future they felt so strongly was in danger.

The Lucidian Queen was masked from the world. She stood apart from the others with her cloak pouting heavily around her lowered head. She released her voice as a quiet rasp. It curled out into the air as curls of heated breath against the frigid air. “Deliver us from false light.”

***************

As the news of Aurea's kindness swept across the land, she became beloved in a way no Dragon Child before her had ever been loved. She was cherished within her people's eyes. In their eyes, with each sweet new day, Aurea had caused the rivers to run with milk and honey while she inspired gold pieces to fall as shimmering rays of light from the sun.

Prosperity touched everyone beneath Aurea's reign. It was not merely the nobles of the land. The wealth trickled down the social ladder to grace even the humble villager.

Today had been another such day. The sun had been generous to the earth, but when the cool approach of dusk came, it was welcomed as a gentle friend. The air was filled with sweetness and something magical. The nobles of Pyros had flocked to the palace in droves.

In a ball far surpassing the grandeur of her coronation ball, Queen Aurea had summoned the nobles to her once more. She made Kings and Queens of the High Lords and the Grand Femmes. The sons and daughters of those nobles were then made Princes and Princesses. Others still, earned the elevated esteem of newly-appointed High Lord and Grand Femme. There were newly made Dukes and Earls, grateful Barons and Baronesses. Truly the radiance of the royal court had never shined so brightly. And yet, no jewel among this aristocratic trove could match the beauty that was their greatest treasure.

             
Aurea had done what no Dragon Child before her had ever dared to dream. She shed the image of Queen and evolved to a new status. From that day hence, she would be known as Aurea, Daughter of the Dragon, and mighty Empress to all Pyros.

             
She stood before them, basking in their shock. It was mixed with jubilation and the apprehensive fear which accompanies any sweeping change.

             
Then a voice gurgled out from muddled emotions. “Long live the Empress,” it said.

             
Another voice shook from its stunned silence. “Hail the Empress!”

             
Soon voices rose up in a medley of sound. All united in their patriotism despite their own personal doubts surrounding the Dragon Child's seizing more power. Was it truly wise for any one person to have so much power? In some regards, a king or a queen was forced to answer to their people, but as Empress, Aurea had written out the ancient laws, creating new ones in their stead.

             
Aurea smiled beautifully. Its glorious life soothed the nobles as if to dispel whatever thoughts were racing throughout their minds. Broadly, she motioned her hands. At her command servants carried glistening trays of chalices into the room.

             
Wine was merrily passed throughout the ballroom while joyous music flooded the air. Aurea toasted to her people. She drank with them. She ate with them, but always she conducted herself as the consummate hostess. She provided the noblemen and noblewomen with their every desire. No one request was left unfulfilled for she knew their wants before the Lords and Ladies could even ask. Her Knights had seen to that. They had discreetly learned of each man and woman's secret lives, creating detailed profiles on each person within the room. It had proven to be a wonderful tool on this night of decadence.

             
Even as the night refused to wane around them, Aurea slipped away. She summoned the highest ranking officials from the most powerful provinces to join her inside her throne room.

             
As the land's most powerful people came to gather inside the throne room, they eyed the other aristocracy and their entourages. A noticeable reality wafted throughout the room. On a night of such historic importance there had been a profound absence of three very prominent elements. Firstly, they observed the absence of King Angelos III, a respected former High Lord. Secondly, the people mourned the presence of the newly made Grand Femme of Angels, Princess Autumn. Lastly, the gossiping nobles could not help but comment in hushed voices about the overwhelming lack of druids. Every event was blessed by the presence of at least one druid, but on this night of merriment there were none. Where were the honored clergymen? Where was their wise Soren?

             
The doors sealed with a dire sense of finality behind the affluent members of court. Once their privacy had been assured, a voice rose up to claim the room.

             
“It grieves me to say this,” the Empress spoke sadly, “but our beloved druids are suspected of treason.”

             
Loud gasps filled the air.

             
Within the noble majesty of the throne room, Aurea sat as a regal statue of cool polished marble and gold. “I know your surprise,” she said, “as it was my own when I learned of this fact, but it is true. The druids have plotted against your Empress and now they must be sought out for questioning.”

             
“Forgive my boldness,” a voice began respectfully, “but I don't believe that the druids would commit treasonous acts. It's against their nature. They're sworn to protect the Dragon and Her word as well as show unwavering loyalty to Her Child.”

             
Aurea allowed her eyes to fall upon the enticing woman who had spoken.

             
The Province of Black Flame had been given its name in honor of the Dragon Child who had been born of their lands with flames which mirrored the blackest night.

             
The woman, who had been newly-named Queen of its borders, stood as a beautiful reminder of times past. She wore the color black about her womanly body as if it were an extension of her persona. Her hair was long. Its ebony length ended just between the blades of proud shoulders.

             
With her toga worn over her left shoulder, her right shoulder and arm were enticingly naked. It revealed the creamy caramel of her soft skin. Her shapely legs were short to match her average height, but they stood at the ready in a warrior’s stance.

             
As she stood near a stone statue of a dragon with outstretched wings, her hooked nose betrayed the nobility of the blood flowing through her veins. She was Echo. She also stood as a friend to Angels. Their clans had been allied for centuries as brothers.