~Serana⚜️

Mira was acting strange. She was up all night and snapping at the smallest of things. The delegates had been kept busy elsewhere in the castle, leaving the queen to work on the matters at hand. They would have been sent back to their own cities if it wasn't so dangerous.

Over the past three days I learned why Mira, along with a great majority of the castle, was so on edge. Helton had managed to forge documents that resulted in trade cut off between Ocenalos and Skyris. The fact that the man disappeared the same day this was discovered did nothing to help the queens agitated state.

I was currently laying on a plush divan, my arms draped across one arm while I rest my head on them watching Mira at her desk. Blinking tiredly my wings were limp and laying on the ground to either side of the soft piece of furniture I was stretched over.

"Mira?" I call cautiously. She had yet to snap at me, but I didn't want to push my luck. "Mira?" I call again. This time she glances up at me in acknowledgement before returning her gaze to the papers littering her desk.

"What is it?" She ask when I don't start speaking right away.

Sighing I push myself up onto my knees. "You need to get some sleep. You're getting dark circles." I point out, purposely starring at the faint purple marks starting to show around her eyes.

"I know." She sighs rubbing her eyes as if that would get rid of the dark circles. "There's just too much to do." She rebukes going straight back into her work.

Huffing in frustration I slide off the divan and walk around the dark wooden desk. "You're no use if you fall asleep in your breakfast tomorrow." I grumble bending down to grab the legs of her chair and pull them back.

"Ah!" She shouts in surprise, accidentally hitting me with her wing.

Standing up straight again I barred her from moving back to the desk with my arm. She turned and glared up at me but I wasn't about to budge. Huffing in annoyance she relents and pushed me away so she can climb out of the chair.

"Happy?" She growls stalking toward the balcony.

"I'll be happy when I'm asleep." I snap back following her out of the room. Ovah was up and trotting after us once he saw that Mira was leaving. Even he was happy to turn in for the night.

Following her over the edge, we fly up between the two outer walls of the castle and head for the eastern tower. Once we landed Etria greeted us excitedly begging to be patted and shown attention.

Over the course of two weeks the vyx seemed to have grown a full four inches and gained a good twenty pounds of muscle. She was growing at such an alarming rate, we'd probably have to put her in the central garden by winter.

The young vyx seemed to have an affinity for the queen, a trait that seemed to be displayed by most animals she came into contact with. Unfortunately I tended to have the opposite effect, at least when it came to herbivores like the prel.

I didn't even bother to strip out of the simple shorts and wrap around top as I walked to the bed and promptly fell on it. Mira seemed to have the same sentiment, falling into the bed fully clothed in her similar attire.

"Did you talk with Evyo?" She ask trying to lighten the tension.

"Yeah. Couple days ago." I mumble into the mattress.

"What?" She ask, shifting farther onto the bed.

Lifting my head up to look at her. "Yeah. I talked to her a couple days ago." I repeat.

"Oh, good." She comments. Looking around the moonlit room for something else to distract herself with.

"You're terrible at apologies." I chuckle crawling over to half lay on top of her and bury my face in her neck.

"Who said I was trying to apologize?" She says shifting underneath me.

Despite her words there was no bite, which was only further shown when she wrapped her larger frame around me. She was asleep before I was, exhaustion finally catching up with her.

~💠~

It felt like we had been asleep for five minutes when Etria started howling at the top of her lungs and Ovah joined her with loud shrieks.

Jerking awake at the sudden noise I see Mira hovering over me in what could have easily been mistaken for a protective stance. I realized why she was hovering over me when I followed her gaze to the platform doors.

Bright orange and red light was pouring in from the outside. I forgot about my lack of sleep as adrenaline started pumping through my veins. Mira was to the open doors in a flash and I scrambled to follow her out onto the platform.

Reaching the railing I spot what was making the orange and red light. The entire northern wall of the city was ablaze.

"Serana go get your bow." Mira orders pushing me back in toward the room.

I don't hesitate to follow her orders and sprint for the bedside table the quiver and bow sat on. Grabbing the bow and belt I start fastening it around my waist as Mira secures the quiver to my wing.

"Your majesty!" The guards finally come through the door.

"What's going on?" Mira barks stepping away from me and heading straight for the door. Without giving it a second thought I half sprint to catch up.

"Rebels attacked the wall just before the morning shift was scheduled." One of the two women states.

"Katal has already sent a splint team to hold the rebels back. The blaze started about ten minutes ago, we're still not sure how they started it." The other one finished the debrief.

"We need to evacuate the north side of the city. If we can't get that fire out soon the whole wall will collapse and take down the buildings surrounding it." Mira starts. "One of you go to the west barracks and pull half their guard to help with the evacuation, the other go to the east and start getting water on that fire it must be contained. Do we have eyes on the south wall?" She fires orders in rapid succession marching through the castle.

"Yes, rebels were spotted trying to take advantage of the distraction, they've been forced into a retreat by archery squads." The first guard supplies.

"Good. Now go do what I told you."

With sharp nods they take off down another hall that lead to the outer wall.

"Where are we going?" I ask fighting to keep pace with the taller woman.

Service staff and guards alike were sprinting around the castle trying to get things in order.

"There is a protective bunker that was dug out under the castle. All the delegates will be taken there, and that is where you are going to stay." She answers never braking her stride.

"The skies I am." I protest dodging a guard as he bustles past.

"You're not trained in combat Serana. And besides having you down there with your bow will free at least two other guards that can help put out that fire." She snaps back rounding another corner.

Before I can protest further I hear a sharp yelp and look back to see Etria tailing Ovah as he follows us. "Damn it." I curse. Stopping for a moment I wait for the two to reach me before turning to follow Mira again.

She was some twenty feet away and looking thoroughly annoyed. I jog to catch up with her, Ovah and Etria right behind me.

I don't get a chance to argue again as she quickly leads me down until we reach a hall that was flowing with delegates and civilian personnel, all headed down a flight of stairs.

"Wait, we're actually going underground?!" I shout pulling on Mira's wing to stop her. Algrie was built on a landshelf made almost purely of trygmerzite. Tampering with the rock was almost always catastrophic, often resulting in the falling of a landshelf or a shift in height that could cause cracks to shatter the shelf. The Shattered Mountains was the result of such tampering from our earlier ancestors.

"It's perfectly safe." She assures placing her cool hands on my neck. "That chamber was dug from soil and has been there since Algrie was built." The sharp and near viciously angry woman from a moment ago was gone and I was looking up into concerned blue eyes.

"You're not staying down there." I voice my worries as best I can.

"I'm need up here." She confirms. "But I need for you to go down there. I have to know where you are." Her voice was strong and gained that same edge from earlier.

"Your majesty we need to shut the doors!" A guard yells from the top of the stairs.

"If you die, I'm going to kill you." I threaten grabbing her arms in an iron grip.

She smiles in return and strokes her thumbs across my neck before pulling back. "I'm too stubborn to die." She calls back.

Ovah turned and quickly followed her around the corner leaving me and Etria alone in the hallway. "Miss. Vynox." The guard shouts, forgoing the ruse we had been upholding for the past two weeks.

Spinning on my heel I head for the stairs with Etria close behind. As much as I hated to admit it, Mirandiona was right. I wasn't a trained fighter, there was nothing I could do.

Taking the steps two at a time I descend into the dark chamber, lit by a single torch. Once I passed the threshold they started pushing the heavy metal doors shut. Turning around I make sure Etria is on the right side of them.

"Vyx!" Someone shouts upon seeing the little green predator.

"Touch her and you'll get an arrow through the eye." I warn the entire room.

Etria, sensing their dislike for her cowered against my leg for comfort.

"Serana." A familiar voice calls. Looking up I see Nani pushing her way through the crowed of people to reach me.

Murmurs started up as people began to realize how similar I looked to the woman now standing in front of me, scanning my body for any injuries.

"Nani." I tried not to sound harsh as I pushed her hands away. "I'm fine, I was with the queen the whole way here." I comfort her, taking care not to reveal Mira's name to the room full of eager ears.

"What's going on? They haven't told us anything." She ask stepping back to give me space.

At this all eyes in the dark room seemed to turn to me, eager to hear what was happening. They might as well know. "The rebels set the north wall of the city on fire and tried to sneak over the south wall." I start. When loud murmurs started to ripple through the room I held my hands up for silence. "An archery squad forced the rebels at the south wall to retreat and the fire is working both ways in keeping the rebels at the north wall back." I had no idea if that was true but I would assume they weren't any more fire resistant than we were. "The guard is holding them back and the queen has already ordered the north districts be evacuated and water be taken to the fire to prevent as much structural damage as possible. That's all I know." I conclude.

The moment I stop speaking conversations start buzzing and people begin to theorize what will happen. Etria whines and nudges my leg, not happy with the sudden commotion.

Sitting on the ground right in front of the doors I let the vyx put her front paws in my lap but have to physically restrain her from burying her head in my stomach. My skin wasn't thick enough to handle the bone plates with their three sharp points on either side of her face.

She settles for resting her head on my leg and curling up under my wing. Her tail was wrapped around me and the black spikes jutting out were grazing my leg, leaving a weird sensation in their wake.

And that's how I stayed for the longest hours of my life.

~Mirandiona💎

"Send for more water!"

"Keep them out of the city!"

"Get a team to make a wind current to push back the fire! "

"We need another Archery squad over the east wall!"

On and on I barked order after order at the guards.

Once I was present Katal left for the north wall and I had sent Fyko to help with evacuation. It took nearly half an hour to force the rebels back and two more hours to put out the blaze.

The northern wall was in shambles and the fire had scorched the buildings within thirty to forty yards of the wall, and damaged several more yards beyond that. It would take weeks just to fix the wall, and that was my top priority.

But at the moment, with the threat currently at bay, I was darting between the walls of the castle searching for a place to enter from the air, Ovah following close behind me.

Finding an open wall I dive and hit the rail with a little too much force. Stumbling I quickly right myself and take off through the labyrinth toward the bunker. It still wasn't clear if any rebels had made it inside before we pushed them back.

I had my blades drawn and rounded each corner with caution passing a few guards in the midst of a sweep on my way. When I got to the hall and saw the guards still standing at the thick metal doors I relaxed a margin.

"Have there been any signs of rebels in the building?" I ask. I knew the answer was likely not, seeing as that was every other guards answer but it was better safe than sorry.

"No your majesty." They answered in practiced unison. The use of my title confirmed their response. If they were held at point and I could not see the attackers from my location they would have simply said no and left off my title. It was a good tactic. When I was younger I never understood why they were trained like this, but today proved to me more than anything that all their training was for a reason.

"General Katal was just here a moment ago and informed us that the castle has been thoroughly swept for any dangers and to open the safety bunker in twenty minutes to be curtain, your majesty." One states without prompting.

"How long ago was this?" I ask coming to a stop at the top of the staircase where they were posted.

"Thirteen minutes by my count, your majesty." The other answered.

Sighing I nod and move to lean against the wall next to the first guard, intending to wait out the remainder of the time. Those doors were hard to open and shut. If a rebel slipped past the first sweep and got down here while those doors were open, there was no way we could get them shut again before they reached us.

I counted out the full seven minutes before the guard that was counting finally moved to open the door.

"Stay posted." I ordered the guard I was standing next to. He obeyed without hesitation and stayed rooted to his spot keeping an eye on the hall. Ovah stayed as well keeping his unblinking gaze straight ahead.

I followed the other guard down the stairs and began unlatching the locks on our side as he banged a rhythm on the door. As he started unlatching I could hear the guards on the other side doing the same. After a couple minutes both sides were unlatched and I started pushing on my door as my companion pushed on his. The guards on the other side were pulling to help move the heavy doors.

After a minute of struggling we finally got the doors all the way open. The first thing I noticed was that most of the people inside seemed weary from anxiety. The second thing I noticed was a pair of black and red wings and bronze skin.

Serana hit me full force, nearly taking me off my feet. Staggering I can't help the laugh that bubbles up out of my chest as I return the hug. "I'm alright." I whisper into her hair. Before I can overthink it I turn my head and plant a soft kiss on the shell of her ear.

"Your majesty." One of the guards greets with sharp salute.

Pulling away from Serana I nod in acknowledgement. No more games then. I conclude.

"How much do they know?" I ask no one in particular.

"I told them what the guards told you." Serana answers. "In the rush it was kind of obvious who I was." She adds looking down.

I cup her cheek for a second to reassure her that it was fine before letting my hand slide down to grab hers. "Come on. There's a lot of work to do." I whisper.

Etria barks happily and runs past me. A loud squawk tells me where she went and has a smile pulling at the corners of my mouth. Serana chuckles at my side and starts heading up the stairs still firmly grasping my hand.

Once we were in the hallway and heading through the castle Serana speaks up again. "How much damage?" She ask leaning more into me than was strictly necessary.

Leaning just as far into her I let out a tiered sigh as way of answer. There was a lot of damage done and not enough time to fix it.

"You'll find a way around it." Serana says. She seemed to believe her words, and I wanted to. Skies did I want to believe her. But she didn't know just how bad it was. It was likely, no undoubted, that other cities were hit the same way Algrie was, and not all of them may have been able to hold off the rebel forces.

"I hope you're right." I breath.

We walked in silence the rest of the way to my private chamber where we had argued just hours before over my work.

Etria happily trotted over to my desk and started sniffing around while Ovah laid on his pallet in the corner. Walking in I let go of Serana's hand and softly shut the door.

Leaning my head against the wooden surface I let my wings sag under the weight bearing down on me. Warm hands pulled my hair to one side before finding their way around my waist, leaving an equally warm mouth pressed to the side of my neck.

The contact was soft and lingering forcing tension out of my body. I almost whined when her lips pulled away but sighed again when they reconnected higher up my neck. She repeated this process three more times until her lips pressed on the soft flesh just behind my jaw.

Pushing off the door I wait for her to pull back before turning around and leaning on the wooden surface once more. Reaching forward I pulled her into me and connected my own lips with the skin of her neck.

A purr rumbled deep in her chest at the returned affection. To kiss someone's neck was to show a deep affection that was only ever displayed by close friends or between mates. I wasn't sure which I wanted her to be at the moment, but as I kissed the pulsing vein at the base of her neck I was certainly willing to find out.

I'll burn to ashes before I let them take this from me. This kingdom was mine. This was mine. Wrapping my arms more firmly around her waist I plant a final kiss just below her ear, before pulling away to go to my desk and get started on a plan to repair the wall.