~Mirandiona💎

It took two days but the convoy had been put together and a team of guards was assembled but we still needed someone who could lead the team around the shelves.

"I don't see why I can't do it." Myka spoke up for the fifth time, bewildered by the fact I wouldn't let her lead the convoy into Kenysiz.

Sighing I turn my glare on her again. "I don't trust you. Pardon me for not leaping at the opportunity to put my faith in someone who's tried to kill me." I snap, by this point my patience had long since run out.

The other woman snapped her mouth shut after that. Looking around at the others gathered in my office, I silently asked for any other alternatives.

Katal lifted her arm to grab attention before speaking. "We could just go without a guide. We have the city maps and patrol routes." She suggested.

Sighing I shake my head in rebuttal. "That's too risky, there's no guaranty that the guards will follow the plans and routes exactly, highly implausible actually. The convoy doesn't go without a guide to lead them through the city. We have to make sure everything is evenly distributed and go without being noticed." I state firmly.

I glance around the room again hoping for yet another suggestion that would work. "What about the merchants?" Fyko speaks up. "They're already getting in and distributing food, maybe we can get one that will help up." He offers.

It wasn't a bad idea but it still had too many variables for my liking. "That's just as risky, if not more so. We don't know who's allied with the rebels and there's no way to prevent them from flaking out and leaving the convoy stranded." I shot the idea down. "Does anyone else have an idea?" I prompt looking at each person for any alternatives than the ones already suggested.

"I could go." A soft voice speaks up from the far side of the room. Looking around Avar I see Evyo standing by the door, nearly blending into the wall with the way she had shrunken into the shadows. "It's been a long time since I was in Kenysiz but I still remember the streets and where the guards would and wouldn't go." She adds stepping away from the wall and towards the rest of the group.

"No." Serana speaks up from where she sat on the corner of my desk. "Helton knows what you look like, it's too dangerous." She shakes her head vehemently.

"Hold on now." Avar raised his hands to pacify Serana before she could get worked up. "That's actually not a bad idea. The chances of her running into Helton in the streets are next to none. Not only that but her wings were a different color and pattern from the dye when he saw her so he's not likely to recognize her wings, plus she should know where all of the major community centers are. Evyo would be a perfect candidate." He argued in favor of Evyo's offer.

"Are you sure you're willing to do this?" I asked, not wanting the woman to go anymore than Serana did, but she was looking like the only option.

She gave a firm nod in response. "I'm sure, your majesty." She affirms sternly.

Biting my teeth together just enough to feel pressure I nod my approval of her choice.

"If you're going then so am I." Serana speaks up.

"No you're not!" Evyo and I echo at the same time.

Serana scowls and glares at the both of us. "I can fly in tight spaces better than any one in Algrie, including the guard. And I'm a damn good shot, everyone in this room knows that. Avar said it himself, there's little to no chance we'll run into Helton so I shouldn't be recognized either." She makes her own points to argue going with the convoy.

"There's no reason for you to go." I rebuff, glaring back at her.

"I can help guard the convoy, I've gotten pretty good at hand to hand combat since I've been training, and I'll blend better with my accent actually being from the Shattered Mounts." She revalidates her stance.

"Helton's not the only one who saw you. There were plenty of guards and nobles with him that are sure to recognize you." I was nearly shouting as I stood up with enough force to send my chair tumbling backwards. "You're not going and that's final." I state when she opens her mouth ready to argue again.

The look of shock that crossed her face made my chest clench with guilt at the tone I'd taken. Clamping my jaw shut I keep my features hard and unmoving so she wouldn't see how upset I was.

Serana's glare turns cold as she pulls her shoulders back and squares her stance. "Am I to be locked in a room until the convoy leaves, your majesty?" Her tone was as cold and biting as a midwinter hail.

"I'm not doing this because I don't think you can handle yourself." I bite back. She has to see the reason she can't go. Isn't it obvious? "If he gets his hands on you, he's going to use you to get to me. I can't let you go." I try to explain.

Serana's expression didn't waver. "But you'll let my nani go and he can capture her?" She snarls back.

"Serana!" Evyo shouts in equal parts shock and outrage. "I offered!" She reminds her.

Serana's enraged glare turns on her nani. "So did I!" She shouts back, the anger in her voice was enough to make my head hurt from the pressure building up just behind my eyes.

"That's different!" Evyo's voice was just as loud and twice as hard. "I have a purpose to go, a necessary reason. You do not."

Serana opened her mouth to interject but was swiftly cut off by her mother's raised hand. "Uh-uh-uh! I'm not finish." She interrupts her daughter before she can speak. "Whether you like it or not, your life is far more valuable than mine. And I refuse to let you anywhere near the fighting or so help me I will chain you down myself!" She threatens with just enough steel in her voice to make me believe she actually would.

Serana still looked as unhappy as ever but she didn't seem as angry. "My life is no more important than yours. They are of equal value." The anger and frustration that had been swelling up just behind my temples vanished at the sound of Serana's voice just a touch too thick with emotion.

"No sweetheart. Not to me they aren't." Evyo was quieter now, the sound of tears trying to force their way to the surface just as evident in her voice. "And you can't barter with your life like you've done before." Her tone left no room for arguing.

I was grateful to the elder woman for stepping in. If there was one person who could really tell Serana no it was her nani; anyone else and she'd try to argue her way through.

Serana shook her head and turned away to look at the balcony, giving me a clear profile of her face. My heart twisted at the tears pooling in the corners of her eyes as she stubbornly refused to let them fall.

I apparently wasn't the only one affected by her tears as Treale stepped forward. "Serana it's for the best-" He starts but isn't able to finish as she burst into action.

Before anyone can react Serana is across the room and throwing the balcony doors open with such force they bang and rattle violently in her wake. In a blur of black and red she's taking off leaving us in stunned silence.

I moved to follow her but am pulled short by a rough calloused hand on my shoulder. Turning to look at who stopped my I see Treale shaking his head gently. "If you try to talk to her now she's only going to get angry again and say something she'll regret later." He whispers solemnly. "Just give her some time to calm down." He advises, letting his hand slip from my shoulder.

Letting out a shaky sigh my wings drop just a hair as I turn back to the rest of the room's occupants. "Evyo you should get some rest, the convoy leaves at sunrise. Katal, Avar, make sure everything is accounted for and read and that all the guards are prepared for the journey and that the rout has been made. The rest of you are dismissed." I flicked a wing in dismissal as I turned my back on them to face the maps hanging on the wall behind me.

There was a stuttered 'yes your majesty' from a few of them but I didn't bother to pay attention.

I waited until I heard the door clicked shut and glanced over my wing to ensure that they were all gone before I let myself fall back against my desk from the weight pressing down on my chest.

Tears welled up in my eyes for no reason other than the stress and emotion coursing through my veins making my head pound like a thousand beating wings against the inside of my skull. Shutting my eyes I see Helton's face, I see a carriage, and I see the silhouettes of the guards flanking it dropping like flies as shadows dive from above and pick hem off with falling arrows.

No one had survived the attack on my parents convoy but the evidence of the battle painted a clear enough picture to get a good idea of what happened. I still remembered the nightmares I had of faceless people shooting my parents with a dozen arrows, stabbing Zazi through with their swords. I'd tried hard not to think about it, not to give a face to the monsters in my nightmare. But now that's all I could see, Helton standing at the gates of the castle, with Serana's wings mounted above him in victory and her body at his feet.

I can't. The tears I'd been fighting to hold back spilled over with a vengeance as my shoulders quaked and my body was wracked with sobs that made my stomach hurt and my throat feel raw and clamy. I can't.

Sliding down the desk I let my wings sprawl haphazardly to either side as I broke down at the memory of my parents, at the image of what was done to them, at the image of what would be done to Serana if he got his hands on her to.

"I can't." I mumbled to myself through my tears. "I can't. I can't. I can't." I wasn't sure who I was talking to, there was no one there to listen.

~💠~

My wings pinched painfully drawing my attention to their awkward angle as I pushed myself back up into a sitting position. I fell asleep. I realize as I look out towards the balcony to see that night had already fallen.

Pushing myself up off the floor I stumble to my feet and make my way to the doors still slung open from when Serana had thrown them open. I have to go to bed.

I didn't have enough strength to jump up on the rail so I sat against it and threw my legs over so I could fall into a glide.

Circling up around the castle I make my way to the garden outside my room. I tried landing on the platform but missed the mark and ended up tumbling to the ground with a hard thud.

Skies alight! I grit my teeth against the pain in my wing. I'm too tired for this shit. I groan as I roll back over and push myself to my feet. That's gonna bruise tomorrow. I subconsciously note as I make my way to the bedroom.

My graceless landing must have woken Ovah as I see his eyes gleaming from inside as he stares out the window from his chair. As I push the door open the gryph lays his head back down and promptly ignores me.

I've trudged halfway to the bed before I spot the body laying in it. Waking up a bit more I step more gingerly towards the side of the bed and reach down to brush her hair out of her face.

She's been crying. I note as I catch sight of the tear tracks on her still blotchy and swollen cheeks.

Running my thumb across her cheek I wipe away the track and gently stroke the swollen and puffy skin around her eyes.

Pulling back before I woke her up I make my way to the other side of the bed and stiffly strip before climbing in the bed myself. Sliding across the mattress I press my body up against Serana's and wrap my arms and wings around her. Pulling her against me I even manage to get underneath her body and fully hug her from behind.

I suck in a shaky breath as I bury my face in the back of her neck. "I can't let you go." I mumble incoherently into her hair. "I can't." I feel the tears welling up in my eyes again and close them to prevent myself from crying all over again. I hate crying. I grumble to myself as the tears recessed.

I laid there for what felt like hours, holding her as tightly as I dared without the risk of waking her up. I was just about asleep when Serana steered and began to turn around in my arms.

Pulling my arms back so she could turn freely I wait until she's facing me before wrapping them around her waist again. "How long have you been awake?" I asked in a hushed whisper.

Her eyes seemed to gleam in the darkness as she looked up at me. "Since you crashed on the terrace." She answers in a quiet whisper.

"Oh. Sorry." I apologize.

I felt her shoulders shrug. "You okay?"

"Aye, I bruised my pride more than my side." I assure her.

I get a quiet laugh in response. The smile on her face was short lived as her expression grows somber again. "I'm sorry for yelling at you earlier. I shouldn't have raised my voice." Her eyes were studying mine in the darkness, trying to convey the sincerity in her voice.

"You were angry, I understand." I breathe out softly. "I shouldn't have raised mine either, and I'm sorry. I don't want her to go either but if she doesn't then there's a good chance a lot of people are going to die. Including her family there." I whisper into the small space between us.

Serana's lips pressed together in a thin line. "I know. Doesn't mean I like it any more than before." She admits, the sound of tears entering her voice again.

"I know. And I'm not asking you to." Scooting my head forward I bump our noses together and press my forehead to her's. "I am asking you to understand why you can't go. If he gets his hands on you, he's going to use you to draw me out into the open and I know I'll walk into whatever trap he lays because I can't lose you." I squeezed my eyes shut as I pressed my forehead more firmly against her's. "I'm too attached. Loosing you will be like loosing my parents all over again but worse somehow. I know it will, and I just can't." I plead for her to understand the scope of my emotions.

"I know." Her voice was soft and edged with tears. "I almost wish I didn't." She laughs but I can tell by her voice that she doesn't find it funny.

Opening my eyes I pull back just far enough to look into hers. "You should go talk to her in the morning before she leaves." I whisper softly. "Trust me, you'll regret it if you don't."

She nods her head as a few stray tears find their way out of her eyes and onto the pillow. "Why am I so scared when she's the one going into danger?" The pain and fear in her voice has my heart twisting itself into a knot.

"Because you love her." I answer, pulling her flush against me and lifting my chin so that she could bury her face against my neck.

Neither of us could manage to fall asleep despite our fatigue so we lay there clutching each other like our lives depended on it. It wasn't until the early morning light began to slowly brighten the room that I realized how much time had passed.

Taking a shaky breath I pull back from Serana to look down at her. "Come on. They'll be leaving shortly." I coax the other woman into getting up.

Her eyes flutter open as she looks up at me, purple tenting the skin beneath her eyes in the faintest hint of dark circles. "You look like shit." She mutters without making a move to get out of the bed.

Chuckling I pull my wing out from underneath her. "I can't look any rougher than you. Come on get up." I push on her shoulder, prompting her to roll over and out of the bed.

It took far longer than normal to get dressed and looking semi presentable with stiff limbs and tired minds. After a while I finally woke back up properly and waited for Serana to come trudging out of the bathroom before we made our way down to the front courtyard where the convoy would be leaving from. We both opted for the stairs so as not to repeat my blunder from last night in front of the whole castle.

There were guards scurrying to and fro as we stepped outside into the cold morning air. I looked around for Evyo and spotted her standing near the front carriage talking with Avar.

Nudging Serana with my wing I point her out the other woman.

Serana visibly hesitated before taking a step forward and swiftly rocking back on her feet in preparation to backtrack.

Rolling my eyes I put my hand between her wingblades and give her a gentle push. "Go talk to her." I half order hoping to prompt her into action.

It seemed to do the trick as she took quick, clipped strides over to her nani's side. As Serana stopped next to Evyo and Avar she seemed to say something to Avar which was quickly followed by him bowing and leaving the two to head in my direction.

I glanced at Avar and watched him approach for a moment but my eyes were quickly drawn back to Serana and Evyo as they began to talk quietly.

"Are you okay?" Avar's voice sounds just to my side as he stops next to me.

I don't bother to look at him when I answer. "Aye."

There was a pause before I see his head turn towards Serana and Evyo as well from the corner of my eye. "Is she?" He nods towards the pair.

"I don't think so." I answer honestly, watching the pair as Evyo wrapped her daughter in a tight hug.

"Hm." He hums in response. "She's very spirited, I do have to give her that." He comments dryly as Serana seems to crusher her poor nani with the strength of her embrace. "It's a wonder the two of you seem to be falling for each other instead killing one another." He adds off handedly as he turns and walks towards the last wagon in the convoy as they appear to be having trouble with something.

My heart stutters at his flippant remark. Even as he crosses my vision again I don't take my eyes away from Serana as her and her nani seem to be having a very tearful farewell. Falling?

My thoughts are interrupted as I watch Evyo climb into the carriage and Serana walks back over to me as the convoy takes off up the ramp and into the sky.

My eyes tracked Serana as she made her way over to me, scrubbing at her cheeks furiously trying to rid them of her tears. When she reaches my side I gently slide my arm around her waist and turn my gaze up to watch the convoy disappear over the tops of the Algerie skyline.

"Would you walk with me to the infirmary?" I ask drawing Serana's attention back to me as she shoots me a confused look. "I think I skinned the back of my wing when I landed last night." I admit looking anywhere but at the other woman.

I get a soft chuckle for my efforts as she turns away from the courtyard and the long gone convoy to head back inside. "Come on your grace." She teases lightly, her heart wasn't fully in it but it seemed to help her some.

Smiling a little at her attempt to be happy in spite of her emotional distress I turn and walk with her to the infirmary. I'm pretty sure I hit the ground a long time ago.