Dawn

"Your majesty," Knight Stephen placed my cloak back on my shoulders

"Knights, let's escort the traitors to the dungeon." Sir Charles said and led some of the knights to escort Katrina and Trinity Ezra

Apart from the knights I have brought with me, no one could move as I walk up to the stairs of the throne. All there was is silence, cold silence accompanied by the whirling song of the cold wind of winter.

I faced them and removed my gloves, I touched the side of the throne and ice began to spread, the difference is that it only covered the wooden and metal parts of the throne, not the cotton part of the throne.

"Your majesty," Lord Valdez and Lord Mares were the first to approach me

They are holding a crown, however, it's not my crown. Trinity Ezra wore that crown on the day of her appointment and during her reign. It is not mine, therefore, I refuse to accept it.

I turned my gaze to Katrina and Ezra who are still frozen, the knights are merely dragging them as if they're statues as the only part of their body that can move is their eyes. I watched as they are taken out of the throne room, it's such a shame that I still feel pity for them after everything I had to go through because of them.

I still could not believe that I… I had taken my throne by force. Perhaps there was still a part of me hoping that we could still solve this by talking that I would not need to use my gift against them but… but it's too late to have such thoughts now.

"Her majesty," the sound of horse gallops echoed

"Baron Tariq," I acknowledged his presence

He went down his horse and the knights, presumably, of Holland, took the rein of his horse for him. He knelt with one knee on the end of the stairs with his head lowered before he look up and stood up again.

"What is the state of the kingdom?" I asked him

It was his task to overlook the situation of the kingdom once the battle has ended and we have reached the conclusion, may it be favorable to us or not. I also did thought about what to do if I were to fail in reclaiming my throne, at some point, I came to prepare myself of what will be of me when worse comes to worse.

"The knights have taken everything under control, the physicians have arrived from the two kingdoms and the resources to rebuild the damages are on their way, your majesty." He reported and I noticed how he is catching his breath

"I see, thank you for your hard work, Baron." I replied

"Also, I believe this belongs to her majesty." He said

He took out the Queen's crown from my satchel and I smiled at the sight of it, it's the crown that my father had given me. He handed the crown to Lord Mares and Lord Valdez who placed it in a red cushion before he walked up the stairs and stopped two steps away from the throne to hand me the king's seal, my father's seal, I wore it on my ring finger.

"Thank you for bringing this, Baron Tariq." I expressed my gratitude

"I will go ahead and see to it that everyone is treated." He said and lowered his head

"Report back to me if anything." I said and he knelt on knee again and lowered his head

"Yes, your majesty." He replied and stood up before descending the stairs

The knight handed him back the horse's rein and he held it before riding the horse. The knights then lined up and raised their swords up in the air whilst being led by Knight Stephen.

"Victory to her majesty, the Queen Patrice Astrae!"

I beamed at the sight, it wasn't just a proof of my victor in reclaiming the throne stolen from me during my years of inexperience, but a proof of a successful alliance. The alliance between Holland, Arcadia and Astrae, it was an unexpected alliance and I am delighted that it has given a very remarkable result.

"Your majesty,"

The council members, even Mr. Marco who had been Katrina's most devoted adherent, knelt down and lowered their heads before me. Lord Mares and Lord Valdez stood up after a while and walked up the stairs to the throne to put the crown on my head.

The Queen's crown is made of gold and bedecked with countless diamond and alexandrite stones in its golden framework, it was quite the fit with my head, and it feels as if the crown was made specifically for me to wear.

"Rise," I said calmly and stood up

I looked at the grand doors when it suddenly opened, led by Baron Tariq, there were villagers and knights, all familiar and not entering the throne room.

"All hail the Queen!"

They all bowed down before me like a wave of people. It warms my heart, unlike before when I inherited the crown from Katrina in front of every people in Astrae, this moment felt warmer. It was as if… I really deserved the throne. Not just because I was the sole heir to the throne, not because I was born as the King Aristotle's daughter, but because I earned it, I fought for my place and throne, and now I have triumphed in claiming my rightful place.

"All rise," I said while smiling and they stood up

"I'd like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the people behind this victory," I started

"To all the knights who fought in the frontlines and had risked their lives for us to come to this conclusion, thank you for fighting and accompanying me in this war, they have risked their lives, so let us take a moment of silence to honor the fallen knights." I said and everyone lowered their heads, I did so myself and closed my eyes to mutter a short prayer for them

"To the generals," I said after a while

"The general who also played as our strategic advisers, I acknowledge you for the time and astuteness you've spent to lead the knights into victor, the strategies you've came up with to decrease the fatality of our people was remarkable." I smiled

"I would like to express my gratitude to the King of Holland, King Skylark, for the time and resources he spent in assisting me in this plan on reclaiming the throne. I hope he know that it has been a great journey and I've learnt a lot during the time I've stayed in his kingdom. Baron Tariq, please rely my message to him." I turned to Baron Tariq who beamed at me

"I'll see to it that he receives your message, your majesty." Baron Tariq replied and lowered his head and I smiled at him

"I'd like to express my gratitude to you as well, Baron, I wouldn't have arrived safely and be able to communicate with the King of Holland if it weren't for your help, so thank you." I said

"It has been my honor to be of service to you, your majesty." He said

"I also like to acknowledge the help of Astrae's enemy for millennia. The king Zachary has played a large part in the process of creating the retaliation plan, alongside Holland, Arcadia also had spent resources to help put the plan into action." I said

"Lastly, I'd like to recognize the bravery and dedication of the young prince of Arcadia who risked his life and agreed to take part in our plan." I said and sighed

"Let us take a moment of silence once again to pray for his recovery."

I closed my eyes and prayed to the deities to bless the young prince and grant him of recovery, I am still uneasy whenever I evoke in my mind that the young prince is still lying unconscious in the makeshift bed in the temporary base in Holland's reclaimed territory.

"Once again," I said and cleared my throat

"To everyone who had taken part in this victory, thank you for your help," I expressed my gratitude and beamed at everyone

"It was our honor to serve the rightful Queen!" Sir Charles arrived with the other knights and raised their swords in the air

"Glory to the Queen of Astrae!"

I looked at each one of them, everyone is smiling, and it warms my heart to be accepted wholeheartedly by Astrae as their queen once again.

After that speech of mine, everyone then left to go back to their tasks, Dame Maia and Dame Therese arrived and immediately knelt on one knee upon their arrival, I asked them to accompany me as I head out to assess the damage that the palace has received.

"You may head home for now, council." I turned to the council who still seem to be in a trance and could not process what had just occurred before them

"Dames, let's get going." I said and left the throne room

Will I be really assessing the damage? No, I'm going to see if there are anyone related or allied with Katrina and Ezra who could be lurking around. I would not wait for daybreak and suddenly be surprised that someone had broken into the dungeon and helped them. Everything is happening at a fast pace, no wonder Astrae managed to recover from the tragedy thirteen years ago, there are always moving at a quite quick pace.

We stepped foot in the dark hallway after climbing the stairs by the throne room, it's leading to the hall where the rooms are, there's a part of me that wishes to see Katrina's, I mean the room she had once shared with my father.

"The sun is about to rise, your majesty, are you certain you'd inspect the palace immediately and would not wait for the sunrise instead?" Dame Therese asked

"I'd like to see things as it is as I want to look for something." I said

"We'll ensure your safety then, your majesty." Dame Maia said

We went to Katrina's room and I noticed that the surrounding is slowly starting to light up as the sun is about to rise.

"Your majesty, where are you…" I heard confusion in Dame Maia's voice when I changed direction and headed to the veranda of the hallway instead of heading to walk in the halls.

"Breathtaking," Indeed, it's really a breathtaking sight to see

As the sun rose, traces of the light of their rebellion slowly dimmed, slowly disappeared, as the light unveils the white blanket that had extinguished the destructive fire.