Chapter 3

The room was bathed in silence.

Shenya was pretty sure she had stopped breathing for a stretch long enough to make her slightly dizzy. Mariam's face appeared blurry to her eyes and, with a startle, she discovered that her eyes were filled with tears.

The queen did not speak, she remained seated in front of her, her hands clasped in her lap; her neutral expression did not show any emotion.

As if planning a war were a small matter.

It must be a bad joke, she thought with a sudden burst of anger, and she ran a trembling hand over her eyes in a clumsy attempt to wipe away the drops of weeping that had escaped her control streaking her cheeks.

He took a shuddering breath and shifted his gaze to one of the large windows covered by the heavy pearl-gray velvet curtains, the sun's rays struggling to pass through making the whole room gloomy and bathed in shadows that only the crackling fire in the fireplace could combat.

We talked the whole time immersed in darkness, Shenya reflected, very pertinent about the topic.

If all this is not a bad joke, of course.

She heard a faint sigh and then the rustle of silk as Mariam stood up slowly and walked with light steps to the window, gently peeling back the curtain and tying it with its string to one side.

For an absurd moment her eyes crossed Mariam's feet and fixed on the slippers she still wore, beneath the fine Oriosian silk dress she wore. Mariam had never liked the elevated sandals typically worn by Orios sovereigns and noblewomen, so she delayed putting them on as much as possible. Once, they had joked, she would forget to wear them altogether and show up at court in slippers.

They had laughed heartily at the thought once when everything seemed simpler.

When she had still been Mariam and not a war-thirsty queen.

That thought made her clench her teeth, and the hands she had gathered on her lap clenched into fists.

It was no joke, no matter how much a part of her clung to that hope.

For there was no amused smirk curving Mariam's lips.

Because it was not something to joke about, and the Queen knew it well.

He looked away from the ground and blinked several times in an attempt to chase away the remaining tears; he had cried enough. Now it was time to demand answers.

When Mariam sat back down, Shenya noticed how she finally wanted to start talking. But he knew her too well not to know that if he got the first word, he would end up convincing her of anything. So, straightening his shoulders as if facing lords and ladies to whom he would have to deliver bad news, he nipped her in the bud when he saw her open her mouth.

"What are you talking about? What war?" she said in her First Lady voice, which she never thought she would use on her Queen.

She stood strong even when Mariam raised an eyebrow, blatantly ironic. If there had been a time when she had to be strong, even at the risk of outrage, that was it.

Only a few seconds passed, perhaps less, but he continued to hold his head high and stare into Mariam's eyes. He saw the shadow of surprise pass through her dark irises and welcomed that small victory with joy.

"It was one Kingdom once. I want it to return like that."

For a moment she was sure she had misunderstood. Certainly she could not have said what Shenya had understood; it was too absurd.

Centuries had now passed since the Great War ended and what had once been the ancient and glorious Seatiale was divided into four great kingdoms. Everyone knew the history, it was studied from an early age, and many collected the ancient artifacts from that era.

Shenya had never been much of a history buff, knowing only the essentials from books and the stories of the nannies who had raised her.

What he knew: Seatiale was an ancient kingdom, encompassing all the lands from the Assolated Sea in the north to the Endless Desert, the southernmost border of what was now Solis.

It was a powerful kingdom, ruled a dynasty of kings from the Primordial Era and from which, it was said, all the families of the four Rulers came.

Now, however, the old name was almost forgotten and had been divided into four new Kingdoms:

Orios, between the Assolated Sea and the Northern Ridge, a people of farmers and cattle breeders. Orios, with its capital Firstfall, the great silver city, in which the largest temple of Mother Moon was located.

Lapis, separated from Orios by the Dorsal but joined by the Companion Tunnel, surrounded to the east by the Dawn Mountains, to the west by the Violis River, and to the south by the Indaris River, which separated it from Solis. It owed its wealth from the mountains on which their first city, Deepsvale, also stood, built of solid gray stone and soaring upward, almost touching the sky. The stone was so fundamental to them that they began to worship it. That is how the first shrines dedicated to the Founding Stone began to rise.

Terraria, which ranged from the Assolated Sea to the Indaris River, the absolute largest kingdom of the four, sunk in dense forests. A people of skilled woodcutters with whom they could build anything, such as Bleakwall, a city nestled among the trees and made almost entirely of wood. They revered the Earth, from which life came.

And finally: Solis. Sandwiched between the Indaris River and the Endless Desert is the smallest kingdom but one from which the best warriors come, men tempered by the hot desert sun who are rumored to fear nothing. Their capital, Scorchdenn, is located on the bank of the River, where most of the population is concentrated. Their god is Father Sun, a father who is both benevolent and cruel.

Shenya thought all this and for a moment imagined the unwavering power they could have been unified, without all the different laws that separated them, the duties, the unjust treaties they were fighting against. She savored the idea of a single ruler, who in her mind was Mariam, was always Mariam to her, benevolently ruling all the kingdoms from a single throne.

Then a thought came to her, lightning-fast: Seatiale finally fell, too.

And again: kingdoms fall much faster than it takes to create them.

He blinked a few times, quickly. The room seemed to writhe before her eyes for a moment and she felt the sudden urge to vomit, brought the back of her hand in front of her lips and swallowed the bile that was rising from her throat. The taste made her almost feel sick for real and she had to ignore the instinct to slap herself in the face to recover.

That was her time to be strong, and she would be.

When he managed to control himself he took a quick glance around the room, everything was as it was before he fell into his own thoughts, as was logical. After all, it could only have been a few seconds, a minute at most.

Mariam was still sitting beside her, composed, with her hands clasped in her lap and her lips slightly curved in a condescending smile. Shenya almost got angry again at this, then noticed what looked like concern in her eyes, in her clenched hands, and how tense the line of her mouth was.

He took a deep breath, then another, and when his heart seemed to stop beating wildly, he took one of Mariam's hands in his own. Her dilated pupils were the only sign of surprise Mariam let out.

"What do you mean, exactly?" he murmured, looking at her from under his eyelashes, softly.

"I have to start at the beginning, it's a long story," Mariam said softly.

"A story I know, that everyone knows. I know you know it better than I do! -he exclaimed when he saw Mariam curl her lips- But I don't have time or inclination for a lecture."

Mariam sighed, but nodded her lips tightly in disappointment and began:

"We were once one Kingdom. We were powerful and glorious, competing with other Kingdoms instead of each other. So far we have been lucky, but if someone decided to attack us we would be defenseless. A fist is better than severed fingers."

Shenya pondered for a few seconds before letting out a sad verse from his mouth.

"So you want to start a war to prevent another hypothetical war? Do you realize how absurd that is?" he finally concluded.

"It's not just that, think about what we could do united. Things we can't because we're too busy fighting each other. Under one order we could be great!" Mariam was getting fired up, as she did every time she had to explain her Idea.

The problem was, this time what he said did not make the slightest sense.

"Is that what you want, then? Do you want to rule over all the kingdoms? To be one supreme queen?" the words left her mouth as if they were acid and consuming her.

But if she was getting angry again, Mariam was enraged. She wrenched her own hands from Shenya's grasp and sprang to her feet, her flaming eyes threatening to incinerate her.

"This is what you think of me? If you would listen to me I would have explained to you that I want a Council of Rulers, where all four of us talk and decide together, speaking as one to the people!" exclaimed Mariam, almost shouting.

When he realized this he winced and cast a glance toward the door, where the captain was still standing guard on the other side.

"You talk about the people, but don't you think about those who will die? If you think about moving on there will be..."

"I know there will be a war!" interrupted Mariam, annoyed.

"Let me finish! Those who will die in battle, are they not also your people? Don't you have to protect them too?"

At that, Mariam seemed to switch off. She bowed her head and her braid slipped over one shoulder, the jingle of woven crystals out of place in the room bathed in tension. She sat down again, clenching the fabric of her dress in her fists, so tightly that Shenya was afraid she would tear it.

"Sacrifices must be made, for the greater good," whispered Mariam, so softly that Shenya struggled to hear her.

Shenya took her hand, gently untangling it from her dress and beginning to gently caress her.

"You are the smartest woman I know, reflect. It will not only be war with the other kingdoms, but also with each other. Don't you think all of Orios will want this union?" he told her softly, trying to reason with her.

Mariam laid her head on her shoulder with a sigh and Shenya passed an arm around her shoulders, holding her close. He sensed her need to reflect and have some comfort and let her have them.

Shenya did not delude herself for a single moment; she knew that when Mariam had an Idea, she very rarely let herself be talked out of doing something. She fervently hoped it was one of those times when she decided to let it go, but it was too big a deal for that to happen.

He tightened his grip on her shoulder, holding her tighter to him and sinking his face into her hair, inhaling her signature peach scent. This time she did it for herself.

"I am going to convene the Enlightened Council," Mariam finally said without changing his position.

Shenya nodded weakly, feeling her own heart break. The pain she felt at that moment, as if she was about to lose a part of herself, she had felt only once. And she had vowed never to put herself in a position to feel it again.

Sometimes life was a real bastard.

"I need you," Mariam said again in a thin voice.

Shenya stood still for a moment longer, holding her sister, her only Queen, in her arms, and then decided.

She decided to let her go.

"I will not accept actions that will lead to war," he stated in a voice firmer than he expected.

Slowly they loosened from their embrace. Shenya gathered her own dress and stood up, proceeding at a slow pace toward the door. Each step was like a dagger to the heart, but she had to be strong.

Mariam did not stop her, but she had not expected her to.

When she reached the door, she stopped for a second, but did not turn to look at her.

She opened the door and was outside.