05-26-2015, 01:48 PM
The Chamber takes everything. For Makai, it had pulled him from death but left him rotting in the world of the living. For Atrox, it had taken his heart. For Rodrik, it had stripped him of his powers and eventually sold him to the Valley (but of course in part, that had been Straia as well). For Straia, it had taken her family. Every last one of them, but Kavi.
First, it had taken Oksana. Sent to the Falls where she ruled and hated it, and eventually she disappeared from the land of the living. Her heart sister had been alive, of course, but gone, and Straia had never thought she’d see the girl again. Next, it look Lucrezia. Sent to the Deserts as a pawn, and Straia had failed in her promise to visit because always, always the Chamber had needed her more. So Straia served the Chamber, while her sister served the Deserts and grew to resent Straia instead. Then, her father. Though she admits, that was no great loss. Still, having Rodrik as an enemy is not particularly something anyone wants.
This piece had been her own doing, though she believed he deserved it. The members of the Chamber didn’t seem to think otherwise. They would have said something, because she lives with the type of horses that hardly keep their mouths shut. But Rodrik had grown to be an absent King, and the Chamber suffered. So when Straia found Eight with the Valley crown on his head, she took the opportunity to unite the two dark kingdoms and depose her father in the process. Also, of course, she was given the crown. But then again, hadn’t it been hers all along? She gave everything for the Chamber, she put her kingdom first, and when it burned to the ground she was the first to find it, to stay and work to rebuild.
The crown was hers indeed. One day, there would be someone better, and she would pass it on when the time was right. But now, there was no one better, and she felt no pity for her father or remorse for her decision. She did what was best for the Chamber. He had sworn he too only wanted what was best.
She had almost lost Kavi then. Her Uncle disappeared to the Valley, following her brother, which she had expected. The question had always been whether he would return. And he did, thankfully. She’s not sure what the Chamber would do without its Ambassador. They needed someone skilled with words, and more eager to be polite than Straia ever was.
And then, the Chamber gave her back.
Straia knows the smell that finds her on the breeze. For a moment, she thinks she must be sleeping, dreaming. There’s no way that Oksana has returned to this place, this place she’d run from so thoroughly for so many years.
But the sun is shining today, the mist low to the ground in the almost regrown pine forests. There are still burns and missing limbs on their pine sentries, but the trees look better than they have in years. She is not dreaming.
Straia picks up a canter across the Chamber, weaving through the pine forests with the ease only someone who has grown up in these forests can have. She finds them in the heart of the kingdom. Oksana, and younger version of Oksana and Makai. Not that Straia knew Makai well, but they had met, and she remembers the stallion well enough to assume the black children are his.
She slows to a walk as she approaches the group. She’s grown, but she’s still the same mare she’s always been. Wild, bold, beautiful. Just older, with a metaphorical crown on her head and a child roaming around somewhere. “Oksana,” she says with a smile on her lips. Real, not the sultry upward twinge of her lips she usually has. “It’s so good to see you.” Because it is. It really, really is.
First, it had taken Oksana. Sent to the Falls where she ruled and hated it, and eventually she disappeared from the land of the living. Her heart sister had been alive, of course, but gone, and Straia had never thought she’d see the girl again. Next, it look Lucrezia. Sent to the Deserts as a pawn, and Straia had failed in her promise to visit because always, always the Chamber had needed her more. So Straia served the Chamber, while her sister served the Deserts and grew to resent Straia instead. Then, her father. Though she admits, that was no great loss. Still, having Rodrik as an enemy is not particularly something anyone wants.
This piece had been her own doing, though she believed he deserved it. The members of the Chamber didn’t seem to think otherwise. They would have said something, because she lives with the type of horses that hardly keep their mouths shut. But Rodrik had grown to be an absent King, and the Chamber suffered. So when Straia found Eight with the Valley crown on his head, she took the opportunity to unite the two dark kingdoms and depose her father in the process. Also, of course, she was given the crown. But then again, hadn’t it been hers all along? She gave everything for the Chamber, she put her kingdom first, and when it burned to the ground she was the first to find it, to stay and work to rebuild.
The crown was hers indeed. One day, there would be someone better, and she would pass it on when the time was right. But now, there was no one better, and she felt no pity for her father or remorse for her decision. She did what was best for the Chamber. He had sworn he too only wanted what was best.
She had almost lost Kavi then. Her Uncle disappeared to the Valley, following her brother, which she had expected. The question had always been whether he would return. And he did, thankfully. She’s not sure what the Chamber would do without its Ambassador. They needed someone skilled with words, and more eager to be polite than Straia ever was.
And then, the Chamber gave her back.
Straia knows the smell that finds her on the breeze. For a moment, she thinks she must be sleeping, dreaming. There’s no way that Oksana has returned to this place, this place she’d run from so thoroughly for so many years.
But the sun is shining today, the mist low to the ground in the almost regrown pine forests. There are still burns and missing limbs on their pine sentries, but the trees look better than they have in years. She is not dreaming.
Straia picks up a canter across the Chamber, weaving through the pine forests with the ease only someone who has grown up in these forests can have. She finds them in the heart of the kingdom. Oksana, and younger version of Oksana and Makai. Not that Straia knew Makai well, but they had met, and she remembers the stallion well enough to assume the black children are his.
She slows to a walk as she approaches the group. She’s grown, but she’s still the same mare she’s always been. Wild, bold, beautiful. Just older, with a metaphorical crown on her head and a child roaming around somewhere. “Oksana,” she says with a smile on her lips. Real, not the sultry upward twinge of her lips she usually has. “It’s so good to see you.” Because it is. It really, really is.
straia
queen of the chamber