Queen Of Fire (Queen Of Fire #1)

Chapter One [Edited]

Veena looked at her feet as she walked briskly towards the seamstresses shop in the opulent side of the Vhalka market. Any one who sees her would think that she is just a maid going on an errand. Which is exactly what she is doing, Her crisp green and white uniform branded with the insignia of the House Of Elton(a Lion wearing a golden crown, which supposedly represents the wealth and power of the house) makes it look more legitimate, but what they can't tell is that Veena is actually a spy. Sounds exciting doesn't it, It's the one thing that can send her to the feared Detention Chambers if the Houses learn of her deceit. Detention Chambers are where criminals are kept, for years varying terrifying stories have circulated about it but nothing concrete. But common knowledge is that anyone that goes in never comes out and no one can question the Houses. There are three Houses that rule the kingdom of Vhalka, The House Elton which is the purse of the kingdom, The House of Vale, whose mages are the most powerful and skilled in the five kingdoms of the North. And finally, the house that makes the laws, House Aspen. One would think that with so many people in power, the kingdom would be peaceful and tranquil. But alas no, beneath the facade of strength that Vhalka shows it's neighbor kingdoms, Chaos lies. The Commons, made up of farmers, Maids, Seamstresses and other low earning workers are starving, broken and worse being devoured by The Shadows.
The Shadows are the residue of dark magic, In other words, whenever dark magic is used, a shadow is born. The strength of the shadow depends on how dark the spell is, Some even become solid enough. Dark magic is not that different from normal magic, except for the fact that it is cast with evil intent. The nobles of Vhalka who have various mages in their employ or are one themselves, don't really care about the damage caused by the shadows because they mainly reside in the environments of the commons. The more the people, the more shadows are attracted. The mages come from only certain noble houses, 12 to be precise and never in history has a common ever wielded magic, which is a huge factor in Veena's plan. These houses made sure they have lots of descendants which then spread the magic among the nobles. Even if a mage weds a common, Their offspring can never be able to wield magic, For reasons unknown. This makes it virtually impossible for any rebellion to have mages, and unfortunately, Every mage in service of Vhalka takes a blood oath bound with a spell to never use their magic against the Houses (Not Vhalka) or face Banishment, Death or worse be stripped of magic. For many mages, this is a fate worse than death, to taste extraordinary powers then be deprived of it. If any whisper of revolution reaches the ears of the Houses, they strike it down efficiently before it comes to fruition. Magic is one of the reasons Vhalka is one of the strongest nations. Among the nobles, magic is something that is used lightly, especially dark magic. It is used in petty ways that defies the goodness of magic.
The Mage Academy is the only school for magic in Vhalka that is widely recognized. All the mages enroll there when their powers manifest at a young age. It is where she would have gone if life hadn't ended up the way it did. Vhalka was once a flourishing and joyful kingdom, seventeen years ago. Before the Houses came into power, Vhalka once had a benevolent king, Her father. King Frederick was loved and adored by all because of his wise and just rule, The commons were well fed and happy, even given the privilege to visit healer mages. But the nobles were not content, the reach of their power wasn't as broad as it is now. Her father had a council made of five people, Himself, a representative of the House of Elton, One for Vale, another for Aspen and one for the Commons. He was content with ruling only Vhalka, but the nobles on the council were driven by power lust, often urging King Frederick to conquer other neighbouring lands, He rebuked them, chiding them for being discontent.
Unfortunately, Her father was a very trusting man. The kingdom was overjoyed to learn of the Queen's pregnancy. Queen Lorellon, Veena's mother was beautiful, graceful and powerful. The reign of her parents was a peaceful one despite the fact that once in a while, her father had to indulge his council by increasing taxes (But not to the rate of discomfort). But still, the nobles on the council were rather determined in their mission. So they hatched a plan to get the king off the throne.
On the night she was born, stars allegedly fell from the sky, prophesying her to be a beloved of the gods. There is a popular prophecy once told by an oracle Mage when they still existed that the coming of a child beloved by the gods shall be foretold with the sky opening and stars falling. That child will have great power and will unite Vhalka into one strong nation. Most people including Veena, regards this as hocus pocus. But apparently, this was enough reason for the nobles to prioritize her death. On her birth night, When everyone let their guard down and were rejoicing the birth of the Heir, the nobles made their move. It turned out that the Vale had a couple of secret assassin Mages who had the power of invisibility, which was believed to be lost from Vhalka. They poisoned everyone at the banquet that wasn't on their payroll. Since the killers were invisible, they didn't alert the magical defensive wards cast by The Guild (The best of mages that protects the ruling family). King Frederick, Queen Lorellon, their trusted commanders and all the commons that were at the ball were dead in minutes. It was a day of great loss and sorrow for Vhalka. The only reason Veena is still alive is because of Sir Jerry Maynard, the representative of the commons. With his kind face and graying hair at his temples, most overlook him failing to see the cunning person underneath his harmless facade. He had suspicions that his fellow council members were up to no good. He sent his spies to investigate the matter. The mages might have magic but they are not as well versed in stealth as the commons. By the time Sir Jerry found out their heinous plan, it was too late to save her parents but he was able to save Veena. The commons had a secret that they were harbouring so to speak. A mage from the very distant land of the South had fled his homeland and sought out refuge in Vhalka. If he had been found by soldiers on patrol, King Frederick would have been forced to banish him reluctantly while the nobles would have wanted him dead. All because of the Treaty signed centuries ago by the then Head of The South and North, that clearly states on no account whatsoever must the North or South have any communications for reasons only known by a trusted few. Anyone found breaking this laws will face the harsh consequences. According to the stories Sir Jerry told Veena , a Southerner had once been caught and flayed by the nobles before her father heard about it. The anger of King Frederick at the strangers death supposedly shook the kingdom, he had suspended the nobles on the council for a while until they showed remorse for their actions. That was also one of the things that fueled the aggression of their coup.
Anyway, the secret Mage of the commons had the power of Transfiguration, which is literally non existent in the North. Sir Jerry who was an acquaintance of the mysterious mage who she would later come to know as Thomas, had implored him to make a doppelganger of Veena. They were successful in stealing her from the nursery due to the discretion of her nanny/guard , Pearla. The doppelganger took Veena's place, Sir Jerry told her it was so life like that it would be difficult to discern the deception. She was whisked to safety while the Houses ruined what was left of the legacy she was to inherit.
By the next morning, They had declared themselves the ruling Houses. Taking control of the army, Making laws that quelled any talk of rebellion and making examples out of anyone that dared to defy them. Before long, they were in total power with control over every single facet of the Kingdom. Murmuring never arose from the nobles of Vhalka because the Houses being in power meant that things will sway their way, the only ones affected were the Commons. The Houses had lied to the people that Veena's nursery was burnt down with her inside it while they had actually stabbed the changeling numerous times then got rid of the body after confirming it was indeed Veena. The only reason there was no doubt is their lack of knowledge about the Transfiguration mage, His existence was not known to many anyway so that no one can sell out the information.
Sir Jerry fled Vhalka with Veena and many of his trusted men including Thomas to a distant North kingdom Medea. The nobles had assumed he perished on that fateful night due to the fact that a dead doppelganger had also been found in place of him. This was made especially easy because he had not attended the ball due to unforseen circumstances. Their little group has spent the last seventeen years grooming her with the hope of claiming back the throne one day. Because there is one edge Veena has over all the houses and the whole of Vhalka, She alone has power over Fire. It is a highly coveted skill and it is extremely scarce in every kingdom. That is one of the reason her family House Tarwen is very important, They are the only ones in Vhalka that can control fire. The consequence of having such tremendous power is that they only give birth to a child per generation. Veena's was a special case because her mother was the first known All Mage. An all Mage can copy the power of every mage he or she comes in contact with although they can't be as powerful as the original mage. Queen Lorello was very powerful, the only reason she was caught unaware was because she was weak from giving birth to Veena. There are some things Healer mages couldn't heal. With two parents that possesses strong magic , Veena is extremely powerful not to brag or anything. That combined with the harsh combat training Sir Jerry and his men exposed her to since childhood makes Veena the most skilled soldier in the revolution. In archery, swordfighting, defense and all other forms of combat, She is over qualified. Especially acting, which is a great asset which she is going to need if her plan works out. The only thing that still makes her queasy is killing. No matter what, taking a person's life is something that always disgusts her (Not that she has had to or anything, just saying)
A loud cry burst Veena out of her reverie, She looked to her right and discreetly stared at an Air Mage shouting at a servant boy. From his loud exclamations, Veena gathered that the boy had apparently run into the mage and smudged his symbolic white robes that identifies him as a mage and everything in the man's hands had tumbled to the ground. Even though the boy had picked up everything that fell, the enraged mage was still ranting on. All of a sudden, the boy went sailing into the air towards a merchant's shop behind him. Veena heard gasps in the market square as the boy rose and hung in the air while his arms and legs in the air. Her fingers clutched the fabric of her uniform tightly, Her skin itched with the urged to punch the smirking mage as he tortured the poor boy. Veena desperately looked around , whipping her head back and forth looking for someone to come to his aid. But people just turned and averted their eyes and carried on pretending as if the debacle going on in front of their very own eyes isn't happening.
Even though this goes against the plan and it has a possibility of prematurely exposing her, Veena had to help the boy. She can't just stand and do nothing like the others. What kind of queen would that make her?. With this brave thought in mind, She inched closer to the scene while using her long chestnut curls to obscure her face and intense interest in the spectacle. Veena pretended as if she was perusing the wares in the shops nearby, She took a deep breath and summoned her magic and sent a little flare into his mind. When the magic latched onto him, Veena scrambled everything she could find thereby leaving him disoriented and disconcerted. He let go of the boy in confusion and he landed with a soft grunt. Immediately he was on his feet, the little boy ran as fast as his nimble legs could take him. The air mage looked around and saw people glaring at him while some just looked at him warily, He quickened his pace and sprinted out of the market square, none the wiser. Veena breathed out a sigh of relief at the disaster averted, now back to her original plan.
She used a little bit of magic to get her to the shop of the seamstress faster, Veena was to pretend to be a distant relative of a maid at House Elton who came to aid her in her duties, and as Veena is going to be working full time in the House, She needed new garments. Veena has supposedly come to get new clothes for herself and her cousin. When she reached the front of the quaint shop that has a sign over it proclaiming it as "Madame Faustina's", she looked up at the clear blue sky with shimmering clouds and once more marveled at how beautiful the day is. With the soothing breeze whooshing around her and whispering promises, it almost looks like a scene out of a fairy tale. Veena sighed and burst out of her pleasant daydream and tugged on her right ear with her calloused fingers, signalling the person watching to begin the second phase of the plan. She pasted a fake bright smile on her face and pushed the glass doors inward, then stepped in.