Rogue Queen ➵ 2.0

➵ XX. The Burning House

Thursday, January 4th, 2018, 11:00am

Paper Crown - Alec Benjamin

Rei's POV

I keep my mind open, letting them see what happened as I remember that day two years ago.

"A paper crown, and a heart made of glass
A tattered gown, and her kingdom of ash
She walks alone, can never look back
The story of a queen whose castle has fallen to the sea
She'll make it out, but she's never the same
She's lookin' down, at the scars that remain
But you hold your ground, though your kingdoms in flames
Cause it's the story of a queen who's castle has fallen to the sea
Knowing there's no one who will be a king that will come and save his queen."

My voice was soft as I sang. My body felt exhausted, pained from sleeping on the ground or in the trees. I was hungry, nothing I wasn't used to. Raven managed to catch a deer two days ago. We hadn't caught or ate anything since.

I walked slowly, my eyes scanning the forest around me. I was lucky there hadn't been any snow, just cold air.

"When all she needs, and all she wants, and all she finds
When all she is, and ever was, is compromised
Cause there's no one to love her
You built your walls too high
And there's no one to love you when you build your walls too high
There is no one, who is strong enough, to save your love
There's no fairytale, There's no fairytale."

There's no fairytale. No happy ending. No love. Not for me.

I felt tears start to build in my eyes. I tried to keep the cries in, keep everything bottled up like I'd always done.

"When all she needs, and all she wants, and all she finds
When all she is, and ever was, is compromised
Cause there's no one to love her
You built your walls too high
And there's no one to love you when you trap yourself inside."

Finally, I couldn't hold back the sobs anymore. The first cry escaped past my lips, quickly followed by another and another. I crouched down, kneeling in the frosty grass.

I couldn't do it anymore. I couldn't hold it back. Couldn't hold everything inside anymore. All my suppressed cries came bursting through the dam. I didn't care about being quiet. If rogues heard me, let them come. Let them come and kill me.

I coughed, my cries stealing all my breath, causing me to gasp for air.

I don't know how long I kneeled there before I heard her voice.

"Hello?" It was gentle, warm. Somehow, I knew I could trust the owner of the voice. "I want to help."

Whoever it was, they were nearby. I heard footsteps and tried to quiet my cries. I felt a gentle hand on my shoulder and looked up slowly to be met with kind, hazel eyes.

The woman gave me a warm smile. "It'll be alright," she said softly. "The pain won't last forever. Every storm runs out of rain eventually. Come on, you look like you could use a roof to sleep or at least rest under."

Slowly, I nodded and accepted the hand offered to help me up.

"Thank you," I said quietly, wiping my tears away with my sleeve.

The woman nodded once, "Of course. My name's Lyria, Lyria Ranger. I'm a witch. And you?"

"Rei Rys," I replied. "Werewolf."

"If I may ask," Lyria said, "Why are you out here alone?"

My body tensed but I forced myself to answer. "I was rejected by my mate a few days ago and banished from my pack."