| 13 | chaos

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Some people survive chaos and that is how they grow. And some people thrive in chaos, because chaos is all they know.
- Unknown

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- Victorine -

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- Victorine -

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My parents looked just as I remembered them. My mother with her warm eyes and straight, proud posture. My father with a tired looking posture and hard facial expressions.

My heart ached at the sight of them both. I never expected to see my parents ever again. I would have loved to reach out and fall into their arms, but this was just a memory of Nicolas.

With effort, I tried to push all my own feelings aside and focus on the importance of this situation.

Nicolas was negotiating with my parents. He wanted their support to build an alliance.

According to his memory, this was a year after his coronation. And he was already looking for allies to win a war against Cephas.

"King Nicolas," I now heard my mother's voice. The queen was standing in front of one of the wide windows, so that the sunlight illuminated her hair and gave even more power to her appearance.

"As much as we can understand your anger and concerns, we must first think of our own people and family first," she spoke.

"An alliance with Sanguis could possibly provoke Tenebris into an attack," interjected my father, who was sitting in a chair a little further away.

Nicolas had already feared these arguments. "With all due respect," he began cautiously. "Every kingdom is already exposed to the danger of his attack. Of course, so far he only attacks those he considers a threat. Anything else would be a waste of his time." His voice sounded bitter, but also confident. He had probably spent a lot of time worrying about his enemy.

"But the slightest mistake, the most trivial statement, one wrong military move and he could kill hundreds of people here. If all the kingdoms banded together, then we would have the opportunity to end his reign."

My parents were silent and seemed to think carefully about his words. But it was already evident from their faces that they would reject his proposal.

"Your anger is perfectly understandable, King Nicolas," the queen then spoke. "And you are right that Cephas is already a danger. But with an alliance between us, he would be an even greater danger."

Nicolas clenched his hands to fists in anger. In all the other kingdoms, he had never received any other reaction. All were too cowardly to confront him.

"You must understand," my mother began after making brief eye contact with him. "That this decision has nothing to do with fear."

She had read his mind, but how could Nicolas have known this at the time? This ability was extremely rare and we had always hidden it. Now my mother was already standing at the window, looking out. "It's all about protecting our kingdom. Our people. We can't risk their lives, not for the chance of toppling Cephas from the throne someday."

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