Stalemate | A Rise To Power

𝘈𝘶𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘺

"STAY!" she snapped.

Autumn inclined her head and jumped onto the bed, nestling down into her pillows.

"Good. Stay there," Audrey said before walking down to the Great Gall, her new guards accompanying her.

Audrey took a seat at the horizontal table at the head, next to Landon and Calhoun with Kael speaking to Ethelind not far away. The hall felt empty without Aldric there to strike conversation with; it was only his absence that had made her realise how much she had appreciated having him there, despite herself.

Most people in the room wore black to mourn those lost in battle, including Landon. Hunter was present, sitting under the table as Landon fed him scraps now and then. The prince seemed to have forgotten about her existence, smiling politely at a story that a duchess was telling him, and Audrey felt her cheeks burning, remembering how she had hit him and proceeded to break down while he tried to calm her down. She didn't know how she had ended up back in her bed when she woke up, the blood washed off her and a clean shift hanging from her shoulders, but Alika had told her that he had brought her in and commanded her to clean her up. Audrey looked away from him, ashamed. She didn't know why a mad frenzy had overtook her.

Because you are the key to the North, and I need you.

A chill ran down her spine. She couldn't play their games or guess their motives. She was just a sixteen-year-old girl who wanted to pretend she knew what she was doing.

She didn't eat and, instead, poked at her meat with a blunted knife, taking a sip of wine every now and then. The table was covered in lavish foods: roasted fowl smothered in rich gravy, dripping with fat; smoked, fleshy salmon surrounded in boiled greens; round, golden honey cakes. It didn't seem to matter. All food seemed to taste the same.

She watched the fool juggle grapes and catch them in his mouth, trying to make her mind settle down.

"So, Audrey." Calhoun spoke, cutting into her thoughts.

"Yes?" Audrey felt uncomfortable at his use of her name but didn't comment on it.

"Do you know who I am?"

"You're an Easterner." Audrey raised her eyebrows.

"Not just any. I'm in Adebiyi's retinue, full of some of the best fighters in the East and all the other Main States. I am to be a lord one day, and I'll inherit my father's many lands," Calhoun boasted.

"Make sure to inform me when that day happens," Audrey answered coolly.

That piqued a small grin. "Of course, Your Highness. I'll make sure to invite you to my castle."

"As soon as you receive it," Audrey answered.

Calhoun raised his glass to her before turning away to drink.

Audrey began to reach for her own when she saw a violent jerk in the corner of her eyes and heard violent coughing.

She turned and saw Kael. He was choking, beginning to cough up blood as he clawed at his throat. The fear in his eyes was clear, and he desperately gripped the edge of the table with one hand, the other trying to tear his own throat out.

Audrey's eyes widened in terror and she jumped to her feet, slowly backing away from the gruesome sight. She met the eyes of Ethelind, who stared back. For a brief second, Audrey's own uncertainty was mirrored in Ethelind's expression.

"GET A MEDIC!" someone screamed.

Landon rushed to Kael, Hunter at his heels.

"Father!" he said. "Get up! Get up, damn you."

Kael fell to his knees with a last shuddering attempt to breathe, spilling the wine that he had been drinking across the wooden floor. Landon knelt, grabbed him and shook him, trying to get him to throw up the poison. And one of Kael's hands reached up to grab Landon's arm, clinging to it as if Landon was the only anchor he had left to the material world.

By then Albert, the medic, had arrived.

But it was too late to save Kael, who was lying on the floor with his head on Landon's lap, his eyes glazed over, and a hand clenched by his throat. Landon and Audrey met eyes from across the hall and, for a moment, Audrey saw the crack in the cold disposition he kept up.

Landon is now the king.

She could do nothing but stare, frozen as the medic tried to bring life back to Kael and the nobles swarmed around the king's dead body. The world was swimming in front of her, turning dizzily. She felt her hand as it pressed against the table, trying to find something solid to cling onto. Everything was falling apart, and she could only stand to the side, a witness to the destruction of the world she had known.

In her head repeated the proverb that seemed to come up again and again.

In a land of enemies and betrayal, only the strongest can survive.

Inside of her, she felt something shatter and break into tiny fragments. But she was numb to the pain of the sharp edges. She didn't fight it.

Death didn't frighten her anymore.

Not when it was the living who were the ones to fear.

And now enter plot twist number two, meaning we are on to part three out of five !

I did just kill off two Shadowharts in one part but it's okay,, I have more Shadowharts to bring in ;)

&& Maybe the ending will be really happy with everyone becoming better people and sitting down with cake to discuss how awesome peace is

...okay, maybe not, but it's good to hope

Any predictions ?

Love you all,

Shelly x