The cool brush of the breeze soothed my skin but not my pounding heart as I stared the Council in the face, one after the other. After all, I was their queen, a title that I struggled with.
“I will speak with Leopold,” I reiterated in a firm voice even though I was quivering on the inside. “If there is even one path that avoids a battle, I must find it.”
The women, two of them, nodded with exhausted patience while the men stared at me as though mercy had become another form of cowardice. Then they averted their gaze and focused on the map spread out on the table.
I paced through the forest that night while the resistance camp slept before settling beside the blazing fire. Waving my guards away to get some rest, I heard the restless wings of my raven somewhere above the trees. N'kaw was back from her errand.
I closed my eyes and slipped into her mind as her flight became mine. The forest trails unfolded beneath us. From her glide through the dark sky to her descent upon the palace walls, I watched every patrol carrying my brother's black banner and the secret meeting he held with people I had once trusted.
Many believed my gifts were worthy of a queen while my brother's was spoken of as an abomination. He had filled the kingdom with walking corpses that never tired, questioned nor mourned. These caused terror in the hearts of the people hence the rising of the resistance group, the Black Feathers.
Only I possessed the strength to stop him for my gifts reached beyond the eyes of ravens. With strong focus, I could bend living minds to obey my every command, and that was a gift I struggled with after my nursemaid slit her throat because I couldn't control the gift as a toddler. I swore to never use that gift unless lives were at stake.
Now, the Black Feathers wanted me to use my powers to seize the palace, force my brother to relinquish power and sit on the throne as their monarch.
They didn't realise each time they pleaded, memories betrayed me. Leopold was the sweetest person I knew. I remembered the boy who lifted me onto the high walls of the castle so I could watch the sunrise above the valley. We played together with scraped knees and stolen pastries to show for it. One night, we vowed to rule together after our parents retired.
Everything changed after our parents died and he tried to save them with forbidden magic. Rather than mourn with me, he crowned himself king and sent his guards to lock me up in the dungeons.
The Black Feathers broke me out.
I hope you enjoyed reading this short piece. It's inspired by the Freewrite #dailyprompt phrase "relinquish power".
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