THE USURPERS| 2021

CHAPTER 8: ALLIANCES

V.
CHAPTER 8
Alliances
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I silently watched the rain outside of my window. The steady patter of droplets against the glass calmed me more than the herbal teas Maelle insisted I drink. It had been two days since I had met the prince in garden. Since then, every afternoon consisted of a rain storm that prevented me from ambushing General Altan and Prince Calden on their daily walk.

While I knew it was a hinderance to my plans, I was glad for it. It allowed me some time to myself. Time that I hadn't gotten since my arrival at the palace. And after what had happened with Aurora—it was greatly needed.

Maelle came by every few hours to ask me if I wanted to get dressed and join the ladies of the court in tea or lunch, whatever gathering they were having at that moment. I always denied her. I was content to stay in my nightgown and flip through the history books from the library.

"Have you got any good reading done?" Maelle asked me, bringing in a tray of tea and biscuits. She had been more attentive lately, constantly checking in on me to see if my conversation with Aurora had any affect on me. We didn't talk about it, but I knew she'd heard what my sister had told me.

Maelle smoothed the skirt of her uniform and sat down on the edge of my bed, looking over the large book that was laid out in front of me. Her light hair was weaved into a braided crown atop her head, threaded by a green scarf that matched her eyes. I surveyed her pointed features up close. She looked like a storybook depiction of a faerie, minus the ears.

"Are you from Elysia?" I asked her. Elysia had a diverse range of colourings within its borders, but Maelle's small frame and sharp features hinted at a distant ancestry elsewhere.

She shook her head. "I'm from Aedun, but I suppose it's now part of the empire. Have you read about it yet?" Her hand reached out to flip to the back of the book, where the map was.

"There." Maelle placed a finger on a small piece of land that was attached to Elysia's eastern corridor. It was coloured under the empire. "Aedun. My mother originated from there but came to the capital once the empire was established."

I had spent the last few hours reading on the origins of Elysia. What I had surmised from the first two chapters of, The Elysian Empire: A History, had largely been land acquisitions in the last thirty years. My grandfather had been the one to transform Elysia from a small landlocked kingdom to the empire it was today.

"The empire stretched west after Emperor Apollion won the battle of Huron Valley." I watched as Maelle traced a line from our capital to Aedun's coast. "The expansion allowed Elysia to access ports to the Boundless sea."

The first two chapters had explained how Elysia had conquered the Western Kingdoms—Aedun and Navarre, after a slew of bloody battles. My father's name was mentioned a few times, but as the Crown Prince who once rallied our forces against Western rebels. I even remembered as a child, before my father became Emperor, being told that he was off to battle. When he would return, my mother made sure to assemble us all on the front steps of the palace; even poor Annette and Emile, to welcome him back.

I pointed to the grey stretch of land on the eastern side of the continent. Beyond the small borders of independent Callais and the conquered Eastern kingdom of Jorah, was a mountain range. The range extended to the icy coast of the Northern isles, down to the desert of Minisia. Past them was a large piece of territory, larger than the entire Empire.

The Eastern Wastelands. It was the only part of the map that lacked colour.

"Is that where that flower was from?" I asked Maelle. The beautiful white and purple flower that grew in the maze had put native Elysian plants to shame.