Beautiful Illusions

Chapter 5

Victoria smiled gingerly as she glanced at the maid bowing meekly in front of her. "Lilith," Victoria encouraged coldly. "I do not care for formalities."

Immediately the petite maid stood up. "Thank you, My Lady."

"Where is the letter?" Victoria asked as she sank into her lavish couch. "Today is the queenly meeting. What took you so long?"

The bitterness in Victoria's voice must have scared the maid because Lilith sunk to her knees immediately. "My Lady, spare me!" Then slyly, "I wanted to make sure no one was following me. Queen Winter-"

Victoria breathed in slowly. "I do not care for formalities, Lilith," Victoria said softly, pronouncing every word with extra care. "Don't waste my time."

"Qu-. Winter received the letter."

"If she has half the intelligence I expect then she should know what I meant," Victoria said, to no one in particular. She smiled to herself. The queenly meeting should have commenced maybe... Victoria glanced at the gold-lined clock hung in her room. Twenty minutes ago?

Mother will be horribly disappointed. And angry, Victoria thought sweetly as she savored the thought of rage on her mother's face.

"I wish I could see it..." Victoria said out loud again.

"My lady, then why don't you go to the Queenly Meeting?"

Irritated that Lilith had read her mind, Victoria snapped up and walked away. "In case you noticed," Victoria told her dryly. "I'm not a queen. But don't worry, my people will inform me of what's going on. There's nothing more to do than wait."

"Then... My Lady, I will take my le-"

"No." Victoria stared down at her. "You will wait here. I do not trust you yet." Yet as the words left her mouth she knew it would be hard to believe, she had just delivered a letter to the queen of Ludia.

The contents of the letter are not secret, even if she did reveal it, no one can pinpoint any blame on me. Everything I wrote was purely innocuous. Besides, who would dare pinpoint blame on me? Victoria laughed to herself quietly. Her reputation throughout Eonia was not... unknown.

Victoria sat back down at her painting table and picked up a thin brush. "Bring me my paints," Victoria called . "And a cup of tea while you're at it."

"Yes My Lady,"

By the afternoon, Victoria was on edge. The Queenly Meeting should have ended over an hour ago. Surely Winter isn't dense enough to actually act up in the meeting. Then we're all bound for hell. She sat up uneasily, staring at her painting.

It was a beautiful snowy owl, wings out, talons stretched forward, with the bottom of the painting looking like swirling blood near the talons.

"Would you like to keep it in the storage room?" Lilith asked.

Suddenly the room's door burst open.

"My deepest apologies, My Lady," a tall guard announced. "But by the Queen's orders, an emergency meeting must commence. You must go now, My Lady."

Victoria knew she didn't have a choice. "Thank you for your duty, Sir Alfred," she called in a slow, cold manner.

Then she exited her room.

As she walked to the meeting room, she couldn't help but see the carriages outside of each queen, already leaving. It usually was customary for the queens to stay at the hosting queen's palace for at least a day or two to show amiability, yet Victoria noticed how the carriages were hurried.

Mother must have made them leave, Victoria knew. And knowing her mother, Queen Corra would be absolutely livid to, first of all, show that slight hostility and second of all, to even allow her emotions control her. Winter probably made clear, strong boundaries.

When Sir Alfred opened the door to the meeting room, the Queen's gaze met Victoria's in an instant.

"Do take a seat, Daughter," the Queen said in the same cold manner as Victoria had just spoken to Alfred a few moments before.

I am my mother's daughter after all.

"Your Majesty." Suddenly an advisor bowed, sweat dripping down his face.

"Speak."

"May..." The older man seemed to try to summon his courage. "May I inquire how the Queenly Meeting went-?"

The flash of rage and hatred that appeared on Queen Corra's face was enough.

Winter did it.

Victoria managed to keep her expression emotionless.

"It ran smoothly," Queen Corra decided. "Yet as soon as Queen Winter entered the room, she was filled with passive hostility. Every-" She paused, her lips twitching as she struggled to maintain her form. "Every attempt made by me to aide her was shot down immediately. She is trying to make an enemy out of me."

"If she is hostile, you could just declare war-" A stout man, probably one of Corra's assistants stepped up.

Queen Corra stood up and slammed her fist against the table. "Did you not hear what I said?" She shouted. "I said she was passively aggressive! Not aggressive! Are you a complete fool!? If I attack right now, do you think the other quadrants will stand by and do nothing? Do you think Eonia can take down three other quadrants?!"

After a heavy pause, Queen Corra sat down.

"Off."

Immediately two guards grabbed each of his arms while a third grabbed out a long sword.

"Your Majesty, my apologies, oh, do spare my-" The advisor's hurried pleads for life were obviously ignored by the queen, who suddenly seemed to be very interested in a pen on the table.

Swish!

Victoria watched intently. How alike we are, mother and daughter.

"I fear for your safety," Queen Corra said once again. "I am terribly, terribly afraid for your safety. I'm afraid some guards may have failed slightly in their job of... protection. But do not worry. They will not fail again. They will increase their watch on every, single, one of you. I'm sure there are no complaints?"

Queen Corra placed down her pen and Victoria realized she had been writing something.

"There is a new decree," Queen Corra declared, picking up her paper and reading off of it. "There will be five guards, monitoring you twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. Everything that goes in and out of your room or household shall be monitored. Of course, this is all for your protection." She placed down the paper and stood up.

"This meeting is adjourned."