"Crowns topple easily. Thrones crumble like dust. Hearts cease to beat. Thorns draw blood."
In a country torn into two, there should have been no room for mistakes. Especially not at the very core of the royal family. That was what she was. Yes, a...
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Baghra would like to think that she had lived as fully as she is able.
Being the daughter of Ilya Morozova and the mother of the Black Heretic, she's been surrounded by legends her whole life. She had thought that was the end of everything. Surely, there would be nothing else to add to her story.
She had been wrong. There was more to follow if being bothered in her tent for the second time that week was any indication.
Her eyes were shut closed, listening to the sound of the steady drizzle occurring outside. All of their travel had been postponed until better weather came upon them but that didn't mean that they were to sit still and do nothing.
Training for the Grisha was still being conducted and things went on as they usually did. Apart from a message that she had received days prior. It was a message marked with the Ravkan eagle, the seal of a king.
Baghra had not told anyone of what she had received, only that it was something that she must address on her own. What a plan it had been. If it weren't for her son getting in the way of it all. Due to that unexpected interference, she had to resort to more devious means. If only she had known that it would not be enough.
A metal object fell to the table with a clang and Baghra opened her eyes to be faced with fierce blue orbs. They were strikingly radiant and clear for someone so young as if the young woman they belonged to had lived as many lives as she had.
"What do you want?" Baghra drawled, looking up at the girl with an impatient tone.
Irina Lantsov glared harshly. If it were possible to be pierced by daggers from a simple glare, Baghra was sure to have been impaled by now. "You left this for me, didn't you? Why?"
The old Grisha turned up her nose once her eyes fell upon the locket on the table. Of course, she had left it for her. Who else would have done it? "I don't know what you're talking about."
The young princess rolled her eyes, hissing underneath her breath. "You've been trying to turn me against Aleksander. I'm not a fool."
Irina had lived in the Grand Palace long enough to know when and how a person is manipulated. Baghra had been planting seeds of doubt and now, she was only preparing for its culmination. After being controlled her whole life, she'd like to think that she had already been familiar with such tragedy.
"Aren't you?" Baghra challenged, picking up the locket with nimble fingers and gazing upon the inscription. "Then why are you avoiding the truth that is right in front of you?"
Irina laughed bitterly, a tired chuckle emerging from her lips as if her words didn't mean anything. "You say one thing and he says another. Who am I meant to trust? The man I love or the woman who clearly has it out for me?"
