war has begun, and if they're not careful, a fatality will tear them down.
NO SMUT OR SEXUALIZING ━ if any of the triplets are uncomfortable with this fanfiction, it will be taken down immediately.
matt sturniolo x fem! oc x chris sturniolo (LOVE T...
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𝖑𝖛𝖎𝖎. The Ending of an Alliance
Maeve
MAEVE REFUSES to fly in the same dropjet as Chris. So does Matt. Even bewitched as the boy is, the pair can't look at him. Cedric, Dawson, and Annabel fall on that sword for them, escorting Chris in the second jet to give the others space.
Still, Maeve and Matt can't speak to each other. The flight back to Harbor Bay passes in stunned silence. Even Valencia and Damon are shocked and quiet. The trade has thrown everyone off balance. Maeve herself still can't believe it. Cedric and Annabel, back-channeling with the Lakelanders? Under their noses? Without Matt's blessing or Dawson's involvement? It doesn't make sense. Even Cyrus, with her vast network of spies, never saw this coming. But she's the only one of any of them who seems pleased. She smiles in her seat, almost vibrating out of her skin with excitement.
It shouldn't feel like this. The war is won. No more battle, no more death. Chris lost his crown back on Province. No one even bothered to pick it up, abandoning the circle of cold iron to the island. Reva took his bracelets. He couldn't fight them if he wanted. It's all over. The boy king is no more. He can't hurt Maeve for one second longer.
So why does she feel so terrible? Dread settles in the pit of her stomach, heavy as stone and just as difficult to ignore.
What happens now?
At first, she tries to blame it on Reva, her queen mother, and Baraka, too. Despite Matt's pledge to honor the alliance, Maeve doubts they will. They lost too much, and none of them seem like the kind to go home empty-handed. All have personal reasons to seek vengeance, and Norta is still crippled, divided by civil war. Easy pickings for stronger beasts. Whatever peace they've found today exists on borrowed time. Maeve can almost hear the tick of the clock against them.
That isn't why you're afraid.
Last night, she and Matt agreed not to make any choices, or change decisions already made. Certain things could be ignored while the war hung in the balance. But she thought they'd have more time. She didn't think everything would be finished so quickly. She didn't know their toes were already edging over the precipice.
With Chris cast down, Matt is truly the king of Norta. He'll crown himself and take what he believes is his. He'll marry Valencia. Nothing before will matter.
And we'll be enemies again.
Montfort and the Scarlet Guard will not stand for another king ruling Norta.
Neither can Maeve, no matter how much he pledges to bring change. The pattern will simply repeat, in his children, his grandchildren, down the lines of kings and queens. Matt refuses to see what must be done. He doesn't have the stomach for the sacrifice required to make a better world.
