Queen of Ashes │ Season 1 │The Journey

3 │Mother's daughter

"Everyone out!" The deathly silence was broken by the King's disquieting voice. "Borgoth, please direct our guests to their chambers where they can stay until a decision is made."

Chief Butler nodded, indicating to the representatives to follow him. Queen Antonia took her children by the hand and, with a last black look at her husband, walked toward the exit.

"Not you, Freya," the King said, noticing his daughter walking after the rest as well.

Freya stopped mid-step. She wasn't sure if she had enough power in her to turn and face this brutal reality. For her, this whole situation was an abstraction, whereas for her father it was a decision that needed to be made. And it was killing her—knowing that the final say, the very ultimate verdict was for him to deliver. She couldn't possibly imagine how much of a burden it was to be the one whose one sentence could be that much meaningful.

Freya realized her fists were clenched. She knew her father was dead serious about this case and that there was certainly a lot of information she was missing. Maybe she didn't wholly understand the core of this conflict or the details of the threat, but at that very moment, she knew her fate. She had made her peace with it in the seconds following that realization. Now, she had to convince her father that her decision was the right one. Even though their hearts told them otherwise.

Finally, she turned.

"Freya—"

"Father—"

They both started talking at once. One glance was enough to send Freya to her father's arms. Her true home. In all life's ups and downs, he was her true tower of strength. The woman knew she didn't face many problems on a daily basis. She was provided with a roof over her head, hot meals, education, and most importantly, her father's selfless love. But at that moment, Freya felt her tiny world, which they both had painstakingly nurtured, fall apart. She needed his warmth, she needed his reassurance that everything would be okay. Even though it was a very deceptive feeling, she still needed, for a while, to just be a little girl in her father's arms.

"Freya, I can't ask that of you." Cradled up against her father, Freya couldn't see his face. But his voice was enough for her to know how shaken he was by the situation and how sincere his words were.

"Father, look at me..." She cupped his face in her hands. "You don't have to ask me anything. I know very well what needs to be done."

His eyes showed panic, an emotion Freya couldn't remember ever spotting on him in her life.

"You don't understand, darling. These people aren't who they might seem. No good awaits you in their hands. This new life... This life would be very cruel, my Freya."

"It doesn't matter now." She gently brushed her father's cheek with her thumb. "I need to do this. We can't risk another war. I may not have been born when the first one wreaked havoc, but I certainly won't be the cause of the next one." She was trying to sound confident even if she was far away from feeling it. Even though a single thought about her ice-hearted stepmother made her sick, the Queen was right about one thing. Freya could finally do something for her kingdom. And she was going to take this chance, no matter how hard and disgusting it seemed.

"You do realize that if you leave with them, you'll probably never come back? What would I do without you? How am I supposed to rule an entire kingdom without a piece of my heart?" There were tears in her father's eyes. She was close to tears too, but she couldn't afford to be weak. Freya had to be strong. For both of them. For the whole Carda. Apparently, that was the only thing she could do. And since there was no alternative, she was going to face it with her head held high.

"We'll both need to stay afloat somehow. I love you, Father, so, so much, but this is bigger than us. This is our kingdom, there are many lives at stake. We cannot act selfish now," she tried to give her father as much love as possible with her words.