Their Thirst For Pride

13 - Stinging Reminiscence

Vardaan was restless. Only three competitors left and he hadn’t been accused until the night before. He wasn’t sure how to handle it. It scared him. Onto his reasonable suspicions, he wouldn’t dare accuse Lyra so that left Garvish and Fletcher. And Lex was his friend. He’d have to think it through before coming to a conclusion. 
He stepped into the workshop and breathed in the dirty but comforting sent of clay. Comforting? Even just the thought of clay made him uncomfortable until today. He turned left, to the pottery section of the workshop. The other side would have been used for the engineering competition but that was no longer able to take place. Poor Blakesmith. And that girl, Fletcher. She seemed so down ever since he’d left the world. Vardaan almost pitied her, but he had his own worries. His own love.
He stared down at a bucket of clay, the sight making him uneasy. He sat down to sooth his nerves and grabbed a chunk of clay, throwing it onto a wheel. He began to shape it into a pot. Still, he was uneasy doing the thing he used to love. Pottery was his father’s thing. He found comfort in pottery for the first time since he was seventeen. He could hear his father’s soothing voice as he finished his piece and cried. Tears fell down his face as he tried his best to breathe his sobs back. He couldn’t let anyone hear him. He couldn’t let anyone find out he’d made a piece of pottery again.
Once he finished, he got up to put his vase into the kiln located in the corner of the room.
“Uh, hey, Vardaan.”
Vardaan nearly dropped the ceramic but placed it down gently, getting a hold of himself. He brought his wrist to his eye, wiping a tear away. His hands were still covered in clay. “What do you-” He stopped himself. He couldn’t take his stress out on anyone. That would look bad. He turned and saw Lex standing in the doorway. “I’m sorry. Do you need something?”
“First of all, I’m curious as to why you’re in here… alone?”
“Oh, this? I was just getting back to something simple. These last few days have been messed up.”
Lex raised an eyebrow, “That’s a nice pot. Who taught you that? I mean, you won the pottery competition so it must’ve been someone good.”
“Really? Thank you. My father taught me. Pottery was kind of his whole thing. I just tagged along.” He paused, “So what did you come here for?”
“It took me a while to find you but, the queen wanted me to let you know she wants you in the throne room. Another competition she says.”
“Another?”
“I know, this is getting ridiculous.”
“Well, we ought to get out there.”
The two walked to the royal hall, silent the whole way. When they arrived, they met Miss Fletcher and Queen Lyra who were patiently waiting for them.
“Good morning, boys.” Esme said, sitting on a bench all the way across the room.
Lex ignored her. She was friends with that Miss Cadman. He couldn’t stand the sword fighter, always seeking ways to piss him off. How did anyone put up with someone like that?
“Morning, Miss Fletcher. What makes today so good?”
The archer narrowed her eyes, “My bad. Nothing makes it good, Mr. Galle. Are you always this negative though?”
He ignored her, turning his head toward Lyra who sat back in her throne. Terrible etiquette. Her posture was bad and she kept tapping on her nails, making an awful sound that echoed throughout the room. He cleared his throat, “Your majesty?”
“Oh please, we all know your secret. You’re in love,” Esme said, putting both hands up as she rolled her eyes. “Why don’t you just call her by her name?”
“Okay, Esme. Way to show respect to your queen.” Lyra responded.
“Ladies, calm down. We’re all stuck in this together, we don’t tneed to make it any worse.” Lex said.
But Vardaan was glaring at Miss Fletcher now who was glaring at the queen.
Autumn walked in, her shoulders drooped low with impatience, “Your majesty, announce the competition already.”
“Archery. Now get out. All of you.” Everyone, including Autumn followed the order. Except for Vardaan.
“Lyra, what’s wrong, sweetheart?” Vardaan asked.
“Please don’t call me that.” She answered.
“What do you mean?”
“I can’t do this anymore. My heart already broke for Miss Fletcher losing Mr. Blakesmith and I think that if I lose you and we’re still together… I think it would hurt more. It’d just be the best, for both of us. The same goes for you if I go before you, I assume.”
“Lyra, you can’t-”
“Don’t call me that either. This was all a mistake. Please go.”
So he left. Lyra broke down sitting on the uncomfortable throne she owned. She took her crown off and threw it at the ground, wincing at the sound the jewels and metal made when hitting the ground over and over again. She never should’ve killed her mother. Not only was that a mistake but continuing these games and luring people into this castle got them into this nightmare. This was her fault but she was going to fix it. Once she figured out who was doing these unspeakable things, they would pay. And she would show no mercy.

For a few hours, Lex and Vardaan practiced. Did they want to practice? No. Did they have anything better to do? Also no.
While they practiced, Esme lounged in her room. She kept her eyes fixed on the bow she’d hung up when she’d gotten to the castle. The competition was archery. Perfect. That’d keep her mind off of everything for a while. She’d just have to keep her makeup and the rest of her appearance well. She tried everything in her power to keep her mind off of Orion. She finally got to wear the dress in her closet designated for archery. Who would win? She asked herself. Who had better skills? Who had better aim? Who could have been the murderer? Who killed Orion? She sat up, shaking her head. She couldn’t ruin her makeup especially when she was supposed to judge. She needed to think about something else. Anything else.
Her thoughts tormented her for what seemed like forever until someone knocked at the door. She got up to answer it, wondering who it could be.
“Hello, Miss Fletcher.”
Her heart skipped a beat. Someone stood in front of her, holding a green hat in front of his face.
“I’m sorry, who are you?” Why wasn’t she scared?
The man dropped his arm, removing the hat from his face. It revealed a scarred Orion. The single cut he’d gotten on his face from his death was still there.
“Orion- what are you…?”
“It’s okay, Esme. I’m here. I couldn’t leave you here alone. Not with those maniacs.”
“But I don’t understand? You died.”
He pulled her into a hug. His embrace was just how she remembered it. She wanted to break into tears but she couldn’t. She’d ruin her makeup for the competition. The competition! When was that? She couldn’t miss it.
“It doesn’t matter how I’m here. It only matters that I am here.”
That’s when she began to deny the circumstances. Something wasn’t right. But how could she deny seeing Orion? It was all she wanted.
“I love you so much.” She said as a tear fell down her face.
“May we sit down? I have something to tell you, darling.”
She opened her eyes, “Yes?”
They made their way to the side of her bed, the exact spot Orion had wrapped her arm in bandages the other day.
“So, you know how I wanted to protect you, right?” Orion asked, locking eyes with her.
Her eyes evaded his. “Yes, I do.”
His smiled faded. “I killed them all, Esme.”
She backed away, hands gripping her blanket so hard she could’ve ripped it in half. “You didn’t.”
“I did. It was all for you, dear. That’s how much I love you.”
“How was that loving me!? You’ve ruined these people’s lives! My life!” She screamed, furious.
“What? You don’t approve?” Orion questioned, reaching out to her arm.
She yanked her arm away, terrified. “Why would I approve!? You committed murder and said you loved me! I mean, what kind of psychopath-”
Suddenly a blade appeared in his hand. She hadn’t seen him grab it. She backed up even further, standing this time. It was all dizzying. She was going to fall over.
“As much as it pains me to say this, if you don’t approve, I’m afraid I must get rid of you. Of us.” He said, pointing the blade at her abdomen.
“Get away from me, you bastard!”
“Esme!”
She woke up in a cold sweat with a tear stained face. She tried to focus on where she was. Still in her room, no Orion to be found. It was just a dream. But Orion was still dead. That was quite possibly the worst nightmare she’d ever had.
“Are you okay?”
Esme looked to the side of her bed. Lyra? Why had she come to wake her up?
She sat up slowly, her head ached in so much pain. “I’m okay. I just had a little bit of a fright.”
“Are you sure? You’re makeups ruined- and your hair!”
“I’m so sorry, please forgive me.”
“It’s okay. We’r0e all going through stuff too. We’ll have to get you fixed up though. Judging was supposed to start ten minutes ago.”