Saralee Relasay Arystenn wasn't always the power hungry, cold hearted Queen that readers of the Books of Lessaenes know. Her past has been a complete secret to us. Until now. Discover how she became the monster we now know in the Ice Queen of Lessae...
The amazing picture on this chapter is by NarukoKyuubiMode.
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"I really hate to tell you this...but I think some of the Rhenans are listening to my brother," Armetorius sighed, giving me a concerned look.
The Council meeting had started about five minutes ago, but he had been the first to say something. It wasn't exactly the best time for the Icehearts. We had lost a lot of support on Rhena because of Tamarius and Alsiyah, who had brought the White Hot Flame back into the limelight.
"I know!" I snapped with frustration, looking around at the five Chiefs and Raliyel who all sat silently in their sumptuous armchairs. No one wanted to mess with me when I was in a bad mood.
"Perhaps we could get them on our side again?" Chief Soren finally added.
"Propaganda!" Enden said triumphantly, proud of his idea. "Rulers have been using it to keep their people nice, obedient, and ignorant since before the Empire was even formed!"
"That's true, but what would we say?" I rolled my eyes. "Hey everyone, we're the Icehearts! We love to murder kids, raise taxes, blow up villages, and force people to fight to the death! Support us!"
"Come on, we all know you can do far better than that," Armetorius smiled.
"It's called sarcasm," I exhaled sharply. "What I mean to say is that this wouldn't work. The people know what we really are now, they'd never buy it."
"It actually could work," Raliyel shrugged. "It all depends on how you see things. Some people think our work is glorious and others see the same deeds as cruel. The Flame uses broadcasts and posters to get people on their side, we can beat them at their own game!"
"That's a great idea!" I gasped. "Let's show them the good side of what we've done and plan to do. Let's prove that the Flames are a bunch of peace-loving unrealistic idealists!"
"I believe that Queen Saralee was addressing the Council," Selaeyah shot Raliyel a murderous glare. "But anyway, since the idea is out there, allow me to add to it. Because someone inexperienced in politics and the art of persuasion would obviously have no idea how to effectively carry out such a plan, I believe my slogan should be the focus of our efforts. After all, without a short catchphrase people will remember, how can we make our message stick? I suggest 'don't stop, not this close to the top!'"
"That slogan is far too generic, and doesn't accurately reflect the goals of the Icehearts. I believe that our symbol should be a person, instead of a mere string of words. And who better to be our symbol than Queen Saralee herself? Of course, we can't just refer to her as the Queen. The people already know her, and have an impression of her. We need to present her as someone new, someone who can change the world. I propose that we call her...the Ice Queen of Lessaenes!" Raliyel smiled.
The Ice Queen of Lessaenes. That sounds...AWESOME!!!
"Ice Queen?" Selaeyah scoffed. "Sounds like something from a fairytale. This is just proving my point, Rhenans are not intellectually capable of working for the government!"
"Actually, I like Raliyel's idea," I nodded.
Selaeyah squeezed her hands into fists and glowered at Raliyel. I could tell that she was probably fantasizing about various ways to kill her.
"Armetorius, go tell your clan officials to start working on posters and videos."
"Why me?" Armetorius grumbled. "Aviona's going to think I'm so lame if I always have Council stuff to do!"
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*Aviona Iddarell, soon to be Aviona Kandain*
"It isn't going to take that long," I rolled my eyes. "And besides, you're a clan Chief. She'll understand. Now go."
"Alright," he sighed, walking out of the chamber.
"Are there any further concerns or ideas?" After pausing for a seconds, I added. "Alright, then, this meeting is adjourned and you are dismissed."
The Council members stood up and briskly walked away, relieved to get out of the stuffy chamber. Raliyel was about to follow, but I stopped her.
"Not you," I sighed. She turned around, giving me a quizzical look.
"Is something wrong?"
"Everything's wrong," I pursed my lips, looking down at the shimmering snowflake tattoo on my left wrist.
"You can't possibly be that worried about the traitors," Raliyel laughed. "You're never worried about anything!"
"It's not them, we can deal with them."
"Then, what is it?"
"It's Fenorel," I said.
"Almost every guy in the Empire adores you and you're worried about one guy not liking you?"
"It's not like that, I don't even care if he likes me or not anymore. From the way he's been acting recently, it seems like somehow, I've disappointed him. I feel like on that day he showed me the Iceheart Serum for the first time, he expected me to do something else with his creation, and I didn't do it."
"Something other than fix all the Empire's problems with it?" Raliyel raised an eyebrow.
"I don't know!" I gritted my teeth in frustration. "I don't know what he wants, or what he's thinking! That's why I have to go to Wellae and find out."
Standing up, I twisted a beam of Aura into a figure eight and it formed a pair of shoes. I slipped on the glittery blue high heels and headed towards the door.
"Make sure the Council knows that no one is to know of my absence," I yelled over my shoulder as I walked out of the chamber.
"Wait! You can't just...randomly go to Rhena for no reason! You're the Queen, we need you here!" Raliyel followed me into the corridor, grabbing my shoulder.
"The Council knows how to take care of things!" I snapped. "Now let me go!"
Raliyel stepped back, fear in her eyes. I remembered the way Selaeyah had looked at her earlier and a chill rolled down my spine.
Without me in the city, who knows what she would do...
I brushed away the thought as I pulled the hood of my coat over my head to keep people from recognizing me and walked towards one of the hovercraft hangars. I had a future clan Chief to find, and Selaeyah wouldn't dare hurt my friend. Not even in my absence.
