Red Queen One-Shots

The Nightshade

or the favourite enemy of Elara Merandus

Elara Merandus kept her glee to herself as she devoured the minds of the coutiers like a bowl of strawberries. They were crushed just as easily as those fruits, and at nine years old, Elara hungered for training her ability more than for any food. Her great talent as a whisper had shown while she was still very little, but it needed to develop and Red servants were simply beneath her. Now, the time had come: Her father had commanded Elara to test her limits - and to test the limits of her marks. As much as she delighted in storming into the heads of these sheeps at court, she began to concentrate harder, seeking out those who were a real challenge. She singled out several nobles who presented rather guarded minds. She guessed her father expected her to report those people to him, to control her progress. Thus, she took efforts to remember them and, as a bonus, she estimated a ranking of their mental shutters.

Yet, the true challenge wasn't observation but conquest. She was to choose a real obstacle and to overcome it.

Elara decided carefully, though actually, she picked Lucia Haven because she'd always wanted to explore the legendary shadow. The Black Witch, she was called. Lucia Haven was likely the most powerful shadow ever, the only one who managed to manipulate coloured light. She'd used these abilities only once in the Lakelands war, but that service had produced a decisive victory for Norta.

Elara was interested in her because she was rumoured to be crazy, too.

Did Haven betray her feeble mind, anyhow? Elara was well educated to develop an understanding for the outer appearance, too, if she wanted to be an effective whisper. So she regarded Lucia Haven, as usual in the most dramatic dress. She was wrapped in black silk that bulged wide in the skirt, and she'd left her thin shoulders bare. Obsidian gems sparkled on her cleavage, arms and ears. Her very long hair, red as wine, fell straight to her hips. She presided over her table, entertaining her group with the dramatic gestures of the actress she was on other nights. Yet, Elara noticed something off about Haven. Were her movements too slow, her eyes too detached? Her olive face seemed pretty and radiant, but you coudn't trust a shadow in this matter. They liked to make themselves more beautiful than they really were.

Elara shifted her gaze to Haven's daughter Charlotte sitting next to her for a moment. The teenager had inherited her mother's ability for light bending and had thus became the Black Witch's most apt pupil - though many said Charlotte had nowhere near as much talent. The girl suddenly turned to look at Elara and the whisper flinched. She shied away and felt awkward for it. She couldn't let herself be disheartened by people looking at her, if she wanted to master whispering. She had to see in people's eyes, read their mimics, enter their minds and let the mark not notice anything. And once she was proficient in this, she was able to start controlling them. That was still a long way to go.

Despite her drawback, Elara prepared her attack again. She sent the sensors of her mind out to enter Haven's, and then she saw - nothing, at first. No, blackness. Black, jagged cliffs and thorns and shards inhabited Haven's soul. Elara had definitely gained access, but she wasn't able to find any information. Instead, it felt like the edges in Haven scratched and cut Elara herself. She couldn't continue, she had to realize it. This was a woman who knew best how to hurt herself and anyone else was no match for her.

Elara retreated for now but she yearned to explore Haven more than ever. This was exactly the challenge she had been searching for and she would try again and again. Then Haven turned in her seat, deliberately slow. Her blue eyes focused on Elara and she smiled, viciously, accepting the game the little whisper girl had invited her to.

As Elara, after gleaning some other nobles, set to leave the party, Charlotte Haven barred her way. The whisper managed to keep her face calm, looking at the yellow-haired girl in her casual black dress. She saw Charlotte's eyes were black, too. No wonder Lucia Haven fell for her father, a burner of the minor House Ventos, if his eyes reflected the darkness of Haven's soul so perfectly. Elara immediately tried to read the teenager's mind, too. She was much more easily accessible than her mother.

Charlotte's soul was filled with ambition, and frustation about her lack of powers. Yet, she was determined to no end. Convinced to always get what she wanted. This was impressive, but quite common for a coutier, although there was something beneath her pride, a huge desire, gentle and fiery at the same time and Elara had no idea what this was about -

She shrieked as light burned in her eyes and she was thrown out of Charlotte's mind. The older girl tsked at her.

"Be careful, little whisper girl, lest they notice what you're doing," Charlotte taunted her. "Nobody likes it." Elara's eyes recovered enough to see her smirk.

"But I, I like to play games, Elara Merandus," she finished. She stroked Elara's head and the whisper realized Charlotte had let her see what she'd read in her mind, as the shadow her left alone on the corridor.

Commentary:

This is an introduction for my original characters, actually. I like to present them from a neutral POV at first. Charlotte is going to be "the nightshade". And I like to envisage little, but already evil Elara chided by the grown-ups. The "little lightning girl" - "little whisper girl" parallel is just too delicious not to emphasize ;-)