Nixon

••• Forty-Nine •••

The days continue slowly, the silence filling the hallways of the palace, and my patience grows thin as yet no word has come out yet with Zion. Zion was declared an enemy of the kingdom just a few days ago and still nothing has happening, no whispers coming from the east as Fiona had predicted. Fiona told me Zion was still in the East, but now whispers grow in the West, whispers of an alpha creating treaties between other packs. 

Being the leader of Crimson Lock, I was the one who made the decision to cut ties with many packs, losing many opportunities to hear rumors from the kingdom and make plans based off of them. I have to acknowledge that my cutting ties and becoming a rogue pack means taking matters into my own hands when it comes to packs, no relying on others. If war breaks out between packs after all of this, Crimson Lock will have few allies, but we are strong, we are willing to fight to the death, and many of the non-warriors in my pack were trained even by Nixon. 

Laraxis spends much of his days listening to the Priestess he has asked to be at the palace, spending much of his time by her side as I sense something else is going on between them. Yet Priestesses are not allowed any form of physical pleasure, nothing of the flesh, and being the Head Priestess, I would expect her to follow the rules set forth by her congregation, but it seems she has little respect for the title which she holds. 

"Thinking?" Fiona asks, pulling my attention away from the view the balcony offers as I am pulled to look at the witch. Her eyes are dark in the moonlight, a creature of the darkness, and the way she holds herself makes me wonder what else in her past still haunts her. She has told me of the curse on her coven, the endings which her children faced, yet I believe there is more to her story which I would love to hear. She brings with her so much knowledge, for she got revenge on many who wronged her. I seek that same form of revenge. I seek that revenge on Zion, on the kingdom which has been tainted for centuries, and for the broken crown kings have worn. The broken crown needs not to be made new, but to be tossed away and forgotten as a new kingdom is brought in. 

"Zion will not come forward," I comment, looking back to the forest stretching beyond the palace. "He has Sybil now, he will not give that up when he believes we will execute him first chance we have." 

"He is not so predictable," Fiona points out, coming to stand beside me as she leans against the balcony railing. "Yes, he will do what he can to keep Sybil safe, but this kingdom was created by his ancestors, he will not let it fall if he catches word of your plans." 

"But we will be unable to catch word. Elijah is with us and Elijah was the only person he truly trusted-"

"Do you trust everyone in your pack, who you keep around you? In the dead of night, whispers run through the air and make their way to ears which were never meant to be reached." 

"Should I trust you?" My voice is stern as I face the witch, meeting her gaze as I raise an eyebrow. 

Fiona offers me a coy smile, jumping onto the marble railing of the balcony as she takes a seat upon it, gazing up to the moonlight. Nixon was a child of the moon, something I once associated with the darkness, but now I associate with a world of endless possibilities. "You should never truly trust anyone but yourself, the world is a cruel place." 

"Can my own daughter trust me?" I bring the topic back to one which has been haunting me for the past few days, something keeping me awake at night as I am unable to predict what could happen next. 

"You bear the Maxwell name, you have become the Luna and Alpha of Crimson Lock during the turning of the tides, and your husband was the one to kill a beloved Queen. The world is cruel to girls...and your daughter will face that cruelness much more all due to who her parents were."