A Whisper of Night

1.2 || ASTNORDEN 💫

Elsking opened and closed his mouth, his dark eyes wide. With his high-bridged nose, thick black curls, and heart-shaped face, he would've made a rather pretty maiden. We should've been born in each others' positions, Astna thought bitterly, for all the good we do in our current ones.

"Y-yes?" he said.

"What do you make of this attempt on my life?" she said, tightening her grip on his arm.

"Horrifying," he said. "I was...so terrified."

"You must've been," she said sympathetically. "You could hardly breathe." She let him go - her fingers left pink prints on his arm - and patted him lightly on the shoulder. "Why do you think anyone would've done something like this?"

"It's just...your talk of war...it unsettles people." He glanced at her for half a second before turning his eyes away. "Maybe...maybe they thought...your death would help the realm."

"Hm," she said. "You seem to have a very clear understanding of the assassin's motives. I trust you could talk to him, yes? Try to tell him that the death of the realm's Lady would cause more harm than good?"

"Y-yes, of c-course - with your leave, my Lady - I - "

She barely resisted the sigh as Elsking leapt from his seat. In the blink of an eye, he had disappeared. My dear brother, blood of my blood.... 

She shook her head. You should've expected it, she chided herself. He'd been distancing himself from her for the last few weeks, muttering with his two brutish bodyguards and glancing away whenever she approached. 

I should get a few bodyguards of my own, but whom can I trust? Half of the men here openly oppose me, and another quarter of them smile to my face and curse me behind my back.

Slowly, the Hall emptied. When only a few people remained, she let her posture fall and sank back against the throne.

"My Lady," said Minister Foerling. She approached the podium swiftly, her voice low. The two of them talked after almost every session of Parliament.

Astna nodded, descending the dais carefully. "Thank you for staying." She glanced at the rest of the men, making sure they were well away from the throne before proceeding. "What do you make of this?"

Foerling's eyes narrowed. "To be honest, my Lady...your brother has been acting strangely of late."

Astna nodded. "I have Jala tracking the movements of his guards," she said, "although I suspect that half the Ministers are on his side. Please, walk with me."

They started down the aisle of the Hall. Foerling walked with her back as straight as the throne, her chin lifted. Astna wished she could hold herself half as well - she always slouched whenever she sat. She looks like more of a Lady than I do, she thought, although the Minister would've rebuked her if she said so. And she'd probably be a better ruler. Still, it was good enough to have her on her side.

They exited the foyer and headed into the gardens. It was a windy day, the clouds swollen with rain. They turned left towards the lake.

"Handel is not your man," Foerling said, as they walked past a hedge of purple roses.

"I suspected so. Is he loyal to my brother?"

"He doesn't dare say so now, of course. But as soon as Elsking comes of age...."

Curse Elsking. "But he is against war."

"Yes."

She laughed bitterly. "He should just say that to my face, instead of wringing his hands when I am in council."

Foerling smiled. "I have more ears than two, my Lady. Perhaps you should take a leaf from my book."

She shot the Minister a glare. "But whom can I trust?" Jala, her handmaiden, had been her only source of information for the last two years.

"Perhaps you should reconsider your views, my Lady," Foerling said. "Our chances of winning a war against the Lion Queen are extremely - "

"Have you forgotten my mother and father?" Astna snapped. "Have you forgotten what the queen did to us, to your own son? Every night I dream of vengeance and every day I curse the cowards who stand by meekly and let that woman step all over us. Our trades have degenerated so badly that our harbors are near-empty."

Astna saw Foerling flinch at the mention of her son, but the minister did not rise to the bait. "It's not that bad, my Lady." They reached the lake. A few brown ducks glided over the surface, ruffling their feathers against the cold wind. Autumn was coming. 

"You haven't been to Hajtaon recently, have you?" she said. She'd gone to the harbor only three days ago, carrying twenty wagons full of cheap bread. The waterfront, which had once been a vibrant center of trade, was now as barren as a battlefield.

And the people...they had had stared up at her with sullen eyes and sunken faces, their bones stabbing through their papery skin. Astna had given away all the bread, yet she suspected that at least two-thirds of the city had gone unfed.

Astna turned to Minister Foerling.

"Answer me honestly," she said. "Would my men be half as reluctant to wage war if I were a man? If I were Elsking, or Minister Handel, or any other man?"

Minister Foerling hesitated. And then she shook her head. "No," she finally said. "They would not."

Of course not, Astna thought, letting out a breath. As the old saying goes, a vengeful woman is no woman at all.

~~

This was originally part of the first chapter! I'm experimenting with chapter size - let me know what you think!

XO,

Tia