Broken Crown

A Court Full of Warriors

I felt the warm shine of sunlight on my eyes and I groaned. I slowly stood up and rubbed my eyes. "I have prepared a bath for you, your highness. You should get up quickly so you don't end up late to your first lessons as future queen of Magnos." I heard Avala say. I quickly got up and let her undress me. I made my way to the bath and let myself sink. I felt a sort of uneasiness and nervousness. My ability responded to my emotions and the water around me started to tint to a shade of gray lighter than black. Avala entered the room and didn't question it. She poured in some oils that smelled really nice and dropped a few rose petals into the water as well. "This is very relaxing. Thank you, Avala." She bowed and gave me a sly smile. "I hope this helps calm your nerves... I'll be right outside the door once your done to help you change." She curtsied this time and left me alone with my thoughts. So many images started to pop into my head and I imagined the outcome of this war. Norta winning and Magnos crumbling down and burning to ash as the darkness consumes every inch of this country. I will make them bow down and plead for mercy.
Once I got out Avala dried my legs and arms with other towels as I started to brush my hair slowly. Avala pulled a light toned gray dress that had small tints of purple. It wasn't like anything I would normally wear but I will become queen soon, I also didn't technically have house colors. I noticed quickly how the tool of the dress fell in unique ways and I had to admit I did like it. She painted my lips black and my eyes a deep Smokey red. I wondered how I would look on my coronation.
Corrus walked beside me hand in hand as we entered the dining room. There was a rush of colors on each side. I guessed they represented the houses. Not like I needed to know them all.... they won't even live long enough to be remembered. There wasn't enough seats for 50 people so the only people there seemed to be the leader of each house and their daughters. I'm not gonna lie they all looked posh and trained to perfection. It made me want to claw my eyes out. They watched me and my sister like hungry wolves. I know why. I stole the crown they've probably fought for, for years. But I was already a princess now. Corrus' crown was completely made out of steel and carefully decorated with rubies. Mine was different. It was made of iron. I had black onyx gems. It didn't represent Norta at all. It represented my ability. I am different. We are different. Everyone rose once we both arrived at the table. I took a seat next to Borealis and my sister took the seat next to mine. From the corner of my eye I noticed a girl in a black and red dress that had a sweetheart neckline and a very beautiful gem necklace that looked like flames on her neck. She was completely staring daggers at me. She and the man next to her both. She must have been the victor. I stole her crown and her non-existent future. I looked away and stared at Queen Iris. As always she looked elegant. Her crown sitting on her head with blue gems of different shades.

The food came and everyone ate in silence. I didn't like it. I could feel the tension rising up slowly. I fed on negative emotions... it made me stronger... I could feel the pulse of this energy running through my veins. Halfway through the meal Iris stood up. "I'm sorry for the interruption, but I wanted to take a moment to say that it is an honor to be housing such talented young girls such as the these two." She directed her hands at the direction where Corrus and I were sitting. We both stood up. My sister gave me a slight kick which meant smile and so I did. "I wanted to take the time to announce that Morana's coronation will take place in two weeks time! I hope you all join to welcoming the future queen of Magnos to her new home!" Tch! New home my ass! This hellish place will burn to ash and I'll watch it with my head held high.
Once we were done I started to head towards the first place on my schedule. I followed a maid into a big study hall. There a woman greeted me with a smile. She had red hair with a few streaks of gray. The light around her seemed to glow. She was a shadow. Manipulator of light. "Hello dear, I'm Aurora Haven." Haven? I was confused. That is the high house in Norta. "I thought the High houses in Magnos went by different names." I spoke softly. "Oh dear I used to be a Norman too. When I was a little girl Magnos soldiers attacked my family's transport. The silver soldiers protecting us were not able to hold them off. The soldiers here are far more experienced and they and my parents were both killed. The Magnos soldiers took me in so I grew up here in the court." She smiled at me and many thoughts started to run through my head. How does this woman now hate them? Has she just became grateful and feel in debt that they spared her life? "I see." I reply in a quiet tone. "Enough about me! Let's start your lessons."
Once I stepped out of the room I couldn't believe the things I had to learn. Sleep with my back straight? I wonder if mom also had to go through this. I started to follow my maids to the next place on my schedule. My lessons about being a queen will be after the luncheon hosted by Flurris. I really wasn't looking forward to it, but at least I won't be alone. I knew I had to be very observant to see if I can find any information that could be useful to us. In two weeks the war will start. In two weeks I'll be queen.
My sister waits for me at the entrance. I signal the maids to open the doors. As my sister and I walk in unison, I can feel the stare of a dozen eyes on us. Flurris approaches us and we both curtsy. She then does the same. "I'm so glad you both could come. You'll be sitting with me and lady Nova." Nova. She won Queenstrial. We both followed Flurris to the table. I sat right across from Nova and my sister seated herself across from Flurris. "Good afternoon your highness's, my name is Nova Flare." My sister kicked my leg slightly. Smile. So I curved my lips up slightly giving her a slight smile. "It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm princess Morana Calore, but I believe you already knew that." I slightly smirked. She seemed irritated from my presence and did a terrible job of hiding it. "This is my sister Corrus Calore." She turns her head toward Corrus and she smiled too. "So Morana, tell us about life in Norta." Flurris blurted out. As the maids set down tea and small sandwiches and cookies on our table I started to think. "Well my life in Norta wasn't very interesting. I spent most of the time reading history books trying to find out more about my abilities, but as you can guess nothing traces back to them." Nova smirked this time. "I wasn't there during the court, but hopefully I can get a taste of your ability later." I looked at her confused. "Pardon me?" She smiled widely. "Don't tell me you forgot? Everyone is going to train together later. I'm sure everyone will be interested to see you with your abilities in action." This turned out to be better than I thought. During training I'll find out exactly how strong these girls all are. "You'll also get to see my sister Corrus. She is also a burner and a very gifted one in fact." She nodded. "How did you know I was a burner?" Now it was my turn to smirk at her. "I heard you were the one who won Queenstrial. I hope that there are no tensions between us. Especially because I took your place." Suddenly I felt a small tingling in my arms. Someone in this table was having negative emotions. It was pretty easy to guess who it was. I wouldn't be surprised if she had her fists bawled up under the table. She forced a smile at me. I couldn't tell if she was shaking or not. "Of course not! I'm sure we'll end up being great friends!"