Mischief in the Stars

This Changes Everything

Rory stared at herself in the mirror. Her long brown hair fell to her waist in beautiful waves. A few pieces had been twisted back, pinned with a shimmering star clip. She turned her head, examining the hairpiece. Her fingers traced it gingerly, the crystals shining in the light. Her long red dress cascaded down to the ground. It was a much simpler dress than the one she wore for the Pacem Ball.

It was an off the shoulder dress with a large split at the leg. The top crossed over her chest, the fabric was stiff and wrapped around the top of her arms to create thick off the shoulder straps. A simple belt wrapped around the small of her waist, the dress poofing out slightly from there. The bright red looked gorgeous against her light-brown skin, the dress was bold and elegant.

After Malakai had revealed the name, not much happened. No one else could recall if they heard a name or not when they died. Rory offered to go through their minds to find the information, but they decided it could wait until after the coronation. They tried to find information on anyone named Sakara in Thera but to no avail. Rory stayed up for most of the night researching the name, but there was nothing.

Rory didn't inform them of her conversation with Grimwald. She trusted them implicitly, but she had a feeling they wouldn't like this. She would be giving information to someone she knew she couldn't trust, and she would also have to believe some of the things he told her. The situation would likely lead to a disaster. Rory didn't want to endanger the others with her plans, and she could do this bit on her own.

She smoothed out her dress slightly, gulping nervously. She heard someone walk towards her. Turning around, Maximus stood in a simple black suit, some of his armor adding to the outfit. He grinned at her. "Nervous?"

"Why ask when you know the answer?" she retorted with a small laugh.

"Don't worry, it'll be fine. All you need to do is repeat some words, get crowned, and then walk away," Maximus assured her calmly. She nodded slightly, going over the words in her head.

Someone frantically ran into the room, tripping against the door as they slowed down. Their brother stood in the doorway, a goofy grin on his face. Maximus huffed out, shaking his head at Aidan's antics. "You ready?"

"As ready as I can be, right?" Rory asked rhetorically. Her brothers stood on either side of her, holding their arms out to her. They both wore identical suits; the only things that were different are the details on them. Maximus had a few pieces of his armor on his uniform while Aidan had faint details of fire outlining his. She grinned as she took both of their arms.

Rory held onto their arms, letting them guide her through the castle. She struggled slightly to walk in her heels, but her brothers both balanced her enough to stand up. She heard them talking, but the sound got washed out a bit in the background as she felt her nerves grow. She hadn't even noticed she stopped, and it was only when her brother pulled her from her thoughts had she noticed.

"Rory?" Aidan checked, his eyebrows knitting together in concern. She tilted her head at him, breathing in deeply.

"I don't even know if I'm qualified for this. I'm not from here; it should be one of you two," she panicked, shaking her head at the whole situation, "I have no clue what I'm doing! What if I mess up?"

"Our people chose you, Rory. You inspire them, you can do this," Aidan told her firmly, holding his arm out to her again. "If you mess up tonight, they won't say anything. Technically, if they do, you could have them killed on the spot."

"Are you serious? There are some serious issues with that. What kind of legal system is this? That might have to change," Rory rambled, flustered by the idea of being able to kill someone just because they spoke against her.