Three Broken Kingdoms-Book 1 of the Lost Continent (Completed)

Chapter Thirty: How to Steal an Empire

Her brothers and mother had returned from the warfront, hidden from assassination.

Lysandra sat at the table of the family that she had betrayed in more ways and more times than she could count. She'd worked for the rebels, hacked into Aaron's brain and plotted the death of six members of it since she was nine. She was a greater traitor than the insurgents themselves. She didn't look like a traitor, naturally. Like all of them, she sat there in silence, glowering at the rest, and fitting in very well. She enjoyed a breakfast of yoghurt and raspberries, sitting next to her brother as he feasted on waffles with maple syrup. Every time she looked at him, it stung. Despite the fact that she told herself that it was the only possible choice, she had still decided to betray him. Still broken his heart and then made him forget about each and every one of the things she had done to wrong him. Every smile that he gave her hurt.

But showing that would only make her brother and mother suspicious, so she smiled right back at him.

"There's been more betrayals," her mother whispered softly, and Lysandra bolted upright-not in a guilty way, but in a shocked fashion. "I only recently discovered that this noble helped save the life of an insurgent. And has been informing for that same insurgent, allowing him to intercept supply trains to the army that stands between us and enslavement by the God-Born." This was very hypocritical, but she didn't comment.

"These are the most heinous crimes that could be committed against my sovereign state, and the Crimson dynasty." Lysandra also objected to labelling their family of eight a dynasty, given there had been only one ruler so far.

"I thought it would be wise to inform my court that there will be no prison sentence for these crimes. There will only be death. I thought it wise, too, to remind you that if it be not noble blood who has betrayed us...if it be royal blood, then the consequences will be very much the same."

Her mother's words didn't send a bolt of fear through her. No, they only tasted like victory.

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Aaron-six days earlier.

Aaron realised he had been standing still for a few minutes now. He must have been lost in thought, as he often was. He tried to remember what he had been thinking of but found nothing. Blinking and with a slight headache, he walked back toward his rooms.

Something felt missing. Something felt...strange.The alchemy was probably getting to his head. There were often dangerous substances involved, but he had been careful.

Even the most careful sometimes slip up. He'd be better next time.

The feeling haunted him for days, though. An odd little twinge when he found his past few days murky. Definitely alchemy getting to his head.

Sometimes, when he saw his sister, he felt suddenly that he had forgotten something...that she had talked to him and her words had been important...

Sometimes, when he saw his mother, he felt a sudden jolt of panic for no reason at all.Sun-blasted alchemy getting to his head.

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Lysandra

Now. Now was the time to strike, and to strike without hesitation. So why did she remain in her rooms, waiting for nothing at all? Why did her concentration falter as she tried to form the magic that would matter most of all? She didn't have long until her mother pieced together the evidence she had left into the wrong shape. Everything had to go perfectly.

Everything.

Lysandra slowed her breathing and slipped into her magic. It was vast, so vast. She bathed in it, basked in its darkness. From within the shadows' core, she began to shape her power. Long and sharp at both ends. No longer mist, but solid. And in its centre...something indescribable. The heart of it. The core of it.