One In The Same Flame. ~Red Queen~ 《Cal x Reader 》

chapter 7 run!

I return to the servant platform, a hollow feeling in my stomach. Whatever happiness I felt was complete gone. I can't bring myself to look back, to see him standing there in fine clothes, dripping with ribbons and medals and the royal airs I hate. Like Walsh and I, he bears the badge of the flaming crown, but his is made of dark jet, diamond and ruby. It winks against the the black of his uniform. Gone are the drab clothes he wore last night, used to blend in with peasants like me.  Now he looks every inch a future king, Silver to the bone. To think I trusted him

The other servants make way, letting me walk to the back of the line while my head spins Hes one of them, worse than one of them. A prince. The prince. The person everyone in this spiral stone monstrosity is here to see.

"All of you have come to honor my son and the kingdom, and so I honor you," The king booms, breaking apart my thoughts as if as if they were glass. He raises his arm, gesturing to the many boxes of people. Thought I try my hardest to keep my eyes on the king but I can't help but glance at Cal. He's smiling but it doesn't reach his eyes.

" I honor your right to rule. The future king, the son of my son will be of your Silver blood, as he will be of mine. Who will claim their right?" 

The Silver haired patriarch barks out in response " I claim Queenstrial!"

All over the spiral, the leaders of the different  houses shout in unison. " I claim Queenstrail!"  they echo, upholding some tradition, I don't understand.

Tiberias smiles and nods. " Then it has begun. Lord Provos, if you would." 

The king turns on the spot, looking toward what I assume is House Provos. The rest of the spiral follow his gaze, their eyes landing on a family dressed in gold striped with black. An older man, his gray hair shot with streaks of of white, steps forward. In his clothes he looks like a wasp about to sting. When he twitches his hand, I don't know what to expect.  

Suddenly, the platform lurches, moving sideways. I can't help but jump, almost knocking me into the servant, next to me, as we slide along an unseen track. Lord Provos is a Telky, moving the structure along prebuilt tracks with nothing but the power of his mind.

The entire structure twists under his command, until the garden floor widens into a huge circle. The lower terraces pull back, aliening  with the upper levels, and the spiral becomes a massive cylinder open to the sky. As the terraces move, the floor lowers, until it stops nearly, twenty feet below the lowest box. The fountains turn into waterfalls, spilling from the top of the cylinder to the bottom, where they fill deep, narrow  pools. Our platforms glides to a stop above the king's box, allowing us a perfect view of everything, including the floor far below. All this takes less than a minute, with Lord Provos transforming the Spiral Garden into something much more sinister.

But when Provos takes his seat again, the change is still not done. The hum of electricity rises until it cracks all around. A purple  - white light blazes near the floor of the garden, sparking with energy from tiny, unseen points in the stone. No Silver controlled it, like Provos did with the arena. I realize why. This is not a Silvers doing but a wonder of technology, of electricity. Lighting without thunder. The beams of light crisscross and intersect, weaving themselves into a brilliant, blinding net. Just looking at it hurts my eyes. The silvers look impressed, intrigued with something that can't control. As for Reds, they gape in awe.

But as for me, I'm like four of these Silvers rolled into one. 

The ground in the circle of statues, now the small center of the cylinder floor, opens wide. The smallest girl I've ever seen rises out of the darkness. Cheers rise as a house in brown silk and red gemstones applauds their daughter,