As a new queen rises to power, the kings of Caeleste grow unrest. The Inlustris in their sights, they send an assassin to Antonella Feulune's palace, and the war is declared.
Inexperienced and filled with grief, Antonella sends off her fiancé on a t...
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The dome controls glowed lavender with the general's magic. I surveyed the scene, watching Uncle work. I felt like a child again, sneaking around as he did his job. This time he was working for me.
He flicked both of his wrists, and the projected holographic image of the dome started encircling the kingdom. I smiled when he showed me the footage of the outside. The dome's slender shield covered us up.
"We have some wiggle room now," Uncle said.
"Thank you," I said. He smiled down at me.
There was a moment of silence as we stared at the dome's layer glistening through the brume projector. The footage broke apart at times, but the protection was recognizable from a mile away. King Rasmus would be delighted to know that he had another thing to worry about to get to us once again.
"What will you do once this is all over?" He asked.
I stared at the clips of my kingdom in ruins. A vast amount of dust collected everywhere. People would have to wear masks to protect themselves from it, if we were to come out of here alive.
"I don't want to fill myself with false hope. I am simply focusing on the now and going from there."
He nodded before a tiny smile made its way to his face. "Your mother is in that brain of yours too."
I bit down on my lip. Thinking back on Mother was a pain, but I tried to remember the good times. It always made me miss her terribly.
When I lost Mother and Father, I thought I had experienced true pain. Turns out that was just the beginning of a long, tragic tale that only seemed to squeeze in more affliction.
"I also fetched some footage you might want to see," Uncle said.
He waved his wrist and a brume projector turned on. A hologram showed ruins. I thought he was showing me what was outside of our palace gates, but then he showed me a crumbled palace.
"Validus Fulgur," he said, answering my silent question. "The bomb you threw back."
"Oh goodness." I sat down, looking at what used to be Adonis' home. It was all in ruins, just like my kingdom.
Caeleste was suffering at the hands of greedy kings. I wanted to stop it before we all lost our home.
"Your Majesty," I heard Philip call out as he entered the room. "General." He nodded towards Uncle, who greeted him with a smile. "A message has arrived from the troops."
The roll in his hands caught my attention. It wasn't fancy nor carefully wrapped like many messages were. In fact, I think the scarlet splotch on one side was blood. My breath caught as Philip handed the roll towards the general.
Uncle took it in his hands and unrolled it. The splotch of red spread further onto the page. A metallic scent lingered as he read its contents.
He let out a shaky breath and sat down, one hand putting pressure on his forehead, the other still holding the scroll.
