At Aeryn's command, Sakina had quickly gathered the girls. They stood before their Queen, a tired, ragged line of young women. The early rays of the sun showed them clearly: most were still sleepy, looking haggard and worn from months of marching, fighting, and the demanding pace of their Queen. Their faces held the visible etchings of the torture and neglect they had suffered over the years, now overlaid with the new, raw lines of extreme fatigue.
Aeryn did not stand. She sat on a smooth, flat rock, seemingly indifferent to the damp chill of the morning. She looked at them one by one, her eyes lingering for a moment on the twins, Elara and Lyra, whose small frames seemed almost transparent against the dense trees.
She began speaking, lost in thought, playing with her hands; turning her palms over and over, watching the skin crease. Her voice was low, almost dreamy.
"I am going to create my own army," Aeryn said, her gaze drifting toward the forest line as if envisioning something far beyond their sight. "Not a thousand foot soldiers, but a small group of girls, capable of what others believe is impossible. Capable of what even I, at times, doubt."
She looked back at them, a strange, distant smile touching her lips. "And you will be those girls. I have seen the potential in you that others; the lords, the slave masters, your own families; failed to see. And I want to help you see that power too. It is terrifying, it is consuming, and it is glorious."
She paused, the dreamy quality in her voice shifting to a hard, unsettling indifference.
"But if there is anyone who does not want to be part of this game, this journey into the dark, you must tell me now. I will offer you coin, safe passage, a place and a job in the safest town I can secure for you. I am not binding you with an oath to what even I am not entirely sure of. This path may cost your sanity, or your life, or something far worse."
She straightened on the rock, her posture regaining its royal edge. "So, tell me if anyone wants to leave. We will depart from this place by noon. Prepare your answers by then. Only those willing to gamble everything will go beyond this point with me."
With that, Aeryn stood, her movements fluid and decisive. Without waiting for a response, she turned and walked back toward her tent, leaving the girls to digest the choice she had offered them.
Inside the tent, Aeryn lay down fully clothed on her cot, gazing up at the canvas roof. The faint light filtering through the weave was mesmerizing. She was trying to regain the emotional flatness that was her only shield against the Voice's haunting promises.
Sakina entered soon afterwards, her footsteps silent on the rug. She approached the bed and stood near Aeryn's head, her presence heavy.
"Say it, Sakina," Aeryn murmured, still staring at the tent's peak.
"Hmm?" Sakina said, trying to sound aloof. "Ah… nothing, Your Highness."
"You sure?"
"Hmm…"
Aeryn chuckled. "Say it, Sakina. I know you cannot control it for long. That worry is a physical thing with you."
Sakina's composure broke. She dropped instantly to her knees, the rustle of her skirts loud in the small space.
"Your Majesty, I plead with you, let's return!"
Aeryn instantly sat up, the abruptness of her movement shaking the cot. She looked down at her with a sharp, dangerous frown, her voice instantly hardening. "And what exactly do you mean by 'return?"
"Your Highness, let's return to the Imperial Palace!" Sakina cried, her face earnest and desperate.
"Sakina!" Aeryn's voice was a low growl of warning.
"Please, Your Majesty! This is not sitting right with me! The dream, the desperate pace of the journey, Vienna's success, the girls, and now the twins; and then the terrifying dream again! I am feeling a dark, ominous presence, a reckoning closing in on us."
"Twins?" Aeryn demanded, coming closer, her voice laced with sudden, focused suspicion. "What do you mean by them? Don't play like this with me! Say it clearly!"
"Everything is ominous, Your Highness!" Sakina pressed on, recognizing this as her only chance to speak her truth. "Even the girls you are recruiting are ominous! You know they carry the destructive bloodline, and a rebelling nature but still, you are doing it! Your dream is telling you to forfeit this power; to stop this dangerous path; but against all and everything, you are deliberately going against it!"
"Stop it, Sakina! Get up!" Aeryn said, rising quickly from the cot. She turned her face away, clutching her arms, as if the words were physical blows.
"Your Highness, try to understand! If something happened to you! If you lose control… "
"I said stop talking, Sakina!" Aeryn roared, spinning around. Her eyes flashed, with a deep, furious red.
Sakina was not cowed by the roar, only by the desperate command of the Queen she served. She remained on her knees, her voice a final, tearful whisper of defiance. "Your Highness, I must say it. I will not get up until you heed to what I have to say! My loyalty demands it!"
Aeryn stared down at her, her breath coming in ragged, harsh pulls. The air thrummed with the raw, terrifying power of her boiling blood, ready to snap and lash out. But she did not strike. She did not even touch her. The effort to control the surge of blood magic; which had nearly betrayed her in the night; was agonizing.
"Then stay there," Aeryn finally said, her voice strained with effort.
And then she stormed out of the tent, throwing the flap open and letting it fall shut behind her.
Sakina heard the furious crunch of Aeryn's boots on the dirt, the sharp, angry whicker of the royal mount, and then the sound of the horse being galloped away, fading into the forest silence. She wanted to follow, to apologize, to scream, but the command; don't get up; and the threat in the Queen's eyes held her captive, kneeling on the cold earth, terrified and alone.
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