80!

BRIANNA

I fell to the ground, hitting a hard rock. “Brianna!” Liam yelled.

“Get Mason and Ethan!” I yelled back. One of the guards ran towards me and helped me on my feet.

This doesn't feel like my fight with the shadow months ago. This feels personal and more like revenge.

“You killed my father, now I'm going to kill you!” Thane yelled, pointing his fangs towards Liam.

“Liam!” I yelled, stretching my hands forward to stop him but my powers came out faint.

“We got him!” I heard Layla's voice and I sighed.

“Oh the mighty witches,” Thane sneered, reeling from the impact of Layla and Trisha's power.

“You need to leave right now, Thane!” Trisha roared at him.

“I will but first I will introduce you to my new friend,” he disappeared in an instant. A figure shrouded in a deep hood, face hidden but power radiating from them like heat from a forge, immersed with Thane's disappearance.

The hooded figure raised their hand and spoke a single word: “Vengeance.”

The air shifted, a crack of thunder splitting the sky even though no storm cloud marred its expanse. Then, just as quickly as they appeared, they all vanished.

“Thank you,” I said to the guards who helped me up.

“What a mess,” someone whispered. Ohh, bad idea.

“Mess?!” Liam roared. “This is a castetrophy, our defenses have just been proven weak. Anything can happen to us at anything.”

Suddenly I began to hear the wailing of people. It was faint but I could hear them. I looked around, everything seemed normal.

Where will the sounds be coming from? I walked towards the fallen trees and saw the building between them had collapsed.

“Help, there are people down here!” I yelled racing towards the building.

“Brianna be careful,” I heard Trisha's voice but I was down getting the rocks of someone's hands.

“We need a lot of help, get more men!” Mason yelled.

All of us together, took the rocks out and brought the people out. Trisha, Layla and I used our magic to heal their injuries.

“How does that feel?” I asked the little boy I just healed.

“Great, your grace. Thank you,” he said with a beaming smile.

“You are most welcome,” I stood up and staggered almost immediately.

“I got you,” I felt two hands on me. Liam and Akire.

“Where have you been Akire, the whole palace has been in chaos?” I asked her.

“Chaos is an understatement,” Liam said as they helped me get on a chair.

“I'm sorry, I wasn't here for your grace. It's chaos around the palace,” she said and I sighed.

“Liam, we need to talk,” Layla said, walking towards us with the High Priest.

“High Priest, did you get hurt?” I asked him.

“No, your grace,” he bowed slightly. “We are taking care of some of the wounded but there are more pressing issues at hand,” he said.

“Yeah, look around you, High Priest, what more pressing issues do you want to talk about?” I asked, pissed.

“Just hear him out, Brianna,” Layla said to me and I sighed.

“I know all of this is overwhelming your grace,” he tried to make peace with me.

“Overwhelming? You got that part right. We just finished a war on the battlefield now we are fighting another here in our home. Overwhelming doesn't even cover it all.”

“Then it's about to get worse,” Layla said.

“What do you mean!” Liam asked her.

“This shouldn't have happened,” the High Priest said. Myself and Liam look at each other confused.

“What do you mean, High Priest?” Liam asked him.

“Those dark forces don't have the means to penetrate into the palace,” he said with worry on his face.

“We have a shield?” I asked.

“Yes, a magic shield and it can only be broken down if someone brings it down. It's like a door and a key,” Layla explained.

I sighed and looked at Liam, he didn't seem surprised by the news.

“Can you figure out who brought down the shield?” He asks.

“I don't know, your Highness. It has never been done before,” he said.

“Well, you need to figure it out. It's paramount to our Kingdom's security,” he said.

“I'll help,” Layla walked away with the High Priest.

“Leave us,” I said to Akire. She bowed and walked away.

“Stop,” I said to Liam as he was about to walk away.

“I can't talk about it, Brianna,” he turned around to face me.

“Talk about what? How having a mole in the palace didn't come as a surprise to you?” I asked him.

“Moles,” he corrected and I furrowed my eyebrows.

“You can't be serious. How can you not talk to me about this?” I whispered to him.

“It doesn't concern you,” he said and I scoffed.

“Of course it concerns me. I'm about to be Queen,” I said to him, firmly.

“But you are not yet the queen,” he threw back at me. I looked at him, taken aback by his words.

“I'm sorry, I did not mean that,” he tried taking my hands but I stepped back.

“No, that's exactly what you meant,” I said, pointing my fingers at him.

“Brianna….”

“No, I'm going to take a walk and I need to be alone,” I didn't let him speak. I walked away before he could say anything.

“Is everything okay?” Trisha stopped working and held my arms.

“I'll be fine,” I said as I walked away.

I can't believe he said that to me. I'm not yet the Queen. Being a Queen has never been my goal but I took it because I'm now a part of this world. What else do I need to do to prove that

The weight of all of these is too much—-, war, secrets, betrayal. It's suffocating. The wailing of the injured and the echoes of the recent violence hummed in my ears.

I rounded the corner to find some solitude but a sudden chill filled the corridor. The torches lining the walls flickered and dimmed, casting shadows around the place. The temperature dropped sharply, causing my breaths to come out in a faint puff.

“Who's there?” I demanded, summoning my magic to my fingertips. I could feel myself panic heavily. I still haven't recovered from the earlier fight with Thane.

“How fast have you forgotten me, sister,” I heard a voice through the darkness.

“Sister?” I questioned. “I don't have a sister,” I said into the darkness.

“You may think that but you know one was created for you as a charade,” the voice continued to speak and my heart rate spiked.

“No,” I whispered. It can't be. “You are not real!” I yelled.

“I'm very real, Sister!” My eyes opened and I stared right back at myself.