Disclaimer: SPOILERS to the end of the first book of Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard.
The explosions sounded all through the area. It seems fitting to say the least that we're ending similar to how we began; with Cal and I once again teaming up in a fight to the death. But now not as the prey, but as hunters. We spilt apart, with Cal cornering Elara, and I, Maven. It's a pitying thing really, the look of horror on his face as sparks of lightning radiate out of me. Now he's the complete opposite of the king he once was, standing tall and watching the amusement Cal and I had put on; for now it's his turn to be the show. We hear Elara's crys for mercy from Cal, who only needs one more pulse of fire to finish her off. The look on his face is one I have seen a million times before; when he's not just Cal but when he's a warrior, a solider, a surviver, all of which scare me.
My attention turns back to Maven who is building up his fiery wall, in an effort to keep me out. We had allowed them to at least have a small fighting chance, not like how they did to us. The choice wasn't made out of compassion for the two, god no, it was made out of strength, to show that unlike them, we still have our pride. To let them die with the little honor that they still have for themselves before we end their miserable lives. For we like to win with dignity.
My electricity and Maven's fire collide ending in a great eruption of flames and light. His bright, blue eyes illuminates and for a second I think I see the boy I once knew, the boy I had once loved, trusted. The boy who turned out to become a sorry excuse for a man. As my lightning strikes the ground near his feet, he jumps, his powers are growing weak, no match for mine anymore. I almost chuckle at the thought, a Silver at a loss for a Red, well that's just unheard of. But then again, everything is surprising these days.
In the background you hear Cal yelling at Elara, for the many reasons for which had led us here to this day. You can hear her sputtering and erratic breathing, her list of excuses, but then you hear a burst of fire and then silence. It's an eerie silence, the sound of death. I hold my breath a little, for the mighty Queen Elara, the one who raised a monster, the one with the many plans and visions, has finally befallen.
I now stand over Maven and look down since I can't miss the look on his face that should look like the one I had when my parents were killed, the one Cal had when Elara forced him to kill his father. But all I see a fainted, helpless boy with blood trickling down his nose and out of his ears. I kick the body to prod him to get up, to fight, to stop being the coward I know that he is. The result I get in return is the same.
I look over at Cal who still stands over Elara's body, the expression he has on his face is puzzling. It's as though he's reliving their life together; it must not be a happy one. His eyes catches mine in a wave of red-gold that warms me. He looks down to see Maven on the ground and his face hardens completely. As he walks over his bracelet clicks again and fire rolls up along his arms, he's shielding himself even though he knows that Maven is in no condition to fight back. As he gets close enough to see the blood on Maven's face he freezes, stunned. I look at him, then back at Maven.
"I didn't get the chance to before he collapsed," I said. The disgust is oozing out of me, he has so much blood on his hands, yet when it comes time to spill his own he can't take it. I want to kill him right there on the spot, to end the life of the boy who reached for a crown that wasn't his to reach. But that would be too easy, no, I want a painful death, I want revenge. Or at least that's what my brain is telling me.
Cal does the same as I did and kicks the body, afraid that this is just a trick. It doesn't move. Trying to mask his trepidation, but not very well, he asks, "When did the bleeding start?". He kneels down to examine his forsaken brother's face.
"Around the same time Elara died," I say, not very sure why that's important.
Cal takes in a sharp breath, looks around at the cameras then back at me. His eyes are full of dread and his fire quickly disappears. "That's what I've been afraid of..." he mutters so softly I can barely hear. Before I can ask him what's wrong, he calls over a member of the Scarlet Guard and whispers something into his ear and leaves, with a face that is a mixture of agony, disbelief and overall hatred.
I run after him, "Cal," I grab his arm which tenses under my touch, "What's wrong?"
He looks like he doesn't know wether or not to cry or lash out. I feel his pulse which is beating so fast I think it might burst. He doesn't answer but keeps moving, shaking off my hand and walking away from the bloody arena with his head bowed. You would expect that around this time when everything is almost over, he'd be celebrating.
More guards have now surrounded an area to which Maven, still breathing and pale, is unconscious. They mutter to themselves confused and apprehensive about approaching him. Though just nineteen, his mere presence makes grown men squirm. The man who Cal talked to earlier, Hartlet, barks orders to the others, pointing and yelling for them to find a healer.
I don't understand, why would they care about helping him? He should be happy if he was just thrown into a cell and is able because of his cowardliness, live to fight another day.
A young woman who goes by the name of Aara, comes a few minutes later, followed by some guards. She immediately kneels down and gets to work. Her quick and nimble fingers move over his body, touching all the places to which he has been injured, there had been many. Seeing him on the ground without his crown and royal clothes takes me back to when we were betrothed. When he was nothing more than the second prince, in the shadow of his brother and seemingly okay with that. He had dreams though, big dreams, but none of which were for his own sake. The moments we spent and the laughs we shared all came flooding back to me; along with the sharp pain I feel in my heart, which is enough to knock me back. No, I thought, not now, not ever. He's dead to you and don't you forget that. But it he's dead, my heart interjects, they why do I still feel the pain? Why do I still hurt? One by one, with just the her mere touch, each injury is fixed. At least next time, I get to do it all over again, to damage him the way he's done to me. No, that can never be done, for physical injuries heal, the ones he's done to me, don't.
When she's finished, she stands up and leaves, though she doesn't wake him up. I stand at a distance, looking on as Maven is brought back through the gate and into his cell in the Bowl of Bones. I look at the scene around me, but all I see is mass destruction. Hurting Maven was the goal of my plans all along, though achieving it did help somewhat, it doesn't bring back to me what was lost. I feel empty, hollow and most of all I feel pain. The promise that this would make me feel better was a lie, it just makes me feel like him, like Maven. The thought that I'm anything like him makes my stomach churn, which is ironic considering my feelings. I push it away and looked down at my disheveled form. What am I to do?
So quick recap of what's going on: basically this is my version of what I would like to happen at the end of the Red Queen series. At this time, Mare and Cal have led the Scarlet Guard to victory against Maven who is currently being captured. As to Mare's and Cal's relationship; they have been through a lot in the past two years. They both lost their parents, been betrayed by someone they loved, and were on the run. Mare isn't exactly in a relationship with Cal per say, since you know they had a revolution to build but they do have some serious feelings for each other. She depends on him as she did to Maven, whom she still has a small soft spot for even through everything he's done to her. This makes Mare very conflicted and ashamed about her feelings as Maven has done some serious damage to her, yet the sight of him hurts her. As for chapter names, each chapter name is a theme song for that chapter. It's essentially relating to what each chapter is talking about / the 'vibes' it's giving off. If you listen to the lyrics you will see why. I don't own any rights to the book(s) or characters as that belongs to Victoria Aveyard, but some of the characters are mine. Thanks for reading! :)