A/N: So truth be told, I wasn't really planning on making more chapters. But got a number of reviews and PMs about continuing, so I decided, why the hell not?
I won't have a set schedule for this, as I do want to know what happens throughout the game to keep this as canon as possible. So, releases will be sporadic. I can probably fit one more in a few weeks.
This chapter skips a bit from the first one, as this takes place at the start of / during the Taken King.
Also, April update is in a few days! Pretty hyped about it. Hopefully though, the next expansion actually has stuff about Mara in it!
Enjoy your read! Even if it's a bit short!
A familiar scent was in the air. Taking in a deep breath, she imagined Mara in her arms as she slowly opened her eyes. The Queen wasn't there however. She wasn't holding her. Of course she wasn't. Why would she have been? Petra had explicitly told her to stay away from her. She couldn't help it. She felt betrayed by the woman she had given everything to. But Mara had come into her room. That much, Petra knew. Which meant the Queen probably felt bad for what had happened. Served her right! Why? Why the hell had she trusted Eris Morn of all people over Petra Venj?!
She shook her head, her pillow slowly trying to lull her back to sleep. The Queen always had a reason, and Petra was fully aware of that. But it had hurt. Not being trusted by Mara hurt tremendously. She'd go talk to her. Deep down, Petra was insecure about their relationship to begin with. Was it a relationship? What was it that they shared? Did Mara really love her? She never felt the need to ask those questions before, but now that Mara hadn't even denied that she'd kept things from her, the difference in status showed. Petra was a soldier. She served Mara. It could have been very possible that Mara was simply using her as a fling.
No. No! She would not think that way! Her Queen had better things to do than to have 'flings' with her soldiers. Frustrated at her train of thought, she quickly got up and changed. She'd go see her Queen. She'd muster up the courage to both apologize and talk to her.
As she opened the door leading out of her room however, she began hearing them. Whispers of chaos had befallen the Reef. Something was wrong. She took large strides to the throne room. A lot of people were missing. The guards usually set up in front of the throne room were no longer there. Soldiers coming and going from the armory were missing. What was going on?
"Pardon the intrusion," she spoke out, as she slowly opened the massive doors of the throne room.
Empty. Completely empty. What the hell was going on? Where was Mara? Uldren? Suddenly hearing someone behind her, she turned around, "Mara?!"
The young awoken handmaiden fell down in surprise as she looked up to Petra who gave her a helping hand, "Sorry. I didn't mean to frighten you. Do you know where Her Grace-"
A pain she had never felt before suddenly coursed through her chest, causing her to collapse. What the hell was going on? She could barely breathe. It felt as though her heart was being ripped into countless pieces, said pieces being burned to ashes. She screamed as tears stained her eye.
"Petra?! Petra, calm down! Help!"
A guard ran up to her calling two others. "What happened?!" One asked the handmaiden who simply shook her head, unsure herself exactly what happened.
"Petra, your vitals all over the place. You need to calm down!"
"I-It hurts so much," she let out through grit teeth, another sharp pain going through her chest.
'Mara! Mara, where are you?! Please! I-I need you!'
"Petra Venj!" A sting strong enough to bring her back burned her face. "You good?"
Taking in deep breaths, Petra nodded. She had no idea what she'd just felt, but that slap was incredibly helpful.
"Kamala, thank you."
The Paladin nodded, as a somber look came over her face. "We need to talk, Petra."
"I don't like the sound of that," she sighed as she got up on shaky legs, placing a hand on her chest. Whatever that was, it wasn't pretty, and she really didn't want to experience it again.
"This is for you," Kamala gave her a letter, sealed with the signet of the Awoken Queen. "I would encourage you to open it."
"What's going on? No one's posted in front of the room, the armory seems empty. Last I checked, everything was perfectly normal yesterday!"
"The three of you, leave," Kamala ordered the guards and the handmaiden who immediately ran away. "Petra, you need to read that, and then we can talk."
"Fine."
Rummaging with the signet, she opened it, a small letter contained. She felt within a corner of herself, the earlier pain making its way back.
"Petra! Stay focused!"
But she couldn't. Reading through the letter, she shakily looked at the Paladin. "Why did you tell me to open this?"
Straightening her back, Kamala spoke, "The Queen's fleet perished moments ago. At the moment, everyone on board is MIA until we gather search parties to look for them."
"What do you mean p-perished?"
"They were obliterated by Oryx."
"What the hell are you talking about, Kamala?! None of this makes any sense!"
Looking at Petra and how distraught she was, Kamala knew. No one had told Petra anything. It was probably a request from the Queen, but why?
"Petra. We're at war with Oryx. Crota's father. And his army of taken."
War. They were at war. For how long? How the hell did Petra not know?
"Acting Regent, until we find out what happened to the Queen, you have to lead the-" "DON'T CALL ME THAT!" Her eyes glowed dangerously bright, as she crunched up the letter. This couldn't be true. Mara...Mara intended for her to take her place? Mara went to war intending to die? No. Something was wrong! Why? Why didn't Mara tell her any of this? How long had she been planning?
"Petra, where are you going?"
"I need some time to myself," she staggered away from the throne room, going into Mara's chambers. This was all a big joke, wasn't it? It had to be. There was no way in hell there was even a chance that Mara was dead. She was the strongest awoken. Some weird Hive Taken whatever couldn't kill her. It just wasn't true! It was all a sick joke. Mara was testing out what it meant to be funny, and she was failing. That's what all this was. If she opened the door to the Queen's chambers, Mara would be there. Mara HAD to be there!
But she wasn't.
When Petra opened the door, the room was empty. It wasn't a joke, was it? The Queen had really gone to war without telling her.
She slowly walked to the bed and sat on the edge, grabbing a pillow, holding onto it. It smelled like Mara. That comforting scent, the one that took any awoken's nightmares away. If Mara was in fact dead, this scent would soon cease to exist. Holding the pillow tightly to her chest, she let tears stain her only eye once again. Why? Why wasn't she told anything? What had Mara been planning? Why didn't she trust Petra enough to help her?
Planning...Plan...
Eris Morn.
Realization hit Petra. Eris probably knew what had happened. And she'd get answers, no matter what. She'd force Eris to give her answer!
Without batting an eyelash, she let Kamala know that she was going to the Tower. As she walked through the Vestian Outpost, it was quieter than usual. Of course it would be.
"Pettttra," Variks called out to her.
"Don't worry, Variks. We'll talk once I get back," she nodded her acknowledgment as she grabbed her ship, and made her way to Earth.
A/N:I hope you enjoyed.
If the writing was a bit wonky, I do apologize. I haven't written or read novels in quite a few months, and my writing is influenced by what or how much I read. Back to the books I guess!
