(Alice's POV)
Queen Alena motioned for me to follow her, and she led me out into the streets. We worked our way through the alley and into the main street, where so many people were moving and shouting that we couldn't possibly be overheard.
"Aliendra." My mother said, I winced at the name. " I want you to know that I am sorry."
"For what?" I asked. She hadn't gone on a ferocious killing spree, what did she have to apologize for.
"For leaving you. I let him convince you that you killed your father and I, and allowed him to force you into hiding. At such a young age that must have been so very difficult for you, and I am sorry."
"It's fine, even though I didn't handle it with as much grace as you would have." I said edging close to what I had been doing the past decade.
To my surprise she laughed. "Ah yes, Alice Springhaven. It's a pretty name, and do not be afraid. I do not judge you for what you did, we all do what we must to survive." The captain of the guard in Ber'Check screaming in agony flashed through my mind, but I did not press it further.
"If I may ask, why are you in the capital city? It seems like a dangerous place for you to be." My mother asked me.
I briefly recounted what had happened in the prisons of Ber'Check, and how I had let Jack die. I also told her about my interrogation, and the cogitatio vermis. She winced as I recounted having to relive those memories unwillingly.
"I really didn't do it for Spera. I just didn't want to see the Emperor get what he wanted again." I lied.
She saw straight through me. "Even still you have been very brave Aliendra. I can only wish that your father were here to see you now."
"What about father, did he survive?" I asked hopefully.
"No." She said and a shadow passed across her otherwise beautiful face. "He died immediately when the bolt struck him, I believe that the Emperor helped your magic to become far more deadly than you had intended."
"How did you survive?"
"To answer that, I will have to let you in on a secret that I have spent my whole life protecting. Back when the Empire was just beginning to form, and Ternac started his crusade to rid the world of all magic wielders, I felt that if he know that the Queen in Spera had powers equal to his own, he would not let it stand. I hoped that by concealing my power, he would pass up Spear in his grand conquest, it appears that I may have been mistaken."
"You have magic?" I presse. I quickly glanced around to assure that nobody had heard me. To my satisfaction it appeared that two women dressed in peasant clothing were beneath the concerns of the nobility.
"Yes, and your bolt did almost nothing to me that night. I knew that if I were to rise again, the Emperor would have struck me down with his full power, and I would not be alive today."
"Then it's a good thing that you went into hiding. If he knew you were alive he would hunt you with every power he had at his disposal."
"That is true, but I still stood idly by while he burned my kingdom and executed my people. The remainder of my court call me their queen but I do not deserve that title. Not anymore." Something new passed across her face, guilt, shame. "I passed off my title a long time ago. So it is great pride that I name thee, Aliendra queen of Spera." She took an elaborate bow.
"No I am not the queen. I can't be queen I would be a very bad queen. You can't make me be queen."
"After what you endured for your people at the hands of the Emperor himself, a peasant would have been worthy of being called queen. You proved yourself past even the greatest rulers in this land. I can see none more worthy."
The weight of the crown fell upon me, and it was too much to bear. I couldn't bear the thought of ruling people, having them rely on me. Feeling pain to save them was one thing, actually leading them, having them rely on me was another entirely.
"I can't do it. I can't be responsible for so many people. I can't be the one that lets them down. They're already in a pretty bad spot, they don't need me to make it worse."
My mother nodded, but continued to attempt to persuade me. "Well I will let you make your decision after you meet the remainder of your court. You already met Ashryver, he was my captain of the guard before spera fell so he's a bit conscientious about security. Wesely was there before even I took the throne. He knows more about running a kingdom than I do." She continued to talk until we rounded back into the alley and entered the ruined hideout.
Once we entered I counted the men and women surrounding the table. Six. Six remained of the court of thirty in Spera. Only six had survived. Once we entered everyone bowed to my mother.
Ashryver spoke first. "My queen if you truly believe we can trust Alice Springhaven, then we are behind you."
My mother replied. "This young woman is not in fact Alice Springhaven." She placed a hand upon my shoulder. "She is Aliendra, my daughter."
Everyone in the room looked as if they had received the greatest gift in their lives. They stumbled over each other trying to bow to me, shake my hand, anything. A woman with red hair tried to give me her amulet which I politely declined, and once they had all calmed down my mother spoke again.
"I have also decided that my final act as queen will be to relinquish the throne." The room erupted at this, but they all silenced when my mother held up her hand. "I have abandoned my people in their hour of need, and have done nothing to make up for that. My daughter however suffered in prison undergoing torture to preserve what is left of Spera. She was burned and broken but still stood strong. Even I would not have been able to do what she had done."
I turned to my mother and whispered. "I still haven't accepted."
She smiled sadly and whispered back. "I never got a choice and neither do you. It is the life we have to lead. Too many people are depending upon us for us to choose ourselves. In that cell you chose your kingdom. Now greet your people."
I turned to face the room, and everyone was bowing- to me. The woman with red hair loudly said. "Then it is our honor to be the first to say, long live Aliendra queen of Spera!"
The rest of the room joined in.
"Long live Aliendra, Queen of Spera."
(Jack's POV)
I watched from the shadows as Alice stood walking with some tall elegant woman, that somehow made the rags she was wearing look like a gown. I looked to her face, and the sharp features looked familiar somehow. She had Alice's brown hair, her slightly sharpened nose, and high cheekbones. Even past their similarities, something about the woman was very familiar. I had seen her before.
My jaw dropped, and suddenly it made sense. I knew where I had seen the woman before. The night before the Eastern Kingdom was annexed I had visited a castle with my father. I ate with the royal family at mealtimes, and in between I played out in the yard with their daughter. Their daughter Aliendra, with her brown hair, slightly sharpened nose, and high cheekbones. I was looking at the remnants of the court of Spera.
It all began to make sense. No wonder my father was so keen on me gathering information on her, he knows who she is. He wanted me to lead him to the remainder of her court so he could squash the remaining resistance. Well I wouldn't sacrifice her again.
He used her against me, I'll use her against him.
I crept along the shadows and, when they ran dry, the rooftops following the royal family of Spera back to their hideout. They walked for several miles merely just talking, and it grew strenuous just watching them turn corner after corner. Finally they turned into an alley, and dropping down, I saw an old ruined door.
From inside I heard a chorus of voices shout "Long live Aliendra, Queen of Spera." I pushed gently on the door, and was pulled inside and had a knife to my throat before I could blink.
A young man with white hair held me up against the wall, and stood calm waiting for the order. This was a truly devoted soldier unlike the drafted farmers of the empire. I glanced to the right at Alice who seemed dumbfounded.
"That's not possible." She said. "You're dead. I killed you." Wait she thought that she had killed me? Perhaps I had gotten through to her after all.
"Funny, I could've said the same thing about you." I replied. The white haired man pressed the dagger tighter to my throat.
"Are you threatening my queen?" He asked threateningly. I had a feeling that any answer other than "no" would get my throat cut.
"Calm down Ashryver, I know him. He's Jack Sentan, the assassin."
Ashryver did not release his hold on me. "That doesn't make it better. That in no way makes it better." He did finally release me though. "Any sudden moves and I will cut you down where you stand." I believed him.
The old queen spoke first. "So it seems that the Emperor has played you both for fools."
An old man in the back said "What is this? Two of the most famous criminals in the empire start beating down our doors. Ha, it's our lucky day."
The old queen spoke again, and everyone silenced. "Aliendra get behind me, you have been played for a fool again. Not by the emperor this time, but by his son. He is somehow walking free after you both were captured, I find that kind of suspicious. Captain, tie him up and place him in the basement. Until we know what he is her for he does not walk free. We cannot place the queen in danger."
The white haired man said "Yes Ma'am." and everything went dark.
Author's note- Most of the secrets have been revealed in this chapter, so I believe it is time to make some more. There are a few unanswered questions that still remain, but I will save those for another time. I also think that this may be the first chapter that nobody has died in, and as far as stories go that is kind of depressing. Thank you for reading my story.