“Have you suffered enough?” She asked coldly. “Are you ready to die?”
He begged her, writhing in tortured pain, to just end his life. He reached for her feet in desperation but she stepped back, causing him to stumble on his face.
“Sooo clumsy,” she teased. While some part of her still opposed her hate-filled words and actions, another part felt so…free. She finally felt it. All the power she had ever longed for, all she had ever needed.
The Photaks never showed her mercy, so in return she would show them justice. They had feared her for all of her life when she had done nothing but tried to fit in.
I am finally giving them a valid reason to be afraid, seeing as they so badly needed one.
Looking on Malek’s crumbling body, Yara knew it was time to deal her death blow. She would have loved to continue his suffering, but she also wanted this part of her life to end. He represented the culmination of her most horrific memories. She wanted him to die.
Excitement filled her as she gave in completely to the darkness. Tantalized, she peeled back the deepest parts of her mind, focused purely on her le-feer, and aimed all of her rage at the creature.
“YaraStar! YaraStar! YARASTAR!”
A voice, frightened but determined, penetrated Yara’s focus. It startled her so much, she stepped back a bit shaken.
“YARASTAR! YARASTAR!”
Little hands tightly clasping a blue balled-up rag flew around Yara’s waist. A red-headed girl had run in where all had fled from, braving the destructive le-feer even as it hurt her little body.
“YaraStar, I’m here. I’m here, Yara. I’m here…”
An instinct stronger than even Yara’s greatest moment of blackened rage enveloped her senses. The winds began to soften and the crackling of the air eased. Within less than a minute, the Photak village, though heavily damaged, was calm again. As the last leaves settled on the grass, Yara closed her eyes and absorbed the loving embrace.
Mila…
“YaraStar, I missed you…” Mila whispered softly into her chest.
Tears filled Yara’s eyes and escaped their tightly shut lids. The frenzied pulses of her le-feer began to soothe and warmly beat to a soft rhythm. Opening her eyes, she saw for the first time the devastation she had caused all around her.
Malek lay unconscious, barely breathing in front of her. Trees along the edges of the Greens had been uprooted and Photak dwellings in the distance lay desolate on the ground. The Eld army was in complete disarray, and Photaks were scattered everywhere, nursing wounds and injuries. There were heartbreaking cries to Sunstar echoing over the field. Some Photaks were kneeling while others lay wailing. Children’s heads were buried into their parents’ chests, their loud sobs muffled but unbridled.
Above all else, it was the faces filled with terror that broke Yara’s heartstar. As she surveyed them all, the Eld and Photaks alike, her eyes crossed the path of the first boy she had ever loved.
Kristos…
His expression was the worst of all. He looked confused, heartbroken, and terrified…yet, oddly, also relieved, and sympathetic. She hated the way it made her feel, to know that beneath it all he still cared for her.
“My Queen…”
Master Nox walked up slowly behind Yara, eyes trained on the little Photak girl still wrapped up in her arms.
Yara sighed, then turned to face him.
“Master Nox, please believe me when I say it was not my intention to cause any destruction. I’m guessing that this is why you warned me against being reactive. I am still learning how to use my Eld power—”
A voice unapologetically interrupted. “May I ask, Queen Yara, what exactly was your intention? And who is this badly wounded creature of interest who lies, close to death, before you?”
Yara and Master Nox turned to see Master Lucerne and Atlase walking coolly toward them. Lucerne glanced slyly toward Malek before his eyes met Yara’s. He seemed far more pleased than any of the other Masters.
Yara cleared her throat slightly, mind racing to find the right words to say. She knew she had messed up in an unforgivable way, but she couldn’t afford to leave it unaddressed. They needed to know how evil Malek was.
“This Photak…is the Elder who murdered my Tribe parents,” she said slowly. “He also tried to kill me, and it was Toler of the Skotads and this brave Photak girl who saved me from certain death.”
Mila peeked out from Yara’s arms, then looked squarely at Lucerne.
“What’s your name, little creature?” Lucerne asked her softly.
“Creature? I’m not a creature! What a weird thing to say. I’m a girl, a warrior, and I am going to be just like Yara when I get bigger. And everything she said about Elder Malek is true! I was there—he is a very bad man. He made everyone believe that YaraStar was a Skotad weapon. But the Skotad I met, Toler, was very nice to me. And he was very cute even though he was so pale. Probably because he doesn’t spend enough time in Sunstar’s rays, right, Yara? Oh, and my name is Mila!”
A few gasps echoed throughout the Eld at the familiar manner in which the little Photak addressed their Queen.
“You meant to say Queen Yara, little creature. Please show your Queen the respect she is due!” Atlase sternly responded, much to Yara’s shock.
“No, no,” Yara said, smiling gently at him, and then looking down at a confused Mila. “She is the only girl on Mira who is allowed to speak to me as she does, as is my right to allow.”
Mila grinned widely at her special treatment, then shot an entitled look back at Atlase.
“Yup! So, it’s Queen Yara to you, and YaraStar to me!” she smugly said.
Lucerne chuckled at Atlase’s shocked face, while Nox shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other.
“My Queen,” Nox said, “we still have much work to do here, and a lot of damage control as well. The first night comes tomorrow. Do you know how you would like to proceed?”
“Damage control?” Lucerne interrupted again. “No damage has been done. Our Queen has made a strong statement to any who may stand against the her and the Eld, and she has done so quite admirably. I am happy to serve such a powerful Queen. Aren’t you, Master Nox?”
Nox’ eyes narrowed at Lucerne’s statement of support.
“We all serve at the pleasure of the Agarb Queen, Master Lucerne,” he responded tersely, then turned to Yara. “My Queen, have you decided what will be your next move? We are ready to prepare the Photaks for the first night, as per your initial orders.”
Yara looked down at Mila again, whose eyes had been as wide as saucers since the first mention of the word “night.”
“Night is coming?” she whispered shakily.
“Yes,” Yara said softly, pulling her even closer, “but you need not worry. I’m going to take care of you…”
Looking up at the Photaks who were in disarray upon the field, Yara took a deep breath and called out to them.
“Photaks! While your Elder Malek needed to face judgment for his crimes against me, and while the Photak Elders and Chief will need to answer to the Masters of the Eld, everyone else has been granted mercy by me. You and your families and your children will not be harmed. I give you my word as Queen of Mira.”
A wave of audible relief passed over the Photaks as they looked to one another to confirm what they had heard.
“I am sure you have noticed the changes happening on our planet. Mira has been in transition. We, the Eld, as your creators, are here to educate and prepare you for what is to come. Meet us at the main keep. We have much to discuss with you.”
Confused glances passed between many of the Photaks when Yara referred to the Eld as their creators. Master Nox muttered under his breath in annoyance at their ignorance, and Master Lucerne sighed in agreement.
As the Photaks began to make their way into the village and toward the main keep, Yara beckoned for the helpers to come to take the still unconscious Malek with them. Mila stayed at Yara’s side, observing the Eld with curious
eyes. A very sheepish Kristos also stayed behind, looking toward Yara with hope that she would notice.
“Yes, Kristos? Is there something you need?” Yara eventually called out coldly.
Kristos approached her slowly, nervously wiping the palms of his hands into his pants.
“I just thought you should know…there is no Chief any more. My father was sent to light banishment…and my line was stripped of the chiefdom. Elder Malek had taken the place of the Chief in leading the Tribe.”
Yara felt a surge of pain in her heartstar. Chief Lamad had suffered because he voted for her parents to keep her as an unmarked baby. He was light banished because of that decision sixteen years later. It meant he was exiled and by now he could no longer withstand Sunstar’s rays, and was likely dwelling alone in the shadowed Greens.
Looking at Kristos, Yara observed how much older he looked even though it had been less than a month since she first left the village. She knew he had been forced to choose between her and his father. While she was bitter about his decision to betray her, she did not know what she would have done if put in his position. In honor of his father, she knew she owed him at least a hearing for his decisions.
She sighed.
“You can walk with Mila and me to the main keep, Kristos. You can fill me in on the details on the way there.”
***
As Yara walked forward, Master Lucerne turned toward Master Nox with an amused glint in his eyes.
“She is quite the Queen, isn’t she, Nox? What a pleasant surprise it was to see such a strong showing of her Spreuken side, along with that very unexpected amount of latent power!”
Master Nox glared at him.
“She has definitely been cursed with Spreuken blood, given that display of darkness. But this is no laughing matter. You and I both know she is out of control. She should not have this kind of power. No Eld ever has!”
“And that’s what makes her even more beautiful…” Atlase murmured, looking toward Yara as she walked ahead.
Both Lucerne and Nox glanced at him with confused expressions before Nox continued.
“It will never cease to amaze me that you Spreukens could look at a mass catastrophe waiting to happen—no, already happening—and see an opportunity to exploit it! It is why your tainted Spreuken blood will never feel the sacred le-feer as we Agarbs do. Your impurities reveal you.”
“Dear Master Nox,” Lucerne responded with a chilling laugh, “your Agarb Queen is also tainted with our Spreuken blood. The lights of the first night have not yet arrived and she is already more powerful than any Eld ruler before her. If you think she was out of control today, wait until she tastes the night. Perhaps then you will have a real reason to worry.
“So why don’t you heed my impure Spreuken warning: Spreuken blood has no desire to be controlled or dampened. We long to be all that we are, and I am sure we have only just begun to see the power that lies within our spirited Queen. The closer she comes to who she is, the more her power will manifest in even greater waves. But if you push her to be less than what she is, you will lose her. And I say this knowing you Agarbs can’t help but try to push her into submission…and knowing, even more importantly, that you’re going to push her right into my family’s welcome arms. She may be physically an Agarb, Master Nox, but after today I will honor and treat our Queen as a fellow Spreuken. And what a great Spreuken Queen she is!”
Chapter Eight
Yara felt exhausted as she walked along with Mila and Kristos. The power she had accessed drained her, and she was even more thrown off by her dark choices. She hadn’t thought she had it in her to desire to kill so passionately, but her present circumstances had awoken her to a side she couldn’t deny. She felt a sense of shame at the thought of Mila having witnessed it, and the look she knew would eclipse Toler’s face when he found out.
Mila was now arranging her dirty blue rag on her head as she half-walked, half-skipped alongside her. Kristos was brooding as he always did when he wasn’t sure what to say. Everything about this moment felt eerily like the way it had been not too long ago.
She felt Kristos’ eyes on her and glanced at him. He was looking at her arms, at her markings, with an expression that Yara completely understood.
“They are still strange for me too, you know…” she murmured.
Kristos looked away, feeling conscious of the way he must have been staring. Eventually, he turned toward her as they strolled along the village path.
“I need to say that I am so sorry, Yara,” he said with a broken voice. “And it’s not just because you’re marked now, or even because you’re the Queen. But because… I betrayed the only real friend I ever had, the only girl I have ever loved…”
Yara caught her breath at how boldly he said those words.
How dare he even claim to have loved me?! After what he did…
As he returned to his brooding state, she remained silent, mind racing, until she couldn’t withhold her thoughts anymore.
“I have tried my best to understand the position you must have been in, Kristos…but how could you?! How could you even say you loved me and then do all that you did?! I left the village! I had left it all behind. But you came after me, found me, tricked me, captured me, locked me up and then came to, what, make fun of me in my cell?! Knowing Malek was coming back to kill me?!”
“No! No, Yara, when I came…” Kristos started, voice raised. “When I came to see you, I was coming to help you escape!”
Yara halted and turned to him with an incredulous look.
“NO, you were NOT. You told me you were a warrior now and you were following Malek’s orders—”
“I know what I said, Yara, but I was about to make a decision that was going to cost me everything…a decision to free you. Why do you think I had the keys to the cell? I knew I needed to honor what we shared. I just…needed to understand why you were with that Skotad in the Greens. Why did you care for him so much, and whether he lived or died? I just wanted to know, before I set you free…but then he came! He came for you! Why did he care for you, enough to risk his life in Sunstar’s rays to save you? How long did you know each other, for him to have cared so much? How did you even meet? When? These questions plagued me. I had every intention of letting you go…but I just needed to know you hadn’t betrayed…”
Kristos’ voice dropped off, unable to find the words to explain what he truly meant.
Yara stared at him, mouth open, suddenly realizing what all this had been about. She felt angry and heated, and a slight le-feer vibration moved along her skin.
“You let me almost DIE, you let my MOTHER die, because you were JEALOUS of TOLER?!”
“I wasn’t jealous!” he shot back angrily. “I was…confused! Because you seemed so loyal to him, and you chose him over me! I thought we loved each other. I didn’t understand. I don’t understand…”
Yara held her head with one hand and slowly resumed walking. Mila reached out to hold her other hand, squeezing slightly but knowing she shouldn’t say anything.
“Kristos, will you believe me now when I tell you that the Skotads were never the aggressors? That the Photaks were? I have lived with the Skotads…I have seen their ways. The Elders lied to us for all our lives. They lied to the entire Tribe!”
“I do believe you now, Yara…I do. And I am sorry I didn’t. Malek betrayed my father and me. He promised to pardon my father if I did as he asked, if I captured you. But after you escaped and they found me in the cell, they believed I had helped you escape. Even if I hadn’t freed you, that was my intention so I didn’t deny it. In my anger, after they exiled my father, I told Malek that I believed you regarding what he had done. I told him I believed that he and Pekone had plotted to kill your Tribe mother…and he laughed, Yara. He laughed and said it didn’t matter if I knew. He didn’t even care to deny it.”
Kristos looked away, ashamed, as Yara’s eyes filled with tears. She felt pained knowing that Chief Lamad could no longer be in Sunstar’s rays
, and even worse knowing that, because of her, he was all alone. He had lost everything to do right by her. A part of Yara filled with rage again. Malek had been such an evil leader.
Does he not deserve to die?
As they entered the main keep, Mila now hand-in-hand with them both, Yara turned toward Kristos.
“We will find him, Kristos. When everything settles down, we will find Chief Lamad, and I will bring him to the Skotads. They will take care of him and treat him as one of their own. He will have a good life, a great one, in honor of his choice to save mine as a baby. This is my promise to you, Kristos. I give you my word.”
***
Yara looked around apprehensively. It felt unnerving to sit upon the stone structure where her Tribe mother had been stripped of her life, the place where her Tribe father had also died. But now, as she sat upon a seat usually reserved for the Photak Elders, surrounded by the Eld Masters, and gazed upon the sea of frightened Photak faces, she knew her priority could no longer be her pain.
She took a few moments to compose herself, knowing that whatever words she uttered could never erase the destructive first impression of her queendom. A part of her felt strangely comfortable with that. The Photaks were reacting to her in a completely different way than they had during her years among them. Where there had been fear and revulsion, the fear was now mixed with respect. Whether it was sourced from her royal markings or from the display of her power didn’t matter—no one was looking down on her any more.
She looked toward Master Nox for an indication of their readiness. He solemnly nodded at her. It was time to address the Photak Tribe.
The thought of Guidestar flitted across her mind, causing Yara to instinctively reach out to the voice for help. She stopped herself, remembering how forcibly she had pushed the voice away. While she was consumed by a sense of guilt as her Guidestar had empowered her to become the Queen of the Eld, she also felt a strong need to prove herself in the way all Eld Queens had before her. And none of them had this guiding voice.
The Eld Queen (The YaraStar Trilogy Book 2) Page 7