by Chloe Cullen
She strode straight past the empty carriages to pause in front of the doors that lead into the stables. Cori could hear the movements, and the occasional whinnying beyond the doors, and she shuddered with memory.
The last time she had been here, was with her sister. Nessida had adored horses and had dearly loved one in particular.
Molly, a name given by Nessida when the mare was first brought to the Compound years ago. Molly was technically a Legion horse, but everyone had known that she had belonged to Nessida. She was a black mare, and the only person she warmed to had been Nessida after being brought to the Legion. It had appeared that Molly had disliked everyone and everything, including the other horses. That was until Nessida came along.
Cori didn’t even know if she would still find Molly here, given that she had refused to take a rider except for Nes. What good was a horse who wouldn’t let you ride them?
Cori took a deep breath and pushed open the doors to the stables.
There were a few stable hands there, who were moving piles of hay for feeding, and they looked up to her as she entered.
Cori nodded at them politely as she passed, and looked into each stall, moving slowly down each row.
She knew it was her the moment Cori peered into the stall. The black coat, still shining and magnificent, the long mane was loose and flowing down one side, and as soon as Cori had come into view, her eyes had locked on to Cori’s with an intelligence that shocked her.
Molly had never liked Cori much, just as she had never liked anyone except for Nessida. Today, it seemed, was no exception. Molly reared her head back, and moved restlessly in her stall, her hooves thundering on the hay-strewn stones beneath her.
“Hey, girl,” Cori said in a low, unassuming tone. At the sound of her voice, Molly became still, and she eyed Cori with what she could only describe as wariness. “You remember my voice, don’t you? It’s a little different to hers – but I was always with her, wasn’t I? With… Nessida.”
Molly blinked at Cori, and she watched as the horse jerked her head and gave it a shake, the black mane fluttering about her head.
“Do you miss Nessida too?”
Molly huffed through her nose before she lowered her head to the ground. Not to graze at the hay that had been abandoned on the floor, but as though the weight of hearing her name had been too much for the horse to bear.
Cori, feeling a little reckless, reached up to open the stall gates, and stepped inside, closing the wooden gate behind her.
Molly didn’t move, but Cori knew that she was aware of the extra presence in her stall. Yet she didn’t start kicking and whinnying in distress like Cori had half thought she would.
Cori took a tentative step forward, and then another, and then she was next to the horse, and still Molly didn’t move, though her large dark eyes tracked Cori’s every movement.
“Nessida loved you so much,” Cori said gently, and raised her hand to place it on the back of her neck and slid her fingers through the course hair of her mane. Molly’s ear twitched slightly from the contact, but she made no other movements.
Cori slowly began to gather up sections of the mane and braided with expert efficiency. Nessida had always braided Molly’s hair, just like Cori had taught her how to do as they had grown up.
Molly seemed to understand what Cori was doing, and so she raised her head again, to make the process of braiding easier. For the time it took for Cori to finish, Molly’s eyes never left Cori, and every now and again, Cori would meet her gaze and smile sadly. She understood the loss that the horse was feeling, Nessida had been the only friend Molly had, the only friend she had chosen for herself. And one day, her only friend had stopped visiting, had stopped taking her out of these stalls for a ride in the sunlight. Cori wondered how long it had been since she had been ridden.
When she had finished, Cori ran her hands down her neck in smooth, comforting movements.
“Would you like to go for a ride to the Palace?” Cori asked quietly.
Molly stared at her quietly, but her feet shifted, almost in a fidgety way, like she had understood the word ride.
Cori just smiled and nodded before exiting the stall again. She threw a blanket over one arm and asked one of the stable hands if there was a saddle for Molly.
The man stared at her for a moment. “You want to take Molly out for a ride? She doesn’t let anyone ride her.”
Cori smiled at him. “I think I’ll be okay.” She hoped so, anyway.
They looked wary for her but pointed to a row of saddles hanging on the wall, telling her that any of them would work for Molly. She thanked them and pulled a sturdy-looking brown leather saddle down.
Cori nudged her way back into the stall, and when Molly saw the items she was carrying, her feet moved again, scraping against the stones, and Cori laughed quietly. Because Molly looked… excited.
Cori made quick work of throwing the blanket and the saddle over the horse, buckling it in and attaching the reigns around Molly’s head. She stayed still while Cori worked, not giving any indication that she was in distress.
So, with one last look in Molly’s eyes, Cori smiled, and took the reins to lead her from the stall. The man from earlier watched with a shocked expression as Cori lead the very calm-looking Molly from the stables and out into the sunlight of a fresh morning.
Cori didn’t know how often Molly had been let out of her stall for a walk, but she watched in fascination as the horse closed her eyes, basking in the warmth of the morning sun. Cori gave her a few more calming pats, and then without any hesitation, she placed a foot into the stirrup and lifted herself onto the horse in one smooth movement.
Cori sat atop of the horse, reins in hand, and Molly still stood, as calm as she had seen her with Nessida in previous years. Feeling a sense of having accomplished something wonderful, Cori gave the reigns a small tug, and leaned low to speak. “To the Palace, Molly.”
Molly started moving straight away, first at a slow trot, then a little faster until they were galloping across the front lawns of the Legion Compound, Molly whinnying with a wild kind of joy, and Cori laughing in response.
***
Cori and Molly had trotted their way up High street towards the Palace. Molly had seemed to understand that as they had left the Compound and came to the streets, that she wouldn’t be able to gallop, so she had slowed down without Cori having to pull on the reins. She started to understand why Nessida had loved to ride so much, there was a sense of camaraderie and partnership while being with Molly.
They clopped steadily up High Street, passing people and other carriages as they went. A few people noticed her on Molly, and not for the first time since returning, she was recognized as Brennan Oakheart’s daughter. Cori simply smiled and waved from her spot atop the horse.
When they reached the Palace gates, Cori spoke briefly with one of the Legionnaire’s stationed there, who acknowledged she had been expected and opened the gates for them to enter.
They trotted up the stone road that led to the large Palace that loomed in front of them. She still marvelled at the grandiose building with its turrets and towers and recalled all the memories from her time working there.
Cori easily steered Molly towards the Palace stables, waving at one of the workers there. She dismounted and walked with Molly the last few feet towards a watering trough out front, and led the horse right to it, before fastening her reins to a post behind the trough.
Cori stroked Molly again as she lowered her head for a drink. “You did good, girl. Nessida would be so happy.”
Molly lifted her head and huffed out a small breath of air at Cori, before lowering her head again to the water. Cori smiled, feeling a little closer to her sister for this small piece of her.
Cori made sure the stable hand would take care of Molly in her absence, and then she strode through familiar gardens, wending her way through the Legionnaires posted at the front doors and the hallways until she found the Palace’s Great Hall. Every ancient
stone wall, carefully polished candelabra, and every portrait she walked past stole her breath with memory. Cori had spent almost an entire year coming to the Palace every day to be the Princess’ personal sentinel.
When she entered the Great Hall, she spied the King and Queen sitting together at a table draped in silky materials and ladened with silverware. A few servers milled around them, pouring drinks, and clearing plates.
Cori had seen the hall in its greatest splendours, it had been host to many gatherings and celebrations in the year she had been permitted to attend them with Princess Millisa. Today, it looked like it usually did; a large, spacious hall with pillars scattered up the sides with intricate carvings, and floor to ceiling windowed doors, each with their own balcony attached.
Those doors were open now, and the plush velvet curtains moved with the early morning breeze, sun illuminating the hall. The beams of light hit the dais where there were three thrones sitting side by side: one each for the King, Queen and Princess.
Cori walked to where they sat near the middle of the hall, the Queen seeing her first, who immediately smiled at her approach.
Cori sank into a deep bow in respect. “Your majesties – it is an honour to be here.”
“Corisande,” boomed the King. He stood from his chair and circled the table, ushering his servants out of the way. “My wife told me of your return, how nice it is to see your face within these walls again.”
Feeling taken aback at the compliment, Cori could only bow again before she stuttered her thanks.
The King grabbed a plate laden with fruit and offered it to Cori. “Hungry?”
Cori was about to decline, as she had just eaten, but thought that it would be rude to say no to a King, so she smiled gratefully and plucked an apple from the plate. “Thank you, my King.”
The King was everything that the Queen wasn’t. Where the Queen was short and lean, The King was tall and broad. He had a hard, square jaw and small squinting hazel eyes where the Queen was rounder in the face with wide and inviting brown eyes.
“It will be so good to have you taking Millisa out again,” The King said, placing the plate back to the table in front of the Queen, “frankly, she has talked of little else, and was becoming quite annoying.”
“Darling!” The Queen said, though she smiled at her husband who chuckled.
Cori laughed quietly before speaking. “The President was telling me that it is your wish to have me posted at the Palace again?”
The Queen nodded at her. “It is very much. I should tell you that your position will not be as… time consuming as it was before. Millisa has just started taking her education seriously, and because of her fondness for you… it would prove a distraction.”
Cori nodded. “Any assistance I can provide would be an honour.”
The King grinned her. “The honour is ours. Now I’ll leave you to my lovely Queen here to sort out your arrangements. I must check in on my brother before attending some truly boring meetings all day.”
The King smiled at her, and she bowed her head as he left the room, a few servants and several Legionnaires trailing after him.
Cori turned back to the Queen, who offered for her to take a seat. She sat next to the Queen in the King’s vacated chair, moving the apple between her hands.
The Queen launched straight into her mandate and requested for Cori to attend the Palace on alternating days to be with the Princess. Cori was given a timetable that would work around the Princess’ tutoring, and she was reminded that any trips outside of the Palace walls required two days’ notice and permission from the King. Cori easily agreed to all of it, the directive as familiar as her own hands.
“All we ask is that you protect our Millisa,” the Queen said, her face still kind and smiling, but her tone was serious.
Cori inclined her head once in understanding. “I understand what she is to Holmfirth, your Majesty, I will not allow anything to happen to her.”
The Queen frowned a little, and Cori wondered what she had said wrong. “It is not what she is to Holmfirth, Corisande. She is my daughter, and she is the best thing I have ever done.”
Cori thought again of the child she had lost so many years before Millisa arrived in the world and pressed her lips together before she said to the Queen, tone fierce, “I understand more than you know, your Majesty. I will protect her with my life.”
The Queen smiled again, this time with a hint of sadness behind her eyes. “I know you understand this. Losing your father and sister is a horrible way to be forced to understand such a thing.”
Cori swallowed thickly, but nodded her agreement, before she was given leave and she trotted away towards the Princess’ rooms.
***
Cori introduced herself to the Legionnaires that were stationed outside of Princess Millisa’s rooms, showing them her signed letter from the Queen. They would need to get used to her now that she was going to be coming and going often.
“We know who you are, Cori,” one of the female Legionnaires said, still holding the letter, “I’ve guarded these quarters for over five years.”
Cori raised her eyebrows, suddenly feeling uncomfortable that she didn’t recognise her. In fact, she didn’t recognise most of the guards she had seen in the Palace so far, knowing that they would stay in the barracks of the Palace instead of on the Compound grounds.
“Oh, uh – of course. Sorry,” Cori said, trying for a smile, but feeling the guilt settling in her stomach.
The female exchanged a knowing look with the male guard next to her before rolling her eyes and shoving the bit of paper back at Cori.
“Just go on ahead.”
Cori felt as though she needed to apologise but didn’t know where to start. She also wanted to ask their names but felt that would just add insult to injury. Thinking that she would ask Millisa for their names, she opened the door and entered to find the Princess sitting at her writing desk with a book open in front of her.
The Princess looked up at the sound of her entering, and her face immediately went from bored to excited in the space of a second.
Cori laughed as Millisa shot out of her seat and bounded towards her, the frills of her purple dress flowing out behind her. “Cori! You’re here, thank goodness.”
She immediately embraced Cori, who wrapped her arms around the Princess.
“It’s been so boring without you here,” Millisa said, taking a step back again, “the other guards are so rigid. They won’t play any games with me or take me anywhere fun.”
Cori walked over to her writing desk as the Princess followed. “How tragic,” Cori said dramatically, “is this work you need to get done?”
Cori glanced down at the book she was reading, concerned she might be interfering with her education like the Queen had warned.
“No,” the Princess said quickly, swiping the book from the desk and throwing it behind her, where it thumped against the floor and slid a good few feet.
“Somehow I think that means yes,” Cori said with a laugh.
Princess Millisa pouted, her warm brown eyes widening. “I’ve been reading all morning. I just want to do something fun.”
“Well, I’m not supposed to officially start until tomorrow…” Cori pondered that for a minute, and let a full grin spread across her face as she held out her hand for the Princess. “Come then. Let’s infiltrate the kitchens for some pastries and eat them out in the gardens. It’s been too long since I’ve been out there, and you need to tell me all about the last two years.”
Millisa’s face brightened and she pounced to take Cori’s hand, her laughter tinkling around the room.
21
THREE HOURS BEFORE THE MASSACRE
Cori walked beside Trey as they patrolled the streets where the richer merchants were selling their wares on High street near the Palace. They passed by a plethora of stores that boasted to have the best formal wear in Everton. Indeed, Cori spotted many frilly and colourful gowns, that she grinned to think of Princess Mi
llisa, who would be a squealing, uncontrollable ball of energy around those dresses.
Cori glanced around at the crowds of people, always assessing.
“Oh, Trey – look at that pure perfection. Don’t tell me you wouldn’t cut off your arm to be wearing such a thing,” Cori said, pointing to a truly hideous burnt orange suit with white ruffles at the collar and cuffs.
Trey looked to where she pointed, and almost choked on his laugh.
“You’re right, I would chop off my arm if I had to wear that monstrosity.”
Cori laughed, but tried to hide her smile as the merchant of said monstrosity sent them a glare. When they were out of earshot, Cori laughed again, and Trey shot her an amused look.
People stared at Trey as they passed by, both intimidated and awed to see a Legion Five warrior. Trey was one of the bigger and bulkier of the Five, so she wasn’t surprised by the stares. Cori was embarrassed to note that some of them even stared at her, probably marking her as one of the Oakheart daughters. Some days, her father being the President was frustrating. She wished people would look at her for reasons other than the fact that her father was a legend, not to mention the President. She had been on active patrol for almost a year but spent most of her time in the Palace with the Princess, so Cori still hadn’t gotten used to the stares and whispers that greeted her in public.
“You okay, kiddo?” Trey asked her, breaking her free from her thoughts.
Cori sent him a withering glare. “Quit it with the kiddo stuff – I’m nineteen.”
Trey grinned sheepishly. “Sorry, I don’t mean anything by it. I can just remember you and Nes being there as your father trained me, watching from the side-lines. You were so young then, and I guess sometimes I still see you that way. I know you’re not a child.”
Cori pressed her lips together but understood. She had only been five years old when he had been branded into the Legion.