A Short Update and A Short Story

Last month wasn't as successful as I wanted it to be, but this month is already looking better. I'm working on several projects right now. I'm also trying to remember to take time for myself to do the things I enjoy. I've picked up another new hobby: crochet! I've finished a scarf and I'm learning how to make circles. 

Circles are hard, guys. 

But you didn't come here to hear me jabber about my life. So many bloggers already do that. I've got a story ready to share that I'm pretty proud of, written in response to a prompt on a writing group on the website DeviantArt.com. It's in a bit different style than what I normally write, but I like the concept and the characters and the hints of plot shown in the story itself. In the future, I might return to the idea again and expand upon it. 

So, here it is. I hope you enjoy. 

"I Found You"

You’re there, at her side.

I lower my sword, the magic rippling along the length of the blade fading away. My power works through conviction and right now, I’m in doubt of what’s right in front of me. I can’t understand what you’re doing there, with her, sitting in the large dark throne at her side instead of in the dungeon where other captives go. I’m supposed to be claiming the throne in the traditional way of our people, by killing the crown-wearer. Then, I’d free you.

But you’re already free.

“Kas?” I whisper.

You stand and approach me, your hand held out like I’m a frightened animal you need to appease. Moonlight shining through the painted glass windows colors the pale white of your dress, first purple and then blue and finally red. Your eyes glow crimson as you look into mine. The crown on your head is stained with the ruby light.

I back away, trembling. I don’t know what to do. This is all wrong.

“I’m sorry, Senna,” you whisper back to me. “But how could I have told you?”

I shake my head and grip the hilt of my sword tighter. The burn of magic in my veins isn’t anywhere to be found. There’s nothing for me to rely on. “Told me what? What’s going on, Kas? Why are you here? With her?”

She stands from her obsidian chair at my words, holding her head high and shoulders back. Her slender black dress hugs her regal figure, displaying the curves I wish I had. The same curves you have.

Realization strikes me, like you’ve taken my sword and plunged it into my heart. I reel, staggering, my boots sliding on the polished black floor. The Widow Queen, the Black Spider, she has your silky ink hair and bright amber eyes. Her lips are yours, as is the shape of her nose and the point of her chin.

“No.”

You reach out to me again and still I don’t take your hand. You let it fall, disappointment dragging your lips into a frown. “Kas.”

My name feels like a curse when spoken by you.

“How could I have told you?” you repeat. “You saved my life. I’ve been indebted to you. Telling you who I am would have hurt you. Betrayed you.”

I shake my head again, harder this time, and lift my sword. Weak flickers of magic sparkle at the tip, my anger breaking through the barrier of disbelief. “You don’t think this hurts me still?” My voice rises. “I thought you were on our side! I thought we were…”

You flinch. “We’re everything you thought we were,” you say. “I am on your side. But not on the side of your people. Kas, please. Haven’t we spent enough time together for you to know I’m nothing like what they say?”

You?

Another realization.

“You’re the Black Spider. Not her. You.”

“Yes.” You nod. “We kept that hidden from outside forces. My mother, she set the crown in my hands the day I learned to walk.”

Your mother approaches with your unnatural grace to stand behind you, laying her white hand on your shoulder. I can hardly focus on her. Even if my blade alone could kill her without the assistance of my magic, she’s not my target anymore.

“It’s been a hard thing since then,” your mother says, speaking for the first time. “But I have never been more proud of Kasina. She will bring in our new era, of cold and shadow.”

You reach for my hand and grasp my wrist with your long fingers, the ones that always touched me so tenderly. “Your age of burning magic will come to an end, Senna. No matter what you choose to do now, it’s too late to stop it. You can kill me, kill my mother, but you can’t stop what’s already here. But you can join me.”

You want me to join the enemy, the dark forces I’ve trained to fight against all my life, so I can live in the dark like you.

Your eyes flash. “Think, Senna! What side has been doing all the killing? For thousands upon thousands of years, it’s always been my kind that are persecuted just for existing. Haven’t you seen enough of that? Haven’t we witnessed it often enough on our journey together?”

Memories course through my mind, brought to the surface by your words. Raids in which I participated, and mobs in which I didn’t. Death and screams and bloodshed, interspersed with flashes of magic.

“All we want,” you continue, “is peace. A chance. Come be with me. We’ll need your power. We’ll need all of you. We won’t be the tyrants your people are.”

I’m dizzy, shaking, filled with burning sickness. I never wanted anything more than to be at your side. Now I have that chance, but it’s taken a form I never expected.

Whose loyalty do I betray?

My sword feels hot against my palm as my decision makes itself, as my heart aligns with what I know to be right.

The End

©2019 Emily Blue