This is a newer story that's meant to be a sequel to my Child of Ashes: Outcast story. I do have reasons for writing them out of order, I swear. XD Any way...I only just recently finished this chapter, so it's still fairly fresh.
What I would mainly like to know is what you think of it overall. I'd also like to know if my switching from calling the main character Lucretia to Tia back and forth is too confusing, since I don't mention that Tia is her nickname. It should be fairly obvious that she's Tia/Lucretia, because there's only two people in the first scene, but...yeah.
This is the only chapter I have written at the moment, so it could take a while before I post more of it.
Chapter One:
Reluctant Leader
Lucretia remembered the last time it was this silent in the throne room.
She had hoped it would never be this silent again, under the same circumstances.
She stood in the middle of the room, looking up at the high glass ceiling. Her heart pounded in her chest as she waited to hear the approaching footsteps enter the room.
“Lucretia?” a man’s voice called. “Your Highness, we must leave.”
Lucretia brought her gaze down from the ceiling and to the man who had entered, slowly walking toward her. She nodded slowly as she turned her head away so that he would not see the sadness in her eyes.
“You do realize how vulnerable down there,” Lucretia said. “The further away I am from here, from the stone, the weaker I’ll become.”
“I know,” he said. “But we no longer have a choice.”
“I don’t like this decision to leave the City and go down there, Daemyn. I don’t like leading the Clans down there without having a full plan,” she said, looking back at him with fierce blue eyes.
Daemyn sighed and walked closer, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.
“Tia, you are a good, strong leader. The people look to you for guidance, and know that you will not willingly lead them to danger. It was unfortunate that we had to make the decision to leave so quickly, but there is no other alternative. Now, come. We must leave so that the Orrick can be hidden.”
Lucretia nodded slowly. “I hope you’re right about this.”
The two walked out of the throne room, leaving it silent once more.
******
Lucretia was now slowly climbing down the branches of the Orrick, reaching one hand after another for a branch as she climbed further away from her home. She stopped, sitting on one branch and catching her breath with a gasp as she closed her eyes.
“Your Highness? Are you all right?”
This time it was Eirian, one of the other counselors of her Clan, speaking. He was a few branches below her and had stopped when he no longer heard her climbing.
“Yes, I’m . . . fine,” she answered. “I just had to catch my breath.”
The truth was, she could feel herself slowly beginning to weaken as she moved further away from the palace.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, I’m fine,” Lucretia insisted. With that, she continued climbing downwards.
Soon, the ground was right below her. She waited until Eirian had dropped to the ground and moved before she swung herself from the lowest branch and let go, falling to the ground.
“Are all the Clans on the ground?” Lucretia asked.
“Yes. There are a few leaders coming after you, but we should all be here,” Eirian answered.
“Good. We’ll need to move as quickly as possible. I’d like to get to safety before nightfall.”
“There’s a set of caves up ahead. We could be a little squashed, but it will work for the night. There should be enough room for everyone to fit in them,” he suggested.
“That will have to work for now,” Tia agreed.
After the rest of the leaders had climbed down from the Orrick, Tia turned toward everyone so she could address them.
“We’re heading into the caves up ahead. It’s not too long of a walk, and there’s enough room for everyone,” she said.
Tia waited until the Clan members had begun walking before turning back to the Orrick. She moved in front of it, reaching out and touching its rough bark as she closed her eyes, beginning to concentrate. She tuned in to the Orrick, focusing on the connection she had to it. It was not long until she felt its energy in her mind. She waited another moment before she pulled her hand back.
When she opened her eyes, the Orrick had disappeared. Good, it had worked. Satisfied, she turned back toward the others and started following behind them.
Lucretia walked at a slow pace, various thoughts running through her mind as she followed her people toward safety. While some would expect her to be at the head of the group, Tia preferred to stay at a fair distance from the front, though it was also part of security for her safety.
In the distance to her left, she saw a lake glistening in the evening sun, and a sad smile came to her lips.
Hawk would have enjoyed this sight, she thought with a soft sigh. She turned her head away and kept her gaze forward, remembering one of the last times she had seen Hawk.
The bounty hunter, whose actual name was Hawklin, stood across from her, his arms folded across his chest. His gaze was fierce and steady, showing no emotion on his features. He turned his head away and to the lake that was a few feet to his right.
“Tia, your status and race don’t matter to me. I fell in love with who you are as a person, not who you are as the Braighar of Caelestis,” Hawk said.
“What is it you want me to do, Hawk?” Tia turned to face him. “I can’t just change the minds of the other leaders with the snap of a finger so that we can live happily ever after. It doesn’t work like that. There are complications.”
“I want you to fight for what we have, Tia. I want you to stop caring so much about what their laws say and just . . .” Hawk sighed. Tia turned her head away as Hawk walked toward her, putting his hands on her arms. “I’m sorry, Tia. I’m just frustrated. It’s not fair of me to ask you to go against the Clan leaders.”
“It is fair of you, Hawk,” Tia replied. “I’m just . . . scared, of not being able to be with you.”
Tia stopped in her tracks, catching her breath, suddenly feeling overwhelmed with emotion. She closed her eyes, forcing the tears she knew were in them to keep from flowing.
“Your Highness?” a voice asked. “Are you all right?”
Tia opened her eyes and saw Eirian standing there, concern crossing his face.
“I’m fine, Eirian,” Tia replied. “Let’s keep going.”
*****
Lucretia now stood at the mouth of the caves the Clans had found. She stood leaning against the rocky wall, gazing up at the moon. A soft breeze made her shiver in its cold embrace, which made her hug her arms around herself. Tia turned her head slightly, looking in the direction she knew her true home was in, watching the clouds roll slowly by.
“Your Highness?” A voice asked.
Tia jumped, standing straight backed again and turned to look at whoever had approached her. People seemed to have a knack for startling her lately.
“The other leaders would like to speak with you.” It was Daemyn this time.
Tia nodded, tight lipped. She had figured they’d want to, since they needed to figure out their next move. She moved away from the cave’s wall and followed him into the cave.
The cave was large enough that the Clans did not have to squeeze in too close, and the leaders were able to use the main cavern to meet in while the Clans slept in the other caverns that had been discovered. Some of the leaders stood, while some sat on the floor of the cave. Tia chose to lean against a rocky wall once more.
“We can’t stay in these caves forever. We’ll need to find a place to go, and quickly. Our people need nourishment that these caves can’t provide,” said one Clan leader.
“Where will we go? Even if we find a place, how will we stay protected? We don’t have enough of a force to possibly be able to fight,” another said.
The leaders continued bickering back and forth. Tia rolled her eyes in annoyance and was about to speak when Eirian spoke instead.
“Gentlemen,” he said, his voice raised. He waited until they’d stopped and their attention was on him. “We need to discuss this as calmly as possible so that it does not take us all night to do. Now . . . what I propose is that we find one of the Earth kingdoms near by and form an alliance.”
“What do we have to offer them that would make a kingdom ally with us?” Tia asked.
“Well,” Eirian hesitated. “I hate to even suggest this, Your Highness, but it is not uncommon that the daughter of a ruler’s hand in marriage is offered when forming an alliance. Since you are our leader and have no daughters yet . . .”
Tia stared at her friend, one of her most trusted advisors, and closed her lips tightly, biting hard on the inside of her lip.
I don’t know whether to be angry at the very idea or just . . . accept it, she thought.
Lucretia looked at the other leaders, her eyes landing on Daemyn this time. “Daemyn, what do you think?”
“Well . . . you are of the right age for marriage, Tia, and it would benefit us to form an alliance. I realize, of course, that this is a lot of pressure to put on you, but I won’t disagree with the fact that it would be most beneficial for our people,” Daemyn answered, his brown eyes narrowing to the floor of the cave.
Tia had to keep herself from growling and muttering under her breath. It was bad enough she had been chosen- no, practically forced- to be the leader of the Sky Empire, but to be forced into marriage, too?
On the other hand, there was no longer anything holding her back from getting married. Hawk is dead, she thought. And this is for the good of what still lives of the Empire.
Tia closed her eyes, taking a deep breath, then letting it out. She nodded slowly. “All right. We can go to one of the nearby kingdoms and offer my hand to them in marriage.” She started walking away, but stopped and turned toward the leaders. “Am I needed any longer?”
“No, Your Highness. We can discuss everything else in the morning,” Eirian replied.
She nodded, “I’ll be going to sleep, then. Wake me up if anything happens.”
Tia walked back to the spot she had been before, by the mouth of the cave. Four guards stood outside of the cave, keeping watch.
She leaned against the wall again and hugged her arms around herself, looking at the moon once more. Slowly, she slid down the wall and to the ground. She sat down, bringing her legs up to rest her arms on them.
A tear slowly slid down her cheek. “I’m sorry, Hawk,” she whispered. She put her face into her arms and cried softly.
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Edit: if you find any more capitalized STONEs, let me know. I explained why they're capitalized in my response below, but it's possible I might have missed a few before I posted this. Although I think it's only ever mentioned once.
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