A Winter That Burned Ch. 00: Prologue

Masters: I hope this tale drags you into a world that belongs to only us- SaintlyMouse

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Prologue:

"This way, shh, quietly now," Senka led the panting woman into her dim chamber. She secretly sighed with relief when she noted that the room had not been disturbed. The queen hissed as Senka forced her to keep walking. Senka, though smaller than the great sovereign, supported her with no more than a little arm around her waist. Queen Tiren-se slumped heavily on the girl, straining Senka's side at an uncomfortable angle.

The passageway quietly slid shut behind them, appearing as a solid stone wall again. Once inside, the girl chanted a brief phrase. The shadows shifted around her, lifting, rushing past her toward the end of the room. They wove themselves into tightly-knit sheets across each high arched window. Then she chanted another word and the curtains followed, adding another protective layer over the watchful windows, shunning out the world. Satisfied with her work, Senka strode further into the chamber. She lifted an intricately painted hand. Six pearlescent orbs, gifts from her father, lifted around the females, casting an array of colored lights. A sharp pain speared Senka's chest.

Queen Tiren-se gasped as she was settled onto the bed in the center of the chamber. The orbs circled overhead. Senka knelt in front of the woman, nauseous from the sight of so much blood. The queen had been sliced from her collarbone to her naval. With each panting breath she took, more silver blood escaped her body. As Senka gazed at all the blood, she could feel it on herself. It had washed away most of the paint from her body, decorating the girl with its own shimmery hue and abstract design. It soaked through her robes and clung to her. It burrowed itself beneath her skin, never to be scraped off.

Tire-se's cry retrieved Senka back to the moment.

Senka ordered the queen to spread her legs. Her light brow furrowed in concentration. There was nothing she could do about the wound bisecting her ruler. Even if there was, she knew queen Tiren-se would not want her to. The other source of her blood loss was far more important. Shrieks reverberated from beyond Senka's chamber walls. The massacre was stalking its way to them. The dying queen cried out in agony. Senka shoved the many layers of skirts and robes away. The weak-stomached royal bit back a gag. She could see the baby's head crowning. Canon fire roared outside. A second later, the windows shook.

"My Lady, when I say push, you must push with every last bit of strength. Do you understand?" Senka asked with an unnaturally steady voice. The queen gazed at her with blood-red eyes. The veins in her face were prominent and straining against her sallow skin. Her smooth delicate features had been clawed away, replaced by harsh lines and jagged light. Tiren-se clutched the bed sheets with bloodied hands. Senka returned her attention to the baby. Gently cradling the infant's top, she gave the order. The queen cried out in sync with her dying kingdom. Senka pulled as the queen pushed. The baby's head was free. Senka gave the order again. With another agonized shriek, the queen expelled the infant from her womb. With the final push, the heir to the fallen Salutaris throne entered the world. Senka sighed as its ear piercing scream filled the chamber.

"What would you like to name her, my Lady?" Senka inquired. She gently placed the infant in her mother's arms, and then went to retrieve a silk summer robe from her chest.

"Anika," replied the queen, softly. Senka almost didn't hear it. She turned around, ready to ask, but froze in her tracks. The baby was beside the queen. No. Tiren-se gasped, as her body contorted. No. Tiren-se's body began to tear itself apart, filling the room with a sound similar to paper being ripped to shreds.

"No, don't−" Senka rushed toward her. The queen's skin cracked and shattered, milky-white light spilled from the innumerable chinks. Senka just grazed her skin when the most beloved queen drew her final breath as her body ignited. The chamber lit up by a heatless inferno then, all too quickly, dimmed. Senka knelt on the bed, her hand clutching bloodied clothes and dim jewels. That was the way of the Salutaris, a quick, almost unremarkable death after a long and painfully slow life. Tiren-se Festiniv of the Charona Lands, fifth queen and mother to the Salutaris, Commander of the Sea Guard and Second Oversee of the Salutaris Territory, and the most decorated Salutaris woman in history, died no differently than a peasant.

Senka held her breath.

She held her breath in fear that if she inhaled, she would fall apart. Her chest ached and burned. Bile rose in her throat. She was alone. The king and queen and all the royals were gone. She was hopelessly alone. Senka drew her small knees to her chest, and rocked herself back and forth. More canons shook the palace. More savages murdered and coated the kingdom's ground with blood. More shrieks filled the air Senka refused to swallow. She had acted like an adult for the queen. Now, there was no one to act for.

Raking her hands through her night-blue hair, rocking herself, Senka inhaled. A strange sound snapped her attention back from a dark place within her mind. It was the baby, and with the sight of her, something light, and almost like hope, flew into Senka's heart. The tiny creature watched Senka with heavy eyes, which slowly closed and opened rhythmically. With a tiny hand to her eye, she yawned with a curled smile.

Senka blinked.

She had to focus. She had to mourn the king and queen later. She had to mourn her kingdom later. As the explosions and shrieks and fires grew louder, Senka centered herself. She calmed the fluttering creature in her chest. She steadied her shaking arms. She inhaled. Her body did not fall apart like she believed it would, but rather, slid into a detached state of consciousness. Her emotions were removed with each breath she exhaled. An unsettling calm washed over her.

Quickly, and perhaps far too gently, she wrapped the infant in her robe and held her. A half-formed plan arose in the girl's mind.

Her chamber contained six passages. Five of them were not possibilities. The last, however, held promise. She debated the last option just as a voice shouted just outside of her doors. The yell was followed by a thump. The invaders were trying to force their way in. The loud sounds stirred the infant into a fit. Thankfully, Senka's chamber walls were enchanted so nothing from the inside of her chamber could be heard. If the invaders knew they were in there, their efforts would double.

Walking briskly to the far wall, Senka counted the tapestries. The last one, with a scene from the marriage of the second ruler, king Sain, was it. Behind it, a stone with a circle engraved into it stared back at her. Senka removed her only ring and inserted it to the wall. Touching the obsidian loop, she chanted. After a few seconds, the floor to her right slid into the wall, revealing a stone stairway receding into the shadows. Senka removed her ring from the wall and quickly scurried down the cold steps as the floor slid back over her. With a silent word, her hand was engulfed in heatless white flames.

The passage went on for what felt like hours. Senka's feet stung and her arms felt like they would fall off at any moment. She hadn't eaten in nearly half a day. The thought of stopping to rest laid heavily on her mind, enticing her. Unlike the other passages, this one was far too long to have artwork crafted into the walls, so there was no distraction for her.

She had long since escaped the palace. She knew that. However, she also knew that she had to endure the walk for the baby's sake and her own. Thinking of the baby, Senka looked down. The tiny creature in her arms slept, perfectly, unaware of the world crumbling around her. Anika, Senka recalled the queen's name for her. Anika meant 'burning light' and 'lovely sun' in their language. She was the perfect contrast to Senka, which meant 'winter night' and 'woman of ice'. Anika made strange little noises in her sleep as Senka held her closer, perfectly unaware that her half-sister was carrying her away from a corpse of a kingdom.