The infirmary, where Sophia lay, was a flood of Elementales. The metallic scent of blood hung in the air, mixed with sweat and the salty taste of tears. The gashes on her arm from the Viperus's claws had been healed with a healing mystik. Percuro. Juliana had taken a cloth and gently wiped the remaining blood from her arm. There was only a scar there now, three light lines stretching diagonally down the skin of her upper arm. Three blemishes that would remind her of this night forever.

Her sister bore her own marks from today's battle, a gash running horizontally along her cheekbone and scratches on her legs. The gash had been bleeding profusely, blood running down one side of her face. The healing mystik had closed it up and stopped the bleeding, but a small indent in her skin still remained. She would carry that for the rest of her life.

Many Elementales had it much worse than they did, though, and Sophia felt a twinge of guilt as she looked around her. She had reprimanded herself over and over for standing in the hallway watching as her friends and family fought for their lives. There was a deep ache in her chest- it had been there since her mother had died- and a feeling of numbness that she knew shielded her from the pain of loss. Juliana had been quiet, and Sophia wasn't sure what her sister was thinking. She didn't want to ask.

She got up, finding Juliana. "I'm going to go to bed," she told her. "Will you be okay?"

Her sister nodded, and she left, climbing slowly up the stairs of the lobby that been hastily cleaned. The foul scent still lingered though, Elementale blood mixed with the stench of the blood of the Viperi.

Entering her room, she closed the door behind her and climbed into bed, too tired and numb to shower or change out of her dirty clothes, still covered in blood. She felt detached, as if the world was passing her by and she was on the outside, watching. She felt nothing, only a deep ache and a looming fatigue. Closing her eyes, she fell into a restless sleep.

❅ ❅ ❅ ❅ ❅

Samantha was at her side when she awoke, cold light filtering in from the clear window to her left. "Sophia? Are you awake?"

She squeezed her eyes shut, the horror of last night flooding in and leaving a pit of despair in her stomach. "I'm awake," she mumbled.

"Oh, baby, I'm so sorry," Samantha said, and she enveloped Sophia in a warm hug. "It'll be okay. I know it." Samantha always talked like that, with certainty even when things were uncertain. They couldn't have been more uncertain now.

Sophia opened her eyes slowly, sitting up. Someone had changed her clothes in the middle of the night. She was wearing a long sleeve shirt and sweatpants, but there was still blood on the sheets, dried now to the color of rust. Images from last night flashed through her mind: the sea of Viperi, the bodies of the Elementales, Bayleigh, eyes open but unseeing. Forgive me, my daughter. Sophia closed her eyes again, trying to push the tears back in but it was no use. The numbness from last night was gone, replaced by a searing pain that made her throat close up and her heart feel like it had shattered into a million tiny shards. Hot tears welled up in her eyes and flooded over, streaming down her cheeks. Sophia hated to cry, hated showing any sign of weakness. She wiped the tears away furiously, the sleeve of her shirt darkening.

"Soph, it's okay to cry," Samantha said, her hand on Sophia's knee. "You're allowed to cry for your mother."

"I can't." Sophia's voice came out muffled. "I don't even know why I'm crying, Sam. It wasn't like she did anything for me. Juliana was more of a mother than Bayleigh ever was."

Samantha gave her a reproachful look that she saw even with looking up. "She was still family. The whole kingdom is grieving, Sophia. Grieving their queen."

Sophia lifted her head and rested it on the headboard. She looked up at the ceiling. "I don't know what to do."

Samantha clasped Sophia's hand in her own, but before she could say anything, a knock came at the door. Samantha got up, hand pausing at the doorknob. She looked at Sophia questioningly and she nodded. The door opened to reveal Cecelia, holding a wand of what seemed like frosted perea metal in her hand. It was wider at the bottom, thinning down into a point at the top. Gemstones decorated the handle, wrapped in brown leather.

"A baton?" Samantha asked. "Why do you have a baton?" Batons were shaped like wands, made out of a material that could easily conduct a certain Element. They could cast more potent mystiks than swords and daggers did, but only experienced Elementales used it, since the power was difficult to control.

"Hi, Samantha, honey," Celia said, smiling at her. She turned to face Sophia. "Sophie, how are you doing?"

"I..." Sophia was at a lost for words. "I don't know." Her stomach lurched again, and she held her breath in an effort not to retch.

Celia's eyes were knowing, but sad. "Samantha, would you mind if I talk to Sophia alone, please?" she asked, voice gentle.

Samantha hesitated, but did as asked, allowing Celia to enter before leaving and shutting the door softly behind her. Celia looked at Sophia, sympathy and pity clear in her face. "Look, Sophie, I may be able to help you- take some of your pain away- but it's only temporary. It'll come hurtling back at you full force and you won't be prepared for it."

"Help me," Sophia said, and her voice was ragged. "I don't care. Please, Celia. I can't stand this anymore."

Celia hesitated, glancing down at the baton. "Alright, but just be careful," she said. "Don't let your heart break when the pain does come back."

Sophia nodded and her aunt sighed, placing the tip of the baton on her chest, where her heart beated. "Cor torpet," she murmured. There was no flash of light, no sudden change in temperature that signified something had happened. But Sophia did feel a new lightness, as if a weight had been lifted off her chest. The ache in her heart was gone, and when she thought about Bayleigh, there was no searing pain or choked tears, only a soft ache. It all felt so long ago, as if the events of last night had not been last night but two years, three years before.

"Thank you," she whispered to Celia, but her aunt only gave her a warning look.

"Be careful," she said, and left.

Samantha came back in, a questioning look in her eyes. "What happened?" Sophia explained what her aunt had said, and the mystik she had cast. Samantha gave her a look, but stayed silent. Instead, she said, "The Praei announced their decision this morning, about what's going to happen. A lot of people wanted Cecelia to stand in as regent until Juliana's older but they decided that Juliana will be the new queen. Her coronation's tomorrow. They want it to happen as soon as possible, in case something else happens." The Praei was the head of the Elementale government, consisting of one member from each of the kingdoms. It was led by the Praetor, followed by the Deputy.

Her sister, queen. Sophia had always known that would happen, but the idea of it still shocked her. The kingdom and the rest of Asteri had always assumed Bayleigh would rule into old age and Juliana would take the throne at some point, but no one ever thought that time would be now. Jules was only 21, barely an adult. How could she take on the burden of ruling a kingdom?

"Have you seen her?" she asked Samantha. "Is she okay?"

"She seemed fine," Sam answered. "Calm. But then again, Juliana never shows her real emotions." She hesitated. "You should check on her, see if she's alright."

Samantha was right, of course, and Sophia admonished herself for not thinking of that first. Throwing the covers off, she scrambled off the bed, slipping on a pair of flip-flops. "Are you coming with?"

"Sure," Sam said, getting up from the armchair she had been sitting in. Sophia opened the door and they exited, emerging into the corridor. Sophia felt uneasy, vulnerable without a weapon or a lightsuit. The cotton of the shirt was bare, and she felt almost as if she was naked. Brushing it off, she headed to Juliana's room down the hall, knocking on the door.

"Jules? Are you in there?"

There was a pause, and then the sound of footsteps. Juliana opened the door, blinking at her with dark blue eyes. She was fully dressed, hair in a messy bun at the base of her neck. "Sophia? Is something wrong?" She looked at Sophia, then Samantha behind her.

"The Praei's decision," Sophia said. "You're okay with it?"

Juliana gave her a half-smile. "Does it matter if I'm not? The Praei won't change its mind. Besides, this is what the kingdom needs."

"Jules, if you aren't ready, I'm sure Celia will step in for you," Sophia replied with a frown.

Juliana shook her head. "It's okay, Sophie. I have Cecelia, and Mom's advisors. I'll be fine." When Sophia opened her mouth to argue, she added, "I want you to go to Joie Hall with Samantha."

Go to Joie Hall, I give you my permission. Her mother's voice echoed in Sophia's head. Excitement rushed, unbidden, through her and she pushed it down, hesitating. "But tomorrow's your coronation." It was a lame excuse, and they all knew it.

Juliana smiled softly at her. "It's okay, Sophie. You've wanted to go to Joie Hall for years. Now you can."

Sophia wasn't going to argue. "Okay."

Samantha let out a squeal, grabbing Sophia's shoulders and jumping up and down. "Hell yes! We can be roomates!"

Sophia grinned, but even as she did, she felt a growing sense of guilt, both for leaving Juliana here to deal with everything, and also for feeling happy when her mother had died in her arms just the night before. What kind of person was she, to think only about the fact that she was about to be living her dream when this had happened?

It was the mystik- she knew it- and yet, that didn't lessen the guilt pooling at the base of her stomach. This was the danger Celia had warned her about, the consequences of choosing the easy path. It felt as if there were two sides of her, each tugging at her heart. Please don't rip it, she thought. Whatever you do, please let me be whole.

❅ ❅ ❅ ❅ ❅

Samantha sat on the bed while Sophia packed. By packed, she meant tossing clothes into her suitcase while Sam watched with a horrified look in her eyes. She threw in tops, bottoms, flip-flops, bras, and sunglasses, just in case. There was a time when she had tried to be neat, to fold her clothes and place them one on top of the other in her suitcase, but then it had just gotten messy after the first day anyway and Sophia had given up.

"Should I bring weapons?" she asked Samantha, eyeing her baselard swords which were sitting on the nightstand.

The look on Samantha's face became somehow more horrified. "No!" she said. "Are you crazy? You're not bring weapons in a suitcase!"

"Fine," Sophia muttered. "Relax." She continued to toss in clothes, toothbrush, toothpaste, comb, hat. Finally, she threw down the top, looking down at the bulging suitcase with a grimace. "Samantha, come sit on it so I can zip."

With a withering glare, Samantha sat down on the suitcase, cross-legged. "The things I do for you," she muttered.

Zipping up the suitcase, Sophia grinned. "I'm ready to go." She heaved it into an upright position, dragging it down the stairs as Samantha followed, a safe distance away. Juliana was waiting for them at the lobby, holding a baton in her hand. The perea metal looked like frosted glass, the baton's body a half-opaque, half-translucent white-blue and the leather of the baton's handle a light brown. It almost reminded Sophia of the color of Domino's shit. Domino was a dog she had dogsitted one time when she was eight. It had bit her and she had never dogsitted again.

"A baton?" Sophia asked, looking up at her. "Since when were you allowed to use those?"

"Since I'm about to become Queen of the Ice Kingdom," Jules retorted.

Sophia was indignant. "That's not fair! Make me Queen so I can use a baton." She smiled sweetly at her sister.

"You can't even cast mystiks!" Juliana protested, laughing.

Sophia gave her a look like Are you kidding me. "I can learn easily."

Juliana snorted but said, "Alright, alright. Let me create a Gateway so you two can leave." She turned to the wall in front of them, pointing the tip of the baton at it. "Partum porta!" Light sparked at the center of the wall, expanding into a full-sized circle, shadows inside it.

Samantha moved to stand before it. "Joie Hall, New York," she said clearly. The shadows inside the circle receded, revealing an image of a sleek, towering skyscraper made of steel and glass. The lights inside were on, and the building was outlined against the darkening night sky.

Sophia gasped, eyes alighting in delight. "It's beautiful." Again she felt the spark of guilt, but this time she pushed it down. Her mother would've chastised Sophia for using her as an excuse to ruin this moment. In this moment, she decided she'll try to enjoy this, try to appreciate what her mother had died trying to protect- her life, her happiness.

Samantha grinned. "Come on." Together, they stepped through the Gateway.

A/N: hope you guys enjoyed this chapter :) please don't forget to vote and comment, i appreciate each and every one soso much. love you guys xx