I woke up to blinding lights and the overpowering smell of cleaner. I tried to cover my face with my hands, but strong restraints kept my arms locked to the sides of the soft bed I was laying in. I pulled again but was only welcomed to the loud clink of metal striking metal.

"Some guards said you were acting out when they tried to take you away from his highness, so I found it better for everyone if you...were detained," the voice came from the right edge of the bed. It was rough and cracking from age. I looked up to see Sir Colway glaring down at me through dark lashes. The thick black eyeliner he wore made him resemble a raccoon. 

"Where am I?" I asked with a hoarse voice as I looked around the room. 

"Does the queen not know what her own doctor station looked like?" He made a disappointing sound as he spoke. He was making my skin crawl. 

"Well, can you let me go?" I lifted my bound wrists up to him and raised my eyebrow slightly. We locked eyes for a moment before his eyes dashed to the yellow and silver tiled floors.

"Is that an order your majesty?" He sounded pained to say those words. As if calling me majesty was like acid in his mouth. I was not the type to wave power in people's faces or to be passive with my annoyance. But, for Sir Colway, I'd make an exception. 

"Yes, that is an order, from me your queen," I shook my wrists so the annoying clinking sound would fill the air. He walked over with a key and slowly freed me from the bed. 

"You took this throne from me, so I will do anything in my power to take it back. I do not care what I have to do to get it. Harmony may have seen something in you, but all I see in a scared little girl. You have no military experience, political skills, or even any fraction of an idea on how to run a damn kingdom," He hissed at me before escaping the room — leaving me in a silent room all alone — the events of what happened to me fill my head. The scenes from the water and holding Harmony in my arms played clear in my mind. I laid on my side as hot tears fell onto the pillow. I heard someone coming, yet I did not try to hide them. I was allowed to have these emotions, allowed to cry over my husband's death. 

"Cyra we need to talk seriously-" Leillan came flying into the room. Her hair tied back into a loose braid and she wore black velvet pants and an airy white shirt. When she laid eyes on me, she stopped in her tracks. I must have looked like death. I was still in my wedding dress, my hair was in a frizzed up mess, plus I was guessing my face was plump and red from me crying.

"We need to talk?" I asked 

"No, that can wait, move over," she demanded. I didn't have enough energy to argue to I moved over to the edge of the bed. Leillan quickly walked over and laid next to me. When she wrapped her long arms around me, I felt as though I had could get lost. Get lost in her limitless warmth and familiar lavender scent of her. I laid my head in the nook of her neck and let the light pulse of her heart soothe me. I could never be completely cured of this sadness that seemed to weigh on my heart but Leillan here with me; it fixed the loneliness I had felt since she left me in the ballroom. 

"So it is true? Harmony, he..." She trailed off as if saying it made it not real. I simply nodded and looked up at her. 

"Yes, he died in my arms," the feeling of someone you love go cold and lifeless in your arms was something I knew would never leave me. It would haunt me and sits in the back of my mind forever. Leillan shifted so she could look at me better. She jumped when she saw me, nearly falling off the narrow bed. Did I really look that bad? 

"Cyra!" She whispered harshly.

"Leillan?" I lifted myself on my elbow.

"Your eye! What happened to your eye?!" She sat up and pointed to my right eye. The same eye that felt as though it had been lit on fire and Harmony traced before promising he would never leave me. I searched the room for something reflective I could look through. I yanked the small silver tray near me and the sound of the needles and bandages that once sat near it bouncing on the floor. I looked into the reflection and what I saw made me gasp in disbelief. My once colorless right grey eye was now half infected with a beautiful gem green swirling through it. That color looked so familiar; I had only seen it on one person before. It was Harmony's green eyes. Harmony was part of me now, not just in power. 

"It must have happened when we did the ceremony," I lowered the tray and looked back at Leillan. 

"You mean the wedding?" she asked.

"No after the wedding we-" how did I explain this to her? Even if I knew a way, I was sure she would be furious. She was already stern on the idea that she hated everyone with power. 

"So is magic contagious?" She asked with a slightly raised eyebrow and her hands on her hips

"No magic is not contagious Leillan."  

"Whatever you queenie...just don't cough on me," Leillan said covering her face jokingly with her hand. I faked coughed and playfully pushed her. We laughed a bit, it felt good to laugh with her, but it didn't excuse what she did to me.

"I am sorry Cyra, not just for Harmony's passing but for not telling you things lately," She looked at the ground, her cheeks glowing light pink. "I guess with you going on and doing so much; I thought you'd be too busy to worry about me. That maybe you outgrew us," I leaned over and cupped Leillan's face so that she would look at me.

"Promise this is forever? We are forever," Her dark blue eyes bore into mine. I was filled with intense warmth. 

"I promise this is forever," there was Sat. I wasn't a queen or a rebel spy; I was just Cyra when I sat here with her. I heard someone enter the room. It was painful for me to take my attention off of Leillan and to look at who approached us. It was Delaney. 

"So your highness, when do we leave for Vinick?" Her naturally raspy voice seemed more annoyed than usual.

"Let me bury my husband first, I want to be here," That was something I would fight tooth and nail for. I would be here when they lowered him into the ground; I would grow the most beautiful flowers for him, to honor him. 

"I think you should reconsider not shoving a dagger into the evil king's chest," Delaney leaned against the door frame. I heard Leillan open her mouth to say something but the deadly look Delaney shot at her made Leillan close her mouth. 

"I told you Delaney I will not murder him, I will not murder anyone. I can change him, end this war peacefully," 

"What will it take for you to realize this world does not respond to passive acts. Does another person you love need to die for you to wake up?" She said more, but the anger in me was bubbly up past the point of stopping it. This feeling I had when I got angry was like nothing I had felt before, the same hot electric feeling flowed through my veins, and my heart raced in my chest. I felt rage, but I also felt like I was in a dream. I heard nothing except for hushed mumbles. It wasn't until Leillan touched my cold back that I snapped out of it.

 "Cyra!" Delaney yelled, and I whipped around to look at her. The wall behind her was covered in large vines and thick bark. They seemed to crack through the walls, and even some vines covered the lights causing them to flicker. "Cyra...what did you and Harmony do.." Leillan almost sounded scared. I walked over and touched the rippling bark. I felt a connection, like energy running through me and my power. Almost as if it was talking to me. I closed my eyes and let it fill my thoughts. When I opened my eyes, the vines, and bark slowly began to slip away, so did the feeling of power I had. I already missed it. 

"Hello, earth to Cyra!" Leillan roared. I walked over to Delaney and Leillan.

"We need to go," then with that they left. Leillan looked back at me while they walked down the halls as if she never wanted to leave. 

I walked back to my room to find my mother, brothers, and Quillan all waiting there for me. 

 "Hey, how is my favorite queen?" Quillan asked with a wink.

 'I am the only queen you know" I said back

 "I don't know I feel like I could fill that role perfectly Cycy" With that, he came over to hug me. My brothers and mother soon followed, and I was encased in the arms of all those I loved. I leaned against Taj. I took a deep breath and let them all support me.

 "Since I am the brother to the Queen, can I get away with dumb stuff?" Taj asked hopefully, jokingly.

 "What dumb stuff?" I heard my mother ask

 "I can't tell you because I know you will try to stop me," The light smile Taj held on his face quickly faded when our mother smacked him on the back of the head. My mother pushed all the boys since I needed to bathe and change out of my wedding dress. When I felt my mother's skillful seamstress fingers work off the strings that tied the dress snuggly on my body, it was hard to imagine her as a leader of a rebellion. She was so delicate and soft-spoken, yet she directed orders at Harmony like she owned the world. She was teaching me that a gentle handed didn't mean weak-hearted. Arksel was raised to believe something so different. That he needed to strike fear into every one to gain power, I could influence his mind somehow. There was a light in his laugh when we sat in the library. I would break through and expose that light to the world. 

 I bathed in a golden tub with luke-warm water. The smell of various oils meant to calm someone did nothing but give me a headache, yet I said nothing. The mother seemed so happy to take care of me once again that I let her have her way. My mother brushed my long wet hair as I soaked my aching body. She lectured my about the responsibility of a queen and rambled on how she had nothing but pride for me. Everyone kept calling me queen. Shouldn't I feel like one? At this moment I felt nothing but a vase emptiness in my chest mixed with course nerves begging for power. My mother splashed me in the face once she realized I had not been listening. 

 I let my hair dry in their natural curly state and threw on a cream-colored flowing dress that shifted colors when I spun in the light. 

 "Why don't we go to the meadows? Delaney says they would cheer even the saddest person up," My mother called from the doorway. It took every ounce of strength not to groan at Delaney's name. 

 "The meadows sound wonderful!" Quillian yelled from the other side of the door. I walked over and wiped the door open, the smirking ginger man leaning on his elbow against the frame. "Fancy meeting you here," he winked smugly at me.

 "Were you eavesdropping?" I asked, crossing my arms.

 "Eavesdropping? I would never, Secretly listening? That's my specialty," I didn't want to be the one to break the news to him that eavesdropping was secretly listening, I would let him have his fun. I allowed him to drag my mother and me out of the room and to my brothers to inform them of our trip to the meadow. 

 So off our small gang of a newly crowned queen, rebel leader, a farmer, trouble maker, and small child traveled to the meadows right outside the walls of the kingdom. The boys began a rough game of ball that quickly turned into them seeing who could throw Efrain higher in the air. I stood among a patch of bright sunflowers that reached up to my waist; the breeze was cool and lifted my hair high in the air. It felt good to be out of the kingdom, away from Colway and the constant reminder of the throne, Harmony's downfall, and the rebellion, Here I felt a sense of safety like a warm blanket had been draped over me. I looked over at my mother, who was staring at me with a warm smile, my lips without me realizing cracked into a grin. She began to wonder over to me when I heard rushed feet come over to me. I turned and expected to see my brothers or Quillian coming over to try to get me to join their silly games. 

 It was not Quillian and certainly not my brothers. A mad man with bloodshot eyes and shaggy brown hair ran towards me. He did not strike fear into me. What did make my heart sink to the ground was the black uniform that matched the one that Aleta wore, he was Vinick. He raised his hand toward me, and I saw a black weapon I had only seen a few times. It was a gun; a Vinick soldier was racing toward me at full force with a gun pointed at my heart. I called for my powers, but all I could do was stand paralyzed. My breath stuck deep in my throat and my head pounding. 

 I closed my eyes as I heard the exploding pop of the bullet escaping. I felt my body drift into the air feeling weightless as I was launched through the air. I could not put a name to the feeling. I felt my body hit the ground. The feeling of falling was somehow tranquil as if the world paused, and reality stopped existing. 

 "Cyra!" A scream echoed 

{Hey guys! I really would like to know which characters you'd like to see more of? Please tell me all your thoughts on this chapter!}