Rewritten and Edited
***

THE SUN SHONE, mocking the worry inside Queen Cyra Thornis's heart.

Her elegant frame strolled from one room to another, looking for her older, adopted brother. Every time she passed by a guest bedroom, she saw the servants setting them up for the upcoming competition.

"Your Majesty," said one servant, already bowing low at the hip. "Would you mind helping—"

Cyra spun on her heel to face the servant. "Servant," she taunted, "unless you need my final opinion on a finished project, refrain from asking me anything. I am not in the mood to help today."

The chocolate-brown haired queen spun on her heel, resuming her search for her brother. She did not bother listening to the servant's string of apologies.

As Cyra rounded a corner, an arm wrapped around her shoulders.

"Cyra, were you looking for me?"

She glared daggers at her brother, silently commanding him to remove his arms, but to no avail. "I was, but it seems you've located me first, Jaeger."

He smiled, flashing his signature toothy grin. The harder he smiled, the less he could see through his black cat-eyes. Every feature of him—save for his deeply tanned skin—was black. Black eyes, black, ruffled hair, black earrings, and black clothing.

"Why were you looking for me?"

"I needed to discuss—" Cyra cut herself off when the sound of approaching footsteps grew. When the person passed by, she brought her voice down to a whisper. "I need to discuss a problem we are facing with you, Amara, and Keir. I would like to keep the conference top secret, so we'll meet in the dining room during dinner. It can't look like a meeting. Make sure there aren't any guards."

Jae smiled once again, harder than before, keeping spirits up for both of them. If it had been anyone else, Cyra would have knocked their teeth in. Too many smiles were suspicious, but not with him. "I'll round them up for you." He squeezed her shoulder. "And take a break and get a massage. You are tense."

"I will get to that the second I am free. Make sure no one suspects us. I am sure there are spies in the castle."

He saluted and bowed mockingly, making his way to complete his mission.

Now that Cyra finished most of her immediate tasks, she would wind down in her study and gather all the material needed for the private meeting. She practiced her presentation just once before taking a quick nap.

Cyra knew how to take care of herself.

She never understood how people could overwork themselves. If there is no balance, there will be no results. Why couldn't people get that through their skulls? Working too hard decreases quality.

Which is why taking a two-hour nap every day was part of her schedule. For her pleasure and the good of her kingdom.

The queen briefly woke up in the middle of her nap for a sip of water. Without checking her sundial, she laid down on the bed and closed her emerald eyes. A colour contradicting her...abilities.

A knock on her door opened her eyes. "Cyra, you're going to be late for dinner," her brother said before going away.

She fixed her hair and her clothes and confirmed she looked stunning. Cyra had a thing for making heads turn, though most only turned away in fear, only bowed in fear. Never respect.

The queen still needed to earn that.

To her subjects, she was the Cruel Queen.

To her close friends and family, she was the Cruel Queen with a soft spot for them.

Stepping out of her room and disregarding the guards standing at either side of it in low bows, she held her head high. Her stride dripped with confidence.

Cyra stepped into the dining hall, the last out of four to reach, and took her seat at the head of the table. Her file of information, present on the table, begged for her to read every word in it. Information on enemies and their movements were what Cyra found the most entertaining to read.

"Amara, Keir, and Jae," she said, acknowledging the people sitting at the other sides of the table. "I have important information to share with you."

Her eyes quickly darted around the room, scanning to find any unwanted guests.

But Cyra only saw Amara's broad shoulders and amber, straight hair. Keir's opposite appearance graced her eyes too. His tiny frame, even smaller than Jae's (and that was saying something), rarely did anything to make him approachable. He looked like a sly cat, but his smile was like a sea otter. Naughty, yet cute.

He wore his sea otter smile at the dinner table.

"What is it?" Amara asked. "The East?"

"That is correct. I have discovered the current movements of the East, however, it cannot be my top priority right now, so I am dividing the work. I will be giving each of you a task on the subject of the East."

Jae slumped in his seat, not wanting to take on extra work. Especially if it had anything to do with the East. Keir held an opposite reaction.

A sense of apathy issued from Amara did not come as a shock. Nothing could scare, shock, surprise, or shake her up. Not caring seemed to be her strong suit.

"There are three tasks, and later on we will have a debate on who will take what. First, infiltrating and spying on the East. We need to learn more about their movements and what is going on with their royalty. I haven't heard a word from them for six months. Second, I need someone to track all the data. Filtering out the rumours from real data and storing them in an organized fashion. Third, I need someone to train the Equitum in case of war."

"Why the Equitum?" asked Amara, her voice copying her body's lazy posture.

The Equitum, the magical knights of Carralliz. They were all thoroughly trained in their art and style of magic in the form of healing or combat. There were two main groups and three subdivisions each. The Alchemists and the Destroyers.

Occasionally, there would be a Rare within the ranks of the Equitum, though there hadn't been one in decades. The last Rare Equitum died almost forty years ago.

Rares were people who could use magic in forms other than alchemy and destruction. Their power would always be a combination of both.

And Cyra's ability took the cake when it came to the full usage of alchemy and destruction in a single form. With her blue mist, she could embody the meaning of alchemy and destruction at its fullest.

At its deadliest.

"Because the East is reckless when it comes to magic. All their Special soldiers can use magic. We are going to need to increase our amount of Equitum if we are going to stand a chance. Especially since we lost a lot of our funding a year ago."

Cyra's gaze darkened with the weight of the memories. Carralliz, the continent Cyra ruled, lost almost all of its funding when she had to pay a huge debt to the Eastern Kingdom...for something the Eastern king did. And something she got the blame for.

A silence fell on all four members of the meeting.

"I'll take the infiltration job," said Jae. "I'm the only one who won't die there." Not a lie, but not a full truth either.

Alongside being a Rare, his immortality certainly made him unkillable. Immortality, a gift he'd received from a powerful Alchemist on the day of his birth grazed his arsenal.

But the others at the table were more than capable of coming back alive from the same mission. Jae only had a higher chance of returning.

To test his gift, Cyra had stabbed him through the chest almost seven times to confirm. She concluded that Jae would be able to survive much more, so she suggested beheading him. The nine-year-old princess—now queen—did not see her brother for days after her suggestion.

Cyra nodded. "Who will take tasks two and three?"

Amara claimed task two and Keir claimed the remaining task.

"Now tell us what you found out," said Amara.

Cyra finally opened the file and cleared her throat. "The East has ceased all contact with Carralliz and the South, but they remain in contact with the West. The North remains neutral, as always, but we know they'll side with us when push comes to shove. The South remains our ally for now, but they can be swayed." She glared at Keir. "Make sure they stay with us, Ambassador."

Keir, the Ambassador of Carralliz to every continent, nodded. He would strengthen ties with all the continents upon his queen's orders. He would communicate with all lands to keep relations with them intact.

He listened and said what people wanted to hear—and still got his point across. It was how he'd captured the job of "ambassador."

However, from the way the East and West were communicating exclusively, Cyra suspected she'd lost the West as an ally.

"The East has not released any official statements regarding anything, nor are they denying any rumours. Either they are too busy doing something else—"

"Like preparing for war," interrupted Jae.

Cyra stiffened in her chair at being cut off. "Yes, that was a given. So, either they are preparing for war, or they're doing something sketchier than war. And, Jaeger, it is your responsibility to find out the answer to this question. That is all I have for now."

Amara stood from her chair and stretched as if she'd been denied the right to move for years.

Cyra went to call the servers. They each brought in a different plate for each of the people seated at the table.

Cyra sat in silence, merely listening to the conversations the rest of them had.

Once she'd finished her meal, she left the room leaving everyone else behind.

It wasn't the first time she'd marooned them.

***
Thank you for taking the time to read "The Cruel Queen." Don't forget to vote and add this book to a public reading list and/or library to be notified when I update. Check out my profile for more books by yours truly. (I write Fantasy, Sci-Fi, and Adventure.)

Would you guys prefer longer or shorter chapters?
Long= 1500-2500 words
Short= 800-1499 words

Word Count: 1753