Page 2 of Iris of the Crowned Flame

“Will you accept all that comes with this, Lyla?” Father pointedly asks.

“Yes.” I gritted out with more anger than I intended.

Father nodded, expecting my response. “Expect the meeting to be immediately after lunch. You know where the Councilors meet, yes?”

I nodded once more, not trusting my voice to cooperate anymore.

“You are expected as well, Ethan.”

I stood, trying to overcome the weakness grief caused. I couldn’t bring myself to ask Ethan how he felt about also attending, so I quickly fixed my hair and face in the room’s mirror before rushing to my chambers. I knew my best friends would be there, and I desperately needed their support.

CHAPTER 2

By the time I reached my chambers, I was out of breath. While it’s never proper for a Lady to run, I pushed the limit to get there, hoping to look too rushed to be stopped by anyone I passed in the hallways.

As soon as I closed the door to my chambers, I felt my control waiver. Ivy and Amyra were in my chambers, tidying up from the morning as they normally do. I tried to make it to the couch just as a fresh round of tears spilled over.

“Lyla! What’s wrong?” Amyra’s voice felt distant, like I was hearing it through thick fog. But I knew that sound — the warmth beneath her panic. Her pale blue eyes were wide, searching my face as she pulled me into her arms. Her long, wavy black hair brushed against my cheek, falling around me like a curtain. I inhaled deeply, taking in the familiar scent of warm apple cider that Amyra always had, and it nearly undid me. Her lips grazed my temple, and even through my shock, I caught the faint sweetness of raspberries and honey, a reminder of safer moments.

Ivy’s eyes sharply flicked to the window. “You’re supposed to be in the meeting with the Queen. Why are you here?” she asked, her voice tight but steady. Always steady. Her gold eyes locked onto me, bright and sure. She crossed the room in a few fast steps, her red curls bouncing,and without a second thought, she took my hand. Ivy had always been my compass in moments of chaos, and now I clung to her like she could point me back to solid ground.

Before I could find the words — before I could even think what to say — they were both there, holding me up as my knees gave out. The sobs came hard and fast, my whole body shaking with them, but they didn’t let go. They held on, and I let myself fall apart in their arms.

After several minutes, I could finally breathe again. “It’s Mother, she…”

The words wouldn’t come out.

“Is she forcing you too hard on this suitor business? You only just turned 20. Surely she doesn’t expect you to get betrothed this summer?” Ivy was always ready to defend me, and I couldn’t help but love her so much for it. She’s been my best friend since we were children, and my Lady in Waiting since Ethan and I came home from our study abroad, 5 years ago.

“Ivy, stop, let her talk!” Amyra chided.

While Ivy might be ready to start fights for me, Amyra had always been the one I could count on for emotional support, for comfort, and for rationality. Her calm mind had been part of what made our relationship so irrational. Amyra, with her pale blue eyes that could see straight through me, and her long, wavy black hair that always seemed to catch the light like polished obsidian. She smelled of warm apple cider, even in summer, and her pale skin, so soft beneath my fingertips, never failed to draw me in. When we came home from studying abroad, she had moved into the castle to join her father, one of the Councilors, after growing up on an estate along the coastline.

Ivy had introduced us. Fiery Ivy, with her gold eyes sharp as blades and her untamable red curls that always seemed to bounce in rhythm with her energy. Her pale skin was a canvas of freckles, scattered like constellations across her nose and cheeks. From that first meeting, the three of us had formed an inseparable trio. But Amyra and I had something deeper, something we could never name out loud. Something dangerous.We could never be caught. Her father would disown her, and I would be forced into exile, never to take the throne. But the tension from staying apart was more unbearable than the fear of losing everything. Ivy was the only one who knew what we were to each other, and it needed to stay that way.

Instead of talking, I shook my head. The words stuck to my tongue; I couldn’t get them out. “She… gone.” I choked out in a whisper.

“Gone? Like she left? Why would she schedule this meeting with you if she were traveling?” Ivy, Gods, I loved her, but I couldn’t take this.

“No.” I sniffled. “She didn’t wake up this morning. She…” The words wouldn’t come. I couldn’t admit it. Let me try a different way. “I have a new meeting this afternoon. With the Council. Father is going to tell them I am to take the throne.”

“Take the thr…” Ivy trailed off, finally understanding.

Amyra held me tighter, her arms strong and warm around me. “Oh Gods, Lyla, I’m so sorry.”

Both women started crying as well. Mother had always invited them to any social event she needed me to attend and had grown to know them over the years. She had become as much a mother to them as their own could be. Well, as much as the queen of a country could be.

Through sniffles, Amyra asked, “How did it happen?”

I could only shrug. “The physician didn’t know. There was a funny burn mark on her chest, right here,” I pointed to the spot on my own. “But it didn’t look like anything that was fatal. I don’t know.”

“And those rat bastards are calling a meeting now? Today? They couldn’t give you time to grieve the loss of your own family?” Ivy was seething as she realized this.

“Wait, are you going to be the queen?” Amyra asked. She pulled on my shoulders so she could face me.

I nod.

“What about the marriage law?” Amyra questioned, referringto the age-old tradition of always having a king and queen ruling over the kingdom. We have never had the throne held by one person before, except during these transition periods. This council was too focused on returning to the past to allow me to be the first. They might let Ethan, maybe, but they would sooner start a war than allow a queen to sit alone… let alone to sit with a second queen.

---