The Lost Story

Chapter 9

I don’t know how long we danced, but it felt nice. He distracted me from the eyes and judgment I was feeling. Even though Zyarni put our people in their place, it did nothing for those who were from other nations. I could see the judgmental eyes and hear the mocking whispers. It was like the speech had the opposite effect. “Hey, you want to take a break?” Durare asks, spinning me once more. I nodded gratefully, knowing he was only trying to take me away from the harsh words. “Thank you for the dance,” he says, bowing to me, “thank you,” I reply, following his example. “Shall we?” he says, extending his hand out to lead me. I nod, following him off the floor. He led me to the patio, grabbing two glasses from a waiter as we headed out. “Don’t worry about them. Soon, everyone in this building will be bowing at your feet,” he says. “Yeah, I highly doubt that,” I say, taking the glass of water from his hand as the cold, fresh air hits my face. “It’s the truth,” he says, chuckling. “It seems you know a lot of truths,” I say, smirking at him. “It’s a gift,” he chuckled. I rolled my eyes and just looked to the sky. “Well, I hope you're wrong,” I say, dreading the idea of being forced into a higher position. “I am never wrong. You will be greater than you are now. You will be a blazing light,” he says now, very serious. “Oh, and how is it you know all of these things?” I asked with a chuckle, trying to lighten the mood that had weirdly become serious. I don’t know if he could read my mood, but his playful smile was once again on his face. “A friend told me,” he says, winking at me. “Let me guess, this friend spoke about me,” I say, rolling my eyes. “Why are you interested in what he had to say??” looking down on me. “No, not really. That is, unless he can give me my heart's desire,” I replied. “Hm, your heart's desire. I don’t know about that, but I can tell you something he said regarding you,” he says, stepping closer to me. He was close, “What's that?” I say, taking a step away from him. “When it’s all said and done, you will be freed,” he says. “What? What do you mean by that?” Was he serious? Did this friend know how I could be freed from this? No, he is just talking. I can never be free. “Don’t worry, my friend is never wrong. One day, I will introduce you to him. Honestly, you will love him,” he says, rubbing the top of my head.

“You are just in time! I was just telling our King Phalis about you too,” Anok says, as Durare escorted me back into the hall. I bowed my head to Anok, looking between him and the new person. Anok had his arm wrapped around a handsome man's neck. The man smiled at me before introducing himself to Durare and me. “I hear we missed all the fun,” King Phalis says, looking between the two of us. Before we could respond, I heard Sanxi and Mavis's voices. “Oh, here she is,” they said in unison. I watched as they led a woman who was flanked by at least six strong-looking guards. “Let me present to you Renata, the current Reina of our domain,” Sanxi says, extending her arms out to me. The moment the woman locked eyes with me, she froze. She grabbed at her chest before hitting the ground. The guards immediately went into action. I felt Durare's arms around me as one of the guards was about to attack me. “What did you do?” someone screamed, and before I knew it, I was being surrounded. “I didn’t do anything,” I cried as Durare began to move me around protectively. “How dare you!” someone screamed. “Kill her!” another screamed. “See, she is not fit to be Reina. First, she caused our beloved Aela to be assaulted, and now she assaults Antistita,” I hear one of the candidates say. “Hey, everyone, calm down. She didn’t do anything.” I see Danzi come toward me. “Kill her!” people began to scream and chant, before I saw things begin to fly in my direction. Between Durare and Danzi, I did not get hit, I was now terrified. It was the two of them against so many people. “Stop!” the voice of the woman whom I knew now was the Antistita screamed. I watched as everyone froze, and it was like a wave of power swept through the room. “Step aside,” she commanded to the crowd, and they parted. “Antistita, don’t get too close. She is unstable. She had her friend assault and try to kill the Aela of this domain,” someone called out. “Don’t get too close,” another called out. More and more people began to say similar statements. The woman walked toward me, ignoring everyone. “Step aside,” she says to Danzi and Durare. Danzi stepped away from me without hesitation, while Durare just stared at the woman. “Did you not hear what she said?” one of the guards said, stepping to Durare. He c****d his head to the side. “I will protect my queen,” he said, his eyes going cold. The woman looked him up and down before smiling. "It appears that you were already aware of her identity.” “She is my queen,” he says, locking eyes with her. I watched as the crowd around us, along with her guards, grew angrier by the second. “May I speak to your queen?” the woman asks, giggling at Durare. “Renata, would you like to speak to this woman?” he replies. With that one statement, roars and screams filled the room. They were screaming for both of our heads at this point. The weird thing about the situation is that neither Durare nor the woman even acknowledged the chaos. Here I was, in tears, trying to find a way to run for my life, and here these two were, standing in front of me, having a staring contest. “Yes, yes, it’s okay, Durare, please,” I said, grabbing his arm. He smiled and finally stepped behind me. “Hello, Renata, was it? My name is Estia; it’s a pleasure to meet you,” she says, extending her hand to me. “Uh, um, it’s nice to meet you,” I reply, taking her hand. The moment our hands locked, her eyes went completely white. “Get her!” someone screamed, causing me to panic. Estia wouldn’t let go of my hand, and the guards were now trying to reach me again. “I finally found you,” Estia says, wrapping her arms around me. “Antistita, could you explain what is going on?” a voice says, breaking through Estia's excitement. “I have finally found our next high priestess. Renata will be taking my place as Antistita,” she responds with enthusiasm. The entire room fell silent. Wait what did she say? “I’m sorry, what did you say?” I asked, now completely confused. “You, daughter of man, destiny has chosen you as my equal”, she says, leaving me even more puzzled. I cant breathe. “Are you sure?” Sanxi asks in an uncertain voice. “Sanxi, you saw her as Reina; I have seen her as Antistita.” This can't be happening! No, not again! Not again. I looked around the room, waiting for the joke. “So, our Reina will be the next Antistia?” Jiryis says with a crazy look in his eyes. “No, not will be. As of this moment, I am acknowledging Renata as Antistita of the seven domains.” Estia says, bowing her head to me. Before I knew it, the entire room was bowing to me. I can’t breathe! I can’t breathe! “Hey, you're okay. Calm down.” I hear before everything goes black.