lucena position (3)

[bossymarmalade]

“Where,” Komand’r snarls, punctuating each one with a snap of her teeth, “Is. She?”

The Citadelian glances up at her from his position below the throne. He is not particularly fearful, Komand’r knows, but she doesn’t need him to fear her, not just yet. ”She has not appeared in any of my quadrants, nor those of my soldiers. In fact, we haven’t seen her for days.”

Komand’r clacks her teeth again, looking out a nearby window at the wide expanse of Vegan space before her. ”She would not go far,” she murmurs, tapping her chin. ”Not from our people.”

“Ours?” the Citadelian sneers.

The queen snaps her fingers once, and instantly Queensguard are hauling him back to his feet and forcing him out of the room. Komand’r stands, once he is gone, letting the sleek gown fall from her broad shoulders.



"My armor," she commands of a nearby handmaiden.

Only a few moments later, she is out in the barracks, surveying her people, their weapons, their living spaces. As much as her sister is loathe to admit it, Komand’r is a good queen. Her people have survived disaster after disaster under her care, all stemming from the initial weakness of their father, and yet Koriand’r still refuted her right to reign. It would keep Komand’r awake at night if only the queen actually cared what her sister thought.

But the bridges there, and the love, were burnt to ashes and scattered to the wind, and Komand’r’s temporary treaty with Rann had kept her younger sister at bay for the longest peaceful time in Tamaran’s recent history. It was by no means an impressive record, but it was one nonetheless.

And watching her now, running fingertips across blades and looking down the scopes of long-range blasters, it was evident just how badly Komand’r needed this war to be won. They could no longer live on a planet that was not in the Vega System. They could no longer share land with a people that had not wanted them in the first place.

What they were fighting to get to their end goal, however, was a secret Komand’r did not fully disclose to her people. She did not tell them of the rumors among generals about spirits taking over warriors and sending them into throes of madness. The Okaarans thought it was the spirit of battle responding to a true call from all the Vegan planets. The Branx thought it was rogue Angels of Mercy, separated from their bodies and out for vengeance. The Karnans seemed to believe it was evil spirits from up in the mountains, come down to feast on the living.

Komand’r would stare at them during these weak attempts at negotiation, their alien faces all blurred and pixeled by comm tech, and would think how incredibly stupid other species were.

She did not buy into superstition. The queen had seen gods and goddesses alike, and all manner of galactic beings, but she did not believe what was happening out on those battle fields was anything to do with blood rituals or hocus pocus.

«—can’t find out where she is—» The warm voice, cracked dry with heat and exhaustion, had coughed through the nearby comm a few hours earlier. Komand’r had been listening to the messages the young woman was sending to her homeworld—her other homeworld—for days. She did not fear her sister’s friends, not this far out in space, but it made for good dinnertime listening.

She had regarded the woman’s pixelated face longer than usual today. Round cheeks, upturned nose, the thick upper lip—she did resemble Koriand’r in many ways. But the shape of her eyes and the darkness of her hair were foreign to Komand’r. An abomination. The claim she had made to Ryand’r—ahh, little Ryan, too stupid to check his ship for monitor feeds—could not be, was not real. But that was of no consequence to Komand’r, not when that portion of her plan was exceeding wonderfully.

Still, she had thought, listening to the girl explain to colleagues star systems away what was happening, her points were valid. They were the same issues that plagued Komand’r at night. What was this black filth infecting soldiers from both sides? What were the real stakes of this war?

And most importantly, Komand’r agreed, listening to the woman—

«—and no one’s seen her for days, which is really, really strange for this region, she’s always around, just floating and watching—»

Where was the goddess X’Hal?