“You don’t know how much I wish there was another way,” Almira said
with great honesty. “I know how you strain against this. It’s your greatest
battle. But even when you swore yourself to me, we knew the outcome
would be the same.”
“I don’t… I don’t know how to be a lady,” Hira admitted sheepishly.
Almira smiled a little. “I didn’t know how to be a queen.”
A ridiculous statement, for one so fully qualified. Almira didn’t see how
she spoke and how she operated, how she bore the weight of the crown with
such ease and assuredness. Not even the king could compare to the manner
her in the ways she faced her duties without fear.
“You were born to be a queen. Uncle Beltran, may the veils protect his
soul, taught you from a young age,” Hira said.
Almira looked down. She still deeply mourned her father, though she
didn’t express it often. He guided all her movements.
“Aye, he did.” Almira looked back at her fiercely. “But you and I? We’re
the same. We’re sea dragons, born from the same ocean pool. Father
couldn’t have lived forever and one day you had to take up this banner and
lead. Bach’s death cemented that. I know you’ve been prolonging your
departure, but your mother ails, and our country is vulnerable.” She
tightened the hold on Hira’s hands. “This is not about you, Hira. This is
about our people; they need a leader. These sailors? They’re yours.”
She studied Almira’s brown hand, soft and cared for. She was beloved in
Easima. Almira smiled a little and touched Hira’s cheek, traveling her
fingers over the scar that crossed her face. Hira flinched.
“Along with that, you marry when you wish and who you wish. I won’t
drive you to such miseries,” Almira finally said.
Instant, tentative relief filled Hira, and she smiled brightly at her cousin.
“Truly?”
“Truly.” The queen