The Above

-Two-

 Her outrageous request buzzed through my head. Eralyn Lux, I want you to be the next Queen. "But I don't have any royal blood! I'm weak, and I'm no heir and—" I sputtered, but I paused before I could utter the statement that sat on my lips; I have no real power. I can't control the light you can. I am different—I am no fit for Queen.

 "Are you questioning my judgment?" she snapped, and I suddenly remembered who I was speaking to. "No, your majesty," I replied, though truly, I was. 

 "I understand your concern," —you don't—"But I believe you can bring the change we need." I can't. Surely she is lying; she doesn't know what she's asking, who she's asking. It all had to be a trick. She doesn't know that I cannot be lied to. And so, I did the only thing I knew to do, and used the only thing I had. My ability. My light. 

 I closed my eyes, and when I opened them, the woman in front of me had changed. On the corner of her cheek where the Royal's Mark sat had disappeared, skin replaced by bone, an area where her very body had decayed, eaten away by corruption and dishonesty. 

 "You are talented, Eralyn." Truth. "Justice rises with you, and so will our people." Truth. "With you, the prophecy will be fulfilled." The skin of her face began to decompose ever so slightly, revealing more of her exposed skull. Lie. 

 "You lied..." I whispered, just loud enough for my words to reach her ears. At the sound of my accusation her eyes widened in surprise, eyebrows furrowing before any trace of shock disappeared under her typical calm complexion. "No one has ever seen through a lie I've told. Who are you?" 

 "You relentlessly compliment me," I say, disregarding her inquiry, "Yet you do not believe I am of the prophecy. Is there something wrong with me, or is the supposed promise untrue?" She flinched at the latter half of my question, and I had my answer. 

 "The prophecy doesn't exist, does it," I asked, though it was more of a statement. "This entire time you've been feeding this nation false hope." 

 "Hope is what binds people together, it's what keeps people united!" 

 "Hope is what is keeping people wrapped around your finger! Hope is what will destroy everyone if there truly is none!" I shouted back, and the heat that emanated from her displayed her anger at my outburst, but I wouldn't stop. "You have fed this faction centuries of lies. What makes you think that I will rule in the same way? You said it yourself; I stand by the just." 

 "Eralyn, if you even utter a word about this, you know what will happen to you. The Eclipse is to arrive soon, and I do not wish to exile my only hope of an heir." 

 "Then exile me," I challenged, the words tumbling from my mouth before I could realize the regretful things I'd said. "Do not request something you will regret," she sneered in a far harsher tone. "You could not survive outside of this faction." 

 I had no snarky reply to present to her, instead grimacing at the fact that what she said was true; I wouldn't last a moment outside of the border. 

 "What would the Advisors think?" I eventually muttered, reluctant to speak at all, though the fire that burned inside of me could not be stomped down to mere embers. "The citizens? Those whose trust lies with you?"

 "The Advisors created the prophecy, not me. Should you announce your discovery to them, they will surely end you." That is when I shattered. The people I had admired all this time, those I had desired to be like, the very thing I had devoted my foolish life for was built on nothing but a lie. I was repulsed by each person—everyone I believed I could trust, everyone I thought was my friend had lied to me this whole time, and not even I could see through it.