**Honor and Gold—J.T. Peterson**
When Ember came to, she was lying on a bed, and the crown princess sat beside her, gazing out of space.
"You've come to," the woman said, startling Ember who had been quite sure that her attention had been elsewhere.
She scrambled up, tugging the comforter of the bed higher to cover herself. She noticed that her dress had been changed and she looked noticeably cleaner.
The ash, dirt and grime that stuck on her from the events of the night were nowhere to be found…
Almost like they never happened. But the ache in her heart betrayed that it did in fact happen.
"Your highness," she said with a bow.
"You seem like a smart girl." She commented disregarding her greeting yet again, "I almost mistook your earlier silence when the knight of debt was present as foolishness that was until I noticed how your eyes seemed to roam about occasionally."
Ember maintained the bow, not daring to look up. Even though it was still dark out, she could tell that it was already morning. In some minutes, or an hour at most, the sun will begin to set.
"You do not talk because you prefer to silently observe and take note of people. It's an applaudable trait in this wolf eat man world."
Ember dared not say anything. What was there to say? She simply kept her head bent as memories of the girl lying on the bed assaulted her.
Surely she had been delirious and was seeing things? Of course she had been delirious. After all, imagining her double was a stress coping mechanism.
"She was my daughter." The crown princess spoke, shattering the illusion that Ember built.
The sadness in her voice was achingly profound, and something told Ember that just like her, the crown princess had suffered a violent loss. Yet she found it hard to reconcile herself with that dreadful fact.
"W…who?" She stuttered, pretending ignorance.
The crown princess stared at her with tired blue eyes, and for the first time that night, her youth showed as opposed to the hard expression she donned on earlier.
"The double that you beheld before you passed out." She answered matter-of-factly.
Ember stiffened.
"Is…is she dead?" She asked out of all the questions that rioted within her.
"She is. And as a mother, I failed her horribly." She said, her voice finishing with a crack.
Ember didn't know the crown princess, but she felt like the woman was not the kind to show a hint of vulnerability… especially not to a stranger. Not even if the world was burning.
And yet, Ember was glimpsing a very raw and visceral part of her.
She blinked, unsure of what to say. Then she loosened her grip on the comforter.
"I…I don't think you failed her," she stuttered, heart beating wildly in her chest. Because if there was anything her young self was sure of, then it would be the fact that her own mother would never look at her as tenderly as the crown princess did her lifeless daughter's corpse.
Ember was sure that her own mother would never feel such profound sadness at her passing as the woman before her felt.
The crown princess didn't respond. Her gaze had turned to the far-off wall, where a single torch crackled softly, casting shadows that danced like memories. Ember studied the woman quietly; it was clear that she was grieving, and yet, it seemed even the world was not kind enough to allow her time to properly grieve.
"Could you…." She began hesitantly, "I mean, is there a way we could be related?"
It was a foolish question, and she confirmed the same while still gazing at the torch.
"I believe you should know better that while some would like to preach that witches and humans are of the same make, possessing the Velth is a trait that we can't overcome."
Ember shrunk deeper into the bed. She knew that was true—the crown princess was true born human royalty. Originally from the Seamen and marrying into the Huntsmen, her lineage was nothing short of impeccable. So how had this come to be….
Ember's features, while uncommon, had never closely resembled her mothers. But at least she inherited the same hair color and make. The same couldn't be said for the crown princess. From a distance, any resemblance to Ember and by implication the deceased princess, could be easily dismissed.
The woman had silver white hair. Kind of greyish, but not entirely. However up close, Ember could swear that they had the same ear and eye shape.
"Do not wrack your brain anymore than you've done. Elara is truly my daughter. I carried her for nine months and I'm quite sure of that. She however unfortunately inherited her father's hair. And before you think any more than you've done, I assure you that the 'affairs' of my husband could never have reached the territory of the Azure Witches at the time frame you were born. He was rather occupied by… a rather interesting person. Far more interesting than your mother."
Her last words held no real bitterness…but it was tinged with what suspiciously sounded like deep-seated hatred. Then she sighed softly, the sound more vulnerable than anything she'd said so far.
"You must have had quite the night in the wake of what happened to your coven." She commented, although it was clear that she expected no answer. Ember's tongue felt heavy, and her mind swarm in circles, drowning in fragments of a terrible tragedy she didn't know how to piece together.
"You remind me of her," she murmured, not looking Ember's way. "Not just in the face. But the way you hold your silence like it's a weapon. The way you look like you're on the verge of running, yet too proud to take a single step back. My Elara was like that too—doomed to fail but always holding onto a chance to live."
Ember didn't respond. She wasn't even sure of what to say—not when it felt like the time to decide on her fate had come. Her fingers tightened against the edge of the blanket, unsure if the words comforted her or made her skin crawl.
"I didn't mean to—" she began, a weak attempt at defending herself, though she wasn't entirely sure from what.
"You didn't choose your face. And you didn't choose to walk through my door looking like a storm I buried moments ago." The crown princess's words came slow, deliberate. "But you did choose to trust me."
"And for that," Serpentine continued, dragging in a breath that sounded too weary for someone her age, "I suppose I owe you something. I've thought long and hard about it when you were passed out and I've arrived at a decision.
Ember looked up, heart stuttering in her chest. The weight of the woman's stare was back, more contemplative than cold this time.
"I can grant you protection. Shelter. I shall raise you like my own and bring you into a position where your status as an Echo Witch will never matter again. And to do that, you must become Elara."
"…"
"What?"
But the crown princess shared none of her shock for she continued forward without stopping.
"Should you agree, then the story of Elara Thorne will be rewritten. They will say tonight, Elara met a miracle physician who cured her poisoning of ten years. They will look at you and see that it's indeed true. They will have no reason to doubt it because you're after all princess Elara Thorne."
"Yo…your highness?" Ember gasped, unable to keep up. It was quite obvious the woman was in pain over her daughter's death, so where did she get the courage to suggest such an atrocity.
The woman rested tear soaked eyes on her that managed to hold a profound sternness.
"When you were asleep you kept on muttering a name… Freya. Who is she to you?"
Ember clenched the comforter anew. "My little sister…" she gritted, "she was just born today. And now she is dead."
The woman smiled then leaned before Ember. "As an Echo Witch, I imagine that you haven't led an easy life in your coven so I wouldn't dare suggest that you might want to avenge their death. But what of Freya? Should you have the chance to get back at who killed her, would you take the chance?"
"Yes." Ember answered without hesitation. It wasn't just love for her little sister that drove her, it was appulsion at what they did to a day old baby.
"Same as I," the crown princess continued, eyes glittering with hate, "should I lay my hands on who did this to my Elara, I will never let go. But you must understand that more often than not, the price of revenge is power. And I am offering you the chance to live as the princess of a kingdom."
Power, wasn't that Ember had yearned for all her life?
The idea was as outrageous as it was audacious. Yet the idea of living as something more than an Echo Witch slithered to her heart.
Yet when she had come to, the crown princess, running away from the bleak fate that awaited her back home, she had never expected to be propositioned as a princess. She had even though living as a servant was fine as well. Yet….
"Even if I should offer you my protection by making you a servant or my handmaiden, don't you imagine people will begin to whisper at how much you look like her?" The crown princess said as if reading her mind, "in that case, wouldn't it be better to step in her shoes?"
There was logic in what she said, but she found she was unable to respond to that.
"You do not need to answer now. But I must make you understand that this is not a decision that has come easily. Whatever doubt you've, I can promise you at the very least that as Princess Elara Thorne, you will have the full protection I was never able to give her."
Then she turned to leave. But Ember, whose heart was racing fast, scrambled for her thoughts which were all over the place.
"Wait!" She said to the woman, breathing hard like she had just run a marathon. "Can I ask some questions first?" She finished meekly.