Ever since her mother Arra was shot with a white arrow, Sharra had felt extreme contempt towards Benna and its people.

It happened when Sharra was only seven. Arra was completing her weekly visit to Northern Benna when a disgruntled Separationist aimed and shot her with a white arrow, right in the throat, as she stood on the steps of the Scarlet Palace. Fortunately, being the Incarnate of the Goddess Skyra came with the power of self healing.

After her throat healed, furious, Arra extended her wings and went after the man who seemingly had a death wish. Once she caught him, she grabbed him from his collar and dropped him in the Thalassian Sea where he was eaten by the serpent sea beast, Elyis. Two days later, The Dusting bombing happened and Arra closed the Benna borders.

***

Inside the carriage, as they traveled to Benna, Sharra didn’t hide her nervousness. She couldn't help but chew on her lower lip and tap her hands against her thighs. Emmar, on the other hand, was happy to be finally going home again, the first time in months. They were halfway through the Isle province of Araqu when Emmar told Sharra,

“You don’t have to be nervous.”

Sharra turned her head towards Emmar. “Nervousness is not a sign of weakness.”

Emmar sighed. “I didn’t say anything of the sort.”

Sharra turned her head back towards the window.

“Not everyone in Benna hates you, Sharra. Do you understand?”

“But some do.” Sharra mumbled back.

“No one is universally loved, my love…Not even I.”

Sharra closed her eyes and leaned her head against the window. Emmar did the same.

They rode in silence for the next twelve minutes.

As they did, Emmar thought about her father Jode, her horse Fiera, and mother Pille.

The last time she saw her mother they argued about whether she should get involved with the Separationists. Unlike Jode, Pille felt sympathy for Queen Sharra. That child has an absent mother and a father who is drunk. I pity her. She told Emmar once.

As the carriage grew closer to Benna, the silence was starting to annoy Emmar.

She opened her eyes and looked over to Sharra, who was already staring at her.

“It’s cold.” Emmar shuddered. “Maybe, I should have worn sleeves.”

Sharra slowly checked out Emmar from head to toe, admiring the teal colored strapless mermaid dress she was wearing. The entire dress was pearl beaded and came with a thigh-high leg slit.

“You look amazing.” Sharra whispered.

A small smile formed on Emmar’s face. “You don’t look so bad yourself, darling. The dress fits you well.”

Unlike Emmar, Sharra was wearing a high neck, long sleeve cream colored gown made of satin. Emmar loved the way the dress hugged Sharra’s curves and the softness of the material. She leaned over, and closed most of the gap between the two, their lips only mere inches apart.

“But I like it better when it’s off.” Emmar whispered close to Sharra’s lips.

Sharra closed the gap and placed a soft kiss on Emmar’s lips.

When she pulled back, both women couldn’t contain their grins.

“When we get to Benna, will we stay in the East wing?” Emmar asked.

Sharra leaned back in her seat. “Annalae is living there.”

“But the East wing is much bigger?” Emmar responded. “And you’re the Queen.”

Sharra sighed. “It’s not that much bigger, Emmar.”

Emmar folded her arms across her chest and started to pout.

“And there's no need to move Princess Annalae when we don’t even know how long we’re going to be.” Sharra continued.

“Fine.” Emmar huffed.

Sharra leaned forward and began toying with a loose strand of Emmar’s hair that fell from her ponytail. “Do you want me to heat you up?”

Emmar nodded.

Sharra released the strand she was holding and grabbed Emmar’s left shoulder. Steam slowly appeared underneath her hand. Eight seconds. That’s all it took to warm her up.

“How do you feel now?”

“Perfect.” She whispered.

***

As Benna grew even closer, Emmar couldn’t help but think about what lies next for her. Ever since her new appointment as Pariesa of the Isle, most of her time has been spent in Thalassia with the Queen. Her mission was to get closer to her, persuade her, use her ‘god given gifts.’ But she didn’t expect to fall in love with her. Fall in love with her laugh. Her icy eyes. Her competitiveness when they played icebase, an Isle game resembling baseball, but on ice, and with icicles and ice balls.

But at the end of the day, she was still the Ascended Incarnate of the Goddess Desire, And the piece of Desire who lived inside her… still wanted her throne back. And she couldn’t ignore her.

Stolen novel; please report.

“We should talk about the vote.” Emmar whispered, low enough for only Sharra to hear.

“Emmar.” Sharra groaned. “Why must you do this? I can’t deal with this now.”

Emmar raised her eyebrows. “Have you already decided?”

Sharra turned her entire body away from Emmar.

“Yes.” She mumbled.

Emmar placed a hand on Sharra’s left thigh. “And?”

“Of course I’m not voting against the Desert.”

“Sharra.” Emmar sighed. “Decimation crimes are the most serious allegations.”

Emmar couldn’t see, but Sharra rolled her eyes. “Why would Jaho kill his own citizens? Tell me, Emmar.”

“Why did his grandfather suddenly start a war?” Emmar countered immediately. “It’s in their blood.”

Sharra turned her face back towards Emmar. “And what’s in my blood then?”

Emmar shook her head. “Sharra, stop. We are not talking about you.”

“No, Emmar. You have to stop. The Isle and the Desert have been allies since forever.”

“We can’t think of the past, Sharra.” Emmar shouted.

Sharra rolled her eyes. “Enough! I’m not blind, Emmar.”

Emmar folded her arms across her chest.

Sharra started laughing.

“What’s funny?”

“You know exactly what’s the problem with my vote.” Sharra answered. “Yet, you pretend to not know the implications.”

“Sha—”

Sharra raised her hand. “No. Let me finish.”

Emmar sucked her teeth and lowered her gaze.

“Voting for the Reclaimants gives the Separationists an advantage…and you know this.” She continued. “They would never back down.”

“And that would be a problem.” Emmar mumbled.

Sharra’s eyes widened. “What did you say?”

Emmar raised her head. “You heard what I said.”

Sharra aggressively grabbed Emmar’s cheek. “Do you want to rule Emmar? Do you want your throne in Benna? Just tell me now while we’re headed there.”

Emmar just stared at her.

“I’ve let a lot slide. So for one, just tell me what you want?”

Emmar dropped her chin.

“How about you tell me?” She whispered back.

Sharra dropped her hand. “Tell you what?”

“Why have you chosen me? Why am I here?” Emmar rushed out. “Your mother hated my father. Your grandmother hated my grandmother. What makes us different, exactly?”

Sharra turned her head away. This wasn’t the first time they had this conversation.

“I mean….you have Liana obviously.” Emmar continued.

“Emmar!” Sharra groaned.

“And you and Tyran are clearly closer than you say so.”

Sharra whipped her head back in the direction of Emmar. “Are you mad?”

“Maybe I am.”

The two just stared at each other for a long moment until Sharra tilted her head and said, “Okay.”

Emmar’s eyes slowly narrowed. “Okay?”

Sharra nodded. “Let’s talk hypotheticals.”

“Hypotheticals?”

“Let’s say I abstain from the vote.” Sharra said. “And I let you vote against the Desert.”

Emmar’s eyes immediately widened. As part of her swearing in as Pariesa of the Isle, her vote belonged to the Queen.

“But in order to have that privilege…..you would have to do something for me.” Sharra added.

“What, exactly?”

“Kill my cousin’s murderer.” Sharra answered. “In front of the Scarlet Palace where everyone would see.”

Emmar’s jaw dropped.

“I can’t do that.” Emmar objected quickly. “I’m not a murderer.”

Sharra shrugged her shoulders. “Well…I can’t approve that vote.”

Emmar slowly shook her head. “You are unbelievable.”

Sharra waved her off. “And it’s pointless anyway.”

“What do you mean?”

“There is no point in voting yes.” Sharra answered. “The Reclaimants need nine votes. Where would they get nine votes from? You think the other crowns will vote against the Desert?”

“There’s also the others.” Emmar responded quickly.

“The walkers, dowers, and shifters?”

Emmar nodded. “You never know.”

Sharra cocked her head to the side. “What are you saying? Have you seen their desires?”

Emmar shook her head quickly. “I’m just saying…you never know.”

Sharra groaned. “Emmarrrrr…..if there’s something you aren’t telling me….”

Emmar quickly reached over and grabbed Sharra’s hand.

“I don’t know anything.” She said softly. “But if the Desert King is deliberately his people, we can’t let that happen…And if you are serious about changing how people perceive you, then….”

Sharra quickly removed her hand from Emmar’s hand. “Then what? Destroy my alliance with the Desert?”

“You side with the people and you’ll create a new one.”

Sharra shook her head. “Emmar, he is the Incarnate of the God Sfin. Him and his father managed to kill three Incarnates.”

Emmar quickly raised two fingers. “No, he killed two. We don’t know what happened to the Incarnate of Hunu.”

Sharra huffed. “Okay, fine. Two. He killed two. You still need nine votes. You would need all of the dowers, shifters, and dawnwalkers.”

Emmar pointed at herself. “Me?”

Sharra rolled her eyes. “You know what I mean, Emmar….If the Reclaimants were serious, they would talk to someone like Mesyla or Kyran. The Desert did kill Mesyla’s grandmother after all.”

Emmar turned her head away. “Impossible. Mesyla loves that arid prince.”

“Why are you even thinking about this, Emmar? This is not our concern. We can’t afford war.” Sharra continued.

“Because it would be the right thing to do, Sharra.” Emmar answered. “And if you side with the people, maybe the Separationists would back off. They’ll see you are not a monster.”

Sharra frowned. “Now, you are saying I should try to make the Separationists like me instead of giving in and giving them Benna.”

Emmar quickly turned her head back towards Sharra. “I never said you should give them Benna.”

Sharra barked out a laugh. “Well, you kind of alluded to it multiple times.”

“So why haven’t I been sentenced for treason? She asked, then slowly bit her lip.

Sharra's eyes darted between Emmar’s lips and eyes. “Well it seems that I happen to like looking at your pretty face.”

Emmar grinned.

“But pretty faces can only get one so far.” Sharra added, voice low.

But Emmar wasn’t fazed. This was their foreplay. She leaned over towards Sharra and brushed her lips against hers. “And how far will my face get me, Your Majesty?”

But before Sharra could answer, loud shouting could be heard coming from the outside.

They had arrived in Benna.