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Elodie had never been a saint, but if her old self saw her now, she would surely be frightened. It had all started with her mother’s death, of course, and then the unceasing attempts to take her life or her hand in marriage.
But then at the ball she’d learned that her own aunt Lucille was plotting against her, concealing the true extent of her magical abilities. That was when Elodie decided that she was tired of being used.
She would never allow anyone to control her. Not the nobles, nor men, nor foreigners, nor the peasants.
She studied the arts of military strategy, magic, and intrigue to the exclusion of all else.
And when her father asked her what to do with Adair, the stepson of Arisse, Elodie said, “Send him to his grandfather. As his only blood relative, he should have custody.”
“As you wish,” her father had replied as usual; he couldn’t have suspected that Elodie gave the command knowing that it would put the boy in danger.
After all, Arisse was powerful and didn’t respect her. That was reason enough to get rid of her, and Elodie knew she would incite a rebellion to replace the “incompetent little princess.” Between spurning Banion’s affections, stripping Brin of her titles, and committing the crime of having a mother who’d died too young, Elodie was hated by most of the nobles, a hatred she returned tenfold. It was only a matter of time.
When her father informed her that Arisse had declared a civil war, it took all of Elodie’s composure to suppress her smirk.
She had recruited extra soldiers weeks before, of course, and between those preparations and the spells that scattered her enemies’ troops she won easily.
The true victory came when she executed all the nobles who had opposed her and banished their children so that the bureaucracy of their holdings reported directly to her. All of her remaining vassals would hate her, but it would be trumped by their fear. And with her spy network in place, none of them would get away with an assassination attempt again.
As a test, Elodie revealed Lucille’s Lumen status and used it to have her and Laurent executed. None rose to stand against Elodie, and she knew they wouldn’t dare to again.
Shanjia was relatively simple to deal with in comparison. Elodie had strengthened her navy, and when the enemy fleet arrived she led hers to victory.
She captured many Shanjian hostages. She pressed the soldiers into her military and executed the nobles. The only good noble was a dead noble. Elodie had learned that the hard way.
The other nations wouldn’t respond well to poor treatment of hostages, but Elodie already had plans to expand her military further and give the spare Lumen crystals she held to easily manipulable lieutenants. When she was ready, she would wage war until all her enemies were dead and Nova ruled the entire continent.
And if anyone dared to insist that she needed to get married, then their head would be next on the chopping block.
Coronation day came, and Elodie was declared Queen, but the applause sounded forced.
That was just the way Elodie preferred it.