Archive of Our Own ^beta

"Your Majesty?"

Even from behind the large doors of the Queen's Chambers, Vermilion's voice was recognizable to the now Queen of the Sky Kingdom.

"A moment." Ruby was pacing up and down the large room, her eyes scanning the interior frantically.

The bedroom was in complete disarray.

Pillows were strewn all over the floor, her cabinets ajar and some of her stands overturned.

On the opposite half, her son Cliff's side of the room was still neat and organized.

She didn't mind cleaning up after him.

Today was going to be an incredibly important day, and she was starting off beyond poorly.

She couldn't find her crown. She'd had it last night, but now it was suddenly gone.

Thin rays of sunlight snaked through their window to outside. Early morning.

She was running out of time.

Where in all of the moons is it?

Cliff, her son, was standing by the door, rocking and humming to himself.

"Cliff, dear, come here?" Ruby said, masking her light frustration. That was easy with Cliff.

He spread his wings and flew over to her. The wind from his flapping beat at her face temporarily.

She could've scolded him for flying inside, but she was too proud of how good he'd gotten at it.

"I's not a dear, mommy! I's a dragon!" Cliff said, as Ruby caught him in her talons and gently set him down.

"Of course, moonbeam. Have you seen where my crown is?"

"It's been stole?" Cliff looked surprised.

"Well,n-"

"SOME MEANIE STOLE MOMMY'S CROWN!"

The doors opened. Vermilion stood in the doorway, looking into the room with a tilted head. Behind him, one of her personal guards.

"What's happening in here?" Vermilion asked.

"Uncle Vermi! Dids you see mommy's crown?"

Vermilion's eyes rested on Cliff. "Prince Cliff, you don't need to-"

"No! Today, I's Detective Cliff! I's gonna find Mommy's crown and the thiefs who stealed it!"

Vermilion simply smiled. It seemed like no one could be mad when Cliff was there.

"I'll finds the crown, mommy!" Cliff said, before spreading his wings and flying through the doorway. They all had to duck to let him pass.

Ruby chuckled at that.

"Guard. Can you watch Cliff for just a few minutes?" She asked.

"Of course, Your Majesty." He had to swivel around and start jogging to catch up with the speeding young prince, leaving her with her brother.

"Do you need help?" Vermilion asked.

"No. I will be out in a few minutes," she said. "I'll see you soon."

"Alright." Vermilion said before she heard him leaving, which gave her time to search.

Where could it possibly be?

Going back to her bed, she grabbed the bed sheets and threw them aside.

There was a clattering sound by her feet. Looking down, the crown had landed by her talons.

It was in her sheets.

Seriously? I checked that spot eight times.

Quickly, she grabbed it off the ground and put it on her head.

Now she could get to what she needed to do.

Checking herself in the mirror before she left, she took a deep breath and turned to leave. She'd need to fix her room later, because she had something far more important to do today.

Today was the day she was to speak to her kingdom as a queen. Ruby closed the doors behind her as she stepped out of the room.

Scarlet's former room.

The past week had been a nearly unrecognizable blur for her. Ever since the fight, she'd keep going back to it in her mind, sometimes in her dreams, sometimes when she was awake.

She could still remember every detail about the fight, like she'd just fought it.

The feeling of the rain on her scales.

The tightness in her stomach, and the taste of venison from two hours before.

The cold mud on her talons.

The fury in her mother's expression as they came to blows under the dark and stormy sky.

The horrified faces of the dragons who'd put their trust in her only for her to start losing. The terror on her own son's face.

She had to stop and take a few breaths. This was a horrific line of thought to have on what was supposed to be a landmark day.

Stop thinking so negatively, she told herself.

Sighing, she returned to going through the jewel-studded halls of Scarlet's Palace, regal and wasteful as they'd always been. Her traveling through the halls took no longer than two minutes. The palace itself was empty this early in the morning, as everyone was surely either still asleep or outside waiting on her.

As she continued on her path through the always glaring passageways, she caught the sight of two of her brothers, Hawk, and Vermilion again, who were standing by the exit to the balcony where Scarlet used to address the crowds before her infamous arena fights.

They were waiting for her.

Curious.

As she approached them, she couldn't help but notice that a suit of golden chainmail was in Hawk's talons.

It wasn't hard to figure out whose it was.

"Your Majesty," Vermilion said, bowing. "We have this for you."

"Scarlet was unable to retrieve her personal armor on the day she was...no longer able to keep a consistent presence," Hawk said. "We have had it refitted for you if you wish to look imposing."

She appreciated the gesture. But the SkyWings didn't need an imposing queen.

"I don't want to look imposing," She said. "I want to look like a good queen. I want to look like their queen."

Her brothers traded surprised glances.

"As you wish, Your Majesty." Hawk said.

Your Majesty. Even in private, they'd kept the honorifics.

She could understand why they did that.

She touched the necklace resting on the base of her neck, the one that maintained her form as Ruby.

Maybe someday she'd need to take it off, although she couldn't think of the circumstances that would drive her to do that. Her son wouldn't recognize her (and when that first happened, was one of the most painful moments of her life). Her queenship might be considered illegitimate.

Perhaps one day, it'd save her life, however.

They'd covered up what happened the day of the duel. Fortunately for her, only the most important SkyWings were there, which meant no unnecessary complications.

Except for those with her brothers, it seemed, who didn't know how they should refer to her.

"Unless we're in public, I'm just Ruby." She said.

"Ah...alright…Ruby." Hawk said as he gave a sidelong glance to Vermilion.

"Is everything ready?" Ruby asked.

"Yes. Vermilion will address the crowd in a few minutes." Hawk said as Vermilion left carrying the coat of chainmail, presumably to put it back where it was.

"How is the security?"

"They're in their positions. Nothing will be able to harm you."

"Good," Ruby said, as a twinge of nervousness crept into her stomach.

In a few minutes she would be giving a speech, one she'd made herself. She'd learned some speechwriting after hours upon hours of research into the scrolls in the palace.

Her mother used to hold a tightly clenched talon in the court, but she couldn't be everywhere.

She could thank old Kidney Breath- no, Osprey, that was his name- for that. He'd showed her where the reading material was.

She'd finally remembered his name after her mother killed him.

His loss would not be in vain.

The click of claws on jewel-laden flooring echoed down the halls of the palace. Vermilion was already coming back.

As he entered their hall once again, Vermilion gave a nod to Hawk.

"They've gathered outside. I could see them from the windows." He said.

"Then it's time," Hawk replied, as Vermilion walked right past them and passed through the doors to outside.

This was it.

As she stood just out of sight of her kingdom, about to do one of the most important things in her life, she couldn't help but feel the nerves getting worse.

"Attention SkyWings! The Queen will now speak to you!"

Vermilion's voice echoed down the hall, through her very soul. As she approached the sunlit door to the outside, she had to fight the urge to just stop.

They've already called you up. It's the point of no return, she thought to herself.

Reaching the doorway, she had to squint and look away from the glare to let her eyes adjust.

Vermilion's silhouette had stepped to the side, allowing her to come forward.

The apprehension in her stomach reached its peak. She exhaled, the shakes threatened to freeze her solid, but she knew she couldn't just stand here.

You can do this, Ruby.

Today, everything changes for the better.

And with that, she stepped into the light.

It was a nice morning.

Sunlight poured down onto the balcony where she stood, the sun itself just straight ahead of her. Vermilion stood off on her right side, standing further back so not as to appear larger than her.

She chose the time of day deliberately.

Despite her mother being who she was, she did understand the value of appearances and symbolism.

Underneath, the SkyWing arena stretched out before her eyes, crowded unlike it ever had before. A sea of dragons in various shades of orange, red, gold, perhaps even a few pink, sat in the seats. They were all so numerous she wondered how they managed to fit.

Just below her, the arena proper was also chock full of standing SkyWings, so many she could barely see the ground underneath. A constant murmur echoed up the oval-shaped arena, designed once to carry Scarlet's voice, now to carry the voices of all.

Ruby sucked in her breath as the murmuring crowd went quiet, and the gazes of what might be thousands laid upon her.

This was far, far more intimidating than she'd feared.

So many heads were in her direction.

Countless eyes. What were they thinking right now?

Were any of them still loyal to Scarlet, planning to kill her somehow?

Were they concerned, convinced that she was going to be a weak queen, an unworthy queen?

That she would lead them to ruin, to devastation, just like her mother?

Worst possible things to think about, Ruby.

She took a deep breath.

You can do this, she told herself.

Today, I will no longer be the mold of the dragon before me.

Today, I'll show them I am worthy.

Today, Ruby will earn the name of Queen of the SkyWings.

And after a few moments, she let the words flow like running clouds.

"Fellow SkyWings. It has been a week since I issued the challenge to my mother. It has been a week since her demise."

She paused. The crowd was silent, but her heart made noise of its own as it thumped in her chest.

She took another deep breath, shakier than she'd expected, to steady her nerves.

Keep going. You can do this.

"In her wake, she left chaos, destruction, and fear. Her presence was a great storm on Pyrrhia, striking where it hovered and clouding our skies."

She raised a quivering talon to the rising sun. Fortunately, they wouldn't see her adrenaline-filled shaking, nor would they see how the beams were in her face. Certainly unpleasant, but she could stand it to make a point.

"But like any great storm, it eventually passes, and the sunlight always returns."

Some heads turned to the sun shining just beyond the crowd, before turning back around to her.

"I stand before you today to say that the storm has passed."

"Starting today, that sun dawns on a new era in the Sky Kingdom. The great war has touched us all in its own way, and we all have felt the pain of loss. But unified, we can now breathe deep and say 'No more.'

"Now, our efforts must turn to recovery. We must rebuild, and as SkyWings, we will take charge in this endeavor and show Pyrrhia the meaning of SkyWing honor and culture once again. We will show them what being a SkyWing truly means. No more will we be known as killers, marauders, pillagers. We shall return to our roots, our callings as artists, creators, performers, and defenders."

"The arena you stand in now will throw off its legacy of fear and bloodshed and become a place of healing, of forgiveness and second chances. The same building used to destroy life and stifle hope will be reformed. Out of yesterday's seeds of death sown in these sands, flowers of tomorrow shall grow."

A wave of sheer euphoria crashed over her. She'd never felt more...excited in her life.

I'm doing it. I'm actually doing this.

"The journey we will undertake will not be easy. We will all have our difficulties in the coming years. But we can now look back and see that we have already begun to make our changes for the better starting today."

"Today, we will live our lives no longer concerned about if we will survive to see the next morning! Today, we shall begin the flight back to our former glory! Today, as we shift our course to meet the changing winds of destiny, we as a kingdom shall rise into these beautiful clear skies and breathe the air of freedom!"

She flared her wings as wide as she could. Her eyes felt watery as her voice rose to a crescendo.

"TODAY, FROM THIS DAY FORWARD, WE WILL BE SKYWINGS, IF YOU WILL SPREAD YOUR WINGS AND FLY WITH ME!"

The response was nearly deafening.

Hisses echoed off the arena walls as the heads of countless SkyWings gave their approval. All at once, great puffs of flame spat into the air as some of her subjects released their fire in support.

Even if her speech wasn't that strong, it got the point across perfectly.

I did it, Ruby thought.

She felt tears streak down her face. It was done.

With her words, the final nail placed in the coffin of the dragon she had been living in the shadow of her entire life.

She just couldn't believe it. Watching everything go just right for the first time ever in her life...actually made her want to cry.

She felt a talon against her back.

"Are you alright?" Vermilion was asking.

She turned to face him. Her voice wavered, but she was okay with that.

"I-I'm just fine."

It'd taken her ten minutes to compose herself.

The halls of the palace felt emptier than before as she walked through them on the way to the throne room. It was kind of like someone had been there the whole time, and was now gone.

It was nearly indescribable, the feelings that gave her. She seemed to feel...lighter.

As she approached the throne room, her eyes wandered to an empty slot in the wall.

There, a place where a statue of her mother once leered over her was gone. The floor underneath it was bare.

Since their fight, she'd had dragons working to remove all of the statues of her mother that Scarlet littered all over the inside and outsides of the palace.

Reaching the doors, a SkyWing with scales of nearly pure gold, body adorned with chainmail, stood straighter to welcome her. Behind his towering form was the Queen's throne-room.

Even from here, she could see how much it'd changed already.

The walls in the room used to be almost glowing with the gold embedded in the very masonry, now filed down to dull grey stone. They were going to use that to pay for her planned changes to the Arena.

Ironic that her mother's vanity would contribute to meaningful change in the kingdom that she'd left in ruins.

"Your Majesty." The guard said, lowering his head in a bow while Ruby raised hers as high as she could. She was shorter than virtually all of the guards in the palace, which she'd found somewhat amusing.

"Tell any visitors I will be in the..."

'The' Throne room?

"Ahem. My throne room for audiences in two hour's time." Ruby said, correcting herself.

"Of course, My Queen." He said, keeping his head low before her.

After that, she left to find her son, which was a task easier than she expected.

"I knows you gots it! Where is it?"

Cliff's voice echoed in the halls once she'd reached the center of the palace, and she followed the voice.

Her pursuit of the source found its way to another balcony outside that used to be for feasts. It had a great view of the northeast edge of the Clouds Mountains that stood taller than even the palace.

By the edge of the balcony, next to the railings, her son was interrogating his orange-scaled guard with his signature mock angry-face. Just across from him, the guard was clearly trying to keep a straight face.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." He said.

"Don't be lying!" Cliff said. "I'lls find out, and my mommy will-

"Cliff?" Ruby said, catching his attention, and his eyes found the crown atop her head.

"Mommy! You found it!" He said, running to her and jumping into her outstretched talons.

She wrapped her wings around the most important little dragon in her existence.

"Yes, I did." She said, holding her son against her chest.

She exhaled a shaky, but content breath. She still felt some of the adrenaline coursing through her body.

Now she could understand that feeling.

It felt as though the greatest weight in Pyrrhia was just lifted off of her shoulders, like everything really did just change.

But it didn't feel right. She felt...like she didn't know what to do next. For her entire life, she'd had someone telling her precisely what to do, what to say, what to be.

Now she was on her own.

It was...strange, now. She'd never felt this empty feeling before.

It was...scary.

I've done all this already, but now what?

What do I do now?

She felt writhing in her talons, an embrace. Her son was hugging her with his wings back.

That was it. There was something she could do.

She was going to be the greatest mother, the greatest Queen she could ever be.

As she watched the sun lighting the faraway snow-capped mountains, she knew this was what it was to be free.

And that everything was going to be okay.

As long as she lived, she knew the Sky Kingdom was going to be a great place forevermore.

A voice slithered into her mind as she held her son, her everything.

"But despite the fact that she is nothing like me, she is still my daughter."

Yes, Ruby thought. I am nothing like you.

I'm not hated. I'm not a tool of a warlord SandWing, I'm not self-absorbed, and I'm not dead and rotting in a nigh unmarked grave.

You are absolutely correct, Mother.

I will never be like you.

"Your Majesty?" The voice of her guard shook her from her stupor.

She hadn't noticed it, but she'd been staring into the distance for a full minute now.

"Apologies," Ruby said. "Just...thinking."

She set Cliff down.

"Cliff, hon. Would you like to see the orchestra today?" She asked.

"Yes, mommy! I loves to hear the inst… Instaru…"

"Instruments?" Ruby offered.

"Yes." Cliff said.

"Sergeant Sparrow, you heard him."

"Yes, I did, Your Majesty." He was a member of the orchestra, a harp player in particular, so this wasn't so much a command as it was an invitation.

"Detective, we have to find the orchestra players!" He said, smiling, as he and Ruby spread their wings.

"Theys are missing?"

"Yes. We're going to go find them, but we need your help."

Cliff flared his wings so fast he almost hit her in the side.

"LET'S FINDS THEM!" Cliff said, taking off faster than even two fully grown SkyWings.

Sparrow watched as Cliff rocketed off into the air before either of them did the same.

"He got good fast!" He said, shocked.

"Yes, he certainly did," Ruby said. "Let's go, Sergeant, before he ends up outflying you."

"Aye, Ma'am."

With that, together a mother and son flew into their future, bright as the clear skies above them.

And as they rose into those beautiful clear skies, Ruby knew while the future was never guaranteed, one thing was certain.

Today, she and her kingdom were indeed all breathing the air of freedom.