Eleven

"You heard me. With all due respect, Queen, do you not realise how much Celestria does not like you? And yet you continue to bother and upset her." 

The commander sighed, whispering something to Anderson that was inaudible to the queen. He glanced at the queen before letting out an annoyed sound and headed out of the room and down the hall, disappearing quickly. 

Celestria turned back to the queen. "I swear he can be so idiotic sometimes. I'm sorry for him." 

Sigourney just shook her head and gave a tight smile. "An idiot that you seem to enjoy kissing." The queen hadn't meant for those words to come out, but once they did, she didn't regret them. Celestria pulled back in shock. One moment the woman was trying to apologize and the next she was making sarcastic comments at her expense. 

"You're right," the commander replied. If the woman was going to be rude, then so was she. "I do enjoy kissing him. It's quite comforting. Much more pleasing than the thought of kissing someone who believes they're better than everyone." Sigourney knew this was a hit at her. She glared at the commander.

"Honestly, Commander Celestria, kissing someone better than you would seem much more realistic than kissing someone who's half witted with the brain of a small animal." She snapped.

"And there you go again. Assuming something about someone you know nothing about." She leaned forward a bit until the two of them were mere inches apart. "Tell me, queen, do you ever tire of being so self assured that you notice nothing about the people around you?" She waited a beat, then leaned away once more. "Honestly, Queen Sigourney, I can't imagine that you've ever had any friends of your own. Self consumed or not." Sigourney bit her bottom lip to prevent it from shaking. No one had ever said something that hit home in the way the commanders' words had. 

"Well, at least I don't need any friends to feel better about myself. You seem as though you're lost when you have no friends." Sigourney's words came out childlike and whiny. She had nothing to say back to the woman; they both knew those things weren't true about Celestria. 

The commander simply smiled with a look of calmness on her face. "Mhm. Would you like to take another jab at me, miss, or is that the best you can do." Sigourney stayed quiet. She just couldn't shake Celestrias' insult. She shook her head and gave Celestria one last look before turning to walk away. She hated to show this kind of emotion in front of someone, but she couldn't hold it back. And she didn't understand why her words affected her so much. If they had come from anyone else, she'd be able to laugh it off and keep pushing. 

Celestria was startled that Sigourney had walked away. It seemed unlike the woman to just give up in a fight. Had her words really upset the queen that much? They hadn't seemed that insulting to Celestria, but maybe they had been a little too personal for the queen. 

She contemplated going after the woman. Making sure that she was ok would be the right thing to do. But at the same time, she really didn't like the woman. She made Celestrias' blood boil every time she opened her mouth to speak. And if she found her, they may just end up arguing again. "Ah, fuck it." Celestria thought. "I'm not that cruel." She quickly threw on some warm clothes and shoes. "And besides, I can't have her running to the king trying to get me executed for disrespecting her or something." She headed out the door to look for the woman, the entire time praying that she never found her.

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Surprisingly, she found the queen in the garden. It struck Celestria as odd that she'd go to a place that she'd shown her, especially since she was the one who had upset the woman in the first place. Her back was to the commander, so she didn't see her walk up. Celestria noticed that she was holding something in her hand. A flower maybe? Celestria stepped forward a bit more and was about to announce her presence, but the queen spoke first.

"I didn't expect you to follow me out here." So she had noticed her walk up.

"Trust me, your majesty, I didn't expect me to follow you either." Sigourney's back was to Celestria, so she couldn't see her face, but she got the feeling that the woman was smiling. 

The commander came around to the side of Sigourney, noticing the golden chain with an oval pendant, a coral jewel in the center. Sigourney looked at it with such admiration and warmth in her smile. 

Celestria wanted to ask about the history behind the necklace, but she didn't. She kept quiet and just watched the queen silently. After a few moments of silence, Sigourney spoke, her voice warm and soft. It was so much different from before, where she was spitting sarcastic and snide comments. 

"You said something earlier. About me having no friends." She turned towards Celestria, putting the necklace on her own neck. The colours greatly contrasted against her gown. The commander nodded as she glanced down at the other's chest, watching the jewel sparkle in the setting sun. 

Sigourney hummed, plucking an orange lily from the garden. They were always her favourite alongside peonies. "You weren't too wrong when you said that. No one ever wanted to be friends with a princess unless it was of some benefit to them." She let out a scoff, twirling the flower between her fingers.

"However, there was one person who was my friend. Though, she was my cousin, we were always close. We both had to deal with having no real friends due to royalty. She was such an influential person."

Celestria tilted her head. "Was?"

Sigourney seemed to let out a breath she'd been holding in. It wasn't very obvious, so Celestria thought she imagined it, but her eyes shone with tears. "Yes. Was." She turned back to the commander, clicking her tongue. "She passed when we were very young. Got sick with smallpox. Doctors couldn't cure it because of her poor immune system, or something like that. She gave me this necklace a week before and was so positive she'd be okay." Sigourney tried to suppress her tears, but it was all too easy for Celestria to see. 

The two were silent for a few brief moments before Celestria spoke. "Why are you telling me all this? Especially since you don't like me?"

The queen scoffed. "You think I don't like you? All I've ever done is try to be nice to you. You're the one who has been stubborn and hotheaded."

Celestria let out a sharp breath. This was why she didn't like her. She didn't know why, but it seemed like everything she said just annoyed and infuriated her even more. 

"You're joking, right? You are so stuck up and since day one you have only expressed how you think you're better than everyone else. All you've done is shown everyone how inferior they are compared to you," Celestria responded, sneering as she spoke.

The queen was quiet and put the lily she had in her hands on the floor near the bushes. When she straightened, she just shook her head. 

"That's not what my intent was."

"Well, it still happened."

Sigourney let out a sigh and began walking away. Celestria's eyebrows furrowed as she grabbed her arm. "Where are you going?"

The queen didn't even look at the other before pulling her arm away and simply said, "Leaving." She waited a moment, hesitating, before leaving the garden and walking off. 

The commander didn't know what to think. She knew when she'd say something wrong, and now was one of those times. She didn't like the queen, but she tried her best to not be unnecessarily rude to others. But it was so difficult with someone who continuously made others believe she was superior. 

Celestria just sighed and left the garden. She decided to go to the training grounds and blow some steam off. Maybe Anderson or Wilheim would come along and she could train with them.

She soon arrived at the grounds and changed into a nearby small building used for the soldiers to change from every-day clothing to training armour. It wasn't as strong as regular armour, nor was it as heavy, but it helped to block off minor blows. 

She grabbed her favourite blue-hilted sword, looking at the blade in the light before trailing her fingertip against the edge. Looking at her finger, she saw a small paper cut-like cut, a bead of blood dripping down. She preferred keeping her blade as sharp as possible at all times; it kept her soldiers on their toes while sparring. 

She fixed up her training armour before setting up the new dummies since the others were destroyed due to her previous anger. She let in a deep breath and right before she slashed at the dummy,  loud shriek was heard. Celestria pulled out of her irritation, seeing civilians running and screaming, hiding into their houses.

"What is happening?" the commander asked herself. She kept her sword close to her side, readying it in case she had to use it. 

Wilheim had now appeared at the training grounds, running frantically. He was panting by the time he came to Celestria's side. 

"Intruders...at the...city borders."