The room was dark. The only thing disturbing the air was bated breath as a youth faced the door to her queen's study. Behind them, Queen Clarissa was chanting soundlessly over an altar where the top looked like a crescent moon on its side. Beyond the door, life carried on as normal, the insidious plots of upcoming betrayal unknown to all. Except of course the lowly nobody that overheard the conspiracy; the nobody that the Queen considered their own child.
"My Queen, please reconsider." the youth begged in hush whispers.
"Hush my child, I cannot leave our people." the Queen replied in calm but regular tones, carrying on as if it were any other day. Of course, she believed her most trusted confidante, but she would not flee.
"Your people are trying to kill you!" the youth continued in a harsh whisper still watching the door. They knew there were at least two betrayers, but there could be more. She didn't trust anyone at this point but the Queen who raised them. "And I'm not a child anymore." She couldn't help but mutter. Only with her did she speak so often; others would never hear mutterings coming from them.
"My dear, you will always be my child, even when you're grey." The Queen responded with fondness in her voice. Maintaining a small smile, she returned to chanting, channeling energy into the altar. Between the two points of the sideways crescent, a line of iridescent light forms, writhing about until it stabilized to form a small oval. With the hand that wore the signet ring of her rank, she reached into the magical vault, ignoring the static vibrations up her arm. Without the ring, even if someone had managed to open it, they'd have been electrocuted.
After nearly a minute, during which their young companion was growing more tense, the Queen pulled out a small item wrapped in cloth that was about half the size of her palm. She stares at a moment before speaking. "Razier, come here." The youth turned away from the door to face her Queen and without out hesitation she walked over. "Yes, my Queen."
The Queen rolled her eyes not for the first time. "You wish not to be called child yet refuse to use my own name as requested." She sighs the old argument. She unwrapped the parcel, revealing a smooth oval stone of translucent blue grey with veins of obsidian black. Staring at it too long, one can imagine a silver core to the stone. It is bound tightly in silver wiring, forming a seven-pointed star design with one point longer than the others. It rests on a sturdy leather cord with an apparently seamless clasp.
Chanting again softly, the entire cord and pendent begins to glow and the Queen holds it out towards Razier. "Take it."
Razier stares at it a moment in wonder and hesitation. Magic radiating from the necklace seems to thicken the air around it. Before she need another prompt though, she gingerly lay her hand over it. The building tension in the air suddenly dissipates with a pop as the clasp separates. Without a beat. Razier brings the cord around her neck unquestionably where the clasp becomes seamless once more when it meets.
"The stone is now tied to you. Only you can remove it. I believe you will know when the time for that comes." Razier looks questioningly at her but remains silent. And so does the Queen; not further explanation is given. Instead, she grips the stone and places it underneath Razier's tunic, out of sight.
Wiping her hands on her skirts, she turns to the door. "Now we must get to the portal gates." Razier holds back a sigh of relief, believing that her Queen has finally realized that leaving is the only way to preserve her life at this time.
Upon entering the halls, passersby bow at varying degrees as the Queen and her mongrel servant walk past. They make it to the port without hindrance, though Razier is concerned that they made their way straight there. It wouldn’t take much for someone to deduce where the two had headed, including the would-be assassins.
The Queen heads to a small portal gate at the back, one that has not been operatable for ages. Yet it comes to life with a few frantic words. Razier stares in surprise and then realizes that her Queen is now apprehensive. Just as a loud bang is heard, the Queen grabs Razier by the shoulders and pushes them into the portal. The last thing she see is the Queen's tear-streaked face. "Queen Clarissa!" she cried out before a blackness takes over.
