The red halls arched high above the young child's head, reaching it's highest point 50 feet in the air. The walls were entirely barren with only the spiralling pillars decorating the huge space and the occasional silver leafed plant. Two women were nearing the end of one of the labyrinth-like halls, in deep conversation. Both wore long, flowing robes which trailed snake-like along the floor in their wake. Elaborate headdresses that framed their angular faces, rested on their shoulders and swept up into towering rigid collars. The effect of their silhouette was quite stunning, making them appear sharp and unnaturally tall. Anyone on the planet who saw such a garment would know immediately what kind of power the person under it possessed.
The woman on the left, who looked significantly older wore the lush colours of Prydonian scarlet and red. The woman next to her, who looked much younger in comparison, was clad in emerald green. They both strolled several paces ahead of the boy, seemingly oblivious of his presence there. He was clearly no older than 6 or 7 years of age, and he was running as fast as his short legs would go, a look of joy plastered on his face.
"Mother!", the boy shouted as he closed the gap. Startled, both women turned to the noise, just in time to see as the child launched himself at the older woman, clinging to her robes happily.
His mother let out a sharp gasp of surprise as he clung to her.
"Son!" she spoke angrily, "What are you doing here? I told you to stay with the Guardian."
The boy released his grip on his mother as he heard her voice. Confusion and hurt at her reaction was evident on his face.
"I came to find you Mother. I thought you might want to play with me."
The woman was silent for a moment, unsure of what to do. "You should be reading your texts. Where is your Guardian?" she asked curtly.
The boy seemed to appear very small, still not sure what exactly he had done to incur his mother's wrath. "I-I lost her", he muttered.
The younger, green-robed woman was getting impatient. "My Lady Cardinal", she addressed with an edge to her voice, "Perhaps we should continue our discussion at a more convenient time." Without a word, the woman gave her a small, quick bow and exited down a little hallway.
His mother watched as her companion disappeared out of sight, annoyance growing on her face. She snapped he attention back to her son. "You should not have done that! Look at what has happened now. You knew I had guests."
Tears were welling up in his eyes. He looked down at the ground in shame. "I'm sorry Mother. I just wanted to play". The boy seemed unable to control himself as his sobs grew louder.
The woman cast her eyes around in embarrassment as the sound of her child carried down the halls. "Calm down, Son", she ordered, "Look at me". His eyes rose to meet his mother's gaze. Her eyes were a shocking shade of purple and at the moment seemed to hold no emotion at all. "I have a very important job. When I have to work, you do not interrupt. Do you understand?"
"Yes", the boy murmured quietly. His mother's eyes seemed to soften just a touch. At that moment, a young woman rushed around the corner into the hall.
"Oh!", the woman exclaimed in a panic. "My Lady Cardinal, I apologize". As she approached them she bowed deeply. The woman looked to be no older than 20 years of age. She might have even been a teenager. She wore a thin circlet on her head, a small insignia dangled in front of her forehead, matching the symbol on the mother's chest. The girl wore a robe as well, made of the same deep scarlet but much simpler than her older superior's. The girl looked up tentatively, still bent double in her bow.
The older woman gave a curt nod and the girl straightened, her eyes still trained on the ground. "My Lady. My deepest apologies and regrets. I failed to fulfill my duty to you. I failed to keep track of your son. Please forgive me". The boy ducked his head in shame. He had never meant for his Guardian to get in trouble.
The Lord Cardinal was silent for a long moment, staring steely at her inferior. "I'd like to think I keep a better household than this, my servant. Take my son back to the East Wing. I will arrange your punishment another time".
Keeping her head low, the Guardian spoke, "My Lady, would you prefer if I took your son away from the estate for this afternoon?"
The Cardinal waved her hand dismissively, "I don't care what you do with him. Just make sure you keep him out of my sight". With a sharp glance at her son, the Cardinal left, her robes trailing grandly behind her.
The girl bowed again, freezing in her position until her superior was no longer in sight. A minute later she stood up and gently took Theta's hand, leading him in the opposite direction. She walked fast, urging her young charge to pick up the pace. "I'm-I'm sorry Ephrah", the young child stuttered on the verge of tears, "I-I didn't mean to get you in trouble! I won't ever interrupt Mother again".
Ephrah paused. She looked down at him sideways as she continued down the seemingly unending hall. "It is alright. I am not angry, Little One", a little smile crept onto her face. "In fact, I should thank you".
He looked up in confusion. "Things were getting pretty boring before you decided to run off", she jabbed.
Despite himself, he let out a small giggle. "Stop being so weird!" he demanded, "You're meant to be angry with me!"
"Well if that is what you want, Little One. I can be very angry", she let out a fake roar and made a claw with her hand, turning menacingly towards her charge.
He squealed with laughter. "No!" he exclaimed.
"Oh. Ok then". She lowered her claw with a smile. "I was going to hang you upside-down from the ceiling, but would you like to go play with Koschei instead? I saw him out in the east glen with his Guardian. Perhaps you will get into trouble with him and leave me out of it!".
"Yes! Yes!" The boy wiggled with excitement, shedding all his guilt and shame immediately as only a child could do. With a reassuring smile planted firmly on her face, Ephrah lead her Little One away from the arching halls.