Night time was the only time when she could relax after a day of hard work. It was supposed to be the only time when she could lock herself away locked away in the simple comfort of her quarters with all her spell books, magic stones, and antique instruments.

She could lay down on her soft finely laid bed and catch some well-deserved rest from a long day of attending balls, performing rituals and occasionally reducing herself to the role of a court jester and performing ridiculous magic spells all in the name of entertaining the princess Jasper. Frankly, performing just the latter alone should have earned her a week of rest but being a court Mage was a thankless job to begin with. So why was she being summoned to the Queens room at mid-night. She swore, nobility had absolutely no respect for her kind.

Holding back an exhausted yawn Peridot fixed her robe on properly and made sure her sorceress hat fit on perfectly, you never wanted to look un-presentable to the queen no matter what. Especially one as quick tempered as Yellow Diamond. Once she was satisfied with her appearance she grabbed her long wooden staff which was resting against a wall.

It was about the same height as her with various magical rune signs written across it. At the very end of each side of the weapon was a small opening where a green gem was fitted. Indeed an elegantly designed staff, one that lords across the four kingdoms would be willing to part with sizeable portions of their wealth just to hang it along their trophy wall and her most prized possession. Her magic staff, a beacon of her role and status to all she met. A weapon of mass destruction that was always within arm's reach of

And now she would be making use of it to please some obnoxious nobles. Such a cruel life this was. Knocking on the door to Yellow Diamonds chamber she waited for her Queens's permission before entering.

"My Diamond, you summoned me" Peridot said as she got down on one knee and kept her head bowed. She knew better than to look at the Queen without permission, it was a mistake that had cost too many new Peal servants their lives on the first day

Even though this was her 'resting' chamber Yellow diamond wasn't one that spent a lot of her time relaxing. She was almost always up going over expansion plans or writing letters to other Queens. And just as expected the tall Gem was sitting down on large throne reading a letter. Without even glancing away from her work she used her free hand to motion to Peridot to rise to which the young Mage immediately obliged too./p

"Yes, I shall be stepping out the castle tonight to attend to some matters with Blue diamond. Until my return I leave all my administrative duties to you, Sorceress" she said. What? No way, she must have heard that wrong.

"I beg your pardon my lady?" she asked with her head still bowed, she was thankful she had the hat on. The Queen wouldn't be able to see the shock on her face.

"You heard me the first time Sorceress. You shall be in charge of running the kingdom in my absence, however short it may be".

"W-With all due respect your majesty, I am but a simple mage, my profession is lifting curses and brewing potions. I don't know how to run a kingdom. Wouldn't the young princess be more qualified for such a task?" Peridot questioned while trying her best not to sound irritated.

Really, why her of all people. She knew she had a habit of internally grumbling and cursing her Queen for always expecting miracles from her for just being talented in the sorcery, perhaps she had been a little too unappreciative of what she had and Karma had caught up to.

Laying the letter aside Yellow diamond stood up to her full height. Standing just below nine feet tall with her gold skin that flashed just a little, in turn making Peridot flinch just a little. The Queen truly was an intimidating figure to behold.

"Oh, please Jasper is a capable warrior and she would have probably made an excellent general if she were born into the army… Which in hindsight she probably should have been, as a Queen she would only bring shame to me. You on the other hand Peridot know enough about politics to make a half-decent ruler. And that is why you have been chosen".

So in other words she wasn't chosen because Yellow diamond respected her but simply because there wasn't anyone else who could stand in her place. Well, she couldn't really say she was complaining.

She could hear the sound of clanking metal indicating that the Queen was approaching her.

"I see, but may I ask what this mission is and why it's so important that you would leave the Kingdom?". The instant the words left her mouth she felt like slapping herself. She had stepped out of line and the brief silence that followed was probably the most painful thing she had experienced in a while.

"Nothing that concerns one your meager status Sorceress" she responded in a tone that conveyed less annoyance than she expected.

"My humble apologies, your highness. It was not my place to ask you such a question" she replied quickly to cover up her little slip. She received no response from her Queen and for a moment was worried she had somehow offended her again.

"…It is fine. I shall leave you with yellow pearl, she'll help guide you with all your administrative duties while I'm away. You may return to your Quarters for Now. But I need you to return here at dawn to meet up with her. Understood?" she said before walking over to the window and staring into thick forest that surrounded the kingdom.

"Yes my Diamond".

"Then you are dismissed".

And with that Peridot stood back up and made sure to readjust her hat which was beginning slide off her head. Using her staff as a walking stick she closed door to Yellow Diamonds room behind and made her way back to her quarters on the other side of the palace. With all the long hallways and staircases she had to go through one would think she'd travelled a kilometre long walk when she reached its closing stretch.

Thankfully she didn't run into any servants along the way, she couldn't stand having to respond to their greetings in her exhaustion. She made her way to third floor of a dark spiral staircase and inhaled the familiar scent of marble and wood. Even all the stress she would soon be going through it was comforting to know that this was always waiting for her. The one place that no one in the whole castle was allowed inside other than herself.

Grabbing the knob of the old dungeon-styled wooden door took she stepped into the room and took off her long green robe and carefully detached her prosthetic legs from her torso before crawling into bed and closing her eyes shut. She just wanted to rest now. Whatever pains she would be going through tomorrow weren't happening now. She sighed, sleeping wasn't something she made a habit of doing but every now and then she'd try it just to calm herself down. It was barely minute before the young sorceress fell into a deep slumber.

And here's the first in what I hope to be a long running fanfic project, its going to start small and gradually build the worlds story as characters grow and relationships change. For this story I thought I'd go with pre-crystal gem antagonist version of Peridot, and of course since this is an AU its going to twist certain rules and laws for convenience however there will be some parallels to the actual universe.

Authors note: Honestly I'm not a big fan of this websites editing system but since I had the spare account I thought why not give my story's a bit more exposure and maybe rekindle the passion I have for writing.

Of course expect the next chapter to be posted soon. until then stay frosty.