Matti stared at the box that Surreal offered him. He smiled uncertainly and took it, undoing the ribbons that held it closed.
"It will protect you when you need it," she said.
"I don't need protection," he said softly, his eyes on the half-opened box.
"Matti, you don't have the strength I have. There's a Gray-level shield contained in that ring-"
"You gave me a ring."
"Yes."
"Because I came out with Sapphire Jewels."
Surreal winced.
"Yes," she admitted.
"Because I'm a disappointment."
Surreal was silent for a moment. She had expected Matti to come out wearing the Red or even the Gray, not another set of Sapphire. She looked up to see Matti watching her. His cold blue eyes studied her before his lips broke into a brilliant smile.
"You had this made before I made the Offering. You were going to give me this no matter what Jewels I came out with, yes?" he asked, still smiling. "Thank you, Surreal."
ØØØ
The letters went out later that evening, letters to every Territory Matti had connections to, letters asking for males to serve a Sapphire-Jeweled Queen at her soon to be formed Court. Responses came quickly from many of the Territories and minor lands, some refusals, some happy acceptances. In all, fifteen males and twenty witches sent messages back with mention of interest and curiosity. It seemed to Surreal that Matti would be fine on his own and that her guardianship was truly no longer needed.
So they said their goodbyes and had one last meal together at an opera house in Dhemlan. In the morning, they gathered Matti's things and rode the Winds to the nearest Gate. Surreal shook Matti's hand and Greykin whined softly as the manchild stepped away to begin his new life.
ØØØ
Matti kneeled before the Priestess as he asked her formally to open the Gate that would return him to Glacia.
The group waiting on the other side of the Gate was old friends. Scéan, an Opal-Jeweled Prince from Scelt, Kalu, also a Prince, from Dharo, wearing Green Jewels, and Hajah, a Green-Jeweled witch from Tigrelan. Scéan embraced Matti warmly, kissing his cheek as the others laughed and touched his hair and clothes happily. It had been too long, almost a year, since they had last seen their Queen.
A man stepped from Hajah's side and proffered his wrists in greeting.
"You," he whispered, looking down at the familiar gray eyes.
"Me," Rizaro said, "I wish to serve."
Matti smiled shyly and placed his hands over the Tigrelan's wrists. Rizaro knelt before him and kissed his hands, ending the formalities with a crooked grin.
"I have missed you, my Queen," Rizaro said smoothly before standing again.
"As have I, Prince Rizaro," Matti murmured, his smile blossoming heatedly as he watched the Tigrelan move closer.
A hand at the small of Matti's back, Rizaro lead the Matti to the Coach that would take them back to the Glacian's mansion.
Through an almost forgotten will in the possession of Saetan SaDiablo, Matti- the sole known descendant of the former Queen of Glacia- had inherited a small mansion in Kokkola, Glacia's second-largest city, as well as residences in Hameenlinna and Vaasa. It was to Kokkola that the small group would go.
Kokkola lay on the icy western coast of Glacia. It was a port city filled with hardened sailors and fish markets but also a hub of mercantile factories and the center of Glacian fashion. Here Matti would form his Court and here he would begin his rule. Kokkola was a kinder place than southern Glacia where riots, rape, and murder were everday occurrences.
When Karla had ruled Glacia, the land had been in a renaissance of sorts, a revival of the old Blood traditions. Queens were to be respected in her time and Warlords protected females and breaking witches was no longer an amusing sport. It was a stark contrast to the land before and after her. Glacia had fallen into moral and physical decay since.
Had Karla's child had the strength to preserve or protect Glacia, things would likely have been different. But even Matti did not know who his parents had been or what had happened to them. From what Eveliina had told him, his parents had been degenerates who had spawned a child and abandoned him when it was discovered that he too was abnormal. Matti had listened to his caretaker and had rarely paused to think over his parents. They had not cared for him and he did not care for them.
ØØØ
Matti settled into the thick blankets with a soft sigh. The mansion had needed severe cleaning: whoever had resided there last had left everything to a thick covering of dust. Carpets, mirrors, and furniture had needed spell after spell to remove the dust and grime. Matti was not satisfied with his efforts and planned to do more in the morning, before the applicants to his Court arrived. He was anxious still about meeting so many new people who would be looking to him for leadership.
That night he dreamed of terrible things: broken, barren women limping through the streets of Kokkola and red-eyed Warlord Princes smiling grimly as they dug knives into the ribs of lesser men. Matti watched, his eyes refusing to shut, as witches screamed and writhed, blood seeping from between their legs as they walked. Their blood dripped upon the ground and witchblood blossoms bloomed along the sides of the streets. He called out to them, saying he was a Queen, a Sapphire-Jeweled Queen who would protect them from the predators stalking them but they could not hear him.