The waitress from the bar was breathless with excitement as she appeared on the front steps of the castle. A shiver shook her frame as the little bit of magick she'd used to disguise herself melted away. It wasn't much, just enough to hide the tattoos on her face and her long pointed ears. Her feet barely made a sound as she hurried up the ancient stone steps, the waitress uniform swirling and changing around her body to reform into her usual attire, which though the shirt was old and tattered, restitched more than it should have been, was comforting and familiar. The skirt wasn't in much better shape, and the light leather armor she wore on her left shoulder and arm had seen better days.
She strode through the great hall, her head held high and her orange dreadlocks flying behind her, ignoring the curious looks from her people as she passed. They sat at their tables to eat or drink, some of them leaning against the many fireplaces. She had no time for any of them now, and they would all hear the news soon enough.
At the end of the great hall sat a large throne, set upon three tiers of stone. She hurried up these steps as well, trying not to look too eager as she approached the door to the left of the throne. "Let me pass," she said. "I must speak to our queen. It is important."
The guards exchanged a look, but after a moment, one wordlessly reached over and opened the door to let her through.
Enye slipped through the doorway and slammed the heavy wooden door behind her. More stairs. She didn't let it bother her; this news was too important. At the top of the stairs was the Queen's chamber, a large and impressive room with two high, arched doors of stained glass that led out to a balcony. Between those doors was a large fireplace with a massive marble mantle. The stone floor was covered with an ornate rug of red velvet and trimmed with gold. In the corner of the room was a heavy desk, with shelves and shelves of books on the walls behind it. And against the other wall was the bed, draped with heavy silks around the delicately carved posts.
Queen Klissa sat at the desk, her head bent over the book that lay open there. Her long black hair fell in waves around her head, nearly hiding her face from view.
"Your Grace," Enye breathed and fell to her knees before the desk, bowing her head. Her eyes flicked up to the golden stand next to the Queen's desk, holding an enchanted glass case. And within the case was the silvery seal of Apollymi with its five rare gemstones, though the stones were dark and dull as though their color had been stolen away. "I've found them," she said, her heart racing. "At least one that carries the element of water. I'm certain of it. And there may be others with her."
The queen looked up, her eyes flickering towards Enye. Her heart gave a thud of excitement, but she nearly scolded herself a moment later. How many times over the years had they found one of the elements only to be missing all of the others? How many times had they found four only to lose their chance by being unable to find the fifth? She stood up straighter and turned to observe the seal in its case, gesturing Enye to join her. "We must make certain. I will inform a few of our other scouts to be vigilant." She studied the gems, wondering if she would ever see them glow brilliantly again. "I do not need to remind you how important your work is to our cause."
"I know," Enye said as she got to her feet, moving to stand beside their queen. She debated on how much to say. She didn't want to give anyone false hope, but she could have sworn she saw four of them last night. The reflection in the dark windows, even though it was brief, looked as though four of the humans at that table were transformed, revealing powers they probably didn't even know they carried. But it had been such a brief, fleeting glimpse, she couldn't be certain. But one of them she was certain of. "I will keep searching. I will not stop."
"You should have brought it here," came a voice from the corner. Klissa's older sister carelessly tossed aside the book she'd been reading and got to her feet. "Honestly, what good does it do to find someone carrying the magick we need if you just let them slip through your fingers?" Her voice was soft and even, but always with a condescending tone to it. Sofina crossed her arms over her thin frame and stared at them. Tall and blonde, Sofina would've been much prettier if her face wasn't permanently arranged in a sneer. She fixed her eyes on Klissa. "And you wonder why the people question your leadership."
Klissa frowned deeply at her sister. "And you would have rathered Enye capture one of them, tipping the others off? It would have been a risky move. We must make certain." She tilted her head to the side, lifting her hand to trace the glass around the seal. "Enye, I want you to keep a very close eye on these people. Do what you can to find the fifth." She hummed to herself for a moment, tapping her fingers against her lips. Her sister was right, to some degree, if they had a confirmed key, they would need to secure it as soon as they were able.
A mirthless, mocking laugh escaped Sofina. "And now this person could be anywhere." She poured herself a glass of wine, shaking her head. "Really, little sister, you let them have too much freedom," she said, giving Enye a sweeping look again. "How many years has it been since we last had even one of the powers within our grasp? Fifty? A hundred? It's hard to keep track at this point." Truthfully, she herself couldn't remember how many decades had passed without so much as a whisper of one carrying the powers.
"I can track her," Enye said, trying to keep her voice even and respectful. Neither of the sisters were known for their kindness, and smarting off to either wouldn't end well for her. "I was close enough, I served her wine. I enchanted it. It shouldn't be hard to track her down again. And she'll never know any difference."
"Well for once you did something right," Sofina sneered, raising one eyebrow at Enye as she poured a second glass of wine and carried it over to her mate. "Treading lightly will get us nowhere. If we are to ever release our goddess, we cannot afford to be timid."
Doran watched Sofina from his position where he had sprawled out on a chair, shadows half covering his tattooed skin. He had a severe but handsome face, despite the scar over his left eye, and his eyes always held a piercing stare. His long black hair was tied back in several plaits that reached to the small of his back. His large, muscled frame filled the chair he lounged in, almost too big for the space. "Apollymi does not reward those who are afraid to act," he said in a gravelly, low voice as he accepted the wine and reached up to pull the blonde into his lap, nuzzling at her chin affectionately before he looked over to Klissa, his gaze searing. "Capturing one may draw the others to us like flies to honey."
Enye had to tear her eyes away from Sofina and Doran. Seeing them together only reminded her of her own loss, of how badly it hurt to be separated from her own mate. She knew he was still out there somewhere, and she hoped he was safe, but they had chosen different sides in this. It made a knot form in her throat and she worked to swallow it down. She turned to Klissa again. "I will obey your word," she said, almost defiantly, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw Sofina bristle. "You are our queen. If you wish me to bring her in, I will. Or I will follow her, see if my suspicions about the others are correct. Tell me what you wish, and I will see it done."
Klissa smiled, her chest puffing out a bit more. "You understand the side of caution. It is not timidness that stays your hand. It is the thought of bringing hope to your people only to have to rip it away later if you are wrong." She turned away and went back to the book she had been studying. "Continue as you were, but I would encourage you to be as swift as you can with your investigations. If you are correct, we do not want to keep the goddess waiting."
"Of course," Enye answered with a quick bow. She would find the ones they needed. The more she thought about it, the more certain she became that there had been four of them there. She should have taken all four, kept searching for the fifth. What were the chances that all of them would be together in one place? Perhaps it was better this way. If the four of them knew each other, perhaps the fifth was close as well. "I will not disappoint," she promised, then snapped her fingers and vanished in a puff of orange smoke.
Doran snorted as he took a healthy swallow from his glass, pulling Sofina closer, loving the way her curves pressed up against him nicely. "One might think that our great leader who found the lost seal would be out helping search for that last element. Should be easy, yes?"
Klissa turned her head over her shoulder, looking to her sister who gazed at her unwaveringly. She nearly rolled her eyes at the deep scowl on her face. "You could try to hide the disdain from your Queen. If these truly are the keys, preparations will need to be made. They will not be separated from their hosts so easily. Perhaps you both should aide Enye in finding the last one."
"Surely you jest," Sofina answered, leaning a little more into her mate, tilting her head slightly to allow him access to her neck. "We have people for that sort of thing. Why should I get my hands dirty? My job is to advise you. But goddess knows you never listen." She finished off her glass of wine and smacked her lips. "But you should feel free to go and find them. You're great at finding things, aren't you?" Her eyes flashed as she stared at her sister. She'd been there that day, the day her sister found the seal. If only she'd been a little quicker… "Go on. I don't mind watching over things while you're out scouring the world," she said, fighting to keep the humor out of her voice.
Klissa stood up straighter, turning to regard her dear sibling for a moment. "And here I was beginning to think you were bored sitting in here. You will go and aide Enye. Your unique view of the world will be most valuable to us." She smiled sweetly as she watched the scowl on her sister's face deepen. "You know what you need to do and perhaps when the time is right, you may even help capture one. But you will wait until we have confirmed all five. I will not risk them scattering to the wind."
"You dare command me…" Sofina's expression darkened, pure loathing raging through her veins. She clenched her jaw shut so tightly she could've swore her teeth cracked. It wasn't her place to be out doing the grunt work, and yet her sister expected her to be out there doing exactly that. She got to her feet and snatched the wine glass out of Doran's hand and threw it to smash against the wall. "As you wish," she hissed at her sister as she yanked Doran to stand and led him from the room.
"How dare she," she hissed under her breath as she stormed through the castle, still dragging her mate along behind her. "Who does she think she is? Commanding me, expecting ME, of all people, to go out and dirty my hands?" She finally stopped when she came to her own chambers, slamming the door behind them, and she released his hand. "I should not be taking orders from her!"
Doran regarded his mate carefully as he leaned against the heavy door, smiling at her. "My heart, you should be the one giving orders. With you at the head of us all, we would not have been left rotting and decaying away for all these centuries." He pushed himself off of the door and caught her arm, pulling her up against him as he raked his eyes over her. "You are so much stronger than Klissa."
"She doesn't deserve to be queen," Sofina growled, letting him pull her closer. "She has had her chance. Centuries have passed, and we are no closer to freeing our goddess than we were the day she found that seal. It was sheer luck that she found it. I know! I was there! Luck doesn't make someone worthy of being queen." She met his dark eyes, her own almost glowing with want. "Power makes someone worthy of being queen. You are right. I should be the one giving orders." A harsh huff escaped her and she pulled away from him. "She knows that the people grow impatient. If she disappoints them again, there will be no saving her from their wrath."
"Shouldn't she be more worried about your own, glorious, wrath?" He followed after her, he could feel her magick. She was a warrior, a leader, strong and capable, willing to make the hard choices and live with them, willing to do whatever it took to make their people rulers of the world once more. "You should take her place. Claim her success as your own and no one would be the wiser."
She sighed slowly through her nose, rolling his words around in her head. "Though they question her, the people still love her. I doubt if they would follow me without good reason," she answered softly. But the very idea of her own people refusing to follow her just made her angrier still. "Unless she fails again. If she fails, they will finally see her for what she is. Weak. Timid. Unsuited to restore our people to our rightful place in this world." With a flick of her wrist, the fireplace sprang to life, the flames blazing in an instant. "I still remember what it was like when our nation ruled this world. When magick was everywhere," she said, her voice barely above a whisper. "I would see our people rise again, our goddess freed from her prison. Klissa isn't fit to lead us. And she knows it."
Doran shrugged his shoulder lazily as he went to the furs in front of the fire, stripping out of his clothes as he went before taking a seat. "Then we wait. She will either fail or succeed. You just need to be ready for the right moment to strike. The Queen will not be gaining any allies from those she plans on taking. She never does. How many times have I wondered what would happen if some of those unfortunate souls got in one shot at our beloved Queen. Such tragedy, would you not agree?"
A slow smile spread across her face. "That's treason," she said as she sauntered over to him. Another swish of her hand and her clothing melted away like smoke. "Perhaps I'm being a bit hasty," she mused as she settled herself over his lap. "Let her make her mistakes. Love her or no, the people grow impatient. And when she fails again, I will be there to pick up the pieces." She kissed him forcefully, drinking down the flavor of wine that clung to his lips. "And if she succeeds, we will be by her side, ready to welcome Apollymi back into this world with open arms."
He grinned wickedly at her as he kissed back at her, nipping at her lower lip harshly before he buried his face into her neck, holding her to him as he looked up to her. "Such lovely images you paint for me, my light." Doran snaked his hands up her back, letting his fingers slide into her silken hair as he gave a sharp tug back, exposing a wide expanse of her neck to him which he eagerly devoured. "Our beloved Goddess does love a sacrifice of blood. Hopefully, the keys will be enough, but if not..." he groaned as he thrust up against her sweet, slick body, "I have a few ideas that would only take a moment of your time."
The rage she'd felt only moments before now turned to pure excitement dancing through her veins. "I'm certain that with your strength and my direction, we can accomplish anything," she purred in his ear. She moaned as he thrust up against her, and after a moment she lifted herself up and sank down upon him, shivering as she listened to him groan as her body accepted his. Her eyes rolled back in her head to feel him, and at the thought of what it would mean if their goddess was released again. Oh, how she would be rewarded if she were there, one of the first to greet Apollymi. "We will not fail this time," she vowed. "We cannot."