Veiled Chaos

Unfortunately when you close your eyes you always tend to miss something. Opening her Eye's Elysia only saw the Queen's surprised face, and one less wound on the Princess. This was odd, perhaps magic or some kind of mutation in Sera that allowed her to regenerate? If that was the case all her wounds would have healed not just one, it was perhaps more likely that there was magic involved, the world itself seemed to have magic so that was a probability. Regardless if the queen was magical she would need more confirmation than a shocked look. Letting herself sink further into the water Elysia allowed her eyes to remain open, in case of more developments. All this 'relaxing' was getting on her nerves. She had planning to do.

"Haedria?"
The queen didnt answer. Instead she rolled Sera onto her back and repeated the motion on the gash by her collar bone. Just like before, it shrank as it healed, leaving a faint scar.
"Sister, are you well?"
Haedria gripped either side of her sister's face, holding her fingers to either end of the cut across her face, just by the eyebrow. All Sera could see where dark eyes, frantic and urgent, flicking across her face. She felt that cool wind again, this time across her face. Her sister ran her hand over Sera's face, delicately tracing the lines of her eyebrows, her lips.
The princess was getting tired of this mysterious silence. Her strong hands shot up out of the water to grasp Haedria's own. "Sister, look at me." the queen did, eyes still wide with panic and confusion. "What is wrong?"
"I....I dont know." the queen's voice was a whisper. "I think I've managed to heal you."
Sera's brows knit in confusion. Letting go of Haedria's wrist, she tentatively reached behind her back, expecting it to sting and her fingers to find a gaping wound. But there was nothing but smooth skin.

As Haedria continued to heal Sera it became obviously apparent to Elysia that the Queen was magical somehow. It also meant that unfortunately for Darkmin, in this world Magic was blood related and not knowledge based. Now Elysia needed the learn the limitations of magic in this world, should they dare to unbalance any plan she attempted to make to de-stabilize the Kingdom. "My Queen, you are magical?" Elysia looked on curiously at the duo. As a matter of fact she did not know how magic was even viewed in this world. She needed to learn quickly.

"Gods above." Sera breathed. The queen shrank back and stared at her hands as if it was the first time she's ever seen them.
"I knew it. I knew it!" Haedria muttered to herself, turning her hands over and over. "I knew I could feel something. And those books, they spoke about someone like me."
"Someone like you? Sister, what are you talking about?" Sera asked, still feeling for wounds that just a few minutes ago stung like the nine hells.
"I could feel when someone died, sister." Haedria said, her eyes trained on the younger girl who only looked back in confusion. "When they breathed their last and their life force left them, oh..." her eyes fluttered closed in a moan as she remembered that feeling. "Gods, and their blood! When blood spills, I dont know how to describe it, its like torrents of power surging through me-"
"Haedria, you're worrying me." Sera interrupted. The queen, snapped out of her tirade, suddenly quieted. Ashamed.
"You're telling me, telling us...." the princess looked to Elysia in the water. "That you've felt this connection for some time now? And you've never told me?"
"I was afraid you would react like youre doing now."
"Why has it manifested only now?"
"I think it was the book." Haedria answered slowly, thinking back to the darkness and the vision she had just after entering a trance from reading the old tome.
"Is that possible? A book awakening your magic?"
"I think so. It has happened, hasnt it?"

"Book?" Elysia asked innocently to Haedria. In reality she knew exactly what book she spoke of, and the possibilities that it could grant magical powers or had something to do with the manifestation of them was troubling. She would need to steal it, examine it and quite possible destroy it. Of course there was also the troubling Notion of Haedria's Stability, Darkmin could already see the cracks. The desire for power, the rush of might was a familiar downfall for many. Perhaps Darkmin should feed the queen's quest for power, "My Queen if ummm death powers you, how would your ... powers ... fair in the war?"

Both the Red Sisters stared at Elysia with wide eyes. They drew the same conclusions at the exact same time because when they turned back to each other, they wore matching manic grins.
"Sister, we would be unstoppable!" Sera said, gripping Haedria by the shoulders.
"We could have scores of undead conquer other kingdoms, raze the lands to the ground." Haedria's mind raced with thoughts of conquest and power.
"But wait, to what extent are you powers?"
"Ah....I dont know. All I know is I can heal. I am not even certain if you are the only one I can heal." the queen leaned back, brows furrowed in thought.
"Back to your books then! We have to find the extent of your abilities sister. Oh, how exciting!" Sera clapped and pulled both Haedria and Sera into a big hug. "Together, Sagna will rise above all others!"

Elysia's face stayed static wearing a small smile seeing the two sisters so pleased by her obvious observation. The gnawing notion that chaos had been unleashed was sufficient in fuelling the warm glowing feeling inside her core, the only thing left to do was fan the flames of chaos and destabilize the realm and, it was gorgeous, beautiful the image of fire and hellish screaming was just poetry. "I am pleased to be of service your Majesties." Smiling to herself thoughts lost in chaos. Perhaps she should ordain to become a councillor soon.

After a few more minutes, the Red Sisters got out of the bath feeling better than either of them had in ages. Haedria decided to show Sera and Elysia the tomes she had been reading. Ever since the sisters were young, Haedria preferred the solitude of the library to sword-fighting in the yard like Sera. Over the years the queen had amassed quite a few books of choice and kept them hidden in her room. Dressing herself in her slip and Sera in a bathrobe, the queen led the two younger girls back to her chambers.

Elysia followed alongside Haedria down the grey stone walls looking humourless at the dull bland colouring. A light sigh later and Elysia wrapped an arm around the queen's waist, a simple gesture meant to keep herself entertained as she walked. For some reason Elysia couldn't help but feel a tad miffed that neither of the two sisters attempted to finish off Elysia, it's not like she could genuinely feel pleasure, but still. IT was obvious that the two were not yet divided from each other for her, and the fact that perhaps it would be far far harder to do so was annoying. On the bright side she would enjoy being around the books and having access to their knowledge and power, and at the very least she was being trusted in this showing of the books.

Haedria pushed open the doors to her chambers and ushered Sera and Elysia in. She made sure to close the double doors and lock the deadbolt.
"There, that one. One the desk." Haedria said.
Sera picked up the tome. It was heavy, maybe as heavy as a great axe. She set it back on the desk and opened it somewhere in the middle. Her face was a mask of confusion as she flicked a page back and forth as if trying to change what was written.
"Haedria...."
"Yes?"
"These pages are blank."
"What?" the queen rushed to the desk in a panic, but calmed when she saw the black markings scrawled upon the thick musty pages. "What are you talking about? It looks fine."
"But....There's nothing written on it!" Sera said, indignant.
As if to prove to Sera and herself that there really was something written on it, Haedria read an excerpt from the page, following the text with a finger. Behind Haedria's back, Sera beckoned Elysia closer to help make sense of it all.

Elysia's face dropped as Haedria read the blank book. It was clear and crisp and there was no faltering as she read pointing to invisible inked words. It was not the hidden words that bothered Darkmin, it was the fact that the very language itself was unknown to him, he a master of language whom could speak the tongue of beasts and men across many dimensions and discern a person's intent from their body language was stumped and confused at the seemingly random gibberish spewing forth from Haedria. Elysia turned to Sera and silently shook her head, that neither she nor her could understand the Queen or read her book, leaning to Sera's ear she whispered, "I'm afraid the Queen's book is protected by some kind of magic, that prevents us from seeing the words, and it either also protects the language, or it's just so old we can't understand it." The fact that something such as this existed insulted and infuriated Darkmin, the book should be destroyed.

Haedria saw the matching blank stares on Elysia and Sera's faces. They couldnt see it. They couldnt see it and they probably thought she was insane. Oh, how would the kingdom react to that? Not only was their queen a blood thirsty tyrannical murder, but she was insane too! In a desperate attempt to validate her power, she picked books out of her bookshelf and out of drawers and even out from under her bed and laid them on the desk, motioning for Sera to look through them. The princess did, opening each of the dozen or so books in the middle, and finding blank pages staring back at her. She began to shake her head, defeated. She couldnt share in her sister's new talent.
"Oh! Wait, this one...I can understand this one!" the princess said, picking up a book bound in green. The page she had opened spoke of Moon Runes.
"Moon Runes are an archaic language used by mages and sorcerers. It is the language of magic, tied to nature and imbued with their own power. For those without the latent talent, the texts can only be read in the light of the moon." Sera read. "Have you been reading all these for years?" she asked.
Haedria nodded.

How infuriating, how absolutely INFURIATING. Something he did not know and could not know! Curses damn and CURSES! Frothing hellish rage boiled and stewed beneath the thin layer of false skin, how dare these ancient magicians impede his progress with their insolent magic! Elysia took a deep breath, calmly inhaling, then exhaling, repeating this process trice more her demeanour brightened considerably. These moon rune types things happened once in a while and it was never pleasant to her to deal with. At least Haedria's frantic scramble to prove her sanity had been amusing to watch, and proved her vulnerability. Elysia turned to Sera, "Moon runes you say? Well that must be it, Haedria you must have always held magical talent within your body and yet, somehow only now has it manifested? I wonder what has happened for this to occur." Darkmin too, was curious at this development.

"Yes, how did this happen? What awakened it?" Sera asked, flopping herself onto the queen's bed.
Haedria bit her lip as she thought. "Earlier today, I woke up alone without either of you. I decided to read from that." she pointed to the biggest tome, and a cold gust of wind blew through the queen's chambers, flipping several pages at once before settling and dying down. The Red Sisters looked at each other shocked. Sensing Haedria's fear, Sera prompted her to continue her story.
"I....There was a passage in the book. I just kept reading and reading till I felt myself falling into its words. A pressure, then heat and cold simultaneously..." she screwed her eyes shut trying to remember. "Then an overwhelming rush, like when a man dies near me."
"That must have been during the attack on the encampment." Sera said.
"Must be so. Then there was a dizzying fall, then darkness."
When Haedria fell silent, Sera prompted again. "A darkness? And then?"
"A....A mirror image of myself." Haedria's voice began to falter. She said no more.

Elysia nodded in time with Haedria's story each word drawing her further in. Upon reaching the conclusion there was amusement in Eylsia's heart, the Queen had mistaken part of Elysia's own manipulations as part of the vision induced by the unlocking of her magic. Although that did no ease the troubling situation of the war, and that the longer it went on the more powerful Haedria's magic could become. More torment would have to be in the Queen's near future, "My Queen, what did the spell say ... when you read of it?" Elysia asked in a curious voice.

"Ah it said..." Haedria pinched the space between her eyes. She rattled off words in a long dead language. It made perfect sense to her, sounded perfectly natural in fact. But when she opened her eyes, Sera's blank stare greeted her.
With a huff, the queen attempted to translate it as best as her understanding could. It spoke of hidden powers rising to the surface in torrents, in a storm so strong all that is made by man will fall before its wrath.
"Wow." Sera breathed, stunned.

Elysia raised an eyebrow to the cryptic nature of the passage Haedria had recited. It was so vague and easily interpretable. Hidden powers could mean anything, from celestial gods, submerged civilizations, or even beings like Darkmin whom hide in the shadows pulling strings. It seemed the passage was hinting at some kind of catastrophic event ranging anywhere from a localized area, or a full out apocalypse. This was the problem with prophesies they were intentionally vague and often times not even correct. Elysia eased herself, sitting down onto the Queen's bed careful not to disturb the books, her leg had begun to hurt from all the standing and it required rest, as did the rest of her weary body. Silently she mused that this prediction she would keep to herself, lest it become more useful to reveal later. Elysia couldn't stop thinking about the inaccuracies of prophecies, it didn't help that Haedria ha to translate it from the original language, which destroyed the original meaning.

"That could be interpreted in many ways though." Sera said, stretching luxuriously on the queen's bed. Haedria closed her books with a sigh and arranged them neatly on her desk.
"My translation might be off. I am not sure." the queen said.
Sera draped an arm across her eyes and yawned. "There's nothing to be done about that right now. You're afforded a night of rest, my queen. The battle ended in a victory and you'll be needing your strength if we're to discover the extent of your powers." she said in a sleepy drone.
Haedria chuckled and joined her sister and the slave girl on the bed. It was plenty big enough for the three of them. The queen embraced Elysia from behind and wrapped her arms around her waist, resting her head on the girl's bronze shoulder. "Tomorrow then."

Elysia smiled and leaned into the Queen's warm embrace, it felt so secure, yet dangerous. Haedria was the mightiest force in the land, nothing would dare to harm her as The Queen's consort, but at the same time she was at the Queen's mercy. Elysia placed a hand on Haedria's lap, "Tomorrow then," She replied with a fatigued if cheery tone, "I might stay up a slight while longer dear Haedria, I'll be to bed shortly."

"Mmm, if you wish." Haedria breathed, trailing light kisses along the girl's shoulder and neck. "Don't take too long."
Letting go of Elysia, the queen settled into bed, leaving Sera where the princess had fallen asleep, snoring lightly with her legs hanging off the edge of the bed. The day had ended surprisingly well, Haedria thought. There were still so many things to do, but they could be dealt with tomorrow. But for now, rest.

Elysia smiled and held Haedira's hand to her lips in a delicate kiss. Standing up she trailed slowly to the door Haedria's hand in hand before sighing sadly and letting her hand go and walking to the door. There was much thinking to do. The castle was deathly silent at night, not even the rodents dared to make a noise should they be slapped in irons and executed. Taking muffled steps through the halls of the Castle Elysia pitter-pattered her way back and forth, no real goal in mind but to find a nice quiet, lonely spot to think. So much had happened today and already she would need to plan for the appearance of both Egales and herself to the royals, as well as the war, the peasant army, the Queen's new-found magic, and finally the delicate game of chaos being built around the royals. Her black core glistened in the moon light, the soothing feeling of release came as the orb felt the world caress it's infinitely dark edge. Elysia stood there for a moment, bathing in moonlight, allowing the burdens of disguise wash away, if only partially. Several moments later, satisfied, Elysia began the quiet walk back to Haedria.

It took a while before Haedria could sleep. She lay awake among the soft sheets, now all too aware of the humming in her veins. Before, she thought it was simply nerves. She all but ripped her hair out trying to understand the strange sensations. But now, she understood. A movement by the end of her bed made her sit up, curious. Sera yawned and stretched, eyes closed with sleep. The princess groped blindly along the sheets till she found Haedria's thigh, then followed the curves of the queen's body to her chest. Sera laid her head down on Haedria's chest, subconsciously finding comfort in the sound of the older girl's heart. With a smile, Haedria stroked Sera's fiery hair, the gentle motions easing the queen to sleep as well.

The eyes of Elysia traced the duo's motions in the darkness, standing silently in the door way outlined by the faint traces of moonlight like a predator Elysia watched the royalty, lips curling into a frown. The carefree nature of their expressions, the way that all the problems in the world seemed to disappear from their world as long as one had another. It was absolutely nauseating, Elysia felt a vile sludge building up in the pit of her stomach, bubbling and gurgling and she struggled to hold back the urge to violently expel the vile. The hunting eyes narrowed, and her face split into hellish grin, it was obvious that she would have to make the pair feel their problems. She smothered the urge to reach out and strangle one of the two sisters, such would be too unrefined a way of mischief for one as elegant as herself. No their entirely perfect world needed to become askew, to be unsettled and unbalanced each step threatening to tumble the entirety into a state of doom.

The next morning, the queen woke with red hair tickling her skin. Sera had pressed her head into the crook of Haedria's neck some time in the night, while Elysia held on to her arm. The queen savored the peace with a quiet sigh and lay in bed for a few more minutes, just listening to their quiet breathing. She slowly entangled herself from them and stepped out of bed, being sure not to wake either of the girls. Soft golden light filtered in through the windows of the queen's chambers. It was just past dawn.
Moving silently through her room, the queen retrieved her dagger and set it back upon her thigh. Then she crossed to her desk and pulled a few of her books to her. It was strange, having this new knowledge. For the longest time, she thought they were just books, albeit ones that spoke of magic and the energies of the world. Instead, they were magical in itself, their secrets kept hidden from everyone but those that had latent magic powers of her own. Casting a last glance to the girls in her bed, she sat down to read.

As Haedria left Elysia's arms reached out and wrapped themselves around Sera pulling her warm body closer to her ample bosom. For several long minutes Elysia held her there before her eyes fluttered open and her body stirred and she rose from bed. Quietly she made her was over to the queen, knowing already where she was, leaning over Haedria, Elysia rested her Breasts upon the Queen' head, "Good morning Haedria, how was your night? Hopefully restful and fulfilling."