The Eternal Queen

Chapter 1: Ardele

Why are they following me? 

I step over a puddle that has turned dingy and grey. The oil contaminating the water floats on the top, reflecting my irritated face. Subtly tilting my head to side, I spot the three men creep closer behind me. Gripping my sword handle, I slow my breaths, concentrating on the number of steps I am taking, and they're taking. Five steps closer, four steps closer, three, two, one.

The lamps licker on at this moment, and I can feel their hesitation. There are no more shadows to hide their cowardness. Turning around on my heel, I send them a sweet smile, my hood still up, and their uneasiness gives me pleasure. 

Unsheathing my sword, I plunge the metal blade into a man's gut, and he sputters. I take control of his mind, caressing it before shutting it down. His life force leaves him, the feeling a burst of adrenaline in my system.

The jewel encrusted chain around my ankle starts to tingle as I suck his life force, the waves of power consuming. Spinning on my heel, I look over at the other culprits. The blade comes out blue instead of red, and I see the others pale. And they take off. I wave my hand forward, causing the stones beneath them to break and crumble. 

They stumble on the uneven stones, and I charge forth. Cutting off the man to the right's head, the weight of the head falling with a loud noise in the empty streets. Blood stains the stone pavement and washes my sword in a brilliant blue.

The other man starts to break down and cry. "Please forgive me. Spare my life."

I lean down, leveling us face to face. "Who sent you?"

"Th-the mercenary."

His ignorance and foolishness grips me, making my temples throb. I am the mercenary for goodness sake. I let out a slow breath and smile. His face lights up, about to thank me for something I am not capable of. I silence him with a quick glide my sword. His body slumps lifeless on the cool pavement. Standing up, I whip my blade into the sky, splattering the turquoise-blue blood on the street, cleaning it from its blemish.

Reaching into the men's pockets, checking for money and clues, I find a picture of myself, and I rip it to shreds. People have been coming after me lately as it has been found that I am a witch. Which is kind of sad, considering that us, witches used to have a good reputation. Obviously now, my kind are shunned.

About a two centuries ago, that was not the case. The years during the beginning of those centuries, the witches have been turning to dark magic which has caused an uproar as witches have sworn to never touch that part of magic. 

The next generations after that, the witches have evolved in powerful beings. The newer generations of witches that killed a being with their magic ate the life force of the being, becoming more powerful. It was a huge problem as witches could not be contained.

When this started to become a problem across all lands, the Council of Delphi, the group that keeps peace between both the North and the South, has decreed that all witches had to wear a chain with a stone charm. All witches are naturally born with a chain, binding them to magic for the rest of their lives. 

But all nations decided to create another chain with a stone for witches, as a way of keeping order. The stone would glow or make a sound if their magic killed a being. Beings such as livestock did not count in Clairemont, however, in other kingdoms it did.

My chain is broken. It has been broken for as long as I remember. And I was born that way. My gifting could not be contained it seems. And I hate the reason why. I will banish her from my mind forever. I do not remember much of my childhood.

 The memories are almost like a wash of grey in my mind. But I remember being taken by Clairemont's mercenaries at fourteen. They burned down the church that I was taken into, and the rest is history. I have been serving King Maximus since that age. He saw the use of my abilities from the moment he saw me and spared my execution. The rest of the hostages were not so lucky.

I keep my chains hidden underneath long skirts and tall socks. If people knew, I would be executed immediately. The king did not do much to reign in the discrimination for witches, but the thing is, Clairemont was probably the most accommodating kingdom out of most.

The kingdom of Clairemont is home to many creatures, including elves, fairies, trolls, witches, and more. The king himself is from elven descent. He has been reigning for a four decades now, and his fifth is soon approaching. Each king is only allowed to rule for fifty years. Which is quite short considering our lifespan, but it somehow creates a balance. 

The king will soon anoint someone to take his place in a year. The new successor does not have to be of his blood but can be anyone who he deems fitting. However if the person is a bad leader and choice, the people do have the ability to veto his pick.

I look up at the sky again, and I wrinkle my nose at the smell of the goblins decaying. I look at the goblins and my sword. Seeing the goblin's glamour fade makes me even more paranoid. You can never trust anyone's words in this day and age. Now, it is the same about a creatures' looks.

Any goblin can look human, and it can be very hard to tell the two creatures apart. However, goblins' blood runs blue. Sheathing my sword, I let out a breath, pressing my fingers to my temples. I need a break.

Despite working for the king as a mercenary, it does not save me from the prejudices of many. The king himself barely tolerates my existence. Despite knowing all of this, I am fine with it all. I don't need people's approval anyways. They are usually all lies feed to keep us all on a leach.