.Eyes Of Void.

-4-

The servants weren't too discrete with their gossip, all castle dwellers hearing about my choice as fast as the news spread.

I stood with my mother and Eleric in the ballroom as the guests came in, more interested in watching the decorations put up then anything else right now, the boring formalities.

There was an intricate designs in the marble floor that depicted scenes of battles and myths but it was still flat and smooth under my feet. All the tables were made from what looked like a tree bent to shape and I wouldn't be surprised if it was and the cloth covering them twinkling like ice crystals with ice flowers blooming all over it, flowers grew from high up on the pillars and hanging between them like pretty vines.

But what caught my eyes really, was the silver and red flowers floating just within arms reach through the air, as if carried by unfelt winds, I learnt a lot as the princess of this land and still never seen flowers like this my whole life.

Mother's dress had the colors of nature, all of its greens, yellows and browns you could find in a forest, she wore her golden circlet designed like intertwining vines on her head like all of us but we wore ours less because of out training risking their integrity. The big bulky crowns other monarchs wore were not really a thing here? Or at least I've never seen mention of it if we ever had them in our history.

I glanced at my siblings, Eleric and Mirrel wore the dark green and black outfits the guards wore, well... It was heavily based on that but still more sophisticated.

Me and my sister on the other hand wore dresses of a solid green, a leaf pattern sewn into the left arm and upper chest area.

For succeeding my trial and choosing to accept the throne mom gave me a necklace with a green dragon stone gem, the gem having reflections of scales in it and it looked as if made of scales actually, she wanted me to wear it to show my connection to dragons in another way... Theatrics, just like most of politics.

I gathered my thoughts when a member of the court came to talk with me, I smiled softly and spoke with no worries until he left, taught to hide my displeasure or anything negative as I chatted away to be able to steer the conversation where I wanted.

"Court mage Calypso and court mage Mystery dear guests!" I heard and looked up when the butler announcing the arrivals spoke of the mages.

I think Calypso is the taller, darker skinned and with long blue and white haired woman and Mystery the one with silver hair... Hmmm either name fits them both.

A woman like Calypso, hoping that's her name, was not seen a lot up this North, Solor is a cold land and she came from much more south to have this skin tone and be this tall, taller then Eleric I think.

The one I think was Mystery was linked arms with her as she led her down the stairs into the room, she was smaller then her but I saw she was still a bit taller then me when they got of the stairs and were on the same level as me.

Both were wearing the court mage uniform which consisted of black fingerless gloves that reached mid forearm if I remember right, the forearms also covered with bracers from more protection to that area and had my family's insignia burnt into them, then came the sleeved black undershirt, sleeves only reaching mid upper arm with a dark leather corset over the top, laced in front, the area over their left breast also stamped with the insignia.

(Shorter string duh and not in the back.)

The trousers they wore were also black and with dark leather boots.

Calypso wore a golden necklace with three blue skarlatine gems, precious stones only mined out in the kingdom she probably came from and it was pricey.

In addition to that, Mystery also wore beads in her hair as I noticed along with a silver necklace with also a dragon stone in it, a red one and had a small earring of the same color, probably also a dragon stone gem... Even more pricey then the skarlatines but I don't remember that around her neck the day of the dragon test... Even more weird, just what a mystery you are Mystery.

"You've grown into fine young women since I've last seen you my dear mages." Mother greeted the two as they walked up to us with a low bow of her head but not low enough to lose eye contact as a queen never bows lower then her subjects.

"It has been more than a decade my queen and yet you still look as splendid as ever." The one I'm assuming is Calypso said, doing a bow probably learnt in her homeland, done much lower then mother did, in a way she couldn't look in her eyes even if she were to try.

The mages and the current queen, that being my mother right now, rarely met despite how important they were to our queendom... But that woman is exaggerating a bit, we saw each other two weeks ago.

"Majesty." The silver haired one greeted with a broken bow.

What I call a broken bow is she did bow but her chin was tilted to the side more then it being pointed at her own chest, making is so she could bow down completely but still keep eye contact.

Eleric coughed on his drink at the blatant disrespect this mage showed to our mother the queen, I covered my mouth with wide eyes and she lifted her head.

I looked at mother but she just elegantly smiled, amused as if she heard an old joke instead of getting offended but the action, was this a common think with the mage?

"Still as focused on the past I see?" I wonder what she means by that.

"Always." The mage answered with a gentle nod of her head.