When the Phoenix Dies

Prologue

The Lady Oriel            

     “Lady Oriel, the Queen wishes to speak with you.” The court attendant turns in a most rude manner and starts marching away towards the Queen’s quarters, expecting me to follow him.

     “Not even the slightest bit of respect for my position either. Ever since she became queen.” I wait a few minutes and then make my way to the place of the summons. Anything to make her majesty irritable, for she does ever so hate tardiness. “I suppose, Arriette, that you should just give up these little games you enjoy playing so much. She’s been ruler of this realm for nearly 3 millenia, if she were going to have you slaughtered she would have done just that before now. There’s really no sense in wasting your energy.” I continue talking to myself as I make my way down the long corridors.

     The castle really was quite marvelous with its towering spires, large domed halls, and the ornate wood-workings. With the accompaniment of exquisite Victorian Age French-style decor, Occarion Castle should be any female’s dream home. If it weren’t for the fact that the place had taken on a cold dead aura, I would not mind being subjected to living here. “The dream aspect has long since been gone from here, though. How long must I be imprisoned, awaiting the arrival of the one who can rid us all of that evil woman’s wretched form.”

     How long indeed... I think to myself as a doorway looms high above me. I lift the large knocker, wince as the silver burns my skin, and pound it into the wood three times before quickly releasing it. The metal has left jagged wounds on my right palm, the flesh oozing puss and blood. I do my best to hide my pain, the door is opening and I cannot give her the pleasure of having caused me discomfort. I straighten my back, raise my chin proudly, and walk into the Queen’s chambers with the elegance given to me through birth.

     “Ahh my dear Arriette, how lovely to see you.” Her words slither through the air with a sickening sweetness, making my stomach churn at the sound.

     I hate her. The thought slips into my mind before I can stop it. I seize control again and plaster a smile on my face, just as sweetly fake as her words, and give her a low bow; my heart silently hoping she didn’t catch that brief treason-worthy thought I carelessly let through.

     “Your majesty,” I say, “What a pleasure it is to see you looking well this evening. To what do I owe the honor of this most private summons?” Looking up I see that she is too obviously distracted to have noticed my slip-up. In all my years of being imprisoned in this hell, not once have I seen her so undeniably...happy. I feel my heart plummet down through my throat and into my stomach. If the Queen is happy, it can only be at another’s dispense. This does not bode well for me, I just know it.

     “Well you see, my dear, we’ve found her.” The Queen’s smile twists even further up her skeleton-like face, making her resemble even more the death spirits she so loves to rendezvous with late at night. She stands from her throne, drawing up to her full height. Eight feet of bone-thin limbs and ashen skin, sunken eyes with no trace of white or color. In those coal-black eyes there is nothing but madness. Sheer, terrifying, mutilating madness. Bile rises into my mouth and I choke it back down. My body reacts violently against the words I know she is mere seconds from saying.

     “Oh Arriette, darling? Do look at me whilst I’m speaking to you.” I hadn’t realized I was bent over clutching my chest, my heart. I look into those horrid eyes and dread her next few words.

     “You see, my Lady,” she sneers, using my title as a joke to shame me, “We’ve found the One. We’ve found the Phoenix Queen.”

     She watches with a blood-thirsty gaze as my whole world shatters. All these years of subservience to this wretched woman, all these years of turning her hatred on myself, of risking my own fate in the hopes of keeping this day from ever happening; wasted. She’s found her. The Queen has finally found what she’s spent the past three thousand years looking for.

     My knees slam hard into the marble floor as the full realization of what will happen now crashes over me like waves crashing over the rocky crags of my childhood. My breathing turns ragged and a cold sweat breaks out across my forehead. Not even caring if the Queen sees my weakness, I shout outloud as my heart breaks inside my chest.

     “Amelia!” I shout her name before I even realize I was thinking of it. Amelia, MY Amelia. She’s found her.

     “No...” My last conscious moment is of the Queen pointing to an area on a map. An unfamiliar area in the OtherRealm. A place in the human world.