ᴡᴍᴍᴀᴘ: ℌ𝔢𝔯 𝔊𝔬𝔩𝔡𝔢𝔫 ℭ𝔥𝔞𝔦𝔫𝔰

Raison d'être : the Sovereign

                                                                                         🄳-5

Jennette's knees are bruised from having been chained up for the last few days- or had it been much longer? There was no sense of time passing, down here in these foul dungeons, nothing that she was able to count the days with, having no pen or paper, no writing utensils of any kind. 

The weather she could hear was unnatural, stormy, and she could barely keep her eyes open when her head jerks on the chain on the wall.

If she leant too far, her neck could easily break. If she didn't- she wasn't able to sleep for longer than a few minutes at a time. She grew haggard in a matter of days, grumbling curses under her breath as the prisoner guards tossed filthy water at her face- water used for cleaning the dirt off the marble tiles- her dress sticking to her body as they purposefully missed to leer at her barely there curves.

She had tried for hours and hours, to summon the chimera again, past caring for the consequences of escaping- only to fail. There was no magic summoning circle, nor holy ground- she hadn't made a contract with the beast so receiving a magic staff was also beyond her reach. 

She didn't even know what to call it for heaven's sake, nameless, only defined by its mythical name from legend- she cursed at her own weakness. She had heard in passing that these were the intermediate dungeons, crude confines for lower prisoners- she would be moved soon when they deemed it necessary.

Jennette's teeth sunk into her top lip, the thin membrane within her mouth splitting, and she sucked on the blood that flowed. When it stopped, she bit it again- and again- and again. She would stay alert for as long as possible. 

She couldn't let the lack of sleep impair her judgement before she could find a way to escape. Her inner turmoil roiled hotly within her, burning as she nibbled on the raw injury, pain not registering as she waited for her opportunity.

The heavy wooden doors that were once bolted shut with magic locks at the entrance of the dungeons creaked open, and Jennette's eyes blinked wide. 

The blue eyes that the Obelian Imperial family treasured so much rolled around in her eye sockets, her teeth bloody as she smiled a gruesome, crooked smile. 

She would finally be able to dance in front of that hated person and bring the one who could help her over to her side at last. She just needed to find the right timing.

She didn't know if it had been luck or if the fortunes had finally shown her the way, but she knew, today was the day that Duke Alpheus had visited the palace. Her guards had whispered it to each other as they switched places, and she had felt hope blossom into a flower in her chest, the dark snake of avarice winding around the limp petals. 

A twinge of pain made her face color as she licked away the blood on her teeth, the iron taste reviving the green in her eyes.

It had come at last. Her opening act.

Duke Roger Alpheus, entered the palace after a long period of time, having been too busy to visit on schedule. Having been looking forward to meeting with her highness, he finds himself adjusting his hair as he's led further into the palace by a few guards, and he knows- the voice he can hear in the distance is hers. 

The same sweet, honey coated voice that made his heart drop to his knees, his eye trained on her face as she graced him with her words. He doesn't realize he's sped up, his shoes making their way to the parlor and he impatiently waits for someone to announce him before he enters.

He was here on official business, the nobles in his circle having been raucous as of late due to an odd incident, and who better to ask of a solution, than of the one said to be the goddess's reincarnation- her highness, Athanasia?