The Sovereign Jade

I've been here more than once. The smell, the cold air, low lights it's all so familiar. The first I was here was with my mother, Tiana. She gave me the courage to speak with them and ask them for guidance and support. After that, I had only come in here after she passed and it was my turn to become Empress. Her death was the one thing I couldn't bear to deal with and needed guidance from one of them, I may have chosen the wrong one to talk with because it shaped my rule for the worst. This may be the worst room in this house, I never thought I'd come in here again since Nora was born. But now, here I am standing in the Empress Vault.

There's a rule that has been passed down from Empress to Empress: Never speak to the Jade Sovereign. But as they say, rule are meant to be broken.

I was drawn to her. Her hypnotizing green eyes, her dark hair that curled at the end, her opalescent skin, she drew me to her as if she was able to conjure enough power to whisper in my ear, pull at my thoughts and have her released from her orb.

Every past monarch has an orb. They're swirled around the room one after the other held on small black pillars. First, comes the first, the second, the third, the fourth, and so on. So on lived over 78 rulers and then a blank pillar - mine.

Every orb was a different hue, a different color, and a different size. Their size determined by the length of their rule, Yoakam's the shortest and smallest.

I walked around, following the paths and the glowing lights of the orbs, each one I passed illuminated and dimmed. It felt like ages until I finally stopped. An orb colored green, a green that shined so bright but was so dark in hue. My breath heaved as a placed my hand atop of it, the vibrations it let off shook my entire body. The orb ascended in the air, swirling and shaking as a white light shown off of it. A body forming in the light, a dress reaching to her feet, hair flowing from her head. Her colors began to show. And there she stood.

Her hair as black as the room, her eyes shone as bright as the orbs, her dress reaching to the end of her feet, the green stripes that ran from her waist and down to the end of the dress. Black lace gloves covered from her elbow to her fingertip.

A smile was lurking on her face. Her lips were a faint shade of pink. Her gaze wrapped around me, scanning up and down my body.

"Why, hello again, Serena." Her voice raspy but lined with silk. Her arms were stretched out as she neared me, "it's been a long time."

A lump filled my throat as I stared at her. She frightened me on day one, she still frightens me.

"May I ask why you called?" She closed her arms, clasping her hands together in front of her, "you're always so needy. But it's been what? 23 years since we last spoke? I mean, year one was hectic, but I didn't expect you to be this long."

"Esmerelda, please. I've been doing fine."

"If you've been doing fine," she stepped closer to me, barely an inch away from my face. "Why am I here?"

"I don't-" I paused. Lying to her would be equivalent to saying snake bites aren't poisonous. "My High Advisor, Louis."

"Him? He'd be the last person I would think you'd be having trouble with. I did help you pick him out after all." Esmerelda stepped back and began walking away, walking around the orbs, her hands almost touching them.

"Please, don't touch them. I don't need their help." I pleaded.

"Oh, I know you don't need their help. You need mine." Her voice distorted and echoed.

"So, what did Louis do?" My heart dropped. Just the thought makes me want to throw up.

"He, um, he..."

"Don't hesitate, I need it direct." She continued walking.

"He raped Nora." Her footsteps halted. Her hands stayed floating in the air. Her hair seemed to slightly move in the shadows.

"He raped the one thing that will continue our line?" Her voice seemed to break. I never thought I would hear those shift in tones of her voice.

"Yes, I removed him from his position, but he has been persisting. He's suppressing my guards, my staff, my Commission. Opa has said he-"

"Serena. Look behind you, there's one difference in the orbs. What is it?" She asked and I turned. They all were glowing and swirling.

"Yours is bigger, of course, but I don't see what that has to do with anything?"

"Exactly. I did not earn me the title of being the most powerful Empress by just looking through papers. What did you do to Louis?"

"I fired him, humiliated him in front of the High Commission, what else would I do?"

"Kill him." I was taken aback. The thought has come upon my mind once but never would I have actually done it.

"Now, listen to me. I became who I am by doing what I saw best. Those who vexed me: reaped. Those who disagreed with me: reaped. The Sovereign Jade didn't get her title by idling." She walked closer to me, taking my hands into hers.

"Serena, I can rule beside you. Forget the High Commission, a High Advisor. We can both be the monarchs of Pace and together we can keep peace and unity throughout." Her skin felt soft and her voice was gentle. It's been 24 years and I have come this far, but Louis and Nora. The Dusky problem, the civil wars.

"But what about," I looked behind me and stared at the orbs. I could see my mother's. It was shining a golden amber, the color reflecting off the dark pillars.

"They're irrelevant to anything, they could never help you, but I can." She moved her hands up to my shoulders. "All you have to do is open the door, just listen to me."

I gulped. Her smile was warm, her eyes were a gentle green, almost faint. I've been coming to her for advice all this long. The warnings about her have been proven wrong. She's guided me here, helped me so much.

"What do I have to do?" Her face lit up.

"Hold my hands." I intertwined my fingers with hers, a warmth radiating off of her. She began to whisper, her words inaudible and inconceivable to understand. A green fog began to flow from her lips, her eyes were a complete green. I felt a rush through my spine. The world went white and I felt my tongue begin to move.

"From the darkest parts of the world's corners to the finest coils that can't be broken. Cryptic nights I pledge my heart, open the gate from Old and New and let the Queens pass through."

A shock wave ran through the air, our hands were separated as I fell to the ground. I looked up and saw the Vault door open. Esmerelda stood there, gazing with a wicked smile.

"Time to fix the world that was put asunder." Her voice was echoing, her hair flowing, she turned back and looked at me. "Get up my Dearest, we have work to do."