He made a move for the exit but was stopped by the woman in front of it. Thael’s eyebrows were raised when Ivelis said in an undertone, “If you were truly as observant as you claimed, then by now you’d know what your role is in this… Show. Question is, will you be able to keep up?”

He whispered back, “Let’s find out.” “My lady,” he added.

Surprised, she snapped her fingers and told him to maintain observation while also playing his part. He didn’t know how or when but at some point, Thael realised why Ivelis played the person she did. Even understood that it must stay undiscovered. He didn’t bother to rethink any of the thoughts but made it a point to make sure her act maintained its status. For that, he would have to become who the council expected him to be.

A servant. Her servant. As their letter had stated.

Moments passed as a silent agreement was shared between them, a short stare then a nod. They decided to make their way to the Council’s Room. As soon as Ivelis walked through the door, he saw how she slipped into her act. It happened so quickly that Thael almost mistook it for the light playing tricks on him.

Thael didn’t dare blink. Oddly afraid of missing any details.

He struggled to copy her when whatever serenity that once gleamed in her eyes disappeared, replaced with roguery and confidence. The empty face now had a smile that was definitely not soft carved onto it. Ivelis was a stream breaking into a waterfall, suddenly the aura that poured out of her went from careful calculations to dangerous uncertainty that only roared chaos. He observed how her shoulders had visibly relaxed and arms just hanging loosely. Seemingly unbothered as she sauntered as though the very ground worshipped her.

With unnerving ease, she became a force of nature that was uncontainable. Bold and wild. It was as if inner peace meant nothing to her in the first place. No one could do that. No being alive or dead could just switch their character like that. That wasn’t possible, how could she even tell the difference when she was her and when it was only an act? Respect buried itself deep into his core.

It made him question whether the person in the room just now was even real at all.

She looked back to his wonderstruck face. A hidden warning edged around her words, “If we keep on stalling, the poor chairs would be ashes by the time we get there. Let’s go.” Even her voice had somehow changed. It wasn’t how it sounded that was different but the energy it brought that complimented the person she was at that moment very well. Like adding wood into fire, this only made her flare brighter, burn hotter.

Art Queen? More like a versatility goddess.

“At once, my lady.” Thael had slipped into an act too, he tried to at least. He couldn’t do it as well as her, but he could only hope it was enough as they walked up grand stairs and passed strange doors. There were tapestries in most of the hallways that they went through, all of them had paintings hung between them that were surrounded with familiar red marks.

He often dropped his gaze onto the strange tiles. Without carpets running over them, he saw that they were polished so well that it reflected the candles and small chandeliers. Reflections of various objects were there but the both of them seemed to be missing from the picture. He would have annoyed someone with questions about it if it weren’t for the mask he had put on.

A mask she offered.

Ivelis stopped in front of doors that were almost identical to the ones he saw when they first entered the palace, only smaller. There weren’t any real jewels saved for the pair in each of the knocker brasses, the rest of them were replaced with twin drawings of the original gem.

A heinous grin was carved into her face and he gulped when curls of blue pushed open the door.

The door revealed a wide room with ceilings taller than trees. Statues, paintings and murals decorated the room, bringing it to life. Thael thought that without them this entire space would just look like a wasted land, left to die. He shifted his gaze to writings on thick and large columns that stretched until the ceiling. There was a subtle need to know how they got the words written. In style, too he noted from the unnecessary curves made.

There were more than a dozen people present, the females in the room were no more than 5 and one of them stood out to him the most. He couldn’t tell if it was because she was sitting on a seat larger than the rest, the minor detail that her eyes were sewn shut or that a giant golden scepter rested beside her. A voice took his attention even as he continued to scan the room.

“You summoned me?”

16 faces turned to her. Not them, her.

He remained silent as she said, “Well? I don’t suppose you know that my time is just as valuable as yours.” A man with green hair sitting near one of the columns opened his mouth but Ivelis chose to speak again.

“No, actually it’s much more valuable,” she changed, adding a wink before walking to an empty seat. She signalled Thael to follow her.

And so he did. The ever so obedient servant he was.

The more steps he took, the more he was sure that the stares pinned on him wanted to eat him alive.

They reached the seat and the corners of her mouth raised along with her eyebrows, “I see there are new faces. All quite young if my magic didn’t lie about your blood. They feel fresh, not much difference with a baby actually.” A few faces paled. It was one thing to say how someone’s blood tasted like, but to say how it felt made it seem as if she bathed in blood enough to know the difference. Not to mention the controversial comparison she chose. He almost raised his brows at her statement.

Most of the court looked at her warily while some stayed unbothered.

Ivelis clicked her tongue, “Ah, I almost forgot. Thank you for the gifts. This one is particularly useful and… fun.” She waggled a finger at him. “Welcome to the Council’s Room, Thael. This is the one and only Grand Council.”

He bowed on instinct then took his position to stand on her right. Though he ignored it, the shock that dawned on some faces did not escape him regardless of the efforts to hide it.

She sat with a hand resting on one leg propped on the chair, which he now deemed was her favourite position to sit. Thael struggled to maintain an empty face when the woman sitting at the end stood and smiled at him. The expression was glacial and seemed to be unnatural on her. If she was trying to copy someone else’s smile then she was doing a horrible job at it.

“Sister Ultrid,” Ivelis purred.

So this was the witch.

Sister Ultrid’s voice was cold when it echoed, “Art Queen. How have you been?”

Thael resisted the urge to chuckle when the queen answered, “Just skip these damn pleasantries. I know you didn’t call me here to kiss my ass with titles and shower me gifts. What the hell do you want?”

“Your… Service,” the man from earlier hesitated.

“I think you mean my powers, Lord Hendi.” The green-haired man looked away. She played with a red bracelet around her wrist, “What of it?”

Members of The Grand Council passed all sorts of looks to each other then a blonde woman with horns decided to answer, “It’s the flame in Delta’s Peak. It’s gone out.”

“So? Does it look like I can conjure immortal fire?” she asked sarcastically. He frowned slightly. Ivelis was right. She was a water wielder, her magic was meant to put out fires not the opposite. He dared a questioning gaze at her. Her eyes held a sign to look away when she turned to him and pretended to be thinking.

Thael heeded it.

The same woman opened her mouth again, “The Sister said to call you. Now, here you are.”

She hummed in response, refusing to give a proper answer.

He watched as The Sister raised her scepter and tapped it gently on a glass jar-that appeared out of nowhere-and a white flame materialized. The same magic closed the lid quickly, sealing it before the content got out of control.

“This immortal flame was retrieved by our ambassadors from a High Fire Priestess,” the cold voice spoke. He lifted his head, tried to refrain from recalling what happened earlier while listening to Sister Ultrid’s explanation.

“If the fire in Delta’s Peak is not lit by the second Moon Shadow, an eternal frost will take over. This one will make all the worst snow blizzards we have ever had seem merciful. Your only job is to travel to the peak and pour this into the fire pit,” She pointed at the jar.

Moon Shadow-the annual time for the moon to completely disappear during winter. He blinked.

A dead silence had taken over the room but he did not realise. Thael was watching the immortal fire. The flame was ethereal. It emitted a glow gentle like a mother’s love for her child, warm like a lover’s embrace. The white flame stood still in the jar and burst into sparks then reformed only to repeat it again. Playful, furious, refreshing- The fire seemed to make many emotions run through his head. Thael gazed at the white fire, he could have sworn the flame smiled knowingly when it changed colour to a familiar shade of blue.

He tuned back into what Ivelis was saying, “How did the fire disappear?”

Another woman with an odd hairstyle spoke, “It winked out, maybe. It’s been there a long time so it would only be rig-”

She didn’t wait for the woman to finish, “The pit was filled with immortal flame. No element could bring that type of fire, especially that much of it down except for the one who placed it there—The High Priestess Raeth, now a goddess of heavens. How does an entire hole of flames that requires no fuel to burn, can go on forever, that is so hot it can melt iron from miles away, simply wink out? Do you take me for an idiot? The only thing that would be right here is for you to shut your big mouth.”

The woman fumed, “How dare you, I am older than you!”

“And thank the heavens for that. It pleases me to know that you’ ll die soon and I would still be here by the time your bones have disappeared.”

The woman went red and stopped talking, but they both heard how she swore. Ivelis blinked with a sickening type of sweet smile etched onto her face.

She turned to The Sister, who revealed a deadly truth.

“It was stolen.”