After dinner was over, the many leaders in the room retired to their rooms while Elyse led me off to her study. My guards stayed at the doorway and would end up stopping anyone who would try to do anything to me, including the pixie bitch should she try to be smart. I always felt a little special that she took extra care to make sure I was happy, but that’s because I stand for everything she is against, which is wonderful. She showed off her amulet, how she could make a map of the whole continent out of light in front of her at any time, whoopee. She played around with a few light quills that were designed to let you see when writing something at night, as if I couldn’t just make a fire or have Xin’ier stand over my shoulder with his burning gap of a face. Then there were all of the magic bombs she had. Most of them just made a flash of light, but some were pretty interesting. One would explode, and if you were too close, you would get chained to the ground by solid light. I always knew Elyse was into that sort of thing.

“You know,” she started to talk again after we had sat down in front of her fire. She had a maid bring us tea, which tasted pleasant after I checked it for any poison. “I was very upset with you for bringing up the Stansil incident, but I’m happy you are at least trying to make up for it.”

“Oh, I haven’t made up for it yet?” I was going to humor her since she was so easy to manipulate. So trusting and so quick to try and understand my thoughts. How gullible.

“No no, of course you have. You know I can’t keep myself mad at you.” The way she fluttered her eyes at me when she said that was very suggestive. Sometimes, I feel like she fancies me. I wouldn’t doubt it, since most of the Fae species had some kind of attraction to both males and females. They all looked nearly the same, after all.

“What can I say? I have a tendency to make those around me happy.” Not at all.

“Oh, not at all.” Called it. “That’s alright, though. Many of them are either too afraid or too infatuated with you to do anything.” She was trying to play me just like I do her, which wasn’t going to work. “I mean, just look at you.”

“Do you see the way your scribes stare? I wouldn’t doubt that half of the Fae Kingdom was in love with me.” Humoring her was fun, but I bet she had something she was going to ask me for.

“I don’t doubt it at all, Emily. You’re just so beautiful.” She put her hand on mine while saying that, which meant she was either going to kiss me or ask me for something that I just couldn’t resist. “And certainly, you’re so powerful. One of the most powerful mages I know by a longshot.” Guess I’m not getting kissed today. Make that the 387th day in a row- talk about a hot streak.

“One of them?”

“Possibly even the most powerful. And with your knowledge, we could make great leaps in technology. All I need is access to your armory for one tiny evening.” Uh huh, she wanted my weaponry. Nice try, pixie.

“You need access? So, you’re going to come into my armory to see my defenses?”

She waved off the idea of her doing the dirty work. It takes someone who is actually intellectual to know how my defenses work. “Oh nonsense, my greatest scientists will come.” You seem to send your best and brightest to foreign lands a lot. Either you’re lying or no wonder this place is nothing compared to my fortress, maybe both.

“And here I thought you wanted to come to my neck of the woods for once,” I faked a solemn tone, which usually broke her.

“I,” she drew out the word for far too long. “I would love to go. I could… help you decorate or… or…”

“Or we could have a slumber party and eat desserts all evening and then share a bath while we talk about men, right, or are you afraid that I sleep in a coffin and won’t have a fluffy bed for you to stay in?”

She looked genuinely offended, good. “I am not a pampered Empress, you know. I work for my position.”

“Sure, you do, sweetheart.” I moved my other hand onto hers which was surprisingly still clutching mine. I picked hers up like a wet napkin and moved it away before I stood to go fake admiration for the painting of her above the fireplace.

“You’re very rude sometimes, Emmeline.”

“And you are very annoying sometimes, Elysewhyr.”

“At least I don’t want to end the world.”

“At least I don’t work my heart out for wastes of life.”

I heard her stand from the chair. “At least I didn’t kill my mother!” Oh, no you didn’t.

I turned right around and slapped that pretty face of hers. It could have been heard from outside the study for sure. My hand’s red imprint on her face disappeared as she became just as red. Whether it was from anger or embarrassment, I couldn’t tell, but she was extremely upset. I was, too, and I had good reason for it. Without using my hands, I pushed her down into the chair and stuck my finger in her face. “Don’t you dare speak of my mother, or it will be the last you ever speak of.” She knew I meant it; this was not a topic up for debate.

She kept one hand against her cheek and her head low. When she began to tremble, I walked away. I wasn’t going to watch her cry; she didn’t deserve it. It ruins anyone to see such a happy fairy tear up, much less sob like she was about to. Fairies tend to have that effect on people. Also, I kind of liked Elyse sometimes, too, so that didn’t help too much.

I looked over the many items in her study while she silently cried. I waited until she stopped trembling to go back over and sit with her. She still had her head down, which only made me feel worse, so I used one hand to brush some of her hair back behind her ear. “I shouldn’t have struck you, Elyse, so I apologize for that.”

She spoke, but her voice was now cracking and a bit higher-pitched, as if it could actually go any higher. “I’m s-sorry for bringing… h-her up.” Poor little pixie- I couldn’t help but give her a hug. She was slightly smaller than I, so I pulled her head into my chest. I wonder if she could feel the Darkness radiating off me. I could feel her light aura radiating, after all. It feels like a headache, like her hair. Was it real? I heard people have made ways of changing your hair color without using magic, which is what I do when I care too much. I wonder what Elyse would look like as a blonde.

Oh, right, she was crying. My mind gets sidetracked a lot since I had to start being a ‘leader,’ which is a huge overstatement. My leading consists of me letting my people do as they wish and having to deal with other leaders complaining about me all the time. I don’t remember the last time one of my citizens was killed without deserving it. I don’t care if you’re only four years old, you should know by the not to walk into the Necro Wasp nest in the south. I should have sent the parents to look for their kid if they weren’t smart enough to teach their child not to wander out here. I’m getting sidetracked again.

She was sobbing at this point. I couldn’t tell if it was from the slap or me scolding her. I didn’t have to hit her, but what can I say? It’s a sore subject. It almost felt like I made her bleed from how hard I hit her, but she would be over it eventually. She started talking in between sobs, which was a bad idea. Don’t want to suffocate yourself, little pixie girl.

“E-Em… Emily?”

“Uh huh?”

“Yo- You are one… of my o-only friends.” Here we go again.

I faked a reassuring tone. “You have plenty of friends, Elyse.” I’m not one of them.

Her arms hugged tighter, which just felt like a brace. How does this noodle-armed woman manage to damn near break my back when she’s upset? With a hug, of all things? “Th-thank you,” she cried quietly.

I pet her hair, one of my little guilty pleasures in this life. Fae hair was so soft, it felt like silk at all times. I think she used some special serum in it when she bathed. I should raid her bathroom before I leave to get what the ‘Empress’ uses. “There there, little pixie baby,” I accidentally said out loud. She usually didn’t like it when I called her a pixie, since apparently there is a difference. ‘Pixies are much smaller and don’t live like us fairies do,’ she once said to me. Today, however, I guess she wasn’t in the mood to argue. If she hugged any tighter, I’m going to need some reconstructive surgery.

I forget when she stopped crying, but when I looked down at one point, she was staring up at me. Weird. “Thank you, Emily,” she said in a whiny voice, much like her regular voice.

“Mhm.”

“Do I bother you?”

“A lot, usually.”

She let go of me, finally, and sat back in the chair. “I don’t know why you can’t just be nice to me. I’m letting you live in your own negative harmony.”

“That’s what I’m supposed to say.” She doesn’t realize that I can crush her with my pinky and an inkling of Pyromancy.

She sighed. “I wish we could be friends. You know what? I am going to come to your home. It’s the least I could do.”

“Uh huh, and let me guess: you’re still bringing your ‘best and brightest’?” I wasn’t surprised at all when she gave me a nod and big smile. Whether the crying was sincere or not, she played me like a toy. I should learn to not care when her waterworks start. She doesn’t even look like she was just crying; her pinkish face looked clean and perfect, like always.

“Fine,” I finally said. “But I get your bed tonight.”

“What?”

“It’s what friends do. Oh, and I’m going to need to use your bath, so you may want to stay here for a while. Oh, why don’t you just stay the night in here?” I got up quickly and went to the door. Before giving her any time to respond, I opened it. “Goodnight, Elysewhyr!” I called while shutting the door behind me. 

 “It is not wise to strike a tyrant,” Xinex spoke in his odd, brittle voice. Yeesh, don’t use my own words, you mockingbird. I shushed him, then led the two of them to my new room for the night. When I approached the Fae guardian, I watched him cowardly try to put his spear in my way. If it wasn’t my glare that pushed him away, then it was one of my friends’ emotionless looks. I strolled right into the royal chambers and fell back onto the bed. One of the brothers, Xin’ier and Xinex, closed the door to give me my privacy, which I would definitely need. Ooh, the sheets were so soft, softer than that pixie’s hair. I wish my bed felt this great. Mine isn’t a coffin or anything, but my tailors don’t make fabric like anyone else out here.

After a while of me enjoying the sheets, I got up and stripped off my dress and bag in front of a mirror, probably where she applied all of the makeup I saw on her face. It always amazes me to see myself in a mirror, especially the eye. Pure black and still slowly spreading. The veins all the way down to my right breast had become black, which was a good sign. Maybe not, actually, because what if a future partner sees? I don’t even know why I worry- it’s been forever. Men these days have issues with being significantly inferior to their female partners, so I tend to not have much fun. I remember a time when any and all things were just fine, even being all black-skinned.

I held out my left hand in front of me. I pressed my index finger against the top of my right breast, right over one of the veins. From my finger, I created a solid blade protruding from it, one that had the same familiar texture as the Void. It was extremely painful, but I pushed through it. A few drops of blackened blood seeped out onto the blade and I bent down to get an empty vial from my bag. I put the end of the vial to the blade and waited for it to fill up with the black liquid. It took a while and I got a little lightheaded, but it wasn’t as bad as it usually was. When it was almost full, I sealed it and made the blade disappear.

“Oh, damn it,” I exclaimed. Some blood splattered on the desk, so I covered two fingers in a glove of water and wiped it up. I carried the water and blood into the bathroom attached to the bedroom and let it fall down the sink drain. There, no harm done. I turned back into the bedroom and jumped, nearly screaming.

“Why are you bleeding all over my chambers?” Elyse stood in front of the bed with her hands on her hips. What are guards good for if they don’t keep out the unwanted? “Why is there a tube of sludge on my beauty cabinet?” Beauty cabinet, alright then. “Why are you naked?”

I put a hands over my parts because she had zero decency to look away. “First off, I’m monitoring progress. Second, I’m monitoring progress. Third, I’m monitoring progress and I’m going to take a bath. Plus, I'm not 'naked.' Now, my question: where are your manners, ‘Empress’?” I made sure to put heavy emphasis on ‘Empress.’

She turned her head a little to the left, but was still looking at me. “What progress are you monitoring in my bedroom? And please, cover yourself up.”

I stood my ground, because I’m not about to stand down against this pixie. “None of your business, and no. If you don’t like it, avert your eyes.” I wasn’t afraid of my body, but personal space is personal space; I’m not about to let her stare at my sacred parts, which she most definitely would.

Finally, she turned around. “Alright, okay, I won’t look. Why wouldn’t you put your guards outside the door if you were in here?”

Whoops. “Why would you come in when you knew that I was coming here? Curious, huh?”

“N-no! I’m an Empress, for gods’ sake.” I could tell she was blushing.

“Fine then. Well, I am going to clean myself up and then bathe myself. You can do whatever you want, but I’m not leaving.” I wasn’t going to give up this great room. She sighed, failing to sound frustrated, then went to sit down on the bed with her back to me. There’s nothing over there, silly, I know you’re just going turn around when I’m not looking. Either way, I went to the bathroom and closed myself in it. Now, some privacy. I turned on the decorated bathtub’s faucet and sat on the rim. I could hear her walking around her room, probably looking through my things. Why would she think I was her friend? I hate everything she is, and more.