Sunniva Glasse snaps her finger, a servant grabbing swiftly grabbing the young daughter of House Ravenkeep.

Sun-kissed skin, with hair that burns like untethered flames, she makes her way to the woman her servant kept in place.

Pale skin, fragile arms… Sunniva tears her gaze away, pondering the view of the empire from the valley. It isn’t often she could see just land.

For the first time since her return, she breathes steady.

She’d rather admire the imposing glare of the distant ball of heat rising amongst the peaks of the Sesquipedalian mountain range than hear the roaring waves of the Mammoth Gulf.

Hushed whispers in the back of her mind kept at bay by the silence of the land. Nothing looms where the sea cannot reach for the nearest shore is a week of travel away.

And yet–––

“My lady,” the lady Ravenkeep with her gentle voice spoke, “forgive my misstep.”

Sunniva’s thought dragged short, remembering the task at hand. Of course, she looks back to the Count Ravenkeep’s daughter, though faint there is a presence to her that none have noticed. An aura befitting for a mage second only to her.

Though her name––– she chuckles to herself.

What was it again? Iridia?

It was amusing to the Daughter of the Duke to meet a mere Count’s daughter be named to mean “light” in an Empire with a tradition to have the crown bear a name after the great sun.

She finds it ambitious.

Had Iridia been born with natural prowess for magic, she might have had a chance. Might bearing the heavy burden on that sentiment.

“And what misstep has been made, Lady Ravenkeep?”

“I dare not presume. I am not as blessed in propriety and knowledge as my brother, my lady. Perhaps I may be enlightened?”

With a wave from her hand, Sunniva dismissed her maids and her guards.  The mention of that Ravenkeep soured her mood. She'd sooner walk barefoot on shattered glass without utilizing her blessed constitution than to even sit with Indigo Ravenkeep and ask him, of all people, for assistance.

In a different time, she’d had him killed.

Heels clicking against the marbled tile, her hand caressing the golden frame of the window before her, finding it quite odd that a mansion as small as this one had a hallway filled with windows with golden inlays.

She takes a deep breathe, the scent of fumes, though faint, present.

“Not as blessed?” Her gaze tore from the view back to the well-lit hallway of Ravenkeep estate.

It lacks the opulence of chandeliers and silken curtains. The coarse touch of granite certainly adds to the lack of prestige and yet, this place is a stronghold. Not for military might nor societal presence, but something Sunniva dearly seeks.

Finally, she spares the young woman her gaze. Her visage matches well with the surroundings and yet, Sunniva admits this with no flattery, Iridia has no place within these halls.

“Do not lie ever so blatantly, not when I stand before you.” Sunniva turns, leaning against the window frame.

She throws a pouch on the floor, flimsy.

Curious, Lady Ravenkeep takes it. Her nails untying the knot, pulling out a clear gem.

“It is lovely,” she mutters.

“It is nothing.”

Sunniva’s gaze, her dark green eyes, bearing down on the smaller woman, as if to invoke a challenge. A desire to be proven wrong.

“Tell me, Iridia. What tales have you heard about the Myrmidons?”

“I did not think stories of the soul interests you, my lady.”

“Where my interest lies is not the matter at hand.”

“Forgive me.” Iridia bows her head, thumbing the gem. “My knowledge is limited on the matter. I know of the tales that promises a new chance at life upon death brought by creatures beyond our imaginations for a price.”

“The price being?” Sunniva knows of the answer, it sends shiver down her spine.

She dares not name the cause of such emotion though the quiver of her lips betrays her. A small tug at the corner of her mouth.

“Our soul tethered to a deity.”

“Indeed. That incantation, have you read it?” Sunniva walks towards Iridia, plucking the clear gem and crushing it with ease.

Blood drips within her tight knuckles. The young lady would be shocked if she was not more intrigued.

Her hand, on instinct, tries to catch the dripping liquid. It lands on her palm, mixed with the small fragments of the broken gem.

Eyes glowing a sinful velvet, Iridia could no longer hide her nature.

Her voice echoing as the light of this sunny afternoon suddenly get sucked within the blood that pools from her palm.

It radiates the same color glow.

With swift hands, Sunniva covered her mouth. “You dare endanger my life, Ravenkeep?!”

The color in Iridia’s eyes fades, slowly returning to the dark for her to see Sunniva, eyes wide and breathing heavily.

“Limited knowledge?” She backs away, wiping the blood with a handkerchief without even a flinch. “You’ve proven your worth. Meet me at Gonage Village in three days’ time.”