Taaffeite did not flinch when she felt the queen's power wash over her, it wasn’t the fact she activated her aura, or that she had used her power to pry into Taaffeite's mind. No, none of that bothered her. It was the words she spoke. The question that lingered in the air for a long moment as she fought to find the meaning of the words.

Taaffeite did not care that Irithyl was digging into her mind as she thought for any reason for such an accusation as she realized why the queen herself had ridden out to greet them. Queen Irithyl had a powerful aura, as one of the only full-fledged soul mages in the entire nation if not the world, her family had been blessed with the bloodline ability: aura of intentions. It compelled honesty in her presence, though it was not all powerful. Taaffeite herself could fight against it if she desired but that’s where the queen's own magic came in, and why Taaffeite was now meticulously organizing her thoughts as she stood before her. Queen Tari Irithyl, the telepathist.

So, this is an execution force if need be. Taaffeite thought as she looked into the eyes of her queen, this simple act would look like defiance to anyone watching but Taaffeite knew this would allow the queen to look more easily into her own mind. Several soldiers stiffened at the motion, yet none moved without command. “I would never dream of such a thing, my queen.” She finally spoke confidently as a small grin appeared on the queen’s face.

“I knew you would never.” Irithyl sighed, though she was a skilled mage looking into another’s soul for so long was taxing, even more so while maintaining her aura. “Thank you for sharing your mind so willingly my dear Taffy.”

“Your majesty you can’t seriously believe…” one of the near nobles went to protest but was cut short by the sound of a nearby sword being drawn, his face dropping as a blade appeared on his shoulder.

“You doubt my judgment, Count Tarrax?” The queen didn’t even bother to look back at the man as she waved her hand, “Jarvis, please escort Tarrax back to the capital. Also, since he believes himself more competent than I, please be sure his lands are in proper order. If he proves to be as capable as he seems to believe, then I will listen to his whines.” The blade on the man's shoulder vanished as the man in the suit appeared before the count.

“As you wish, my queen.” The older man placed a hand on the Count before they both vanished with a pop. The other nobles around shuttered knowing Count Tarrax’s entire territory would be gone through with a fine-tooth comb.

“Now, my dearest Taffy,” the queen smiled, the guard behind her tensing as the queen walked confidently to Taaffeite and pulled the much taller woman into a deep hug. “I find myself lacking in honest company as of late.” The queen’s shoulders seemed to slump into Taaffeite out of sight from surrounding soldiers. 

“The thought that any would dare be dishonest to you surprises me my friend.” Taaffeite whispered as she returned the hug, “I do wish I came bringing better news.”

They quickly filed into the large meeting tent, the queen bringing in two guards as well as several nobles to act as witnesses, 3 men, 2 older and one younger, as well as a single elderly woman. It was truly a formality to quell the noble court but by doing such a thing, they could quell rumors from spreading later and it was of very little concern to Taaffeite knowing full well that she need only convince the queen and the rest of the court will fall in line behind her as they always had. Irithyl was not a vicious ruler, she was a fair and just woman who was in all accounts loved by the people and respected by many of the noble families, few would dare cross her and even fewer had any actual reason to as she always moved with the best interest of her nation in mind. Sure, she had her quirks as Taaffeite would put it, but who hasn’t burned a noble house or two to the ground, and no one would dare question the queen’s nighttime interest… not again at least.

Just as they entered the tent and moved around the large table, Jarvis appeared in the doorway with a bow. No one seemed to bat an eye at the elderly man as they all filed past him, aside from Amethyst.

“He must be a space mage like me.” She whispered looking at the man with wide eyes, she had never even heard of another spatial mage much less seen one. “Well, they are less common than soul mages… I think… it goes plasma, void then gravity, spatial, soul… those are the rarest yes… how would I know what they all taste like….”

“Void, plasma, spatial, gravity and soul magic.” The elderly man said noticing the young woman’s gaze, “those are the 5 pinnacles of magic.” He, much to everyone’s surprise, followed the young woman as he led her to a chair. 

“What… What makes them so special?” she asked, causing the older man to smile.

The younger noble man went to speak but was quickly silenced by the elderly woman next to him, “never interrupt someone who is being taught boy.” She said tapping the boy's shin with her cane. 

“Well, it’s quite simple, they are the hardest to learn and controll if one is not born with the ability to use them.” He nodded to the young woman. “They are known as the five pillars, Death, light, life, and darkness.” He moved to pull a chair out for the young woman only to be intercepted by Saffron with a glare, he simply smiled and backed away allowing the succubus to present her mistress with the chair.

“What about soul magic?” She asked.

“Well that one is a bit harder to quantify. First there was light, or plasma; and where there is light there is darkness, or space. From the two battling forces came life, gravity the force that holds all together. But life cannot exist without death so then came the void. Out of all the prime powers came thought, soul. So, soul magic would be thoughts, the thing that makes each of us special. That is the belief of the prime faith at least.” He smiled as the young woman nodded along with his words. “But that is a lesson for another time.” His words caused Amethyst to look around at the now silent room, a feverish blush covering her face as she sat looking at the ground.

Her reaction to the sudden attention brought a smile to many people in the tent as the young woman took a seat beside her mother. 

“She is quite curious, isn’t she?” Irithyl asked with a smile as Jarvis came to stand behind her. “I believe we can skip the formalities.” 

Taaffeite nodded, “I do agree, your majesty.” She sat across from the queen who was given the table head. Taaffeite took a deep breath, “but given what I am to share, some introductions are in order.” To her left sat Alexa, Father Joshua standing behind her, to her right Amethyst and Hecatolite, Saffron behind them. 

Queen Irithyl nodded as she waved a hand, “fine. Jarvis if you would.” She smiled, having already read Taaffeite's mind Irithyl did not care much for the formality of this all, but she did have an image to uphold and a reason she had assembled these nobles in particular.

“As you wish.” Jarvis nodded as he moved to the elderly noble that was seated to the right of the queen, “Duchess, Aerin Irithyl, former Queen of Crown.” He moved to the younger man next to her, “Duke, Tobin of the southern islands.” He vanished and appeared behind the three elder men on the other side of the table, “Duke Vincent Valhem, Marquess Harold Nexus, and finally Earl Andre Seyfair.” The elderly man introduced the final three in a single breath, much to the annoyance of Duke Vincent.

“I am…” He stammered as he puffed out his reddening cheeks.

“Yes, yes, yes, we all know who you are, Vinni.” Duchess Aerin waved her hand over the table silencing the man, “but we all are more interested in the entourage you have brought Marchioness Lapidary.” She said with a smile, her milky white eyes scanning the five of them as she nodded.

“Yes, of course.” Taaffeite stood, “I will save us the pleasantries then as you all know who I and my eldest daughter are.” She motioned to Joshua. “This is Father Joshua, former priest of Valor.”

“Former?” Vincent huffed, “why have you brought a disgraced priest before the queen, Taaffeite.”

“All in due time, Sir Valhem,” Taaffeite smirked as she motioned to Saffron, “this is my youngest daughter's lady in waiting Saffron, you will have to forgive her as she is currently unable to speak our language.”

“She brings a fallen priest and a lowly commoner who can’t even speak.” Harold scoffed as he looked to Vincent, “treason may not be…”

“And this,” Taaffeite cut the man off, “is my daughter Amethyst, along with her younger sister Hecatolite.” She placed a hand on Amethyst's shoulder as the young girl sat with her head down, she was muttering something that no one could hear only to sit upright at her mother’s touch. 

“Taaffeite, clearly you…”

“Will get to speak her piece, Vincent.” Irithyl glared at the man, “without interruption.” Her words silenced any further protest.

“Now, I will make no effort to hide my intentions.” Taaffeite sat and folded her hands on the table. “I wish to remove the church of Valor from my territory, ideally from our entire nation.”

The explanation took several hours, Taaffeite, for her part, leading the story as she presented Father Joshua who had told them of the church's plan. The plan itself was as simple as one could be: summon a lesser demon, starve it, then release it into the city proper only to have the church's forces come after enough damage had been done and remove the demon in an attempt to indebt the territory to them… Saffron having been given a terminal had told them how dumb this plan was because even now she didn’t think she could defeat the Lapidary family, the “laughing giant” could end her without even calling on her mistress’ power, and the matriarch would easily dispel any illusion she could conjure… Alexa took offense when Saffron said she was the only member of the family she could safely fight but that whole argument was shelved when it came time for her to dispel her own illusion.

“So, that’s a demon.” Tobin whistled as he eyed the woman.

“Seriously, that’s clearly one of Taaffeites' illusions.” Vincent blustered, “it's simply a trick, the same as that false priest of Valor. Or did you think we wouldn’t bother to identify him Taaffeite, he is the follower of what I can only assume is a devil given how proudly he displays the holy vestments of Valor that he has defiled.”

Joshua, confused, pulled up his soul page in his mind, it still had “priest of Valor” displayed on his traits though it had turned gray since Hecatolite’s… forceful removal of his faith. However, now his page also displayed “prophet of X47” as one of his titles, a new development that caused him no small amount of confusion as, for all he knew, Hecatolite had yet to even recognize him.

“How long do you plan on playing this game, Taaffeite?” Harold chuckled, “next you’re going to attempt to make it seem like your daughter is some sort of monster…”

The room suddenly grew cold as black veins erupted on Amethyst's neck, the air around her seemed to bend out slightly as her eyes flashing black for a brief second before returning to their normal purple as she began to breathe heavily.

“Amethyst?” Taaffeite gently lifted the girl's face to look into her eyes.

Amethyst nodded, “H… Hecatolite doesn’t like being called that.” she said with a weak smile, “she says she’s sorry for that.”

“Are you both ok?” Taaffeite asked and Amethyst nodded before Taaffeite turned on the man, “Harold, was it? I care not if you believe me, or even if you think me insane, but I will not have you insulting my daughter.” Her voice was calm, yet it dripped with an unspoken threat that caused the man to recoil slightly before he regained his composure.

“This farce has gone on long enough; this is clearly a ploy by the clearly radical Lapidary family to slander the church of Valor.” Harold slammed his hands down as he turned his eyes to the queen, “your majesty, I implore you to please give the order to rid these heretics from our lands!” 

Queen Irithyl… Rolled her eyes. “You seem to misunderstand your position here Harold, however, I do agree this has gone on long enough.” She sighed as she turned to the duchess that sat to her right. “Would anyone else like to speak before I pass my judgment.”

The older woman thought for a moment, her milk white eyes falling on Amethyst, “I would like to meet this Hecatolite. Though I doubt your judgment will interfere with that much.”

“Come now Duchess Aerin, you cannot have fallen for such a blatant attempt at treason!? After her son abandoned his post…”

“Jasper did what now?” Taaffeite cut Vincent off mid-sentence as she looked wide eyed at the queen who scowled at the man.

“Jasper… has gone missing. Along with your story I believe the church is to blame, though I doubt they took him by force.” Irithyl sighed as she stood.

“They… they took Jasper.” Amethyst's voice trembled as she looked back to her mother.

“Oh, they didn’t take him child, he betrayed his vows. A…”

Whatever Vincent was saying was lost as Irithyl locked eyes with him, her whole body shook as her voice tore into the man's mind itself, “Enough from you.” She hissed as the man's head seemed to lull to the side before his eyes rolled back and he fell from his chair. “And you.” Her eyes fell on Harold who was now shaking, “I attempted to allow you both a chance to confess your sins in private, but I see now that was a mistake. One I will correct.” She closed her eyes for a moment before she spoke. “Harold Nexus, you have conspired with the enemies of this nation and its people. You have betrayed our nation and as such, are hereby stripped of your title and lands.”

Harold stammered as the queen opened her eyes that were glowing with a smokey white, his words seemed to catch in his throat as she nodded.

“All of this for something so petty.” Irithyl’s face contorted as the man began to violently shake, “you unleashed a demon in my lands, attacked my people, betrayed my trust for the pathetic desire for more land!” She was yelling as the man's eyes rolled in his head only for her to sigh, releasing her hold on him allowing him to slump forward. 

Irithyl slumped back into her chair as her guards quickly went to work gathering the two unconscious men. Irithyl rubbed her temples as she looked at the now terrified Earl, “Congratulations Earl Andre, you are hereby appointed temporary ruler over Harold’s estate. Do not disappoint me.” She waved a hand dismissing the man who all but ran from the tent.

“Well that certainly was not what I was expecting.” Torbin slapped his legs as he stood.

“Sit.” Irithyl commanded, causing the young man to fall back into his chair. “I don’t know what foolish games the southern islands are playing Torbin, but I swear to you here and now if you harm a single citizen of Crown, I will sink the entire island into the ocean. Am I clear?”

The young man shuttered as he bowed his head, “crystal, your majesty… I will correct my affairs immediately.”

“Good, you are young Torbin. You have much to learn but I have faith you will not repeat the blunders of your predecessors.” She dismissed him as she looked back to Taaffeite who was consoling her youngest daughter… or second youngest, honestly Irithyl had not figured out what exactly Hecatolite was, but it was clear that there was something in the young girl’s mind that was not her own. “Now Taaffeite, shall we talk without the distractions?”

Taaffeite nodded, “I am truly sorry for the trouble my friend.”

“It is no trouble,” Irithyl removed her crown and placed it before her, she ran a hand through her hair as she spoke “simply pests that should have been removed long ago. Now Amethyst, I don’t believe your brother has been taken nor will he be tried for treason. I do, however, know that he did leave his post shortly after you all left your territory, finding that he is not here with you all as we had originally expected only means we simply do not know where he is. Thankfully your family has a very unique skill that will allow us to clear this up just as quickly.”

Taaffeite, following the queen’s words, summoned her Babylon terminal, “Index, send a message to Jasper. Where are you?”

The screen instantly flashed, “Message from Jasper Lapidary, the Ashen Sage. I am going to fulfill my duty to the holy father and mankind…Please note:  Jasper has disabled the messaging function of his Babylon terminal.”

“Well, that doesn't leave much to the imagination.” Alexa said as a faint whimper filled the air, “good job Jasper, you made Amethyst cry.”

“Hecatolite… can you… yea.” Amethyst's words caught as she held back her tears, her fear that something had happened to her brother were quelled for a moment but the simple fact that he was gone now, she did the only thing she could think of. Amethyst's head nearly hit the table as she slumped forward, she was caught in the last second by Saffron only for her to violently snap upright as the telling signs of Hecatolite began to branch up her neck. 

As the young girl opened her eyes, Saffron and Joshua fell to their knees, Hecatolite’s presence filling the tent as soldiers rushed in to respond to the sudden burst of magical power.

“Oh, you’re only going to frighten the girl,” Aerin chastised the guards as she batted at one with her cane. The elderly woman seemed to be unaffected by Hecatolite’s wild magical pressure that cascaded through the tent, nearly lifting the cloth from its post as she looked around.

Hecatoltie’s eyes met the queens as she cocked an eyebrow. “Well… someone lied to me, there's no way you have been the queen for 30 years.” were the first words Hecatolite Lapidary chose to speak to the ruling queen of Crown as she smiled at the woman.