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The king Cleo and her knight False traveled through icy desert. Fur cloaks covered both of their bodies, as their horse slowed down. Massive black citadel, consuming the white snow around it, had its towers clawing at the sky. Chill that went across their spines wasn’t only from the cold.
The structure before them felt alive and dead at the same time. This part of the continent had been called cursed and deadly as those who went into its depths never came back, its brutal snowstorms believed perpetrator.
It was inhabitable.
Or so it has been believed. There were stories about a mysterious citadel, a work of true master, yet those were legends. And now the gates of it had opened themself for them to walk inside.
None of it would have happened, if not for a mysterious package that got delivered to the king. The many riches, rare ores and plants, weren’t the thing that caught her attention. Letter that came with it was addressed to the king Cleo themselves, the sender promised a beneficial trade, the only request was for king to pay a visit to their land. It specified that they could take a group of their best soldiers for safety, but the path was not merciful. Cold will take those who drag behind.
The tone of the letter was sweet, yet dangerous. It was a challenge. Temptation. ‘Queen Pearl’ concluded the paper, besides that there weren’t any details about who they were. With it also was included a detailed map of the secure way through snow tundra.
“You aren’t actually considering this, right?”
False’s figure came out from behind Cleo’s throne, one hand casually resting at sword’s hilt. “Right?” Slight rise of one eyebrow gave out the start of realization.
The king still had the map carefully spread on her lap, their eyes not leaving the black square on the mountain, their destination, while she answered. “If you are trying to imply something, you should say it directly”
“We.. We never even heard of this Pearl person. What are they? They are going to have a tea party with us and we’ll.. we’ll.. we’ll what? Chat and go home?” The knight’s face had a grin and furrowed eyebrows, head shaking.
“The travel will not take long,” Cleo’s short answer was followed by sharp gaze at the knight.
“You know. I can’t protect you from everything”
Silence stayed over them for a minute, as False’s fists clenched painfully, her eyes focused on the floor. Slow footsteps were followed by hands gently grasping at her face. Eyes full of trust and care was everything that needed for the knight to take a deep breath.
“I understand.” Feeling troubled smile, she hurried to hide it by placing a kiss on another’s lips.
Passing through the jagged iron bars of the opening felt like going into the creature’s mouth. Swallowed by curiosity and devotion. The inside had warm and cold impression as the lighting varied from blue to purple-ish, the vast room took up more space than it seemed from the outside. The atmosphere of this place gave the traveling duo goosebumps, not like they would admit it.
As the enormous gates closed by themselves, it became almost completely silent, except for their own breathing and crackling of blue fire.
“I see that you’ve accepted my proposal”
Cleo’s body jumped, as they could not only hear, but feel the words whispered near her ear.
Sudden screech of the king had False jump between her and the unknown person in a flash of a second, her right hand already armed with a dagger, its sharp point next to the neck of the possible danger.
“I apologize for my behavior. You looked so spooked, I couldn’t miss the opportunity.” The towering figure had an accompanying tall golden crown, its shape resembling the citadel, the face of the culprit had a subtle smile. “I hope this didn’t spoil your first impression of me much.”
They had their arms in the pockets of their overalls, the clothing resembled one of a garden worker and contrasted drastically with the crown.
“How did you..” False’s voice stuttered, “how did you went behind us without getting noticed?”
“Hm. I would say that living here long enough teaches you how to be silent” The person still didn’t show any signs of distress at having a dagger at their throat.
“False.” Strong voice commanded.
“This is our possible friend, it is not nice to point daggers at them.” As the knight begrudgingly stepped to king’s side, Cleo rested their arm on her spine. It wasn’t discreet, but other than a short glance, the host didn’t say anything.
With an overexaggerated bow, crown’s sharp end pointing at the newcomers, she introduced. “Queen Pearl.”
Taking king’s hand in her own and leaving a peck on it, “King Cleo, my pleasure”. With a single glance at False, “and their knight False.”
Making a little cough sound, Pearl continued. “It would be rude to keep guests at the doorstep. Would you like to have some tea to rest from your travels?”
Cleo ignored False’s sneer smile, agreeing to the idea.
Pearl started walking through the corridor with her spine leading, pointing out little details of the building. The king tried to listen, but the lack of footsteps was distracting to say the least.
“So” Trying to initiate further questioning. “Was it you who created this… all of this?”
There was a chuckle from Pearl. “Thank you very much for such generosity. But no.”
“I don’t see anyone else, do you?” Not waiting for long, False said with irritation.
Pearl’s eyes squinted at the knight before relaxing again. “This place is different from yours. I flourish in its uniqueness. The only thing is, the master of here isn’t the most comfortable with people.”
“Is that why this place was unknown to others? But how are you here then?”
“I think it will be easier this discussion in a more calm setting” The queen Pearl cut off king Cleo’s attempt to learn more, her face sharper than it was earlier.
After turning a few times, making their way down similar hallways, they stopped before a door not in any way looking special from the others.
A big key seemed to almost materialize itself into Pearl's hand. As she put it in and turned it, opening the door, the cacophony of color and smell burst after it. Both False and Cleo had to close their eyes, already having become accustomed to the dark lightning in the citadel.
“What the-” False clutched her nose with her hand. “A little warning maybe?”
“Ah. My apologies. I didn't think a bunch of flowers would scare you” Pearl said, openly smirking.
Entering the orange-green room, it was particularly small, yet housed a variety of unfamiliar plants. A simple red circle table with three chairs took up almost half of the space. As Cleo and False sat down, some of the journey’s tiredness caught up to them. Three cups of hot unknown substance were soon placed on the table. The chit-chat initiated by Pearl consisted of mostly unrelated topics.
“You know why we accepted this” Cleo suddenly said, stoping Pearl mid-word.
“I do”
“And where is it”
“What you need lies down in the deepest sections of the dungeon. It will take as a trip of two or three days worth” Blue eyes stared into green ones. “You might not get out of it alive. You can still back out” As the silence went for a few minutes, Pearl continued.
“It’s getting pretty late. I will wait for your answer tomorrow morning” With that Pearl led them to a spare room with beds. Being left alone, both of them took a deep sigh of relief. Deciding to put the future’s grasp away at least for some time, they helped each other get out of armor or corset and lied down onto the bed. False’s arm holding Cleo close.
The skull on the door buzzed with unknown energy, glowing icy blue. The hidden mechanism lifting heavy metal up, opening up a start of a mineshaft, one minecart ready. The frost creeping from the deepness of the tunnel.
“The dungeon is ready for its next guest ” A booming voice echoed from the entrance, last word had a slight distortion, like it was added later on, changed.
“After you, my lady” Pearl bowed, moving to the side.