Omega's Rebirth-Chapter 573: Royal Hall ()

~Fae Royal Forest, Heart of the Fae Realm~

Lady Diandre paced across the hall, a look of anxiety was etched on her features.

Her hands which were placed at her sides clenched and unclenched repeatedly, and her eyes darted this way and that ever so often.

Mostly to the doors of the hall, to make certain that her presence within these halls had not been sensed by the sentinels that kept watch over the royal hall.

This hall Lady Diandre stood in was the Fae Royal Hall of the Royal Forest, or as other races would call it, the throne room.

The Fae Royal Hall was a long abandoned hall, its honoured name and use lost in the ages through which there had been no crowned ruler of the Fae, centuries too long to keep a count of.

The Fae Royal Hall still was grand and majestic, adorned with intricate fae architecture that blended seamlessly with nature.

But with the centuries of desertion, vines and moss had begun to reclaim parts of the structure, giving it a slightly overgrown appearance.

The entrance to the hall, once welcoming and regal, now stood silent and imposing, doors firmly barred to deter all patrons, as were the laws set by the Fae Council on the bidding of the last High Queen.

This royal hall was now nothing but a vast space filled with remnants of its former glory. Elaborate chandeliers hung from the ceiling, their crystals dulled with dust and neglect.

Tapestries depicting scenes from Fae folklore and embroidered runes lined the walls, their colors faded with time.

At the heart of the Royal Hall was the great vine platform, where an ornate throne once sat from which the High Queen ruled and commanded all Fae.

Lady Diandre paused in her step, her eyes settled on the vine platform and she slowly walked over to the platform, reaching a hand to the vines, she held herself back, her hand just shy of touching the vines.

Lady Diandre exhaled slowly to calm her anxiety.

The strong, magical vines that forged the vine platform stood as it had been, entwined with each other to create a strong woven platform, yet there was no throne on the platform.

The vine platform was a unique and ancient wonder of magic, at full vitality, the royal throne emerged from it naturally,

Powerful vines growing out to forge the mighty seat of authority of the Fae.

At this time, the vine platform was just empty, and withered, the vibrant vines brownish and withered, its vitality slowly depleted over the years.

The vitality of the vine platform was dependent on the magic of the High Queen of the Fae, the vines enriched her nature magic just as her magic enriched it’s vitality.

With no High Queen and no throne, the vine platform had lacked nourishment of Fae magic for centuries already.

For how much longer it could remain before it lost it’s vitality completely was unknown.

Sunlight filtered through the stained glass windows, casting colorful patterns on the marble floor. The air was heavy with silence, one that had seeped into every crevice of the hall and would remain so for many centuries yet,

That was if something was not done about it soon.

This was the purpose Lady Diandre had lived for all these centuries, to restore the royal lineage of the Fae kind to their rightful place on the throne.

She had done everything for this cause, sweat, blood, tears... what had she not given?

And now everything was slowly falling apart piece by piece and it did not seem like there was anything she could do about it.

The anxiety Lady Diandre had been struggling to suppress rose sharply once again and she carried on with her pacing.

Retreating from the vine platform, she retraced her steps back to the fountain she had been anxiously standing by.

"What is taking so long? Why will she not receive me?!" Lady Diandre exclaimed in frustration, gazing anxiously into the fountain at the center of the hall.

The water in the fountain was perfectly still, undisturbed.

Lady Diandre let out a frustrated scream, a blast of magic exploded from her hand, shooting straight into the water.

The water in the fountain rose up and splattered everywhere.

Lady Diandre chest rose and fell heavily, her eyes going wide when she heard the voice of the sentinels.

"Who’s there?!" One of the royal guards charged with guarding the royal hall called out.

’I cannot be caught here!’ Lady Diandre thought in alarm.

The Royal representative as she was, not even she was at liberty to disregard the final orders of the late High Queen,

And the orders precisely banned all members of the royal family from stepping into the Royal Hall until the debt owed to the dragons had been settled.

Lady Diandre glanced around quickly, seeking out a hiding place, but she did not get to move away from the fountain before a force tugged her into the fountain.

Lady Diandre let out a gasp before her head dunked into the water, all sounds were cut off and she struggled against the force of magic that forced her deeper and deeper into the pond.

And then, after what felt like an eternity, she could finally breathe again.

Lady Diandre’s head broke through the surface and of a small pool, her hands clutched onto the edge and she gasped for breath.

"Welcome to my dark hall, daughter-mine." Celeste’s greeted in a light tone, watching Lady Diandre’s struggle for breath with an uninterested gaze.

Lady Diandre coughed violently to get out the water she had ingested in the midst of her struggles.

It took Lady Diandre quite a while to regain her composure and then she dragged her soaked form out of the pool, onto the black tiles of the dark hall.

"You black blooded wench!" Lady Diandre hissed fiercely.

A small smile settled on Celeste’s lips and she leaned forward on her seat.

"Still as short tempered as ever, I see..." Celeste observed.