i wasn't aware this was illegal, but now that i do, i can commit more crimes

It was the day after and Arwen was... exhausted. But she was also bored, so a short trip was clearly needed to sate her boredom and to not overwork herself. The gathering the day before had been... exhausting, to say the least.

She still wore her flower crown, shards of bone sticking up, and her necklace, with streaks of faded dye covering her body. Her hair was down, slightly wavy due to the ponytail she'd had it in. The older she got, the longer it grew, but right now it was manageable, so she had no need to tame it for now.

"If only I could have one of these," she said softly, peering at the doors, "Doesn't a queen need a palace?"

No one answered, of course. She was alone.

Stepping forward through the doors, she looked around idly, hands clasped together, eyes blinking under her perpetually smiling mask, cheeks rosy and lips pink and full. She hoped that some day she could remove the mask forever. Or at least choose when to have it on.

Hiding her face from even her loved ones seemed... cruel.

But nevermind that, she was supposed to be relaxing! So she walked, breathing in and out, trying to calm her thoughts, to allow her body to relax. Her shoulders dropped and her jaw unclenched, and she sighed softly. A little better.

The previous day...

The shrill alarm cry of a hellswan had Isra galloping out of the palace, large paws landing with thunderous smacks on the tile until she reached the greens, where she tore loose. She could feel it—adrenaline. It rushed through her like a high she had missed for eons. The flock was waddling about a herd of ivory deer who were disheveled, grunting, pacing. She skidded to a halt, circling them with the hellswans, sniffing, searching, her bone-face peeled apart in a snarl.

There was one missing.

But strangely, there was no blood.

The snakes hissed behind her, but Isra kept her cool. She walked between the creatures with the comfort and worry that a shepherd might travel his flock. There was a strange smell about them—a stranger, no doubt—but it was almost sweet, like nectar. Except, there was an underlying stench... death.

Her body rippled with licks of blue flame as her jaw parted into a sinister growl. Oh, what fun. She had not been gifted such a treat in thousands of years, and she was bored of the normalcy.

"Thank you," she muttered to the hellswans as she turned, walking slowly back to the palace as the deer shuffled back to their duties and the swans waddled back to their patrol route.

Once inside, she headed straight for one of the locked wings—a small one with only several rooms, one of which was a specialized nursery for herself and visiting Hands. This room was immaculate, with pristine white surfaces and translucent gems varying in size from small decorations to thick pillars. The ceiling was high with sparkling, dim lights glimmering off of the facets of crystal about the room.

Isra rummaged about various gemstones on a long table for a moment before choosing one at seemingly random, and brought it to a hollowed out chamber in the wall. With a fat paw, she placed the gemstone into the chamber and breathed her own magic into it; a chrysalis began to form, the quiet cracking of crystal echoing in the large room until it was complete. Satisfied, she left to get back to her normal, more boring, duties. It would hatch and join its herd to replace the stolen deer, and Isra?

Isra would remember that sweet and sickly scent for the remainder of her long, grueling life.

***

Present...

Yesterday was still burning on her mind—for someone who had a lot of time to kill, days did not go by as quickly as she might have liked. But it was her attention to detail that kept her so focused on every minute of every day. As she roamed the palace and approached the foyer, noting everything in its place, her body stopped on a dime with one paw lifted mid-step.

The flames of her eyes grew, and the lower portion of her skull-like jaw opened slightly.

Oh, this was it. The scent.

Ba, Si, and Ra had whipped themselves into a frenzy. They could not even speak. Their thoughts were only garbled hisses and screams from the hallway.

"Lights out, my dear guest," she said, her tone sweet and airy—and then the lights of the palace all blinked out at once.

"Lockdown." Though Isra had spoken this, the word reverberated throughout each piece of alabaster that was the palace. Doors slammed shut at the same time, the cleaning lessers scuttled quickly out of sight, and in just the moment of a breath, the palace was quiet, empty, and dark. Except, of course, for Isra and some brave intruder.

The only door that had not shut was the one between Isra and the foyer.

In the darkness of the lobby, her bluefire eyes would be like beacons in the darkness until her body adjusted to the voidlight, pelt rippling in deep purples and threatening, vivid green; the flames themselves would also melt away from the cool licks of blue into bright chartreuse. She stayed in the doorway, drinking in the scent and the faint warmth of a guest somewhere in the foyer.

Look. Every other cave had been overflowing with life, with prey and fruit and things to eat. Anyone would assume it would apply to these caves, seeing as she couldn't read any sign posted (if there were any), and that it was the normal of everywhere else, even new caves.

Except this one.

The door closed and she stilled, hands at her side, eyes wide. She'd walked into a trap of some kind. Had word already gotten out about the Court? About her new queenship?

"... I'm not frightened," she said, frowning underneath the porcelain mask on her face, pristine and white like the deer she'd taken the day before, "I was aware that this palace was open to visitors... I only wanted to visit."

Arwen's heart beat evenly in her chest, her breathing slow and steady, forced to be in order to show no fear.

"What business do you have with me?", she asked, her voice light and sugary sweet, head slightly cocked, magic wisping at her fingertips, ready to be cast should the need arise, but not before.

She thought back to when she'd been here last, trying to think of something she'd done to anger this creature. A light lit up in her mind and she realized immediately.

The deer. It had something to do with that. But how? What, was it illegal to hunt and eat? It wasn't as if the creature was going to waste. Quite the opposite, she wouldn't have given it to Rain if even a scrap would be tossed away. Such a beautiful thing couldn't be wasted.

But back to the matter at hand.

Two could play at this game, though. Sugary sweet yet dangerous. Hmph.

"I'm afraid I don't know who you are," she said, her voice like a summer breeze, warm and soft, refreshing, "Could I have a name, perhaps?"

She was laying on the charm, that was for sure. If she were to get away from this encounter unscathed... she'd have to be as diplomatic as possible.

Isra stepped through the doorway as the guest began to speak. Assumptions, questions, demands. She snorted. However, she did not approach the other, and instead held back, observing. How strong was this creature, for it to move so unnoticed through her territory?

It was but a plump grub. What kind of insult was this? Who had sent it here?

But Isra did not need to be charmed—and though she felt the magic tingle through her bones, she remained where she was, silent, thinking about what she wanted to open with.

"You will answer my questions first, thief," she said finally, taking several steps into the foyer but ultimately she still left a lot of space between them. "How did you attack the deer with no swans seeing you? How did you—a grub of lavished fats—carry it away, through the entirety of Cepheus, with no swans seeing you?" The fire of her eyes narrowed. "Who are you? What manner of Fate dropped you here?" She sniffed again. It wasn't theirs. Gembound, then? Hm. Then was it not deliberate? Was it all by chance? Or maybe it had been tricked, framed...? Its voice was too innocent to be that of selfish pirate, stealing her goods and the goods of the Hands.

A fluke? In her Cepheus? Isra felt her skin crawl.

Arwen clasped her hands together and hummed, trying not to be offended at the other's description of herself. She wasn't fat!

"Well... I'm a Queen. The Queen of the Fae, to be exact. My true name I only share with beloved friends, I'm afraid."

Well, she may as well do as told in order to remain Queen.

"They're deer," she said, "It was a manner of having it catch its eye on disorderly things, you see. I lured it out of sight and infected it with a disease. You don't have to worry, it was dead before it hit the floor. No pain... no misery. Once that was done, it was just a bit of effort to drag it away on a bed of branches."

She straightened and clasped her fingers together, her masked smile unwavering, "And it was no matter of fate. Simply boredom. It's so beautiful here, and I hadn't ventured into the palace yet, so I thought that perhaps, since I wasn't busy, I would come survey it."

Arwen looked around, though she couldn't see much. Even in the gloom there was a rather beautiful quality to the place.

"The deer was a gift," she said, "For a dear friend of mine. She has little protection and little to keep her warm, and I thought the fur might help. The meat we will share, the bones will be used as weapons or jewelry, the sinew and tendons as string and cord. Nothing goes to waste, not from such a creature as they."

Surprisingly, she told the truth. Weird for someone claiming to be the Queen of Lies, though perhaps the Queen of Deception might be more accurate. Manipulation, perhaps? But she was getting distracted.

"I am confused," she admitted, "I'm no thief, I swear it. I had no intent of stealing anything from you. Were the deer part of a herd of yours? If so, I'm terrible sorry, I didn't know. In all the caves I've been in, deer are free roaming and easy to catch and kill for food. I only assumed it was the same here."

Isra was silent for a moment, taking in and mulling over the stranger's words. Her excuses. When she spoke, there was a sneer in her tone, a haughtiness born of irritation. "Tell me--does Cepheus look like every other hellhole in these caves? Wild, raw, filthy? Or does it look clean, and trimmed, and maintained..?" There was a beat of silence, as Isra--still keeping some distance between them--considered her visitor. She sniffed.

"Yes, the deer are mine; and for someone who calls herself a 'queen,' you seem quite oblivious to the inherent dangers of strolling into a palace that is not your own, and taking freely from its well-kept land. I don't know where you are 'queen,' but such a title means nothing, here. Least of all to me."

Isra's flameglow eyes flickered as she looked Arwen up and down, again wondering at this one's origins, but ultimately it did not matter. It didn't belong, perhaps, but it had apologized, at least. "Why you stole my deer doesn't matter. I will let you off--this time--as you claim ignorance, and you apologize. Do not touch my palace, or its creatures, again." The warning was cold, and she almost hoped it would be ignored; such creatures had no place, here. Not on her palace grounds.

"Well the endless cave is nice, the one that seems to go on forever," she said, "And the stone cave, with the stars. That one isn't wild. Just a little run down."

The Queen felt a tinge of annoyance. She'd tried to sicken a master before, and had nearly killed a child for being rude, so it wouldn't be out of character to attempt to do something tricky to this creature as well.

"Allow me to speak without interruption for a few moments, please. I was told that people are allowed here, anyone is allowed here, should they be respectful," she said, "I've been nothing but polite, not touching anything in the palace, and aside from one deer, I've taken nothing else. Perhaps you ought to put up signs so you don't have to creepily threaten any more of your guests. For how can anyone know such a thing isn't allowed unless signage is posted?"

She tsked and flicked the end of her 'tail', "Perhaps signs to keep off the grass, lest the guardian of this place hobble outside and cry, 'get off my lawn!'"

Maybe it wasn't smart of her to mock Isra, but she was pissed.

"My faeries would have done what I did," she said, "Would have seen the beauty of a creature and wished it for a gift. Would have taken a deer as I did and would be here in my position, frightened and scared! They would not have known better! And you are threatening a child for ignorance! I am two months of age!! Any other child would cower!"

The Queen stamped a foot, her ears pinning, "I kindly request that you make a bit more effort to be more welcoming to your guests. Gembound come back and forth through here from the endless cave to the snowing cave, and it's inconsiderate to go from zero to one hundred because of a child's innocent ignorance! If a baby hatched outside, a little cub, and took a mouse, would you do this? Would you take them into a dark room and traumatize them for life over something so simple? I wouldn't, and I am very fond of not having strangers in my own home also."

She breathed out and crossed her arms, "You should visit sometime. I'll make you tea and tell you stories, and maybe then you'll calm down."

Arwen requested a few moments to speak without interruption, so Isra flicked an ear and prepared to listen. By Fate, was it a lot. If her eyes could truly roll, they would have rolled all the way to the back of her skull by now. When Arwen was finished, at last, Isra's jaw cracked open in a sinister grin.

"My, my, my," dropped her voice smoothly, her large feet carrying her forward several steps. "That was quite the speech. Why yes, most of the Palace and Cepheus are open to all, and for ten thousand years it has been this way—without signs. Whether it was written language or pictures, I doubt you lot would understand them, if you cannot make an educated guess by yourself. You see a nice thing, and you want to take it. Oh, and the ignorance of a child?" She scoffed. "I really could care less. Children are children because they are learning, and this will yet be another lesson for you."

Her body moved closer to Arwen, the door behind her closing and locking, making the foyer a completely inescapable room.

"First of all, dear child Queen, I do not take requests. Secondly, it is not my job to be welcoming to your kind at all. And lastly? No chrysalis would hatch so close to the Palace. Out there?" Her head motioned toward nothing in particular. "Out on the knoll? Beyond the river? I don't care. But if a chrysalis forms too near to the Palace, we destroy it. So, would I do this for a cub who has taken a mouse? No. I do it before he takes the mouse."

The flames of her body rolled and spit.

"It tickles me that you think I am not calm, or that I have threatened you," growled her voice, the snakes hissing over her shoulder. "There is no such thing in Cepheus. You either come and go as you please, abiding by my rules, or you do not go at all. You die. Here." Now she loomed over Arwen, staring down at the child as the lights in the foyer flicked back on.

Isra's colors began to shift back to normal. "If you were mistaken, or ignorant, then fine. Are you dead?" Her head tilted slightly, smugly. "No, because I asked you why you had done a thing, and your excuse was ignorance. Fine. I will accept such an answer once, and only once." The locks on the doors clicked and swung open, and the Palace exited lockdown with the sweeper lessers scuttling back across the tile. As this happened, Isra leaned down to whisper: "So yes, please enjoy the Palace; but the next time you steal from me is your last, as you are no longer ignorant."

Her head raised but her body remained where it was, staring Arwen down.

"If you want to share tea, we'll have to do it here. I do not leave Cepheus."

Further antagonizing Isra could place Arwen under the threat of a real death!

Oh how she wished she were larger. She'd never wrung out anyone's throat before but she assumed it would be very satisfying indeed.

'Oh yes. Assume that while you've clearly been asleep for a very long time, things haven't changed. Assume that we are exactly like the ugly, stupid creatures that roamed during your time- well, I assume they are ugly judging by your very unattractive appearance. I fully believe you fell into some dung and decided to leave yourself that way. Not to mention your face. Ugh. Isn't there a de-uglifying spell somewhere? You desperately need it.'
Though she desperately wanted to say all of these things, she didn't.

"And for ten thousand years, I don't believe that this cave has even been open, therefore no one would actually know the 'obvious' rules," she muttered, and then inhaled and spoke in a more distinguishable volume, "But sure. My sincerest apologies! For I've deeply wronged you."

'Take your tea and shove it up your arse.'

She wondered what kind of plague she could unleash upon this creature's flocks. Perhaps one that cause them to lose their fur and feathers. Since this creature clearly didn't like them being alive, she'd mess with her in other ways.

The Queen desperately wanted to rake claws across Isra's face, to mar that stupid, smug look. To make her bleed. She clenched her fists and dug her fingers into the palms of her hands, soft nails making cresent moons in her skin.

”I hope you wither and die," she said, chittering in bug speak, the only way she could possibly defy her, and then smiled, "Have a lovely day."

She turned and headed to the door, hands relaxed, rage boiling over in her chest, her masked face the perfect picture of serenity. Oh how she hated people. Hated the normal, stuck up cave boomers that strutted around like they were deities. Oh how she wished death upon them all.

She needed to find Marshmallow.

"You lot have only been here for five of those years, child Queen," she pointed out, following as Arwen turned to leave. "And I may not understand the chittering language you just spoke, but I do understand the tone."

Her head lifted, and she gazed upon the open lawn. "Hellswans, gather. To me," rang her voice, vibrating its way through the ground and summoning the growling honks of distant birds. Isra turned her attention back to Arwen.

"Ah, children. Today is just packed full of lessons, isn't it?" Within moments, the hellswans had fluttered in, circling and blocking Arwen's exit. "I do hope you enjoy learning as much as others have."

She said nothing more; instead, the Hellswans understood her tone and their long mouths opened, parting down their necks. Nine of them broke formation and dove in, their teeth and claws searching for any part of Arwen's flesh that they could find.