Alleyways

The room's silence became deafening to her ears, she sighed as if she was letting out the heaviness of disbelief.

"Look at all of you, you seek vengeance from the nobles and knew not who your Empress was. What folly are you even vying to commit?"

Selestia rolled her eyes, "What a bunch of clowns…" she whispered underneath her breath.

"Empress?" The woman wondered in awe. "What do you intend to articulate?"

Selestia's snicker widened as her eyes glowed with abundant satisfaction, everything's going her way.

"Allow me to introduce myself." she took a step forward. All eyes gawked at her with anticipation. Perhaps they hoped that she was only causing a scene, that she was only building a fortress of lies to fool them.

Selestia figured such behavior of theirs, only then it had brought a brighter glimmer on her apertures.

"I am Selestia LeCelestine, one and only princess of Celeste…" her eyes looked side ward, from left to right to ensure that they're all ears. "…your now Empress of Thuhelda."

Their eyeballs shook and their hands trembled. In an instant, their hands reached for their pockets, and they revealed countless weapons beneath their garments. Their foreheads creased, and their eyes roared with bloodlust and resentment.

There's nothing more they could have wished for than to kill her.

To kill them.

Grandel immediately stood his ground, his hand crept down under his vest where two daggers were cloistered. Though the tension was in profusion between them, Selestia stood in stillness and serenity. As if she were satisfied with the comportment they limned.

She chortled, her hands subtly raised as they clashed them together, clapping with pleasure at what her eyes were depicting.

"You're facing certain death, Noble royalty, why do you seem glad about it?"

She smiled at her, though it grieved the woman with such annoyance.

"Let's work together, Marchioness Elsbeth..."

Elsbeth's eyes gawked at her widely with amusement, in her perspective, she believed not that she was the Empress, for her, she was a lunatic.

"Are you deranged? End this blathery! You are not the Empress, are you?!" she yelled, enraged.

"But I am. I do no blathering, I am sober, and I do not trifle with anyone." A pious demeanor existed on her countenance.

"Then, prove yourself."

"But I am the Empress. What is there to prove?" She spoke with an act of innocence.

"An empress would not risk her extravagant clothing in a place such as this."

Selestia sighed, "I thought people here are gullible. Well, at the least, I'm glad they aren't."

Her eyes viewed Grandel whilst she spoke, "Grandel, bring me my brooch..."

Grandel curtsied, immediately, he reached for the brooch beneath his best and approached Selestia cautiously. His every move was watched by the many men that stood present there, their weapons pointed at him. Indeed, there was no other intent they had but to kill.

Grandel handed a golden brooch to Selestia. It has gone silver linings on the edges and three amethyst stones in the middle of it.

Selestia took the brooch and slipped it on her lapel, she smiled at them before she spoke. "Do you believe me now?"

Her hands hovered around the brooch and looked at them individually. "I surmise you, Elsbeth know what this brooch is?"

Elsbeth looked at her closely and responded. "How could I not? That brooch is an heirloom from the very first Empress of Thuhelda. It is the grandiose embodiment of a female ruler and a nation's mother. The color of the amethyst represents the august and grandeur of the royal throne, that brooch symbolizes the Empress and only the Empress could hold and wear such a thing."

"I'm impressed." Selestia gleamed. "Then, this brooch is enough evidence that I hold the crown, is it not?"

Elsbeth looked at her comrades, she mimed them to lower their weapons down as she raised her hand upward. All else lowered their weapons and the tension lessened, though except for one.

"Why should we lower our weapons? Just because she is the Empress? Are we not against the nobility? And is she not one of them? It will bring the greatest honor to lord Lux if we kill her right this instant. That we may prove a threat to that cretin of an Emperor!"

A voice of a child arose from the surface that was yet to calm, with this speech of hers, the rest were brought to both agreement and disagreement.

"Aisling seems right, Elsbeth..."

The others nodded to agree with the aforementioned injunction.

"Who do you listen to here? Me or that child?" Elsbeth raised her head, her demeanor loomed with pride as she eyes them individually.

"Tie them and bring them to the lord Lux."

Selestia scoffed, "I dislike being bound, allow me to follow you. You do not want the Emperor seeing marks on my skin, do you?"

"We won't let the Emperor know, after all, you may not get out of here alive..." Elsbeth spoke.

"Oh, how threatening. It was so close...to making me laugh, that is. Go ahead, bring me to your so-called lord. Though dare not touch me, you can bound him with ropes instead."

Selestia looked at Grandel and confusion surfaced on his face. "W-What?"

Elsbeth sighed, "Very well. Haste, bring them to him."

"Yes, your lady!" the men responded.

Elsbeth trudged toward the child, Aisling. She was about eight perhaps, brunette hair and glowing chartreuse eyes. Elsbeth eyes her with threat that comes circling her pupils.

"Do not dare tempt me to bring you back to where you came from, you came here because of my mercy, then abide with my mercy."

Elsbeth purposely brushed her shoulders with Aisling's and went away, leaving the young child with a finger of anger that forced her forehead to crease.

Elsbeth led the men to a tunnel within the alleyways, Selestia and Grandel followed closely behind them, whilst more men followed, tightly watching over them.

Selestia's eyes roamed around whilst her apertures studied the tunnel. Sooner, when they kept trudging, Selestia came up with an idea of her own.

"Would you not like to form an alliance with this nation's Empress, Elsbeth?"

Elsbeth halted and so did the others, she looked at her with thoughts that flow a river of confusion. A part of her wanted to, but the other restrained her, for inside these tunnels lies the authority, she could not just agree with them.

"Will you be able to gift me my justice, then? If you are the Empress, I'm well certain that is not impossible for you."