Chapter Four: The Queen’s Bargain

Arianna was shaking so hard she could barely stay on her knees with her mind racing speedily because she wouldn't believe what was happening to her. She would feel the old tale about the beneath. The floor was cracked black stone veined with something that pulsed a sickly green. Shadows pooled in the corners, refusing to obey any natural law of light. The Queen of the Underworld watched her with eyes that glowed like cold fire. Immediately, everywhere brightened with the garment worn by the queen. Her skin is pale as moonlight on tombstones; her eyes are deep wells of shadow that see the truth of every soul. No one escapes her domain

Tall, elegant, dressed in white shining silk that moved like liquid shadow. Her crown was twisted bone wreathed in pale, flickering flames. 

Arianna's mouth was dry. 

*Don't say something stupid,* she begged herself. *Don't—* 

"Hi," she rasped. "Um. This isn't what it looks like." 

Her voice cracked. 

The Queen's perfect lips curved in amusement. 

"Oh? Then what is it, mortal?" 

Arianna's brain raced. 

"I fell accidentally," she tried, voice unsteady. "Total accident. I'll just find my way home. Right now. Sorry for the trouble." 

The Queen's laugh was musical, cold. The room trembled with it. 

Shadows lengthened, snaking across the floor like living things. 

"Home?" she purred. 

Arianna swallowed hard. 

"I didn't *mean* to come here. I don't belong here." 

"Correct." 

The single word hit like a slap. 

"But you *are* here," the Queen continued smoothly. "And nothing enters my realm uninvited unless I allow it." 

"Allowed it," Arianna thought heavily to herself. 

She walked forward in slow, measured steps. Each heel-click was a funeral bell. 

Arianna tried to scoot back but found she was paralyzed. The floor itself clung to her legs like tar. 

The Queen stopped just out of reach. 

"I sensed you the moment you crossed the Veil," she said. 

Her eyes glowed brighter, as if trying to see through Arianna's soul. 

"You reek of mortal magic. Healing magic. Unspoiled. Rare. *Valuable.*" 

Arianna winced. 

"Ah ah ah, I'm not for sale.. and I know you're absolutely joking, right," she laughed quietly while whispering. 

The Queen smiled, showing perfect teeth that were *just* a little too sharp. 

"Oh, dear healer," she said softly. "You misunderstand." 

She raised her hand. 

Long, skeletal-looking fingers tipped with nails like obsidian blades. 

"You are not *for sale*. You are *mine*." 

The shadows obeyed her command. 

They surged forward, wrapping Arianna's wrists in black fire. 

She screamed as they burned with cold. 

Her magic buckled. She felt it scream inside her as the bonds squeezed tight. 

Tears blurred her vision. 

"Stop! Please!" 

The Queen lowered her hand. 

The shadows held fast. 

She studied Arianna like a scientist dissecting a frog. 

"You mortals are so fragile," she murmured. "And so very useful." 

She turned away, gesturing to the walls. 

The stone walls peeled open with a wet, cracking sound. 

Arianna gagged. 

Beyond them was a balcony of black stone. 

The Queen beckoned. 

"Come." 

The chains yanked Arianna to her feet. She stumbled, dragging her boots through the grime. 

She followed despite herself. The view made her breath stop. The underworld city sprawled before her like a nightmare given form. 

Towers of twisted black bone reached for a ceiling of roiling ash and fire. Windows burned with sickly green and red light. 

Bridges made of sinew connected buildings in looping arcs. 

Skeletal winged beasts screeched in the smoky skies, diving between spires. 

The streets below were teeming with shadowy figures in ragged cloaks or gleaming armor. 

Merchants hawked jars of screaming souls. Thieves skittered in the gloom, knives flashing. Guards in black iron dragged chained prisoners toward giant gates carved with tormented faces. And worse things. Things with too many limbs, too many eyes. Things that seemed to crawl *on reality itself.* 

Arianna pressed a hand to her mouth. 

She wanted to scream, but no sound came. The Queen's voice was low, intimate in her ear. 

"Beautiful, isn't it?" 

Arianna shook her head violently. 

"It's—horrible. It's—*hell*." 

The Queen smiled wider. 

"Mortals have always been so dramatic." She spread her arms, shadows licking her sleeves. 

"This is power. This is survival. This is *truth*." 

Arianna forced herself to speak. 

"Please. Just let me go home." 

The Queen lowered her arms. Her eyes narrowed. 

"You don't understand, do you?" 

She turned back to face Arianna fully. 

"You *can't* go home. Not unless I allow it." 

She lifted a finger. 

A swirl of green flame danced atop it. 

Arianna felt her magic recoil. 

"I can unmake you here," the Queen said gently. 

Her tone was motherly. 

Affectionate. 

"I can bind you to my walls. Feed you to my pets. Turn your healing magic into poison to torment your kind." 

Arianna sobbed once. 

"Why?" she croaked. 

The Queen's expression softened. Almost sad. 

"Because this realm is dying." 

She gestured at the city again. 

"Decay. Rot. Endless war. Souls twist into monsters. Our magic burns out." She turned back. 

"But you. You *heal*. Your magic is untouched by our corruption. You can fix things we cannot." 

Arianna blinked away tears. She shook her head slowly. 

"I'm not that powerful. I'm just—I help sick people. I can't fix *this*." 

The Queen's smile returned. 

Cruel. 

Seductive. 

"You can. Or you will try. Or you will never leave." 

Arianna's voice cracked. 

"This isn't fair." 

"Nothing here is fair." 

A long silence fell. 

The city roared and writhed beyond the balcony. 

Arianna sniffled. 

Wiped her nose on her sleeve. 

"...What do you want me to do?" 

The Queen clapped her hands once. 

A pair of gigantic armored demons emerged from the shadows. Black iron. Burning red eyes. Horns spiraling like a ram's. They carried a chained, screaming prisoner between them. The Queen gestured to the prisoner. 

"Heal him." 

Arianna's eyes widened. 

The man was a wreck. Half of his skeletal face burned to the bone. Ribs shattered and poking through burnt bone. Black ichor bubbled from his wounds. 

He shrieked and howled curses in a language Arianna couldn't understand. 

Arianna recoiled. 

"I—I don't even know if he's alive—" 

The Queen's voice was ice. 

"Do. It." 

Arianna's chains loosened slightly. She crawled forward on shaking knees. Hands hovered over the prisoner. 

She began to chant. 

Her magic was weak. 

Corrupted. 

She felt the Underworld fighting her. 

She tried anyway. Light flickered from her palms. 

Soft. 

Golden. 

It sank into the wounds. 

The man shrieked louder, his body convulsing. 

She poured her heart into it. 

Images of home. 

Flowers. 

Sunlight. 

Her mother's voice. 

Laughter. The magic pushed back the rot. 

Bone knit. 

Flesh closed. 

The black ichor boiled away in steam. 

Finally, he fell limp, breathing ragged but alive. 

Arianna collapsed beside him. 

Sweating. 

Crying. 

Shaking. 

The Queen applauded softly. 

"Well done, mortal." Arianna looked up, exhausted. 

"Let me go now." The Queen smiled. 

"Darling, that was merely your audition." Arianna's face fell. 

The Queen leaned down, brushing her cheek with cold fingers. 

"You will heal far worse than him. Things older than your entire world. Things that hate you. And you will do it for me." 

Arianna tried to crawl back. The Queen's fingers tightened on her jaw. 

"Because if you don't," she whispered, "I will peel the flesh from your bones and keep you screaming on my walls forever." The Queen straightened. 

Clapped her hands. The floor split open into a dark portal. Chains dragged Arianna toward it. 

"No! Wait!" Arianna screamed, scrambling on the floor. The Queen watched, unmoved. 

"Prepare her," she told the demons. "She begins tomorrow." 

Arianna's scream echoed as she was pulled into the abyss. The portal sealed behind her like a mouth swallowing a meal. 

Silence fell. The Queen watched the spot where Arianna had vanished. Her smile softened, just a little. 

"A healer," she murmured. "Finally." 

Her eyes gleamed with unholy fire. 

"Let's see if she can save us all."