Chapter 12

White smoke swirled around, covering her totally; she stayed there for hours. Her guards panicked, fearing something might have happened to her, and called out to enter, "Your Majesty!" It was a critical moment for Elora; she felt the energy in her chamber about to overflow, and a knocking sound left her body.

And her bottleneck broke, Elora felt instantly relieved, her eyes opened and she dispensed the air around her.

In time for her guards to rush in after getting no response, they saw the queen's body covered in a darker hue of green and instantly knew she had advanced.

Elora steadied her aura, her body brimming with energy, though she felt no urge to study spells. Advancing in magic alone meant little without understanding spells- without comprehension, the power was empty.

"You're here. Just in time," she said, the guards stood erect as she turned to them. Their eyes looked up as she moved towards them without any clothes on.

Elora wasn't bothered by her state of undress and strode toward them with a serious gaze.

"Do all of you swear in the God of light name to serve me, Obey me and secrecy. Once betrayed, your magic chamber explodes, leading to your deaths." Her cold words made the women panic, each wondering if they had done something wrong.

(We've already sworn their lives to her Majesty when the late queen died. What's wrong? did those guys anger her Majesty?) The first one was panicking, wanting to go to the warrior's barracks to ask those women.

(If they had wronged Her Majesty in any way, they'd face punishment in the fiery caves. I know they don't acknowledge the queen but it doesn't give them the right to disrespect the queen.) Her face was calm outward, but she was already listing torture methods to use on her warriors.

Elora's coldness was thwarted when she heard their thoughts, "Both of you sit down." She said in a light tone catching the women off guard.

They looked at her, and she gestured they should sit like her; they obeyed with no questions asked, making Elora nod inwardly with approval.

Elora cast a cloaking spell on the pool and turned to them.

"Now, follow after me. Don't struggle, allow the energy to flow." She warned before she started parting the breathing techniques to them.

The women were fearful when the energy in the air entered their bodies but were shocked to see the impurities flow out through their mouths.

They finally relaxed and focused on absorbing the energy; they stayed in a lotus pose like Elora, entering into a trance-like state.

Elora, seeing there was no issue, picked up her clothes, casting a cleaning spell on them, she wore them.

And sat on a rock, waiting patiently as she ate her shortcakes. Her legs were dipped into the water, tapping the water as she enjoyed the sweet taste on her tongue.

After some hours, the sky grew dark, and the women woke up, they felt the changes in their magic chamber, and the red hue around around one glowed a darker shade. Shows she upgraded to the Advanced level of Master stage

The other guard's red glow deepened only slightly, indicating she had reached the intermediate level of the Master stage.

They exchanged gazes of disbelief, they checked their magic chamber thoroughly and found no impurities left after their practice.

They were shocked by their discovery and glanced cautiously at the entrance; what happened here needed to be taken to the grave with them.

Imagine what would have happened if the world found out about such a new technique; it would be chaotic. No wonder her Majesty asked if they had sworn with their life.

Their eyes focused on the queen, who was sleeping peacefully by the shore. In their hearts, they swore to protect her until death, grateful for the generous gift she had bestowed upon them.

Nalia, the strongest of the two, moved quietly to the queen; she cast a teleportation spell, covering them with a darker red hue. They both vanished.

Lia didn't react fast enough to teleport the queen herself.

She teleported to the queen's quarters and found Nalia gently covering the queen with a blanket. She held her breath, careful not to wake the queen, and signaled for Nalia to leave quietly.

Nalia knew what she wanted to speak of and took out a coin from her dimensional bag.

"Heads or tail?" She asked, ready to flip the coin.

"Tails," Lia answered, staring at the gold coin in focus. Nalia wrapped it with a spell and it flipped in the air between the both of them and stopped, dropping to Nalia's outstretched hands.

Lia's shoulders dropped when she saw the dagger design on the top and knew she failed. Nalia's face was stoic as always, but a smile crossed her eyes.

She put her money back into her bag, "When you go back to the barracks, anyone that shows slight disrespect for her Majesty." She paused, her gaze cold, carrying potent murderous intent.

"You know what to do." She left those words unsaid, but Lia understood loud and clear; a wicked grin crossed her face, thinking about the torture methods to use on them to let off steam after failing to stay with the queen.

She disappeared, and after thirty minutes, another higher-ranked guard appeared to replace Lia's position.

***

Meanwhile, in an inn, a young man with long ears and gold long hair gasped with pain as he held his bleeding side.

Two guards appeared, knelt, looking at the man in apology, "Your royal Highness, punish us. We failed to guard you well." One brought out a dagger, stretching it toward the man.

The man frowned and poured a potion, the wound closed, his flesh scabing over. The man laughed, feeling it was laughable.

"Haha..." He, a royal fae, was reduced to being hunted by his stepmother for the throne. He pulled back his hair, his eyes turning cold. His stepmother should be grateful he wasn't interested in taking the throne- otherwise, she would have died long ago.

The guards on the ground shivered seeing their prince like this.

"You are my trusted guards. I'll overlook this first blunder." His gentle, soft tone floated into their ears; instead of them feeling relieved, they were more afraid.

"The next time this happens....." A red hue surrounded the guards, grasping hard on their throats.

The pressure left them, making them suck in deep breaths, their backs soaked with sweat. This is the true prince they know.

"We'll be staying in Palaverda kingdom for a while."