Test of Loyalty ( Breton )

[Mysteria]

The sound of Thunder in the distance caused Mysteria to pause in the middle of a sentence in her writing. Her teal-violet eyes looked over at the nearest window and smiled faintly at the heavy think clouds rolling in over the mountains. A storm was coming and this meant a perfect opportunity to harvest nature’s raw power. However, something kept her in her seat. The scroll she had been writing on was not complete and doing something other than her set task was something the kray woman knew was un-acceptable. After all, this was far more important than harvesting lightning to make gems.

She stretched the scroll paper out on the desk with her fingertips. The only source of light was a few candles placed on top of an infant drake’s skull. A stack of reports piled up on the other end of the desk. All that she had gone over, though to fill out each request required money or men in which during this time were more or less high on the celebration of the entire event taking place this month.
Mysteria griped her pen with frustration as she wrote down on the scroll the finishing inscriptions. Her bandage hand starting to hurt under the amount of pressure she was placing against the pen as she was scribbling away at the paper. When she was done, Mysteria stared down at her work. The storm was even closer now, the sound of rain could be heard outside the walls of her laboratory. Even the smell of water was thick within the air as she looked over at another desk within a few feet away. Displayed so neatly on a stone figure head a beautifully designed black leather collar with silver clasps and opal stones. Scattered out on top of the desk were even more designs of this same collar.

“Fate is this what you truly believe will help achieve this kingdoms goal? “ Mysteria asked herself as she stared at the collar, knowing good and well what Breton had been doing with the prototype until finally today of its completion. River’s warning playing out in the forefront of her thoughts.

[Breton Fair'los]

Breton had entered Mysteria's bedroom after three knocking attempts were made. He scanned the room knowing very well the secret door that hid mysteria's most vauble belongings away from most prying eyes was behind that door. His bright emerald eyes widen and his mouth gaped at the poor condition of the noble bedroom. Papers scattered along the floor, bed and dressers. The bed post broken and the mattress tossed over and torn apart. It was a complete wreck. An it looked like no one had been here for weeks. Though the man knew as he stepped closer to the open space within the room.

His hand cupped over his mouth as he rubbed his hand up over his face and head. He brushed his hair back and stared at the blank space on the wall. His eyes glowing a soft green hue as he spoke in a different tounge. " Eyk sini ethdrow." The door opened and the Regent slid past the door. When he entered the lab he closed the door behind him. His eyes locked onto mysteria as he moved across the room. His movement rather smooth and graceful as he approached the desk with the collars on them. His hands picking up the stone head statue with a sheepish smile.

"Oh my you have done a fantastic job from what you have described. After all the last one nearly choked the woman todeath. I don't need her being strangled like a dog on a tightened leash." Breton sighed striding over to Mysteria as he held the statue up and brushed her shoulders. "So obedient you are my dear. Never have I seen such a look in your eyes... Why do you look so destraught?" he asked in a smooth tounge dropping down to her height and cradling the statues head in his arms as he looked up at Mysteria. "Is it complete?" He asked with an enthusiastic smile. Similar to how a child would ask if he could open his present now or not.

[Mysteria]

Mysteria's gaze turned from the collar around the statue's neck to the door the moment it cracked open. Her pupils transformed into slits similar to a reptile when the figure first entered. When the realization set in that it was Breton, Mysteria's eyes turned back to normal and she no longer remained tense in her chair. Her eyes trailed with Breton as he strode on over to the desk where the collars were stationed. A small frown forming as she pressed her lips tightly together. Even her shoulders shivered at his touch, his fingers sending a cold chill down her spine. Even when he dropped down to her height and asked if what she had been finalizing was complete. Her brows knitted forward as she gave a disappointed sigh. " Do you truly care if I am distraught or not my lord? I wonder at times.... That is all. " Mysteria's frown remained intact as watched him from her seat. Her fingers wrinkling the parchment as she held back her tongue and paused.

" You are in luck. I just finished..." Mysteria sighed, her head falling in defeat as she caved in and handed Breton the scroll with her bandage hand. Her head lifting just enough to look over at the statue head he was cradling. " I only had enough materials left to make seven as of right now. I would need to send in a request for the supplies or have someone retrieve them for me." Mysteria paused, her eyes closing as she lifted her head up and got up from her chair. She walked over to the desk with the remaining collars. Her hands reaching into her robes inner pockets to pull out a beautiful necklace pendant. The stone a pretty blue that shimmered even in the dim light of the Laboratory. The pendant dangled in front of her face, the chain twisting as she stared at the precious stone as the center piece. She knew what this stone was and the potential it had to be something truly wonderful and grand. The starting point of obtaining this kingdoms darkest secret.

" What will you have me do now my lord? " Mysteria asked, breaking her silence while turning to face Breton. Her fingers twirling the pendant up into her hands. Mysteria's brow raised in curiosity eager to hear what he had planned for her to do next.

[Breton Fair'los]

Breton followed Mysteria to the desk with the collars, and paused a moment, surveying them with a distracted air, as though lost in thought. Raising one to eye level, he turned it over in his hands, a slight smile creeping across his face. After a few moments, he spoke in a droll fashion, as one does when waking from a dream "You will have...what materials you need...mysteria...' Then quickly, he grasps her bandaged hand, pulling her a little towards him, and locking her eyes with his. Without breaking her gaze, he places the collar back onto the desk, and backs toward the center of the room, drawing her with him. "How long have we known one another, Mysteria?" A more directed voice now clearly falls from his mouth, condescending and flat. Still holding her hand with his left, he places his right gently onto hers, and caresses her wrist somewhat playfully, picking here and there at the edges of the bandaging. "And in all that time, in spite of the gods, through six generations of prattling nobility, countless mishaps, the destruction of your kin, not even once have you questioned my intent, OR my authority." Breton gradually escalates his voice during this discourse, arriving finally at a harsh tone, noted with bitterness-all the while increasing his grip around the bandaging on Mysteria's arm. "And NOW" He begins, softly, "your break from this unwavering faith that has yielded you so...useful...to me, has evoked within me the question of YOUR intent, little necromancer. A question which I find, most, disturbing." By now, his grip has increased to the point of eliciting small cries of discomfort from Mysteria, noticeably in distress. "And this" --Breton tears aside the bandaging with his free hand, revealing deep lines of mana corruption-- "...another questionable result of your work, which, at the least, we have time to remedy." Breton's eyes have begun to blaze a piercing bright green, and a horrible expression, twisted and unworldly, appears to show through his face. As he finishes his sentence, he pulls Mysteria's arm full-length in front of him with his right arm, and strikes directly through her shoulder, cleaving it at the joint, disconnecting the limb in a single smooth motion. Spatters of dark blood, black in the dim light, spray against the wall and the desk as a peal of thunder announces the full arrival of the storm, overshadowing the curdling scream issued forth from Mysteria.

Breton turns from her, approaching the door, holding the bloody limb now dispersing its retained mana in sporadic wisps of vapor. "Make yourself a new one--when you order the new materials, I mean. I know you can." He stops in the doorway, looks back toward Mysteria over his shoulder , and holds the arm aloft, a trail of blood following his path. "And once you're well, pursue the logging company to the Forever Tree. You know what to do there, I needn't remind you." A second peal, accompanying a flash of lightning, punctuated the conclusion of his statement. His face, illuminated briefly, became bestial, revealing the same twisted expression as before, for an instant, and then became calm. Leaving Mysteria, he exits the room and proceeds down the hall, the sound of rain concealing the steady drip of the arm now held over his shoulder, whistling a cheerful tune as he strode.