Chapter 2

“A pigeon came in today, mistress,” said a soldier as the large doors of a castle were opened. “From your son.”

“Hurry then, let me read it,” said Rhea, lounging on a stone throne. Her blonde hair almost reaching the ground, it contoured around her face, as if repelled by her obsidian-black eyes that lit up at the letter’s mention. The man, twice her size and clad in thin leather armor, jogged through the large hall, before kneeling in front of the woman and presenting her one of Sunder’s letters. “Bring my dinner to the study’s door and if anyone needs me tell them I’m busy. You can return to your post.” She got up from her throne, her gray dress falling below her ankles, and the man nodded, rushing to the door before two other guards closed it behind him.

She walked to the left of the throne and unlocked a door, locking it immediately after entering the room. Four large sconces stood at each wall, only two of them lit up. Under each sconce was a small table filled with materials, and in the middle of the room stood a large slab of erected stone, acting as a table. It lay with several kinks and slashes at its edge, dozens of vials and mortars lay over it, each with a different colored powder. She took a couple of steps toward the stone and unrolled the letter, propping it up against an unused vial to better catch the coming light. Taking off her necklace, a silver brooch enveloping a blue gemstone, Rhea tied down her hair with it before picking up a vial of water, mixing different powders into it while reading the letter aloud.

“Dear mother, I can already feel the pain of being away from home for so long. Hm, I wish Artemis felt as home-sick as you,” as she spun around the vial, the green and orange spices mixed into a gray liquid. After a strong inhalation of the fumes coming from the concoction, she pulled out a blank piece of paper from under a small statue of a jade egg and jotted down the ingredients, placing the vial on top of the paper afterward. “Close, but their stomach won’t be able to handle more than a swig of that,” grabbing another vial she continued reading the letter “Everything is fine at the moment, Hui is still a giant nuisance when drunk, but the few times he is not, – Can’t remember the last time. – he is the only other person I can truly trust in here.” After mixing a gray, ash-like powder with sprinklings of a white dust, the substance quickly began heating up, as if transforming into stone inside the glass vial. Rhea dropped the vial on the floor and picked up the stone that had formed inside, still warm to the touch.

“Uhm, your dinner. Mistress Rhea,” said a shy voice from the other side of the door with a weak knock, appearing hesitant to interrupt her. “I heard a glass shatter, I’ll leave a broom next to the food.”

“Thank you, Jia!” she said, brushing off the shards of glass with her foot as she continued experimenting with the rest of her materials. Mixing together a white and green powder. “We most likely will stop for a day along one of the smaller villages along our route.” Turning her head to a giant map she had on her wall, comprised of several stitched together pieces of paper, her eyes jumped along a red dotted line that followed the path her son was making. “Hope he doesn’t find any of my mother’s old spies….” looking back at her mixture, it had turned into a bright-white liquid, pure enough to perfectly reflect Rhea’s obsidian eyes back at her. The stench however stung her almost immediately, forcing her to plug the vial up. “Gods. That’s enough for today,” she said, her eyes red and her throat tightening. After putting down the vial, she picked her son’s letter back up. “Despite how long this might take, I know it will all be worth it. I hope father and Artemis are doing all right in their training. Love you, Sunder.” she placed the letter next to her chest, closing her eyes and throwing her head up, with a melancholic smile “I love you too…”