Ophelia had finally faced some consequences for her actions, and Mathew couldn't even feel happy about it.
Their group had been escorted by a battalion of Scyvian soldiers to a large holding cell situated within the guard station, where they were locked up in and told to sit and wait for further instruction.
Ophelia and Argus sat on a bench attached to the wall, while Mathew stood with his arms folded.
"This is just fantastic," he said. "You're really got us put behind bars."
"We can escape at any moment I wish," Ophelia said.
"Uhuh. And then what? Leave the city empty handed?"
Ophelia ignored him. Why did she not order his silence?
"They took Hamlet…" Said Beyah, who was huddled in the corner with Siyah and Era Belle.
"He's probably being taken care of, the guards didn't seem like cruel people," her sister said.
"They were just doing their job to keep the city safe," Era belle said. "That does not happen everywhere."
Siyah frowned. Mathew walked up to the bars of their cell, clutching them tightly in his hands.
"You know what Era Belle? You're right. Just a bunch of guys doing their jobs, until our crash-out queen here decided to make a fuss."
"Dread, be cautious with your words." Argus warned.
"Why? You wanted a silent slave? Maybe if you guys didn't cause chaos everywhere we went, we wouldn't be in this mess."
"That is not fair."
"Isn't it?"
"Are you not the one who asked for me to help? I managed the situation to prevent bloodshed, and you are not happy?"
"This was the result of Dread's plan?" Ophelia said. "How fitting."
Mathew pointed an accusatory finger at her: "Don't act like you could have done anything better. If you hadn't done anything at all, we wouldn't be behind bars. Once you started throwing a tantrum, it was all I could do to ask Argus for some damage control. This is at least better than slaughtering innocents."
Ophelia got up from the bench, rising to her full height so she good look down on Mathew. He held his ground.
"My Lady," Siyah interjected. "I know it is not my place, but please have mercy on our resident monster. He's just tired."
For some reason her attempt at peacemaking pissed Mathew off. And now that he had a real face again, he could finally glare at her.
"I don't need your help, vampire," he said, causing Siyah to flinch. "Stay out of this."
"You ramble so much about the 'innocents', and saving others, but no one in this world is truly innocent," Ophelia said. "They are all greedy fools seeking to deceive each other. If one or two more disappear from this world at my hand so I can achieve my goals, what difference does it make to me?"
"What difference… How could you say that?" Mathew said, seething. "What is wrong with y-"
The door to the guard station opened up, and Manager Ling Fei walked in, holding is tablet and pen.
"Sorry to intrude upon your important discussion, but I wanted to ask you some questions," he said to them.
Ophelia turned to face him, side-eying Mathew for a moment before answering.
"Perhaps I shall grant you some answers then," Ophelia said
"Of course," Ling Fei said. "First of all, I would like to know what to call you."
Ophelia gestured to Argus, and he stood to speak for her.
"This is Ophelia, Daughter of Palonius, heir to the house of Valor. I am her sword, Argus of house Valor. The rest are servants in our employ."
Mathew held back a retort. Saying he was in their employ implied he got paid, which if he actually had been he would be way less crappy about being effectively kidnapped by them.
"Ophelia and Argus of house Valor you say? I know of you… do you have any proof of your identity?"
Ophelia nodded at Argus, and he summoned a massive white blade, edges glowing with orange energy.
"The Blade of Division!" Ling Fei gasped. "So, it is true…"
"I am glad to know we have proved our credibility," Ophelia said.
"Of course… but why is a princess of Elysium here at the Holy City?"
"As I tried to state at the entrance to your fine city, we have traveled many miles in order seeking audience with the ruler of your nation, The Dragon Priestess."
"But the Priestess is merely a cultural figurehead. The day to day of this nation is delegated to the High Eunuchs that serve her. Why would you need to speak to her directly?"
"My request isn't something that can be decided by mere officials. I need the core of Scyvia herself to lend me her support."
Ling Fei grew nervous as realization became apparent on his face.
"If that's the case then you mean-"
"Matters of war, Manager," Ophelia said.
"It is true that only the Priestess holds full power over the military, but we have stayed away from wars for decades. There is no certainty that she would entertain any such notions."
"Surely you can at least grant us an audience though?" Ophelia pressed. "I'm sure she can decide for herself if my cause is worth supporting."
Ling Fei licked his lips nervously.
"I understand," he said. "I will put your request through. I apologize but until I get a response, you must remain here."
"Fantastic." Mathew muttered, as the Manager of the outer city left.
"See, Dread? Fate has favored us," Ophelia said.
"Don't try to act like this was all according to plan," he replied, "If anything Argus is the reason things are working out: Guess he's a bigger deal than I thought he was."
"It is less my reputation, and more that of this sword," Argus said.
"Right… I remember the outpost guy back in Arlem, Theron recognizing you by that thing too. I get that it's so powerful, but how was it enough to earn us an audience with the ruler of the whole country?"
"It is not so hard to understand; It did belong to their god, after all."
"Really? Who is that?"
"Trajectory the traveler, queen of space." Argus allowed the sword to vanish back into the Divine Realm. "My ancestor took it from them in a war a long time ago… It is a long story."
Mathew nodded, feeling curious, but also exhausted from his mistress's antics. He allowed the conversation to die, and they sat in silence until someone came to retrieve them the next morning.
It was a young woman in simple robes, a rope tied around her waist like a belt, which seemed to be a common style there. Four guards stood behind her, in the doorway of the station.
"I am Tao, a servant of the palace. I have been sent to bring you before the Priestess. She has agreed to hear your petition."
…..
The group was led through from the guard station, which was stationed in the outer city, to a gate barring entrance to the inner city where the palace was.
The streets where wide and clean, made of carefully placed stones. The houses were orderly, much like the city of Thalassa, and had walls made of white stone dark wood, with sharply pointed roofs made from orange tiles.
Each building in site was crafted to be perfectly symmetrical, creating a sense of uniformity in Sinae.
As they passed the checkpoint to the inner-city Mathew leaned over towards Siyah, who was walking beside him, and spoke in a low tone:
"Look, about what happened earlier… I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you."
"What? O-oh. It's fine," she said.
"You sure?"
"Yeah." Despite her words, she still looked very bothered by something. Mathew hoped it didn't have to do with him, but he couldn't let go of the possibility. There was nothing he could though, if she didn't want to talk about it, so he let it go.
The inner city was similar in architecture to the outer city, only the stone paths had become large stretches of stone tiles covering the earth completely, everywhere the eyes could see, with only the occasional spot opening up to allow trees and other plants to grow.
The other main differences were not only that every building was much larger, but the tiled roofs had also changed color from orange to deep blue.
Mathew's curiosity about the deliberate color decisions only increased when the palace came into view. A massive structure with a roof that had double eaves, this time a stark white color. A series of wide steps led up to the palace entrance, which was guarded by two massive statues on either side.
One was a massive blue bird that looked similar to a peacock, and the other was menacing orange tiger.
"I've noticed that the colors of blue and orange are very prominent in this city," Mathew said, loud enough to catch Tao's attention. "Does that have anything to do with those statues?"
"Very astute of you," Tao replied. "It does indeed. The Blue Vermilion represents time, and the Scyvian Tiger represents space. They are the holy animals of our gods, Paradox and Trajectory, and they protect our lands with the gifts they left behind."
"That's very interesting. I would love to know more about later," Mathew said honestly.
"If you are still in the city later, that can be arranged."
What did she mean by that? Was there a chance they were going to get kicked out if this meeting didn't go well? He stared intently at Ophelia's back, hoping upon hope that that this wouldn't lead to another tantrum.
He watched as she suddenly stopped in her tracks at the first palace step, her entire body going stiff.
"What manner of creature is that?" she said, her voice uncharacteristically weak.
Sitting on one of the bottom steps and munching on something akin a bamboo leaf, was what appeared to be a house cat. It bore the orange fur and black stripes of a tiger, and had a massive bushy tail like a skunk's, and had a very chubby face.
it looked to Mathew like the cross between a red panda and feline.
"We call them Tiaowen, the False Tigers. They are harmless and comfortable around humans, eating only bamboo and berries. Some even let you pet them without a fuss."
"I can… pet it?" Ophelia asked slowly, like the idea was impossible to comprehend.
"You can certainly try. If it likes you, you might even be able to hold it."
The crew watched as Ophelia approached the animal slowly, then crouched down on the steps. She held out her hand and made small clicking noses with her tongue, and Mathew swore he even heard her whispering to it.
The creature watched her for a few moments, before nuzzling her hand affectionately and purring.
"It really is a house cat…" Mathew muttered.
After a few moments, Ophelia reached toward the creature with both hands, trying her luck. Mathew couldn't see what expression she was making, but he couldn't picture her wearing anything but a glare on her face: He had certainly never seen her behave so gently.
To his surprise, the creature casually leaped into her arms like a toddler. She cradled it like a baby, looking over her shoulder at the rest of them.
"For what reason are you all standing around for?" She said. "We have an audience with the Priestess. Let us move quickly."