Excerpt from [The Sevallian Royalty] Chapter 4: The Servants
The Servants are the Hand of the King counterpart in the Sevallian Royal System. Much like the Hand of the King, the Servants are fiercely loyal to the Queen.
Each with the strength equal to if not greater than a Silver Order Vice Captain. All three of them gathered able to contend in strength with the Hand of the King who has been rumored to be able to split down castle walls in a single strike.
Of course, they wouldn't be counterparts to the Hand of the King if their identities weren't hidden, but much unlike the Hand of the King that historically wears a helmet made of chainmail with a mimicry of the King's crown, the Servants have historically always worn faceless golden masks.
And much like the Hand of the King, nothing is known of where these mysterious figures have come from except for the fact that they are usually female to attend to the Queen's many needs.
In addition, when a Servant is pledged to serve the Queen, they receive new names that have historically always been-
---
"Are you sure that this man has a boss cell sister Calliope?"
"Perfectly Sister Euterpe. Sister Kleio"
"If you say so Sister Calliope"
On the bottom most section of the lighthouse nominally guarded by their sister Calliope this Cycle, the three sisters and servants of the Queen gathered to discuss the matter of the fate of the island.
Each appearing entirely identical to each other, faceless golden masks stared out from beneath hooded white cowls as the golden pairs of bracers resembling the handcuffs used to hang people to the walls hung around their arms.
The only way to distinguish each sister servant from their sibling was to look at what weapons that they held.
Calliope was the one that Slade had first met, holding two pairs of giant spiked wrecking balls that looked heavier than they looked.
Euterpe the one who nominally held control over the middle section of the lighthouse was the sister with a golden colored quiver hanging off her back, a wooden gold tipped bow with silver threads in her hands.
And finally Kleio, the third sister and final servant of the queen that held dominion over the topmost section of the lighthouse this cycle used a pair of bladed tonfas of a silver color.
They, as Servants of the Queen of the Island picked up and raised from a young age to be the best servants that they could ever be were those who followed the Queen through thick and thin with a loyalty found nowhere else.
Even when the Queen brought that heretical church into their borders and instead of exiling them from the kingdom segregated the church to a small corner of the island now known as the fractured shrines.
Even when the disease began to spread its malignant hold all across the island, desiring nothing more than to spread to a swell of healthy hosts, the Servants continued to attend to the Queen.
Even when she went on self exile to prevent her fool of a husband from escaping the island and bringing the Disease outwards atop the Lighthouse.
Even when she took it upon herself to protect the Boss cell at the highest risk of infection they stayed.
But just because they were loyal to the Queen to a fault didn't mean that they magically knew all the answers in the world.
Especially when the question concerned the far off in the future possible fate of the island and the very immediate possible fate of their Queen.
Should they allow this total stranger to meet their Queen when they knew he had the capability to slay the ones guarding a boss cell or in his story's case the slayer of the slayer of those very guardians?
Which in both cases was a great danger to their queen.
Which wasn't much of an exaggeration considering that each one of the boss cells each were considered one sixth of the disease that had brought the entire island to its knees.
Thus requiring the greatest of guards.
Guards that this man had possibly killed for the Boss cell who may have revealed that the Queen had possession of another boss cell
The eyes hidden in their faceless golden masks sharpened.
"...Should we just kill him?"
"Eh?"
Blinking dumbfoundedly, I watched the other two sisters shake their head in denial
"No, it's an important time for our Queen, she can't be having any interruptions"
Kleio turned to look at me before gesturing at the doorway.
"So if you'll excuse me, you'll have to leave and come back at a later date when the Queen isn't as occupied."
"You know that the Run is ending soon right? I'll have to risk my life to fight those weird barnacle clam things to get here again, and I don't even know if I'll survive the journey with how problematic the island has gotten"
I gestured at the boss cell which I had pretended to put in my pocket when in all actuality it now sat peacefully in my inventory occupying one of the many slots.
"Besides, if I don't get confirmation from you guys that the Queen will participate in the meeting, I'm afraid that there won't even be an island to traverse"
"And again, we'll extend your sentiments, it's just that there is no guarantee that the Queen will participate in it due to her problems"
"If she doesn't participate, her own problems would be the least of her problems"
Euterpe suddenly interrupted her sister before gesturing at the blue fireplace peacefully burning in the corner of the Lighthouse.
"Why not test them by trial by fire?"
"Are you sure? They might die."
"If he survives, we can at least hear him out."
I felt one of the sister's eyes land on my face.
"Besides, isn't about time for the sealing ritual to begin again?"
"Ah..." Nodding their heads in understanding leaving me who was distinctly uninformed out of the loop, I watched in confusion as Kleio and Euterpe waved goodbye to their sister and began to climb the tower once more.
Leaping up from floor to floor with supernatural grace, they maneuvered themselves through the chaotic arrangement of stairs, floors, ladders, holes and bookshelves leaving behind the one sister Calliope behind.
Turning to look at me with their characteristic faceless gold mask, the Servant pulled out a bell from the crown of one of the carvings by the fireplace, making a motion as if to ring it.
"Hey, whoever you are-"
"Slade"
"-Slade, you probably feel very confused right now so I'll sum up what we want you to do in a few short sentences ok?"
"Yep"
"This is a Trial by fire, Soul fire to be exact." Gesturing at the blue flames that silently roared from within their confines, she continued as I realised that I was indeed wasn't imagining the silent scream.
"This soul fire despite being able to cling everywhere, only burns the soul" A cold flash grazed past her eyes. "Since it only burns the soul, even if you were to die and return from the next cycle, at the minimum you'll be forced to sleep for a few months to recover from the damage done to your soul"
"That... seems a bit harsh for a trial for what seems like a chance to meet with the Queen"
Calliope shrugged noncommittally
"Usually we test if they have the qualifications for meeting her majesty by testing them against an artifact sourced from an Outer God seeing if they can withstand the madness, by comparison this is alot more safe."
"...You lot are insane."
She shrugged again, this time following it up by a gesture towards the bell in her hands.
"Anyways, if you don't want to meet the Queen I'll still have to ring the bell to announce the burning of the tower, the Queen still has to seal the boss cell in her possession after all, and we can't be having any problems."
"Are you sure you should be telling me that? That seems like very important information to be telling to someone you just met for the first time"
She shrugged the third time in a row. "You don't seem like the type to ambush someone, and even if you tried, you'll still have to go through all three of the Queen's servants"
She paused before adding "To be clear, that's me and my sisters'"
"You made that abundantly clear"
"Anyways, are you going to take the trial by fire or not?" Impatiently stamping her feet against the ground I fell silent.
It seems that because the run was reaching its end they weren't exactly regretful over the fact that they were going to douse the entire lighthouse in azzur fire.
Soul burning fire to be exact, but it was still a fire nonetheless
Hearing about its description brought up an unpleasant memory formed by the hand of a God's childish fun and curiosity
I have since forgiven the God of Fun, but I still dislike him somewhat now that I knew I was able to see my not so distant family through my dreams.
But back to the topic at hand, do I decline the chance to meet the Queen so that I could talk to them again under more normal less blue fiery circumstances?
Or do I bite the bullet to meet a Queen who may not be sound of mind like the majority of the island due to the influence of the malaise?
"Well why the hell not?"
Nodding my head, the Servant named Calliope rung the bell letting it ring clearly and loudly throughout the entire tower with a clarity that was hard found in... well everything I've ever heard.
It sounded remarkably pure and made my entire body feel soothed just by hearing it ring.
The flames however were instantly agitated by the sound, nearly leaping at the woman standing nearby with something akin to flaming blue hands nearly leaping out to grasp at the bell in her hands.
Leaping out from behind the iron grate that bound them, the blue flames spread across the ground like they had just landed on oil.
Instantly moving backwards by ten paces in a smooth motion, I watched as the woman calmly lifted the very heavy looking wrecking balls as if they were no problem all the while fastening the bell to her bosom.
Leaping up against the ground and appearing on the next floor above as the blue fire swiftly spread from the cage that it had just escaped, they raised their hands like demons and searched for the nearest thing in their vicinity.
Me.
"By the way, this trial by fire involves us interfering in every way possible! You can fight back or whatever! The trial will finish when you reach the top!"
Leaving behind those final words as if leaving a will for me, my eye twitched at the sudden revelation that the Servants would be involved in my flight to the top floor of the lighthouse before I focused on the blue flames crawling across the ground.
Briefly resembling tortured souls engulfed in flame, a complicated look crossed my face briefly before flames coated my body and I begun to fly upwards.
+++
Tree