Princess Erica Varellan of Varellia
"Cheren, it's time for your greeting lessons, dear." Erica looked up to see her mother stood over her and her brother, who had been reading quietly next to her. Cheren looked at his younger sister and raised his eyebrows in smug satisfaction. Erica simply huffed in response and went back to reading her book. She was sick of the fact that her brother, who was only twenty years her senior, was being groomed for royalty and she was left to her own devices. Her parents, the king and queen of Varellia, were under the impression that Erica would never see the throne and it hurt her deeply. Despite her brother's apparent attempts to coerce them into training Erica as well, Erica still resented him after she had once overheard a damning conversation between Cheren and their father that always replayed in her mind whenever he was called away for his royal grooming.
It was during the previous summer and she had spent the afternoon in the royal gardens with her brother reminiscing about their childhoods and talking about how the official royal training would be starting soon. Erica and Cheren had always gotten on well beforehand; the fact they were so close in age was a key factor in their closeness. When they had gone back into the palace they were greeted by the royal advisor and Erica and Cheren had looked at each other in excitement. "This way..." said the advisor and held out his arm to indicate the room in which they were headed. Erica and Cheren began to walk towards the door when the advisor raised his hand in front of Erica. "I'm afraid the Princess is not required." he said abruptly and turned away from her to follow Cheren. Cheren looked back at his sister in confusion but was guided into the room by the advisor before he could say anything. Erica could hear the mumbled voices of her mother and father greeting Cheren that were soon silenced when the advisor closed the door shut behind them. Erica felt dejected, why would they train her brother to become a future king and not train her to be a future queen? There was only 20 years between them which in elven terms made them practically the same age and it wasn't like she was uneducated or not knowledgeable enough to become queen; she spent most of her time studying history and the arcane arts.
Determined to discover that there was just some kind of mix up, Erica decided she would try and listen in onto what was happening to see if she could work out why she wasn't invited. She took one of the secret passages in the west wing of the palace that she knew went along the back wall of the room they were in. Once inside, she found a small crack in the stonework and pressed her ear up against it.
"What you've got to understand, Cheren my dear boy, is that your sister is not like you or I. She covets beauty and magic over the wellbeing of others. She wouldn't last five days as queen."
"That is not true! She cares for us and I have seen her at balls and galas. She definitely cares about the nobles and the people she meets. And what is wrong with seeing the beauty in this world and understanding her gift? I sense there is more to this that you are not telling me."
The king paused and sighed deeply. "Fine. You see... Varellan girls, whether born a Varellan or having birthed a Varellan child, have a curse that has plagued our family for millenia. The moment they reach the age of 200, their looks deteriorate rapidly. Your mother here used to be a fine beauty, if you can believe that, and now, well... look at her." Erica frowned in anger at the remark but noticed that her mother didn't correct him or oppose what he had said at all. Maybe there was truth in her father's horrible words.
"Erica will be no different" continued the king, Erica listening intently once more. "and by the time she would come to the throne, if ever, she would be downright hideous. The populace would never accept rule from a disgusting hag as reigning Queen." The king chuckled but cleared his throat when no one laughed with him. "You know, as soon as she was born and we discovered she was a girl, I ordered for her to be left at the orphanage. Your mother, however, persuaded me not to. I was only trying to protect the image of our empire! With that in mind, once Erica withers she will likely be shunned so you would be better off to exile or imprison her before she ruins your image as future king."
Erica's chest felt as if she had been impaled by a fencepost. The thud of feeling that hit her almost physically knocked her back and tears began to fill her eyes as she bit her lip to stop any sobs from sounding out. Her hope to become a monarch lay shattered inside of her but for a brief moment, she knew her brother would help piece it back together by arguing her case with their parents. That glimmer of hope was soon destroyed when she heard her brother suddenly burst into laughter instead.
"Well at least my throne will be safe once I succeed!"
Erica couldn't listen to any more. She ran back out of the passage in tears and straight up into her chamber, sat on her bed and continued to weep. How could her brother turn on her so easily like that? How could her own family, who she loved dearly, disregard her so easily purely because of some apparent curse? Her own father was willing to abandon his daughter at the city's orphanage just to protect the royal image! After hearing all this, Erica spent the next few days in her room crying but even once she had finally run out of tears, the hurt still continued. Her relationship with her brother became one of secret loathing and while she had never divulged the fact she had overheard that despicable conversation, there seemed to be a mutual feeling between them that each other knew about it. Their parents acted as if nothing had ever happened and Erica tried not to let it show that their silence on the matter hurt more. She would never forgive the words her father had said and the fact her mother wouldn't even stand up for Erica was also unforgivable in her eyes. This left Erica completely conflicted. She loved her family but also hated them all at the same and her heart felt as if it was tearing in two every time she saw them. If they had all been honest with her and hadn't been so insulting then Erica thought she would have eventually been able to get over the lies but the disregard for her entire existence and future is what pained her the most and had left her in this torn state. To hear that they had already had plans to exile or imprison her and that she was almost abandoned as a baby had cut so deeply that ever since then, she had been obsessed with breaking the curse and keeping her beauty, no matter the cost.
Maybe...
Maybe if I find a way to break the curse...
They will accept me.
If I stay beautiful...
I will be loved and adored.
I am beautiful...
I need to stay beautiful...
To be loved...
They only want beautiful things?
Then I will dedicate my life to sustaining beauty.
Beauty...
...equals love.
As soon as Cheren and their mother had left the library, Erica quickly stepped to the back of the library to continue what she had been doing since the day of that hurtful eavesdrop. For the past several months she had scouring all the books she could find that might have any kind of information on their family's curse or ways to keep her beauty. After several hours of searching well into the night, Erica closed the book she was reading with a huff as yet again she found no mention of their curse. As she pushed the book back on the shelf, she heard a thud from the other side of the bookcase, as if she had pushed a book out with the book she was replacing on the shelf. She wandered around the bookcases into the next aisle and saw a peculiar looking book and a small painting on the floor in front of her. She bent down to pick it up and her eyes never left the painting for a second as she stood upright once more. It was a painting of a beautiful elven woman dated some 250 years or so ago that looked vaguely familiar. Erica noticed the artist's signature as one of the royal painters and turned the painting over. Scribbled on the back was a date and the name 'Shira Varellan'.
Erica's mother.
Erica quickly turned the painting back around and stared at the portrait once more. Her mother had been astoundingly beautiful and yet ever since Erica had been alive, a mere 106 years, she had known the withered, average looking woman who had raised her. Erica quickly did the maths, her mother was 447 years old; which meant she was 341 when she gave birth to Erica and would have been 197 when the painting was commissioned - just three years before the curse struck. Erica took the book and painting back to the desk in the dark corner of the library and clicked her fingers, lighting the candle on the desk and the immediate area dimly with her magic. When she finally put the painting down and looked at the book, Erica noticed it was old and peculiar as it had strange symbols all over the cover and what looked to be some kind of ancient writing. She opened it up and was met with more ancient language and some strange and disturbing diagrams. There were creatures and demons depicted - the likes of which Erica had never seen - and they were performing all kinds of horrendous acts and rituals on what looked to be humans. She flicked through the book briefly and saw that most of the pages were very much like this and placed it back on the desk, leaning back in her chair and sighing deeply. Seeing her mother in this new light and confirming the curse was real made her want to break the curse so much more but it looked seemingly more impossible than ever. "I just want to keep my looks forever..." she said to herself as she slowly began losing the will to search for a way to break this seemingly inevitable fate.
Suddenly, the book started to jitter on the desk in front of her and black smoke started to rise up from its pages. Erica gasped as a dark shadow leapt out of the book and landed beside her. The shadow then transformed into the form of a giant marble-white humanoid creature with tattered grey wings.
"I believe I can help you with your dilemma." the demon said, smirking at Erica whilst stretching his muscles. "Ugh, it's been a while since I've been in this mortal realm." Erica continued to gaze at the sight before her, open-mouthed and speechless. "Let me elaborate. I'm-"
"Malkizid..." interrupted Erica, recognising the demon almost instantly. She gazed into the dark pits where his eyes should have been and gulped slightly. She had read about his betrayal of the High Solar and being cast into the Nine Hells, even his exile to the Blood Rift. She knew of his very distinct and chequered history with elven-kind and had her wits about her until she had a better idea of his intentions.
"Ah, I see from your face that you are familiar with my work. Well, let us skip the pleasantries and get down to business."
Erica glared at him warily and never let her gaze falter as he got down on one knee to bring his ten feet tall frame a little closer down to her level.
"I can grant you lifelong beauty. I can freeze your current appearance in time so you will never look a day older than you are now until your dying day, whenever that may be. Visually, you will never age, and you shall not succumb to the effects of the curse that haunts your family."
If a demon wasn't knelt before her, Erica would have hugged whoever had said such words to her and would celebrate wildly. However, Erica was well read on demons and knew that offers like this did not come out of the kind will of their hearts.
"And the catch? What do you get out of this?" she asked confidently, making sure to show the demon she could not be intimidated into making an unfavourable deal.
"All I require is the soul of the King's first born. Your brother. Kill him and I will fulfil your desire. Failure to do so and I will take yours instead."
Erica's eyes widened.
"Before you answer" the demon continued before Erica could respond, "I must explain the manner of this task. The only way I can acquire his soul for the purpose I intend for it is if he is slain by a certain artefact of elven make. I do not know what it is or where to find it, but I do know that it will react to your touch, revealing itself to me. I shall inform you when you have found it and your fratricidal plot can begin."
Erica sat in silence to ponder over the offer. Her first instinct was to take it; not only would she break the curse so her family would truly love her but it would also put her first in line for the throne. Then the reality hit. She would have to find the object without anyone knowing what or why she was looking for it. She couldn't hire anyone to search for it as she was the one who had to touch the item. Getting people to bring items to her would raise too many questions. Would she have to leave the city and search for it herself? It could be anywhere; and Erica had never left the city, let alone ventured outside the kingdom. Perhaps she could learn to become an adventurer; they travelled the world and she could also pick up some skills that could help her assassinate her brother and get away with it. There may even be someone who could teach her how to use her magic effectively, rather than the small prestidigitation she could perform currently. The more she thought about it, the more it made sense to her. Learning from books and teachers would make her a fine queen, but learning from real world experiences would make her a great queen.
"Very well demon, we have a deal. What would the time frame be for such an endeavour?" Erica asked tentatively.
"Before I end your life and take your soul, you mean? You have until your 200th nameday, when the curse takes effect. After that point, I cannot reverse the effects of such an affliction. And I will take my payment. As a sign of good will though, I shall begin the process of fulfilling your desire as soon as you sign the pact." The demon produced a piece of parchment, laid it on the table before Erica and handed her a quill that looked like it came from one of his tattered wings. "If that's all, sign the pact and we have a deal."
Erica read the pact carefully, took a deep breath and signed it. Just as she laid the quill down she felt a short sharp slash through the palm of her hand and looked down to see the gleaming scarlet of her blood drip down onto the parchment and form a perfectly round blob. She watched as it slowly flattened out and turned into a seal depicting two halves; half of Malkizid's mark on one side and half of the Varellen royal seal on the other. Erica's hand suddenly stopped bleeding as the wound sealed itself and the pain faded away almost instantly. She looked up at the demon as he rolled up the parchment and held it in his large fist.
"You'll notice your hand hasn't scarred or even left a mark. A perk of my gift to you and proof of my word." the demon said as Erica looked up from her hand. "I've also amplified your magic somewhat and bestowed additional powers upon you to help with your journey. You are now a warlock, myself as your patron, and will learn a unique school of magic under my patronage. I will also grant you additional skills and powers if I feel you are learning well. You have an arcane focus I presume?"
Erica shook her head.
"Do you have an item you keep on your person that is important to you?" the demon inquired. Erica looked about her person but all she could find was an intricately detailed handmirror with a green silk ribbon tied around the greenish-gold handle. "I have this; my brother gave it to me as a child for when I used to play dress-up. I only keep it on me for fixing my hair occasionally." The demon smirked and Erica took that as a good sign. "Perfect. The link to your brother will improve your affinity to the magic of our pact. That mirror is now the source of your new power and you must treat it like an extension of you. Guard it well." Erica nodded and looked down at the handmirror which now seemed to give off a faint silvery glow.
"I'll see you soon I hope, and not in 94 years time." Malkizid smirked before turning into the shadowy creature once more and leaping back inside the book. The book closed itself with a jolt as the last of the black smoke was sucked into the pages. The book then caught fire and turned to ash in front of Erica's very eyes before a seemingly impossible breeze whipped the ash into the air and swirled it towards an open window and out into the night air.
Erica looked at the mirror again and noticed that she looked ever so slightly different. She looked closer and noticed that her small imperfections had seemed to have disappeared and her pale skin was now flawless. Her emerald eyes shone a more vivid green than ever before and her ruby red lips seemed to be just that tiny bit more plump. She was at her peak of beauty and while Malkizid had said he would freeze her current looks in time, Erica figured that he must have given her just a little boost before freezing her looks as further proof of his word. She smiled broadly and stood up taking a quick look around to make sure she was still alone.
Erica realised that if she was to venture out and become an adventurer, she would have to leave unannounced and discreetly. Leaving the palace was easy as she was left to her own devices most of the time anyway but leaving the city would be a a little more difficult. She was the beautiful princess of Varellia and would be recognised instantly by anyone in the city. She would have to leave now, tonight, in the dark of night if she was to have any chance of escaping undetected.
After grabbing a few supplies from around the palace and a large black robe from the cloakroom, she left the palace quietly whilst putting on the dark robe, blending her into the night. Sneaking through the city was simple; she knew it like the back of her hand and so took a route through the less populated and residential areas of the city where everyone was either resting or too drunk to notice her. Getting through the main gate however, would be a different matter. As she approached silently, she noticed a couple of guards leaning up against the wall of the guard station chatting about nothing in particular. Erica wondered if she could distract them with some of this new magic she had been bestowed with. She pulled out her handmirror and held it towards the guards. She focused her mind and her magical energy down through her arm and into the mirror. Suddenly a large beam of crackling energy blasted from her mirror and sent the guards crashing through the wooden wall. Erica almost shrieked in shock but quickly darted through the gate and out into the forest before the guards could gather themselves. That's if they were even alive at all; Erica was too panic stricken and intent on escaping to have any form of concern over the two men she may have just crushed to death with magic.
Once far out into the forest, Erica lowered her hood and thought about her next move. She knew of a ruin nearby that contained many tiefling artefacts but she knew that there was a famous elven artefact amongst them that could well be what she was searching for. However, the ruin was ransacked and pillaged years ago and most of the items were stolen, and the tieflings killed. All except one. The small tiefling girl that occasionally appeared all over the kingdom. The tales told that this girl had been the only survivor of the raid and was only ever spotted amongst civilisation in search of food before disappearing as quickly as she appeared. No one knew where she lived; the ruin had been searched for scraps many times since the raid and no one had come across the girl and she definitely wasn't seeking refuge in any of the towns. If she was living in the city, Erica would know about it so she searched the depths of her local knowledge to try and figure out where she could be.
Suddenly, Erica was hit by a brainwave. She had read that the tiefling ruins had once been a grand underground city of beautiful blue and green stone that shone brighter than the midday sun. There was only one place in the kingdom Erica knew of that was anything like that environment and only the royal family knew about it. The Crystal Caves of Ellesfir were a set of former mines that her ancestors had discovered when the kingdom was in its infancy. They used the gemstones and precious metals found in them to create the first crown of Varellia back when the Ellesfir family were the chief crafters and artisans for the Varellan royal family. However after they betrayed the Varellans and were exiled from the kingdom, they were slowly written out of the history of Varellia and the caves were long forgotten. Erica knew of them thanks to her love of history and recalled that they were described as having 'walls of coloured crystal in all colours of the rainbow'. Erica was willing to bet the tiefling was living there.
After a few days of travelling, Erica located the caves and walked inside anxiously. She had no idea what this girl was like; she could be feral, aggressive towards outsiders, territorial over her caves, anything. Erica's nerves dissipated though when she caught sight of the beauty that was the inside of the caves. They were more beautiful than the books could ever have described and she was mesmerised by the incredible colours shining through the crystal walls. She didn't know how long she had been just staring and taking in the incredible aesthetic before a small quirky voice broke her from her trance.
"Hi new person!"