As the last wisps of sunlight succumbed to the all-consuming darkness, Phecda dismounted her snarling three-headed varmint, Cerberus, with an uncanny agility that belied her regal stature.
The knights, resplendent in their armor, welcomed her with bouquets of roses, their faces aglow with adoration as they ushered her into the stupendous halls of the castle.
The air was alive with the sweet scent of roses and the soft murmur of reverence.
Phecda tread through the endlessly spiral staircases with a grace that was both captivating and unnerving, her infamous thin waist moving sensually as she ascended.
Her eyes gleamed with an inner fire, a burning intensity, that seemed to pierce the very soul.
She burst into Polaris' chambers with an arrogance that was both breathtaking and terrifying, her gaze locking onto the flabbergasted Daughter of Light with a glint of malice.
She stripped her long coat of fur and heavily crested tiara, tossing them in the air.
Articulate servants swiped her clothing, dutifully placing them on the hatrack.
"Ah, the Daughter of Light has deigned to grace us with her presence," Phecda's voice dripped with sarcasm, her chuckle spewed envy, reminiscent of a dark, malignant cloud, discoloring her irises with a pall, greener than emerald.
"How quaint."
Taurus, the towering figure, stood watching from the shadows, his eyes narrowed in a mixture of curiosity and concern.
Though a jailer, he despised cruelty, and Phecda's antics pushed the boundaries of even his considerable tolerance.
Polaris, however, seemed undaunted by Phecda's venomous words, her gaze locked onto the Mother of Diamondhelm with a searching intensity.
"You were a companion to my Mother, weren't you?" she asked, her voice laced with a quiet hope.
"I've beheld countless portraits of you both, in the gardens and halls.
You definitely were affiliated."
Phecda's expression softened, ever so slightly, as she reminisced about the past.
"Ah, yes, your Mother and I were acquainted," she said, her voice taking on a whispery quality.
"She was a sister to me, in every sense of the word. Oh, how lovely our bond, severed only by death."
As Phecda spoke, her eyes glazed over, lost in the mists of time.
"We would sit in the gardens, sharing tales of romance while artistes would portray our delicate frames in artistic delight," she said, her voice laced with a hint of wistfulness.
Phecda's gaze snapped back into focus, slightly ashamed of the erotic extremities exposed in their portraits, her eyes locking onto Polaris with a sudden intensity.
"Please, do not rot your eyes, Young One, staring into such adult content," she said, her voice honeyed with a mixture of concern and amusement.
Polaris, however, was unfazed by Phecda's words, her face aglow with a cheeky grin.
"Father used to stare too," she said, her voice laced with a mischievous glint.
The room erupted into a chorus of laughter, the sound echoing off the stone walls as the tension seemed to dissipate, ever so slightly.
The Queen's gaze lingered on Polaris, a mixture of curiosity and admiration warring for dominance in her eyes.
As the evening wore on, Phecda clasped fingers with Polaris, leading her to the colossal dining halls with a maternal gentleness that belied her earlier venom.
The tables groaned under the weight of a sumptuous feast, the air alive with the clattering of cutlery and the soft murmur of conversation.
As they dined, Phecda's gaze bored into Polaris' soul, her eyes glinting with an inner fire that seemed to burn brighter with every passing moment.
"Surely, you must be prepared for the morrow's eve," she said, her voice low and husky. "It is your big day, after all."
Polaris' eyes narrowed, a mixture of perplexity and curiousness warring for dominance in her gaze.
"Big day?" she repeated, her voice laced with a hint of wariness.
"You must be mistaken, Your Highness. I already celebrated my name day four months ago."
Phecda's gaze glinted with amusement, her eyes sparkling with a mixture of mirth and malice.
"Indeed, I am fully aware of your name day, Polaris," she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
"I was, in fact, present at your birth."
Polaris' eyes widened, a mixture of shock and fear contesting for supremacy within.
And then, as if drawn by some unseen force, Polaris' gaze followed the emerald glare of the Empress of Gems outside the window, where the twin moons cast an eerie glow over the landscape.
The little princess froze, her heart racing with terror, spotting the humongous torture device gleaming under the moonlight - Vulnorox Stakes.
The chocolate cakes in her mouth lost their sweetness, her eyes widening with fright.
Phecda's voice seemed to come from afar, mocking her, as she asked,
"What's the matter, Princess?
You've grown quite pale. Have you seen a phantom?"
The Empress' laughter echoed through the halls, a cold, mirthless sound that sent shivers down Polaris' spine.
"You see, Polaris, ever since your capture, there's been a significant decline in extraterrestrial attacks.
Kidnapping you might just have appeased those parasitic symbionts, after all.
And by the morrow's eve, you shall play your part in this solemn cosmic retribution.
You are the key and you shall salvage all nine realms, something even your father, in all of his glory could never do," Phecda's whispery octave, a melodic cadence, bore the essence of mayhem.
The little princess, paralyzed with fear, unable to move or speak.
Just then, two guards burst into the room, one brandishing a raven on his wrist.
"A letter for the Sky Saunterer!" they proclaimed, handing a scroll over to Taurus.
Phecda's eyes narrowed, her gaze flashing with anger.
"May I take a look?!" she demanded, her voice dripping with venom.
The Knight hesitated, his eyes and feet, darting towards Taurus.
"Apologies, my Queen. But the letter bears the seal of Seacrest, imprinted with blood.
It seems confidentially important," he said, his voice laced with caution, Phecda's eyes, flashing with anger.
As Taurus unrolled the scroll, his amber eyes scanned the contents with a growing sense of unease.
The words seemed to dance on the page, written in a code that only a select few could decipher.
But Taurus was no ordinary man - he was the Sky Saunterer, the Lord of Seacrest, and the most powerful man in the coalition of archipelagos.
As he finished reading the message, his face darkened with anxiety, eyes flashing with a mixture of rage and fright.
Polaris, sensing something was amiss, took a step closer to him, her eyes wide with concern.
Taurus, frozen in place, fixed his gaze at Polaris with concern and snapped up, locking onto Phecda's, his eyes blazing with a ferocious intensity.
Phecda's squinted, her face twisting into a snarl.
"Hand over the letter, Saunterer!" she sneered, her voice dripping with venom.
Taurus's response was instantaneous.
In a flash of movement, he seized Polaris, his boots igniting with quantum energy as he eloped with the princess through the windows, leaving Phecda's cries of rage echoing through the halls.
The night air was filled with the sound of Phecda's fury, as she realized she had been outmaneuvered by the Sky Saunterer.
As the darkness closed in around her, Phecda's gaze flashed with a malevolent intensity, her eyes burning with a passionate inner fire that illuminated the darkness, itself.
The Queen's chortle echoed through the halls, a cold, mirthless sound that sent shivers down the spines of all who heard.
And as the night wore on, the shadows deepened, the darkness growing thicker, like a palpable presence, seeming to pulse with a malevolent life of its own.
The wind howled through the halls, like a chorus of restless spirits, as Phecda's fury shook the foundations of the castle, itself.
In the midst of this chaos, Taurus and Polaris fled through the skyline, the Saunterer's footsteps, a crackling buzz, echoing through darkness, as they sought to escape the Queen's wrath.