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[i]Tap. Tap. Tap.[/i]

Fingers dance idly across the polished surface of marbled granite, nails painting out the resounding tempo throughout his room. Elijah, deep in thought, a most common tick in him being the only thing to break the deafening silence in his own little world, his thumb subconsciously stroking his chin, awaiting his father’s reply. Sitting upon that same surface of his desk was a crystallized mirror.  Shards of floating glass, imbued with magical properties formed the image of the elder Masterson as he too was deep in thought, reading the letter sent to him via raven only days earlier.

[color=CC7722][i]“You’ve really managed to piss him off this time, haven’t you?”[/i][/color] The distorted voice of the crystals resonated out to him. Elijah’s eyes instinctively wandered out towards the window as he began formulating a response in his mind. The air had grown much colder lately, the starting signs of impending winter and soon enough snowfall would grace the land, [color=B30000]“She is not the goddess, Father.”[/color] The tapping stopped as Elijah leaned back in his chair, his fingers folding and interlocking with each other, his embered gaze never leaving the glass panes of his window. [color=CC7722][i]“So you have stated in your letter here, and exactly how well did Ulric take those words?”[/i][/color] The mirror mockingly asked him.

[color=B30000]“Better than I thought… less than I’d hoped.”[/color]
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[color=B30000]“My Lord, I must advise you to seriously reconsider this announcement involving the Kassian girl!”[/color] Elijah was hot on the tail of his Emperor, having watched and listened for days while the insanity of it all took off. First it was kidnapping some poor peasant girl in the streets, next it was comparing her visage to that of the goddess Aurelia, now it was announcing to the world the return of the goddess; enough was enough. [color=B30000]“One person, in the wrong place, at the wrong time, looking seemingly like a portrait from a thousand years ago, does not one a goddess make! Please My Lord, you must see reason to this!”[/color] He had to do something, they were already considering making one of the servants in the castle a scapegoat as her appearance was very nearly identical.

"[color=A0522D]Quiet![/color]” The Emperor stopped mid-stride and turned quickly on heel to face his advisor. "[color=A0522D]I will not hear it anymore.[/color]” Faded & tired hazel eyes glared at the young man before him, “[color=A0522D]You know that I trust Lord Baron a great deal. What reason would he have to lie?![/color]” The Emperor huffed and turned, seemingly done with the conversation. He began to walk down the hallway again, toward the audience chamber. "[color=A0522D]For God's sake, Elijah, he once led my royal guard. He has no reason to lie to me! In fact, he has more reasons NOT to lie to me.[/color]” 

Elijah came to a halt as Ulric turned on him, the young man’s heated gaze matching his Elder, before he turned and continued back down his path. [color=B30000]“This is not a matter of trust and loyalty, My Lord!”[/color] Elijah’s own strides carried him further ahead, passing Ulric before turning to face him, hoping to halt his advance. [color=B30000]“This is about common sense! What if he’s wrong about the girl? Think of the political backlash you would face, kidnapping an innocent girl, claiming she’s a goddess among mortals? We are already in a war and making such bold claims could not only lose us allies, but make more enemies, it would be the end of the Empire!”[/color] He let the words sink in, but more than frustrated Elijah continued on, [color=B30000]“You’ve done many a great deal for this kingdom, and your word is law, but you cannot deny that there are those who believe your decisions to be controversial, this would only add more fuel to the flames.”[/color]

Ulric paused briefly, looking his advisor up and down as if to question why he would ever think to cross into the Emperor’s path. "[color=A0522D]And what of it? Are great things not done when there is also great risk?[/color]” He shook his head, moving past the younger man. "[color=A0522D]Your father might have thought better to question my decisions. I advise you to hold your tongue on this, young lord.[/color]” The Emperor once again began his walk to the audience chamber. "[color=A0522D]We [i]will[/i] awaken the Goddess.[/color]” He paused for a moment to look back at his advisor. "[color=A0522D]And if we don’t… Aerowyn may be lost for us all.[/color]” He stared at Elijah, clearly wanting to further elaborate on this statement but instead keeping whatever it was he knew to himself. It was time to announce Goddess Aurelia’s return. 
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[i]Aerowyn may be lost for us all[/i], initially Elijah thought Ulric was filled with spiteful pride and arrogance, but those words left an ominous foreboding that only left more questions with no answers. [color=B30000]“He’s playing a dangerous game, for what the worth is I know not of.”[/color] Elijah’s face turned back towards the visage of his father, [color=B30000]“He’s deliberately hiding something, something that could very well affect everyone and everything involved.”[/color] The crystals in all their odd distortions chuckled in resonance with Kenneth’s voice, [color=CC7722]“Ulric has always been that way, one to burden himself with all of the responsibilities, even when those around him were willing to aid him.”[/color]

Elijah stood up from his seat and walked towards the fireplace, a subtle flash in his eyes igniting the semi charred remnants already there, the ignition quickly warming up the cooled room. [color=B30000]“He certainly makes it difficult to play the role of advisor,”[/color] he stated, turning around and walking towards a nearby cabinet to shuffle through his clothing. [color=CC7722]“So what do you intend to do about your role with the girl then? Simply give up on her before anything has even started?”[/color]

[color=B30000]“No,”[/color] he stated with confidence, wrapping a burgundy cloak around himself, inlaid with silver trim, [color=B30000]“I shall do as my Lord commands and ‘awaken the goddess’, however his expectations of what I am to do with her, will be entirely different from what I [i]actually[/i] will do with her.”[/color] Approaching his desk once more, he stared into the crystallized image of his father, [color=B30000]“For now, I must bid you farewell, the ceremony is about to start. I will send more information to you once I have a further inkling of understanding to it.”[/color] The image chortled, [color=CC7722]“Of course, I look forward to it. I wish you the best of luck, and as poor in taste as it might be, may the goddess guide your steps.”[/color] Elijah’s face grimaced as he saw his own father smirk in the mirror, a hand wave gesture later and the fractured mirror mended itself into a solid piece of glass, the only reflection in it was Elijah’s own. Turning on his heel to march out of the room, he stated to no one in particular, [color=B30000]“She is [b]not[/b] the goddess,”[/color] and slammed the door behind him.