Sunlight streamed through the high windows of Eleanor's private chambers as servants arranged a discreet afternoon tea for her and Lady Amethyst. Though the clouded mountain air provided some reprieve from Eldoria's lingering conflicts, the weight of their covert efforts still hung heavy.
"You have my deepest gratitude for braving such risks on short notice," Eleanor said warmly as the mage entered. She indicated the lavish spread - herbal infusions, delicate pastries, rare preserves. "I wished to properly receive you before we part ways again."
Amethyst bowed slightly, allowing a faint smile as she seated herself across the carved oak table. "Eldoria's ruler should not be in want of allies against the Ancient Ones. It is my honor to serve however I may."
Over sips of steaming dragonwell, the two women made small talk about Amethyst's mercenary lifestyle since leaving court decades prior. Eleanor sensed an intentional reserve in the arcanist's manner, no doubt bred from her occult solitude after...everything.
"I confess that I wondered what finally drew you back to the kingdom's intrigues," Eleanor ventured carefully between bites of sugared tart. Though subtlety preferable, direct queries often coaxed the truth best.
Amethyst's penetrating gaze met Eleanor's steadily, eternal wisdom flickering. "You aim to reinvigorate these lands through restored ties, I sense. An admirable vision." She set down her cup with deliberation. "Yet be cautious about undue familiarity with that path brings...complications."
Eleanor's brows furrowed quizzically but Amethyst seemed to reconsider, favoring the safer course of their present subterfuge. "For now, let us focus energies towards guarding your ally and thwarting those nosferatu schemers' rise anew."
"Yes, of course." Eleanor accepted the deflection, intuiting a tale of personal hardship perhaps not hers to pry yet. There would be time enough to restore trust in her queenly reign later.
For the present though, vampire insurgents and scheming cousins presented more immediate perils to counter with Lady Amethyst's support. Eleanor savored the elegant respite while it lasted before plunging back into Eldoria's gathering storm.
The gentle chime of the chamber doors parted Eleanor from her reverie. A wide-eyed maid curtsied urgently before whispering, "An urgent missive from the palace, your grace. From Sir Gregory himself."
Eleanor felt her stomach clench even as she maintained composure. Shooting an apologetic glance towards Amethyst, she broke the waxen seal on the envelope.
Gregory's unmistakable bold script leapt from the page: "I have learned of your secret guest in the mountains. Bring this Lady Amethyst to the palace at once to receive her properly before inquiries arise. Failure to extend due courtesy shall not be overlooked."
A ponderous ultimatum, woven with veiled threats typical of her uncle's iron adherence to decorum. But did he suspect Amethyst's occult purpose, or merely resented being excluded as regent?
Across the table, the mage arched a slim brow questioningly, awaiting Eleanor's guidance. "It seems my arrival has not gone entirely unnoticed," she murmured.
"Shall I depart unseen, or attend this...summons?"
Eleanor's mind raced, weighing the ramifications of declining Gregory's command outright when tensions already bubbled beneath the surface because of her delayed coronation.
Finally she shook her head, unable to risk exposing Amethyst's true loyalties to the crown while assailing Vincent's puppet regime through back channels.
"We will have to oblige the palace - but only briefly." She palmed the priceless amulets into her skirts. "I need your mystic talents still further before this evening ends."
Amethyst inclined her head fractionally, understanding passing between them. "As you wish, your grace. I shall play the courtly guest with discretion as needed."
Sending a silent prayer that their efforts would remain veiled from unfriendly eyes, Eleanor braced herself before leading Amethyst down from the security of her mountain sanctum towards the capital's viper pit below.
Vincent paced the war room of his border fortress like a caged wolf, snarling at maps and status reports. His supply lines had been under constant harassment despite tightened patrols. All while that spoiled brat Eleanor cavorted in other realms instead of facing him!
A nervous attendant cleared his throat, ducking Vincent's withering glare. "M-my prince, our agents in the capital send troubling word. It seems Queen Eleanor has received a mystic guest at her remote mountain retreat."
"A guest?" Vincent wheeled on the cowering man. "Who, and why was I not informed sooner?"
"The Court Arcanist Amethyst, last rumored collaborating with Elder Sect mercs," the attendant stuttered out. "But she now attends Eleanor in the palace itself at Sir Gregory's behest!"
Vincent's scowl deepened, pieces falling into place. That wretched uncle meant to further consolidate magical allies behind his back! He slammed a calloused fist into the strategy table, rattling bone markers.
"Gregory denied me audience in the capital to receive me properly when the crown was mine to claim," he spat vehemently. The slight still seared his pride long after fleeing under threat of banishment.
Now his scheming blood was calling in favors through the Archmage elite caste, using this foreigner against Vincent's rightful inheritance? Unacceptable!
"Have our noble supporters send protest to Gregory at once," he commanded the swiftly departing attendant. Eleanor daring to entertain foreign arcanists while usurping the throne would undermine her domestically.
But as to striking back directly...Vincent's scowl curled into a cruel smirk. If Eleanor wished to invite Elder walkers into her games, then he would summon powers far more vicious to counterbalance the scales again!
One did not merely dismiss the Ancient Vampiric Circle's influence once courted. And his young cousin would soon learn the consequences of spurning their supremacy alongside Vincent's rights.
Sweeping from the chamber, Vincent prepared to enact rites binding those timeless undead overlords to his vengeance once more. Eleanor's days of dawdling innocence were rapidly ending!
The palace courier found Lady Amethyst alone in the guest quarters, organizing mystical implements laid across ornate tabards. He hesitated at the threshold, unnerved by the aura of power cloaking her work.
"You have a message?" she prompted without looking up, continuing intricate patterns of grinding powders.
Steeling himself, the young man spoke quickly. "A message from your concealed allies, great arcanist. They warn Prince Vincent suspects your presence here on clandestine purpose."
Now Amethyst stilled, fixing him with an imperious stare that rooted him to the spot. It was like staring into a dragon's inscrutable gaze.
"And what stratagem does the good prince employ to suss out my business, hmm?" Her tones were careful, devoid of inflection.
The courier swallowed hard. "He intends sneaking a spy into the palace under guise of a visiting noble and companions. To monitor your movements, learn of any...councils with her grace."
For a long moment, Amethyst merely studied him in silence, indecipherable thoughts flickering through the gemstone irises of her eyes. Then the spell was broken with a soft chuckle.
"How predictably amateurish. Very well, we shall permit this ruse to play out a measure, and gauge our opponent's seriousness." She gestured a dismissal, already returning to her cloaked rituals.
"Convey to my allies, such uninvited 'guests' shall be...dealt with in turn should they prove too curious. We can also pay them a visit."
Bowing hurriedly, the messenger backed from the chambers feeling like he'd just avoided some lethal mystic trap. Eldoria's nobility played an increasingly dangerous game of thrones!
Alone once more, Amethyst allowed a thin smile as she infused powdered charms with protective sigils. So Vincent dared to unleash darker powers against their covert circle? Then she quickly rued intruding where they didn't belong.