"Ask the portrait what you want, your majesty," the High Priestess waved towards the portrait.
"My queen," the woman in the portrait spoke, "what is it that you seek in the Hallowed Chambers?"
Elys’ eyes widened in surprise. She did not expect the woman in the portrait to be able to speak at all. The young queen would be lying if she said her heart did not jump to her throat and threatened to run out of her mouth.
It was just a split second, but it did take Elys by surprise.
And as it is, the warrior princess turned queen kept a stoic expression on face. Only a trained eye and those with sensitive hearing could tell of her instantaneous shock.
It goes to say that both Aleksander and the High Priestess would have noticed it without even opening their eyes. The High Priestess Naya chuckled, and Aleksander bared his fangs in Elys’ defense.
"Forgive me and my insolence," High Priestess Naya apologized yet again. "Your majesty, please do ask the portrait what you wish to know. It will lead you to the right portrait that holds the answer."
"Right then," the young queen said, her eyes returning to the woman in the portrait.
The lady emanated a regal look with the way she moved. Elegant, poised, and an air of pride. She had pale skin like most of the vampires, but her eyes were significantly a neutral brown that was liken to most humans without magic in their blood.
Elys straightened her back and then said, "Show me the prophesy regarding the kingdom’s future."
"Right away, my queen," the woman in the portrait said.
Her hand waved to her right, and a wave of energy passed around the walls, rattling other portraits until only one kept on. The sole portrait that shook eventually stopped, and after a second of stillness, unhinged from the wall and descended slowly to the ground.
The portrait’s frame was made of silver, the inner rim surrounded by several precious stones. The picture itself was that of the capital, specifically the part where the dark palace stood in all its glory.
The portrait suddenly glowed bright, and Elys shielded her eyes to protect herself from being blinded. A surge of coldness overcame her, the portrait’s picture coming to life right after.
She felt Aleksander’s hand support her from behind, and Elys turned to take a quick peek at him. His face was grim, but he kept quiet and continued to look at the prophesy that played in front of them.
Eventually, the whole chamber transformed into what looked like the capital streets.
Aleksander swung an arm around Elys, his hand gripping her shoulder. She didn’t know if it was meant to comfort her, or if it was the other way around and Aleksander was the one trying to find comfort and support in her.
"This is your first time in here, both of you, I suppose," High Priestess Naya commented as the prophesy continued.
"Don’t keep on rubbing the obvious in our faces, High Priestess Naya," Aleksander spoke to her with a calculated calmness even Elys was surprised he was able to muster. "Do you want your head rolling to the ground, High Priestess?"
"Of course, not at all, your majesty," High Priestess Naya replied immediately, "I was merely trying to make small talk."
"We don’t do such things, High Priestess Naya," the young king set himself clear. "We rather go straight to the point, not waste time with tittle-tattle."
"I see," the High Priestess muttered under her voice, "I will take note of that, your majesty."
The night skies of the capital were a beautiful shade of dark blue and violets, just an hour after dusk. The moon has just peeked from the fading night clouds, the stars twinkling like they were waving at the life below them.
Suddenly, the scene changed into that of the palace. The throne was empty except that of two figures in dark cloaks.
"Who are those?" Elysianne asked.
"If only we knew," the High Priestess sighed.
"You don’t know who they are?" the queen asked, sarcasm in her voice, "And I thought you would have known every prophesy in here to the detail since only you could access it."
"You will see why," High Priestess Naya chuckled.
The cloaked figures raised their hands, a muddled mark on their forearms showing. A bright light suddenly erupted, and the rest was gone in fire.
By the time the prophesy ended, Elys’ hand had turned freezing cold. She didn’t understand why, but the chaos that it showed somehow triggered trauma of the past months.
"I am done," she said.
"Is that everything you wanted to see, my queen?" High Priestess Naya asked her, "We have a lot of unprinted records inside the Hallowed Chambers. I can show you more if you would like."
Elys shook her head and turned to Aleksander, "Let us go, husband. I want to rest already."
+++
"Who was that woman in the portrait?" Elys asked as the locks of the Hallowed Chambers clicked behind them.
"The first queen of the Western Kingdom, Queen Bezaleel," Aleksander answered her question. "Contrary to what the rest of the continent believes, it was not a man that founded the Western Kingdom. It was her, Queen Bezaleel."
High Priestess Naya nodded, "It is true. She was an excellent queen. She didn’t need a king to rule, she wreaked havoc to those that dare to disobey her, men, women, those in power and those that disrespected the vampires she loved."
"How endearing," Elys scoffed in sarcasm. "And with that, the persecution of the innocents and those weaker than her too?"
High Priestess Naya turned to the new queen, "It is of that past, your majesty. If you so wish to change the way the whole kingdom lives, then by all means, you can try."
Elys squinted her eyes, "Are you challenging me, High Priestess?"
The High Priestess only smiled at the question, "If you want to think of it that way, your majesty, then there is no way I could possibly change that no matter what I tell you or how much I try to convince you otherwise."