Light streamed through the open windows, spilling like blood over the patterned floor. A grand room, so big it echoed, with a single ebony throne at its center.
And a single woman, seated.
The Queen of Thorns, they called her. The Bringer of Destruction, the Seer of All. The Dictator of the Aryllhald Kingdom.
Some said she hid under that black veil of hers to hide her hideous appearance. Some said she was the most beautiful woman in the world, a fallen goddess from the heavens.
In front of her was a gla**y chess board, with red and black crystal pieces adorned with silvery whorls. the black pieces faced her, yet it seemed that the red pieces did not have a player.