The first sight? A palace? No… No it was the Queen’s royal guard, her best soldiers, gathered from across the kingdom and throughout the conquered lands. All were adorned in the dark blue heavy chainmail that the Queen supplied, the single raindrop emblem engraved on each one in the center. They’re heads were adorned with something quite unique, the thing that made the kingdom’s army so unique: The glass helmet. Though made of the fragile material, the strength was impeccable, and could resist a barrage of arrows, and even a greatsword to the head. Their dragon-headed shape gave off a threatening essence, making it all that more threatening to walk through the large courtyard encampment. Each soldier staring at him, sharpening blades on grindstone, sparing, but yet all staring.. Han didn’t like it at all, that’s for sure, in fact, it actually made him glad he was with the two guards instead of one of those brutes. At least he could take down some simple guards if needed.
As they moved past the encampment, the palace finally came into view. Its demeanor just as threatening as its guard’s, with a midnight blue exterior, coated slightly in gold on a few pillars, the quite modern-Victorian palace was a sight to see. Though, like the Queen, it had a beautiful and daunting exterior, but hides a deadly side. The palace was supposedly impenetrable, or so legend went. It was said that armies of thousands have attempted to siege the great palace, and that it took weeks to clean off all the blood from the walls. Han sighed a bit, not looking forward to entering such a place. It was like a jail, a trap, and he was the prisoner and the prey. They moved up the steps and to the great wooden doors, their mahogany shine nearly blinding if not for the dull look of the wood. The guard that, he decided was to be named guard one, turned to him with a nod “Enter. The Queen awaits your arrival and company.” He stated quite plainly, in a rather monotone voice. With that, though, they both left, walking back to the encampment, disappearing into the crowd.. Great, so now he didn’t even have guard one and two anymore…
Han gave a light shrug and stared at the door for a moment, tail swayed underneath his duster, ears twitching at the sound of the training army behind him. He was cautious, and understandably so, as he had been called to the Queen’s personal chamber, with which meant only two things: he was either a person of great interest to her, or a threat that must be dealt with… By her own hand. Though going back now would only lead to death no matter what, so with a heavy sigh, Han pushed open one of the great doors.

The door swung open and banged against the wall, locking in place with a loud click, when he had only pushed it a quarter of the way open. This caused him to jump back slightly, reaching back behind him to grab out his short blade from the notch by his tail slot. He stood there for a moment, checking around, golden-yellow eyes examining the surrounding area. He straightened out and relaxed when nothing happened and finally got a look at the beauty that was before him. A great ice hall stood before him, adorned with amazing painting, dark-blue doors evenly placed along each wall, a statue of a water droplet placed in the empty spaces between.
A single large, red door was placed at the very end, its bloody appearance daunting and prevalent over all else along the great hall. He knew damn well what and who was on the other end, and so he began to walk towards it, treading carefully along the softly carpeted blue floor. Everything was blue… The queen’s favorite color, and of course, the colors of the kingdom.
Han stopped for a moment half way down, an odd thought passing through his mind: The hall was definitely made of ice, but yet, it was no colder than the temperature outside, of which was sure as hell not freezing. Perhaps it was simply an illusion, or a special glass maybe. Han turned to stare at the wall, its crystal shine reflecting him pristinely, without any flaw. He reached out to touch the wall when his hand was suddenly grabbed by, what seemed like a shadow of some sort.
“I do believe you have other business than attempting to dirty the Queen’s walls, Mr. Archer.” A calm, yet daunting voice spoke out from a rather short, shadow figure. Han blinked a bit at the sight of the figure who was holding his arm, he looked as if he were no taller than four feet, and the veil he was wearing… It made him seem like nothing more than a living shadow, of which all that could be seen was a solid black tail swaying from the back. Han attempted to recover his arm from the seemingly week figure, but yet to no avail, the small figure’s strength unlike anything he had ever faced before.
After a minute or two, Han let out a light sigh “I do apologize, but I-“ the figure quickly interrupted “You shall come with me to the Queen, immediately.” And with that the shadow let go of his arm and began to walk down the hall, the veil making I seem like he was actually hovering. –What a creep.- Han thought as he followed the shadow down the iced hall. When the arrived at the large, red door, the shadow stopped and turned to him “Proceed.”.
Han stared at the red door a bit, looking it over quickly for any threats, perhaps a trap of some sort. It seemed fine, so he shrugged and pushed the door open, revealing the great chamber of which the Queen resided, her magisty sitting in a large throne that, once again, seemed like it was completely made of ice. The shadow then flowed out from behind the throne, taking his place beside the queen, startling Han slightly, turning his head back behind him to reveal that the shadow, indeed, was no longer behind him. Han didn’t like this place, he felt like it was just a giant trap of some sort, and that he was the intended captee.
Han turned back around and began walking to the center of the great chamber, taking note of each individual inside, the two guards by the door, the royal soldiers placed by each pillar inside, counting out to what appeared to be six, and all were adorned in the best armor and weaponry the kingdom had, and of course, the Queen and the shadow. The Queen looked Han over with a light smile, examining him with great detail. After she had taken in as much as she wished, she finally spoke “Welcome Mister Archer.” That light smile never leaving her face “Or shall I just call you Han?”