The silence in the room stretched like a wire pulled taut broken only by the rhythmic crackle of stray embers eating away at a ruined table leg.
"The Prima Donna," she said. "Explain it to me. All of it."
LeFay exhaled slowly. The compulsion was still there, a low hum at the back of her mind. But it was no longer crushing her will. Jamie wasn't commanding her—she was asking. That made all the difference.
"The Prima Donna is a title that predates recorded history," LeFay began, "There are no records in the Obsidian Archives and only a few such as a scribe who know about its existence and why for years the people have been unable to disobey the orders of their Queen."
Jamie frowned. "I don't get it."
LeFay's eyes met hers. "The Prima Donna is the born ruler of our kingdom and her authority is that of Domination. Her word is law, when she speaks, the ego of everyone under her jurisdiction folds. They cannot disobey. It is physically, mentally, and spiritually impossible to resist. The compulsion is woven into the very fabric of their souls. It's not fear. It's not loyalty. It's something deeper—something that bypasses will entirely, overridden by the will of the sovereign."
Jamie blinked.
"Everyone?"
"Everyone."
"No exceptions?"
LeFay hesitated.
Then the pressure returned and her jaw tightened.
"No exceptions."
Jamie looked down at her spear.
The thought was difficult to understand. A kingdom where everyone was connected to one person. A kingdom where an order wasn't simply an order.
It was absolute.
"If the Prima Donna commands someone to kneel..."
LeFay continued.
"They kneel."
"If she commands them to leave their home..."
"They leave."
"If she commands them to fight..."
"They fight."
Jamie frowned.
"That's horrible."
LeFay gave a humorless smile.
"You are beginning to understand."
Jamie looked back at her.
"And you are sure that nobody can refuse?"
LeFay shook her head.
"If she gives and order, they believe they have to obey it as if they are doing it by their own will."
"But its not!"
LeFay sighed.
"Exactly."
Jamie's expression hardened.
"And you have it too?"
LeFay nodded.
"As you can see."
Then something clicked as she replayed their fight in her head.
"Then
I won the fight because you couldn't refuse me."
LeFay's face tightened.
"That's correct."
Jamie slowly lowered the spear understanding the conditions that put her as the victor over the envoy. She had of course used her strongest moves such as throwing malicious intent at her and using her trat to amplify and diminish the nature of her attack but LeFay was a Votary and should have had means to counter this.
Jamie then glanced at the ceiling, allowing herself to process what Lefay had just told her.
'Which means that my mother was branded as a traitor because she didn't want to use this power to enslave people...she didn't want the current queen using the oblivion thing either so she ran away...' The thought let out a soft, breathless sound. A slow, lopsided smile crept across her face, chasing away the dark clouds of her mood.
"My mother was awesome." she muttered.
While Jamie was lost in her thoughts, LeFay wasn't wasting time. Discreetly, LeFay was channeling a steady, controlled stream of internal energy through the channels. She cast Accelerate Heal inward, flooding her fractured arm with vital Flow to rapidly knit the broken bones back together. Simultaneously, she circulated a sharp burst of Flow down through her legs, melting the thick crust of ice around her feet. She didn't melt it completely—she kept just enough frost clinging to her boots to look thoroughly trapped and helpless, maintaining the illusion that she was still completely bound by the cold.
'I will not underestimate her again,' LeFay thought viciously, her eyes darting toward the silver wand resting casually by Jamie's side. 'The moment she drops her guard...'
Just as that dark, calculating thought formed in her mind, Jamie blinked, shook her head as if waking from a dream, and abruptly dismissed both the silver wand and the bloodied spear. They dissolved into wisps of dark smoke and vanished.
Jamie turned around, her posture shifting entirely. The moody, terrifying aura melted away, replaced by her usual energetic, self.
"Hey, you," Jamie said brightly. LeFay blinked, startled out of her tactical calculations.
"Yes?" she squeaked, her professional composure cracking entirely.
"Let me get this straight," Jamie said, leaning forward with her elbows on her knees, her eyes sparkling with sudden curiosity.
"If I'm the Prima Donna, I have total control over everyone from Nordhelm, right? Even half-bloods?"
"Y-yes," LeFay stammered, adjusting her posture awkwardly. "As I said, the very bloodline of Nordhem itself can be affected by this aithority. Distance doesn't matter, status doesn't matter. If they have the blood, they are under your control."
Jamie tilted her head, eyeing her captive with a mix of suspicion and amusement. "How do you even know all this anyway?"
LeFay was offended by the question and puffed up slightly, a sudden, indignant spark of academic pride flashing in her eyes despite her desperate situation.
"I am the Scribe of the Obsidian Archives and Special Envoy of the Third Circle! It is literally my life's work to catalog the foundational laws, lineages, and structural mechanics of our nation both public and confidential. Of course I know it. I wrote three separate treatises on why the preservation of our accumulated knowledge should be prioritized over propaganda!"
Jamie grinned, and pointed a finger at LeFay.
"Lucky!"
LeFay's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "What do you mean, lucky?"
"Well, since you're so smart and you're already sitting there all healed up—"
LeFay froze, her heart hammering against her ribs. 'Healed up? How did she—?'
Before LeFay could panic further, Jamie's eyes gleamed with mischief.
"I can feel your intent, you know. Your energy spiked right when your bones clicked back into place. Very sneaky!" Jamie flashed a wicked grin.
"What the hell does that mean?!"
"Anyway, I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to test something." Jamie said, sitting on the bed.
"Test what?"
"Domination," Jamie said, a mischievous glint in her eyes. "You said my word is absolute, right? Let's see."
LeFay's eyes widened.
"Wait—"
"Dance," Jamie commanded.
"What?"LeFay choked out, her face instantly flushing a violent, mortified shade of crimson.
"You heard me! A little jig. Spin around, sing a little song about how great the Obsidian Archives are, maybe hop on one foot," Jamie commanded cheerfully, leaning back with a laugh.
LeFay's mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water and body moved before her mind could catch up and she began dancing.
Badly.
Very badly.
A sophisticated Nordhelm envoy performing an awkward series of steps in a ruined guest room while Jamie watched with increasing amusement. There was a look of sheer, unadulterated agony on her face, burning with blistering humiliation as she awkwardly spun in a clumsy circle, muttering a horribly off-key tune about stone tablets and inkwells under her breath.
Jamie laughed.
"Spin."
LeFay spun.
"Jump."
LeFay jumped.
"Do it again."
"Wave your arms like a chicken."
LeFay felt her arms flap uselessly at her sides. She wanted to scream, her dignity dying a little more each time.
"Oh, stop, stop, you're killing me!" Jamie howled, clutching her stomach as she laughed so hard tears came to her eyes and putting up a hand to stop the performance.
"Okay, okay, you can stop and relax. That's enough torture for today."
LeFay stopped, her chest rising and falling and her face bright red with embarassment.
"I hate you."
Jamie smiled and stuck out her tongue at her.
"Alright, jokes aside," Jamie said, resting her chin in her hands.
"I have zero interest in being the Prima Donna. None. It sounds like a massive hassle."
LeFay could'nt believe what she just heard, the shock of what Jamie had just said temporarily overriding her humiliation. She stared at Jamie as if the girl had just claimed the moon was made of cheese.
"You... you don't want it? Do you realize what you are saying? People wage wars, assassinate monarchs, and burn continents for a fraction of that authority grants! It is absolute, unquestioned power!"
"Yeah, and it sounds boring," Jamie replied dismissively, waving a hand.
"But...why?"
Jamie shrugged.
"Because it's more fun when people are themselves."
She smiled.
"They should be able to do things their own way instead of blindly doing what they're ordered to do. Also, you can talk to me normally now. Don't worry about the whole compulsion thing."
LeFay hesitated. "Is that an order?"
Jamie shrugged. "No."
LeFay was silent for a moment before shaking her head, completely flabbergasted.
"You... you are quite genuinely insane."
"Thanks." Jamie smiled.
"So how do I get rid of it? this Prima Donna Domination thing?"
LeFay sighed, leaning back against the edge of the bed as her scholarly instincts finally reasserted themselves over her terror.
"You can't. Not simply, at least. The authority of the Prima Donna is Soulbound in nature."
Jamie paused, a thoughtful look crossing her face. She blinked, mentally digging through a dusty corner of her memory where old conversations with SK drifted.
'Soulbound artifacts... SK said those are items that literally have a soul fused into their core...like the Kitsune Mask he gave Elias. But in this case, I guess it just means the Binding Array driving the authority is permanently and inseparably etched right onto my a soul's essence.'
"So in other words, you mean this authority is similar to Traits," Jamie said casually, her tone remarkably breezy for someone discussing metaphysical self-surgery.
"Like, a Binding Array is literally welded to my soul's core, right?"
LeFay's jaw dropped and she stared at Jamie with wide, unblinking eyes.
"How is the most complicated part of this entire thing the one you seem to have an understanding on yet you can barely grasp anything else?"
Jamie simply chuckled. Slightly unnerved, LeFay cleared her throat and scooted closer, sitting properly on the edge of the bed now.
"Because it is Soulbound in nature, the authority cannot be fully transferred to someone else like a piece of property. It can be lent temporarily with appointed vassals to a degree, allowing sub-commanders to enforce order across the network, if you will—but ultimately, the root authority remains anchored to the core soul of the Prima Donna."
"So what if someone tries to cut out that part of my soul and stick it in someone else?" Jamie asked, tilting her head.
"Like someone with the Hierophant Trait?"
LeFay shook her head.
"The Hierophant and in fact all SoulFire Class Traits have authority over the soul but even they can't do anything about it."
"Why?"
"The entire soul is the authority. To transfer it, you would have to transplant the entire soul entity into a new vessel. But two souls cannot inhabit the same body, one of the souls ego's will suppress the other. In your case, given the sheer density of the Prima Donna's baseline essence, your soul would simply overpower and shatter an intruder's soul is exceptionally high. There are a few historical events that back this up when certain people tried and failed."
"And if the other person has a vaster soul than me?" Jamie pressed.
"For that to happen, that would mean the intruding soul would need to be at a higher stage that yours on the Ladder of Ascension. I theory it should work as the stronger soul would dominate, but that's happened before too and no, it didn't work either. When it happened in the past both souls would violently react to each other, resulting in total mutual destruction. You would effectively erase yourself from existence."
Jamie frowned, resting her cheek on her fist.
"And... if I die?"
"The authority would pass to the next girl born in the royal household. It would simply move on."
"So..."
She spoke slowly.
"Another kid would be born with it all over again even if I tried to destroy it?"
"Yes. Records show that one such queen didn't want it passed on and shatered her own soul but..."
"And the girl to be born wouldn't get to choose if she wants it or not?."
"No."
"That's terrible," Jamie said quietly.
LeFay blinked. "Excuse me?"
"Having children born with predetermined destinies like little chess pieces? That's garbage!," Jamie said, her voice rising with sudden, intense heat. She curled her hands into fists.
"And having your personality taken away because somebody tells you to do something?"
She shook her head.
"That's demonic."
LeFay raised an eyebrow.
Jamie looked directly at her.
"I won't let that happen."
LeFay scoffed, crossing her arms defensively. "You speak with the absolute naivety of a child. To an extent Absolute Domination is a necessity. Power abhors a vacuum."
"So you'd rather be forced to do stuff you wouldn't want to do than doing the same things by choice?"
LeFay hesitated and shot back.
"What do you think authority shouldn't exist?"
"Of course they should, there a lot of stupid people who would do stupid things otherwise but that doesn't mean take away people's ability to think for themselves."
"You look like a kid but you sound experienced. What do they teach the tewelve year olds in Aerthos to make them this zealous? Or is it tye fact thatbyou are ab awakend? Hmmm, Ascensionsure is scary..." LeFay wondered out loud.
Jamie turned her head sharply, locking her piercing gaze onto LeFay. " Im' nine but thats not the point. Do you agree with it? Do you honestly think people should live their entire lives as slaves to a crown?"
Caught completely off guard by the sudden, intense interrogation, LeFay stumbled over her own tongue. Put squarely on the spot under the burning weight of Jamie's gaze, the elite scribe nervously shifted, her scholarly cynicism warring with her underlying conscience.
"Why am I even entertaining this girl anyway? I should be capturing her."
"Well... I mean... certainly, the administration could... perhaps... do with a few structural reforms," LeFay muttered defensively, looking away and smoothing out her rumpled attire.
Jamie's eyes widened.
"Really?"
Before LeFay could react, Jamie grabbed both her hands.
"So there are people who want change!"
"Wait—"
"This is great!"
LeFay pulled her hands free.
"Do you have any idea what you're suggesting?"
Jamie grinned.
"No."
LeFay folded her arms.
"What exactly do you think you can do?" She let out a sharp, sarcastic laugh, throwing her hands up in disbelief.
"Are you going to dismantle the Matriarchy? Destroy a millennia-old way of life?"
Jamie thought about it.
"I was thinking of punching the Queen in the jaw."
LeFay stared.
"...What?"
"But your plan sounds better."
LeFay's mouth opened.
Closed.
Opened again.
"You cannot be serious."
Jamie smiled.
"I am."
LeFay laughed again, not because it was funny but because it was absurd.
"At this point I must commend your zeal. But don't you see the problem here? The only thing you have going for you is the Domination authority as the Prima Donna, and you just said you hate it!"
"Yeah, exactly," Jamie said, her smile turning sharp and dangerous.
"Your system cost me my parents." Her voice became quieter.
"So I'm going to break it. And you know what? You're going to help me accomplish it."
LeFay's smile disappeared.
"Absolutely not. I am perfectly content with the way things are. I have a stable, high-ranking job, an impressive title, a comfortable salary, and a decent reputation. Why on earth would I risk my neck for some fantasy?"
Jamie looked at her.
"You'll snitch."
LeFay froze.
"What?"
"When you get back."
Jamie's eyes narrowed.
"You'll tell the Queen everything about me."
LeFay's eye twitched.
'How did she know?'
Jamie pointed.
"See?"
"You flinched."
LeFay slowly looked away.
"Damn it."
Jamie smiled.
"Sit on the floor."
LeFay's body instantly betrayed her, her knees buckling as she dropped onto the floor, sitting stiffly upright on her legs with her hands folded in her lap.
Jamie moved closer.
"I want to try something."
LeFay's face paled.
"What kind of something?"
"The soulbound thing. I should be able to immitate it with a Containment and Binding array..."
"No, no, no! Wait, stop, don't be hasty!" LeFay shrieked, her composure entirely shattering as she thrashed against the invisible command.
"I'll be careful."
"That's what reckless people say before doing something reckless!"
Jamie laughed.
"Listen to me. You don't understand what you're attempting. Everything could go wrong!"
"True. But I won't know until I try."