Esme was swept away, cast into the vast web of creation.
The pearl’s power seared through her, quickening every part of her, transporting her to the realm of the gods. Every atom burned with possibility. She tasted eternity and supped at time immortal. She was an eye, a vast eye in which the world was reflected. She was the thread that ran through all things, unravelling the world at will. She could create, or destroy, at her whim. Time had no meaning here. Death was merely an abstraction.
The pearl floated in the air before her, crowding every corner of her vision. Queen Sofia appeared within it, incorporeal, crowned, sceptre in hand. Her voice betrayed no emotion.
‘For what do you wish?’
Countless visions flashed before Esme. She saw herself enthroned as queen, the citizens of Aeolia
