Lady Eleanor Haret Vale, also known as the Looming Pearl, was the apple of her father's eyes. Losing her mother at a young age to a noble's whim, she fully understood that the lower class was simply nothing but playthings to them. They looked down on those lesser than them and made them feel their position in every way possible, including insults, public humiliations, and executions.
The nobility couldn't care less, and more lives would only be lost as they continued to harass and demean those below them. In the midst of grief, her father could only make a promise, one that he had worked his entire life to make happen, sleepless nights, bedridden days, a ghastly state she had seen him suffer to amass all their wealth. Enough wealth and Influence to place them at the level of a noble.
Founded one of the most important and prominent guilds, The Cressida Aladia, named after her mother, Lady Cressida Haret Vale, and being hit with an outlandish amount of success in their business venture. Eleanor's father had fulfilled the promise he made to himself to place his daughter in a position where she would be safe. Of course, the moment would be short-lived, as the nobles came in intent on taking over the guild that ran independently of the Nobility and Royalty.
The fancy balls, the gatherings, the invites to private events, and meetings. As the Cressida flourished, the more the nobility sought to have it. Eleanor, who had always been said to have a noble-like beauty and stature, became the target of the nobles. Her father could only collapse in on himself in exhaustion and fear. He had fought tooth and nail to keep his daughter out of harm's way, only to serve her on a silver platter to the dogs who considered everything, theirs.
Drawn into the Noble scene, she ate, drank, and mingled with the nobles as though she were one herself. She shone brightly and handled herself brilliantly amongst the nobles, speaking about the guild drawing in investments and bonds. She expanded the guild's influence into every possible department she could sink her fangs into. Eleanor showed her talents in business handling, pushing for efficiency and effectiveness in the shortest amount of time possible. She did everything she possibly could do to stand out in the business world.
This only drew her more into the realm of the nobles. Eventually drawing the gazes of those who commanded the most power on the continent, the Ten Great Families. The Rhinehearts, more specifically, had invited her father multiple times to meet with its patriarch, the grand duke of the Rhineheart Dukedom, Lord Alistar Cornhall Rhineheart; one of the 7 famed swordsmen of the continent.
Alistar had extended the offer to have her betrothed to his second heir, Hugh Rhineheart. Offers that her father had done his very best to avoid and dodge, only to enrage the Patriarch. Since then, he had been living in a crippling amount of fear, and Eleanor had to watch as her father drank himself to a drunken stupor. Apologizing to her and her late mother for failing them, as the guild was now a target, and those who once stood beside her and her father now distanced themselves to absolve themselves of the inevitable end that awaited them.
Businesses were failing, and investors were requesting to withdraw their investments that had been made in the end, despite their initial success and moment of peace. The very fact stood out to them: no matter how much money they amassed, they were nothing but ants to the powers that be.
The morning came, starting through the curtain windows, seeping through the window into the room, where, on the bed fast asleep, laid Eleanor, her curly brunette hair covering her face. She slowly turned to her side, the sun leaking from the side that failed to be covered, hitting her face with a cradling warmth, her emerald, green eyes that shone brighter, a hue her father adored as she shared the same features with her late mother. Her soft and smooth pale skin was another trait she had received from her mother.
She woke up to a knock on the door and a maid speaking her name softly, letting her know her father wanted to see her as soon as possible. Wasting no time, Eleanor, moving in a routine; combing her hair straight, trying it in a bun, changing from her night gown to the green dress that had been set out for her, washing her face and cleaning it, and applying some light powdered makeup, she hummed to herself lightly as she woke up with a vigor to start the day.
A mere moment later, she was being escorted to her father's office. Opening the door, she walked in, bowing slightly in greeting before looking back up at him. Her father had a smile on his face, a bright and wide-eyed smile. Ever since the situation with the Rhinehearts, her father had never once smiled in such a manner that he ran to her, lifted her, and began twirling around laughing.
"My daughter, my beautiful gem of a daughter, I did it. I found a way to escape this hell we found ourselves in," he said cheerfully.
Eleanor, in return, beamed with happiness; finally, they would no longer need to worry. After all this time of pain, anxiety, and despair, they had light at the end of the tunnel, and they could finally live their lives. That aside, what exactly was the solution that her father had come up with? One of the ten main families was nothing to scoff at; they had been in power for a long time now, and the very fact held that they could wipe them out at a moment's notice.
"What was the solution that you came up with, Father?" Eleanor questioned calmly.
Her father suddenly changed in mood, placing her back on the floor, with a depressing expression on his face.
"You know already that a main family isn't the one anybody can just contend with, so to handle one, you can only go to another whose goal aligns with yours." Her father sighed, "Get ready, we'll be making our way into the Whitlock Dukedom."
Eleanor could only nod as she made her way to the door, turning back to look at her father, who sat down defeated, seemingly lost in thought, and on his desk before him was a letter, much of which she couldn't read, but the name at the bottom of the page.
"Nox Aurelius Whitlock."
In the coach, Eleanor watched as the manor vanished from view, then looking at her father, who seemed to be in deep thought, his eyebrows furrowed.
There often was an air of mystery around the Whitlock family. It was said that if the Rhinehearts were the heart of freedom; as the powerful horses that roam the meadows in grace and strength, the Whitlocks commanded intelligence; as an owl perched on a tree branch, waiting for its foolish prey to make a mistake.
Lord Nox Aurelius Whitlock was announced as the 7th patriarch of the Whitlock family almost 5 years ago. Other than the occasional change in power, no other news was often heard of the family, unlike the other nine families who often sought to bolster their names. The Whitlocks were often quiet, not appearing at any of their annual gatherings set by the families to discuss the kingdom's direction for the year. In little to no situations had it been that the family shown its strength in any way possible, this gave many the misconception that the Whitlock family was the weakest of the ten great families.
The ideas often sparked a debate concerning the relevance of the family in this day and age, with requests to have them dropped from the title of one of the ten great families. No matter the pressure or request, the royal family, for some reason, always remained adamant against the very idea. Gossip and conversation, leading to rumors, often prompted fools to attempt to attack the family, but were more often than not quietly erased from the board.
Reaching the gates that opened, the coach calmly pulled into the manor. Many fully armed knights and mages were positioned all across the compound. After half an hour, the main house was now in view, tall and dark in color were the pillars that stood to hold up the main house, surrounded by violets that were a bright purple. A sweet, flower-like smell filled the air. This hit Eleanor hard as she stepped off the coach, assisted by a butler who led them down a series of hallways that each carried paintings; one that drew Eleanor's focus in particular.
A girl dressed in all black with silver hair and a beautiful set of eyes; one she had never seen before, she sat elegantly, looking forward. It was beautiful yet tragic at the same time. Her father called her from the end of the hallway, and Eleanor ran to catch up to him. They eventually got to the door as the butler knocked calmly.
A soft voice spoke, "Come in."
The butler, in turn, opened the door, telling Eleanor and her father to wait outside before going in. A few moments passed as she heard silent voices and hushed whispers. The door was opened again by the butler, who bowed, ushering them in. Eleanor and her father made their way inside what seemed like a study with books that spanned seemingly for miles. It was a huge collection of information. In a dimly lit section, was a chair that looked something akin to a throne. The butler who walked quietly behind them bowed on his knees, his head planted to the floor.
"My lady, I've brought them, Mr. Chester Haret Vale and his daughter, Ms. Eleanor Haret Vale. They both seek the presence of his Lordship." He spoke reverently.
"You may leave." A girl's voice could be heard, young at that.
The butler, who had not left the floor once, got up to leave. "My lady."
In a few moments, the door closed behind them. The person in the chair gestured for them to take their seats, to which Eleanor and her father followed her instructions.
Her father spoke first, "Ah, it is an honor to meet you, my lady."
The girl responded, "There isn't a need to beat around the bush, you're about to meet his Lordship, so I'll need to know what you intend to discuss with him."
"I intend to offer my daughter's hand in marriage to the esteemed Patriarch you see, t-" Chester spoke.
"To use him to escape the hands of the Rhinehearts. You humans are always so foolish, thinking only of yourselves before others. I'm guessing you also believed you could use your daughter to manipulate our Patriarch," the girl interrupted.
Snapping her fingers, immediately hooded figures surrounded Eleanor and her father. They drew their blades, holding them to their necks.
The girl got up, Eleanor and her father was forced to their knees in moments; they were being led by the girl past a series of hallways and eventually found themselves in a garden.
Looking up, her father gasped in fear. Eleanor followed his gaze immediately and was now wide-eyed and trembling herself; for the life of her, had there ever been a point in her lifetime, had the moon ever been Purple?
As though the world had shattered before them, stood a man in the middle of the sky, his back turned to the purple moon, his eyes reflected the same hue. Chester fell to his knees, gasping for air, his lungs short of breath, and his legs had given out. His heart was beating miles a minute; he could see it in his mind the very day he lost his wife, he could feel it the moment his wife's head was severed from her body as it dropped to the floor, eyes still open, looking at him blankly.
Eleanor, who had borne witness to this, watched as her father screamed in agony, begging to be let go so he could disappear, begging to die. What was their mistake? What was the series of events that led them to commit their first sin? Shaking, Eleanor turned to look up at the moon once more, then, in silence, she could feel her body no longer, her head now seeming to fall, and watched as her body fell backwards before hitting the ground with a thud, her green dress now a bloodied mess of red.
Her father, who witnessed the scene, screamed in madness, his mind now seeming lost. He screamed, clutching his daughter's lifeless form, crying, he lost himself screaming uncontrollably, tears streaming down his face, his daughter's lifeless body now blurred in the tears he shed.
Eleanor had died.