An Audience With A King

POV Ariane:

Ariane slowly ascended up a tall black staircase cut into a mountain, rising higher and higher. Her heart beat louder and louder with each step she took, the temperature gradually rising.

The steps of her armed escort followed her from behind, their armoured boots landing upon the black volcanic stone.

She couldn't help but think that their only job was to cut her down if she changed her mind, sending shivers of fear down her neck.

She felt it in the wind, in the stone, in everything around her that there was a terrifyingly powerful source of mana radiation.

She was limping, her feet hurting, and her breath was ragged as she kept slowly climbing up the long staircase of rough hard stone that looked like it would never end.