She sent the guards away. She didn't want them around for the conversation.

The dungeons stone walls were the same shade of violet everything else on the wretched planet was. It had a way of slowly grating on the Condesce's eyes over time. She wrinkled her nose and squeezed through the narrow halls, strutting towards the heavily locked back room, which required multiple different keys to open.

'I wonder how the black queen has fared,' she mused, yanking the door open and ducking so her horns wouldn't get scuffed as she stepped in. She put a gracious smile on her face.

The Black Queen sat on the stone slab that was her bed and closed her eyes. She was trying to seem regal, even though she had barely slept the night before.

Luckily, the guards weren't in the room today, trying to play nice. She leaned her head against the wall and drifted off into a peaceful blackness until she heard the god forsaken screech of the dungeon doors being wrenched open.

Quickly, she stood and walked to the middle of the room and stared at the hallway on the other side of the room, trying to keep up her facade as a strong unbroken Queen.

"Is that you Archagent?" She called, her question echoing in the lonely chamber as footsteps descended down the stairway.

Silence was the only thing that answered. Instead, the False Queen stepped out of the shadow, teeth sharp and glinting. She appeared unarmed. She was wearing less jewelry than usual, just a single gold chain around the neck and several bracelets that made soft clinking notices when she moved.

"Sorry to disappoint you," she murmured, smiling wickedly. She had awaited this opportunity for so long and now she was the one on top of it all.

The Black Queen stilled, her breathing stopped for a second. Her enemy, the reason her kingdom was falling was standing in the cold room and she smiled.

"Disappoint? No, merely you merely humour me. Coming down here after all this time, just to see me? I'm flattered." She kept her voice calm and carefree though inside she was burning with anger.

"Did you need some advice?" She asked innocently, her eyes gazing at the troll curiously. Why was she even down here, to belittle her, to report she was no longer of use...to say her Prince was dead?

The question bit into her and she had to dig her fingers into her palm to keep them from being spoken into the freezing air.

The Condescension laughed mirthlessly and leaned against the wall. One of her hands were perched on her hip, and her entire posture suggested she knew exactly who was on top of the situation. "Oh, dear. Nothing of that sort! I have fine advisors, and they do their jobs beautifully." She narrowed her eyes and smirked at the fallen queen. "No, I simply came to keep you company. I think it's rather nice of me."

When she saw the expression on the Black Queen's face, she started to laugh again. This time it was completely genuine. "To chat! I do ever so hope carapaces do that." She giggled to herself. "But I don't know if they'll do it now. They might be too busy serving us to have any time to be social."

The Black Queen threw the troll in front of her an annoyed look. She knew nothing of what was going on, so why pretend? She made herself relax, her arms crossed her stomach but dropped to her sides as she walked forward to lean on the bars of her cell.

"If they're my advisers, they'll do wonderfully, you mean....If they're troll advisers, well, look what happened to Alternia." She smirked, wanting to hit a soft spot. "Oh but you didn't need to try to impress me by visiting. The Archagent makes sure to tell me how I'm simply your favorite."

The laughter rang in her ears, making her stomach tie another knot in itself.

"Carapaces talk, mostly reveling in the past and giving patronage to their true rulers" She replied coolly, a smile plastering itself on her face painfully. "Oh and I know! They are so nice...chat with me whenever I like! Did you know that Prospit is actually doing better than us? Oh well, of course but maybe it was a simple rumour"

She shrugged but kept the smile. It felt painful and unnatural on her usually stoic face.

"How fares the kingdom? Undoubtedly, you've found a new princess....and a new prince." She couldn't help but think, But not my Prince, no he's too smart for you. "What about them? Care to tell me a story if they've sent you here to entertain me."