Five years ago....
Somewhere inside "Regalia", the Rourkes organization for where women are trained, molded, and reborn to be a Queenswoman for centuries. Located in Greenland.
April 20th, 2021
2:32 AM 3° Celsius/37° Fahrenheit
It was cold. Very cold.
Ray sat still in a chair in the center of a massive, empty chamber. Gothic stone walls loomed around him like a watchful giants. The place felt - ancient - sacred even. Somewhere between a cathedral and a crypt. Rain lashed against the stained-glass windows. Thunder rolled in the distance.
He didn't move. Not when the guards locked the doors. Not when he damn knew he had be taken by force and against his will. Not even the woman entered.
Queen Charlotte Victoria III walked slowly down the crimson carpet toward him, dressed in tailor black with a long military coat flowing behind her. Her presence was quiet, but sharp - like a dagger sheathed in a silk.
Ray looked up at her, eyes dull. He was young. Eighteen. Medium-length cut, lean, no real muscle yet. No calluses of a fighter. A recent graduate who had just arrived in London days ago. No family with him. No job yet. Nothing.
But what caught Queen Charlotte's eyes the moment she saw him?
There was nothing behind his gaze.
She stood in front of him and said simply,
"What do you feel right now?"
"Tired." Ray blinked once.
Her brow rose slightly. "Not afraid?"
-"No"
-"Do you know where you are?"
-"No"
-"And you're not going to ask?"
He gave a slow shrug. "Doesn't matter."
Charlotte watched him, curiously. She had expected rage, screaming, panic. Or at least confusion by now.
But this?
This was a boy who should've been green with life - and yet, he looked like he already lived through death
"Can you tell me your name again?" She asked.
"Ray." He answered a cold and flat one.
"Your last name?" She asked again.
"Shigeyoshi." He again answered a cold and flat one.
"Hmm." Queen Charlotte only response. As if she was confirming something in her mind.
She then sat on the edge of a nearby stone table, legs crossed. "Ray, I assume you were looking for a job?"
He nodded once.
"You were not homeless. You were not running from anyone or anything - " the Queen suddenly paused.
She then stared at Ray's light silver eyes, they were disagreeing.
Queen Charlotte chuckled. "My apologies. My agent should've handled it better. She made you feel like a mouse."
"So..." Then she continued speaking formally.
"No record, no enemies. And yet...you have nothing in your eyes. Nothing in your voice."
Ray looked away for a moment. "I was hoping for a normal job. Barista, clerk, something quiet. Getting in high paying jobs seem...impossible these days."
"And then you woke up here. In a fortress in Greenland. Taken from the world." Queen Charlotte said, softly.
He gave a faint smile. "If I'm here for a job, then this sounds like a shitty interview."
A flicker of humor. Faint, deadpan, and dry. But it was there.
Charlotte smirked. "You're not what I'm looking for this....job, traditionally speaking, of course. I've seen killers, soldiers, monsters. But you....."
She stood and slowly circled him.
"....you are an empty house. Quite, cold, dangerously smart. But something's living in there."
Ray stayed still.
"I want to make you my first Queensman." The Queen said.
He turned his head slightly.
"You kidnap people for that?"
"I find potential. Even in strange places." The Queen reasoned.
Ray was silent. The rain outside picked up.
"And if I say no?" He said.
Queen Charlotte shook his head slowly. "You won't."
He looked up again. "You that sure of me?"
"I'm sure you have nothing better to do. No one's looking for you. No one waiting. No dreams to chase." She said.
She was right.
Ray gave a small, almost imperceptible nod. "I guess this is better than getting rejected at job interviews."
Queen Charlotte smiled. "We'll start tomorrow. Training, discipline, and survival."
He blinked slowly. "Am I supposed to feel excited?"
"No. You're not supposed to feel anything. That's why I chose you." She said.
He let that hang in the air for a moment.
Then stood.
No dramatic speech. No loyalty oath.
Just acceptance.
Queen Charlotte watched him with interest. She didn't know where he came from. Didn't know he was Risa's son. Her nephew. To her, he was just a quiet anomaly she could sharpen into a blade.
"Do you know why I'm building you?" She asked, eye to eye.
Ray shrugged. "So you can point me at someone?"
"Yes. And they'll never see you coming." Queen Charlotte uttered.
He gave a faint nod. "Alright."
Then he walked witb her into the corridor, silent as the dead.