The Botanical Quarter of the castle had been almost entirely destroyed by the domino effect of Valice's castle destruction. It used to be a glass building attached to the castle wall. Now, a mere corner was intact which, Clemson Dirkins, the castle's oldest herbalist, was in a complete panic over. He stomped around the room on his short legs, trying to salvage very important herbs that lay spread across the floor, among shards of glass. Their pots were broken and the roots exposed.
"How can I help?" Aurelie asked, hoping that he would advise her otherwise. Before coming down to check on the damage, Aurelie asked Cassandra to fetch her when the Ki'frey shaman woke up from his heavy opium sedation. Pleading for his forgiveness, with dirt under her nails weren't going to make her look any better.
"You know," Clemson pointed his stumpy, little finger toward the castle, "no one else has bothered to come down and ask." He bent down over a bush with greyish, green leaves, lifted it carefully by its stem and placed the root onto the palm of his hand. "Just yesterday I was asked to cut a fresh batch of this sage for the healer upstairs, and today, I'm forgotten."
A streak of dirt ran down his wrinkly cheek, his forehead wet from, well, worrying and running himself rigid.
"I'm sure once they're done with clearing the bricks, they'll help you clean," Aurelie said.
Clemson hissed and shook his finger. Drops of blood fell to the floor, and a couple onto his long chin. "Didn't you say you were here to help?" he asked and kicked the shard of glass that cut him away. "Get the pots behind you and fill them with soil."
Aurelie turned to search for the pots. Ten newly painted, white ceramic pots stood in a row by the only glass wall that remained intact, broken glass was swept to the side of them. Aurelie was reluctant to believe that he carried all of them down by himself. So, you did get help, you nasty, old grouch!
"Which soil?"
Clemson looked up at Aurelie with his mouth open and his eyes wide. "The soil," he took a few steps to the left where the glass wall had been shattered, and stood on the grass, "as in this brown stuff that plants grow in." He stomped his feet and pointed down with both hands.
"Oh, is it? Is it soil, Clemson? What a revelation." Aurelie pursed her lips and picked up a rusty shovel. No wonder she was the only one helping himâor rather pretending to while waiting for Cassandra.
"If they taught you girls more than crafts, maybe you'd be useful," he muttered.
His line reminded her of something Orken would say. "I think I might have met your brother." Aurelie chuckled. She missed him terribly. Even his scolding would have been welcome. "Bald, rude, does that ring a bell?"
Clemson turned his head slightly, not enough to see her but to ensure that he knew he heard her perfectly well.
"Princess," Cassandra called. "The shaman is awake."
"Oh thank God!" Aurelie dropped the shovel and wiped her hands against each other. "Well, Clemson, enjoy."
He muttered something under his breath and stood to pick the shovel up. "Tell that father of yours that unless he wants to hire another witch to grow unnatural garbage, he better send someone down here to actually help me."
"Oh, heavens no, I think you should be the one to tell the King that." Aurelie grimaced. "Make sure to say exactly that, though. I'm sure he'll be thoroughly impressed."
Aurelie pulled her skirt up slightly to avoid snagging the glass and climbed over the little bit of wall that still stood upright. Cassandra waited for her by a large wooden door that had wide, dark iron strips securing it together.
The room had been divided into two areas. The front half served as a decorative entrance to the Herbal Quarter. A statue of a woman was broken in half. Her head had rolled all the way back to the pantry entrance and her arms lay next to her cracked torso. A tube stuck out of her leg, sprinkling water. The white marble tiles stood under a layer of dust that settled once the last of the stones fell down from the high ceiling. Five iron beams that secured the stoned ceiling hung down to the floor, barely holding the stones that had not yet fallen.
"You shouldn't be dwelling down here," Cassandra called. "A breeze could knock those stones down, and we'd be scraping you off the floor with a shovel." The green vines that crawled up the walls now had a light grey layer of dust upon them.
Aurelie laughed, but pressed herself against one of the walls and carefully walked along. She wondered what they would eat since the stairs that led to the underground pantry had been filled with large stones. Most of it had been cleared, but the larger ones remained and the servants looked beyond exhausted. The stairs led a long way down, it would take more than humans to clear them and the King did not have the greatest reputation among the witches.
"How does he look?" she asked Cassandra.
"I didn't see." She gave Aurelie a worried look. "I had one of the infirmary guards send word for me."
The healer in charge, Vera, was from the far South. Those were the rebel-occupied lands, which were only allowed to exist because the Crown had more pressing matters to attend. Most of Highfire's witches ran there after the news broke out about the King's magical consumption spree.
They named it Kara, after one of the first witches that the King consumed. It is said to be the most secure location in the world. Before the influx of witches, the area had few opportunities as the castle broke all ties with the merchants and farmers that supported the rebel allegiance, not that they had any choice about it really. Most of their top educators, healers and builders fled to seek work in the main city of Highfire.
Vera, a tall woman, with grey and brown spiraling hair rolled into dreadlocks that reached way past her waist, walked out to greet them.
"Princess," she bowed, "Revin's still very upset. So, I must warn you about coming near him with any open wounds. I'm afraid that he just needs to see one of this size," she pressed the nail of her index finger to her thumb, "to curse you. And you've hurt him quite badly; he hasn't stopped complaining about you since he woke up." A gold line ran between her two front teeth, you could see that she was an older woman, but her face didn't have a single wrinkle on it.
Aurelie nodded and looked at Vera to find a worried expression.
Vera had the biggest brown eyes that Aurelie had ever seen, she widened them, making them appear even bigger and asked, "Do you understand?"
"I do," she said and followed Vera inside.
Small metal beds stood in rows near the walls with a side table next to each one of them. Shelves were built into walls, within them, well, only Vera knew what she kept in those vials and boxes. There were different colored liquids, metal tools, sheets and dried plants and herbs tied by ribbons.
Revin had his own private area, privatized by some curtains, at the very back of the infirmary. His bed stood horizontally next to a window so that he could look out on the river. Thankfully, he did not see the damage Valice had done. However, if she just turned left instead of right, they'd be picking up Revin's body parts downstairs, among the rocks.
"Sir Revin," Aurelie said once Vera drew open the curtain and waved them through, "would you be more comfortable if we were accompanied by these women?"
When Aurelie first saw the shamans, she thought that it had been drawn across their faces, but in the light, she saw that it was the skin itself that was red. He looked a little less intimidating with a bandage wrapped around his neck, but not very much, especially since she was looking him directly in his raging eyes.
"What am I to do in the presence of these girls?" he said, his brows in a tight crease. "Unless they are here to please me." He looked each of them over. "Well, then are you?"
"They are certainly not," Aurelie said, trying to keep her voice even.
She heard them shuffle off and saw the light brighten as the curtain closed and captured the sun in their little corner. "I would like you to give you a tour of the castle when you get better." Aurelie extended her hand toward him. "Possibly start our introduction over. You cannot begin to think how appallingly sorry I am about what transpired." Choosing the biggest words toâshe wasn't sure what for. Perhaps, more than anything to make herself look smarter and less hotheaded.
"My dear," he turned his to the side, his eyes droopy in boredom, "I've toured this castle long before you were born. What else?"
"Well..." She paused for a moment. The existence of Valice was the only thing of any significance. News certainly spread of her, with half the castle being destroyed. She wondered if that was what he was after, but was reluctant to give in so easily. What else was it that these nobles required? "Perhaps a ball in honor of your clan?" Aurelie took a tip out of Alorah's handbook.
Revin snorted. "Do I seem like these tired nobles to you?"
Aurelie panicked, adding insult to injury was generally frowned upon. Especially, since she was the one who inflicted the injury. And what an injury it was! "I don't know and I don't mean to offend you." Saying that she wasn't used to the court politics was a cheap trick and one she couldn't afford to use. "Is there something you want?"
"No." He looked away from her, with his nose in the air. Dramatically tracing his fingers over the bandage on his neck, Revin sighed. "I don't suppose there is."
The King did order her to beg on her knees if she had to. Aurelie wasn't great at taking orders, but not taking them had led to far worse circumstances, and she didn't want to repeat her mistakes. No matter how much it displeased her. "Perhaps you'd like to meet my dragon." She hated the way that came out. Valice wasn't her dragon. She was nobodies but her own. It cheapened the connection between them, but there were few things she wouldn't do to get Kirin back. Actually, there was nothing she could think of at all.
Revin glanced in her direction. "Hmmm."
Aurelie drew a wooden stool closer to the bed. "That's the best I can offer." She sat down and crossed her arms around her waist. The pose seemed too casual for a princess, so she laid her hands on her legs, one on top of the other, and lengthened her neck, the way Alorah used to do.
"It's a little thin, butâ"
"Please do tell me the last time you stood in the presence of a dragon, sir," she interrupted, "and one that was bound to the curse that the first Dragon King placed on the Icelands."
Revin smiled cheekily. "If you'd have let me finish, I'd have said that it would do."
There was a slight sparkle in his eyes now, showing Aurelie that he had gotten exactly what he desired. Not screwing up for once was rather a nice feeling. Surprisingly, she found that she was rather fond of politics.
"And you will forgive..." Aurelie looked him straight in the eyes, trying to look unintimidated, "the little incident at breakfast?"
"I suppose, I will."
"My father will be very pleased indeed," she said. "We can trust that your clan is allied with the Kingdom alone? The sectors you control, of course."
"Yes, we have no interest in looking elsewhere," he said. "The King is quite a good negotiator too, you see."
Aurelie smiled knowingly. "I suppose it has nothing to do with the other part of your clan being involved with our enemy."
Despite being smug, Aurelie knew that she got away with far more than she should have with Revin. His wounds were still healing, and he carried himself nobly before his attacker. Something that Aurelie wouldn't have been able to do quite as gracefully.
"It all ties together," he said and nodded. His right eye winced as the movement caused a fresh ache in his throat.
"I'll leave you to rest." Aurelie stood and bowed her head.
"Wait," he said, stopping her mid-turn.
"I have a gift for you," he said.
Aurelie narrowed her eyes. "Iâ"
He waved her confusion off. "I've invited a necromancer to the castle, a dear friend of mine, Niendry."
"A necromancer?"
"The King said that they had taken a boy you loved. He used that to explain your, dare I say, barbaric actions. I invited a friend over to ease your worries and to let us know whether it's worth looking for him in the first place. With me being the lover of love that I am," he pressed his hand to his chest, "I simply had to send word to Niendry. She charges handsomely, but is the best in the business."
Aurelie's chest hollowed. "What..." Her hands grew sweaty. Staring into space, she pictured the possibilities. Then it struck her like a blow to the stomach. "What if he's dead? Can sheâ"
"Oh heavens, child," Revin said, startled, "she can't bring him back to life."
Aurelie exhaled. The pressure that had just left her days ago was back, and pressing on her heart with extra force. The smallest mention of him and she was once again searching for composure that would never come. She couldn't focus on a word he said.
"I'm afraid all she can do is contact his spirit."
"Yes, of course," she repeated. "I must go. There are matters to be dealt with in the herbal quarters." Get a hold of yourself! Valice made herself known in Aurelie's mind as if woken from slumber. She sieved through her thoughts, searching for danger. I'm fine. I'm fine, don't come.
"Be well," he said as she opened the curtain and rushed off.