Aurelie was consulting with the general in charge of Valice's watch, Mir, when something dripped down onto the palm of her hand. The elder guard lowered his round spectacles and wrinkled his nose while he observed the red drop. It started to spread across Aurelie's palm in thin lines. The lines formed words.
Dear Princess,
I have been moved out of the infirmary. Vera still, however, insists that I rest.
Please, do visit soon.
Revin
"Princess Aurelie," Mir removed his spectacles and placed them in the pocket of his jacket, "surely, this cannot be allowed."
Aurelie frowned. "Why ever not?"
"For one, that's the man's blood." He extended his hand toward her palm. "In fact, that should be enough reason. That cannot be safe." Mir withdrew a handkerchief and passed it to her.
Aurelie wiped the blood off. "Well, would you look at that," she said with a sly smile, passing it back, "I'm alive."
"Whatever is best." Mir folded the handkerchief.
He wasn't impressed with her but being in charge of a dragon's affairs was now the most dangerous and highest valued job in the castle and he wasn't going to risk that. There were four ladies giggling around the old, meaty man before Aurelie came up to talk. Arguing with her wasn't something he seemed to care much about. Not with the ladies still waiting for him on in a sheer curtained area of the grand common room.
"Now, we've increased Valice's daily sheep package, but she is still going out to hunt."
"Do we know where?" Aurelie didn't want her flying around Highfire unprotected. Well, she certainly looked like she could take care of herself but the first Dragon King was able to consume six dragons, despite being small enough for any of them to swallow whole. Aurelie wasn't going to take any chances.
"Around the farms," he said. "We can't keep up with the complaints. The Crown purchased most of them, but they're drying up with the amount she consumes. She's going out farther each day."
That wasn't good. "How many are we sending?"
"Ten a day." Mir leaned against the wall. His eyes shifted to glance at the girls. It would have been appreciated if he could focus on the task at hand.
"Can we afford more?" Valice was a big girl. Ten was a high number but didn't seem nearly enough to sate her.
The general placed a hand on his hip and swung his head from side to side contemplating. "We'd have to increase production by a margin and buy out more farms as it is."
"But that's with her still hunting, isn't it?" Aurelie sat down on the edge of the fountain that took up the center of the common room. She heard that the statue of the crowned woman standing in the center of it was her mother and that it had been a gift to the King from the Giliam family who were nobles from the east. Their son, the handsome man Aurelie noticed at breakfast, was currently a guest at the castle.
"If we could feed her pigs and cows, then we'd be able to stay ahead."
Aurelie bit down on her bottom lip. "She likes sheep."
"We're running out of those. The cook's been banned from cooking lam so that we don't run out of supply for the dragon."
"Well, send them, see if she likes it." Aurelie felt another drop land on her palm.
I've found a deck of cards. If you can come now, we can have some fun with them.
Revin
Mir passed Aurelie his handkerchief again without saying a word in protest of Revin's message. Though the look he gave her, made her think that news of this would reach the King very soon. She wasn't entirely worried. He did say that she had to gain his forgiveness. Turns out it came with blood magic messages.
"If that's it, I'll get back to my company," he said, bowed his head, and turned to wink at the girls.
All four of them sat on a cream, velvet couch. They waved back at him by wiggling their fingers. He smiled and turned back to Aurelie straightening his lips.
"Yes, go," she said and passed the handkerchief back. "Please do let me know the outcome."
The interaction left her uneasy. The King chose him as Valice's keeper, but it seemed to Aurelie that the glory of it had gone straight to his head. He might have been the right man for the job at some point. Whether or not, he was right for it now was something Aurelie thought she should decide for herself. Victor was the only person she knew at the castle who could go unnoticed among the rest of the guards. He would have to do as her eyes and ears.
***
Two guards stood stationed below the stairs that led to the chambers of the guests. The white marble railings widened at the bottom and held two large pots filled with white roses. There were three stories to climb before she could get to the floor that Revin was on. Cassandra informed her that he was out of the infirmary before he sent her the message himself. Before she did that she approached one of the men, a short one with dark hair and even darker eyes.
"Do you know Victor?" She didn't know his surname, but how many guards could they have had named Victor? He was the first she heard of with that name. The man froze before her. His mouth opened and his lips lightly quivered with an attempted answer before he closed them again and lowered his eyes.
Aurelie frowned and turned to the other guard for an answer. "Brother of Nina," she added.
"Yes, Your Majesty," the other answered without looking her way. He looked like he could catch fish with his hooked nose.
Her stomach rumbled, and a cramp stretched from the soft spot below her ribs to around her belly button. With a hand on her stomach, Aurelie grunted, looking past the guard and slightly wincing. The worst past quickly, but a shadow of the pain remained.
"Please find him and tell him to meet me at my quarters," Aurelie said. The guard looked at her out of the corner of his eye, his cheeks turning a light shade of pink. Aurelie wasn't sure if that was meant to be an accusing glareâit didn't look quite like oneâbut it didn't matter. All her doings were the talk of the staff. Cassandra confirmed it the other day with a slight warning to be careful of who entered her bedroom without the presence of her ladies. Aurelie didn't need to ask why Cassandra felt the need to tell her such things. "Find Cassandra as well, they are both to meet me within the hour."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"Thank you," she said and made her way to Revin's chambers. It wasn't appropriate to use trained guards as her messengers. That is exactly why she had Cassandra and her ladies. She made a mental note of using their services betterâand quicklyâbefore she annoyed the very people who were in charge of protecting them.
The third floor, known for hosting guests, had quite the carpet collection. They went from small too large, fluffy to thin, from crafted landscapes to just shapes and every one of them was a different color. The third one she stepped on was a dark, dirty red with a pattern that was shaped like a leaf distorted by flowing water. It was very similar to the one Peter had in his house which made Aurelie think that it was either purchased in Redayrah or was brought as a gift.
Aurelie hadn't been up to this part of the castle before. The semi-circle shaped balcony faced the city. A glass table stood under a tall umbrella, set with a ball of fresh red apples, a plate serving attractive looking pastries that were covered with a transparent cloth and a jug of lemonade with rinds of lemon floating inside.
A servant girl stood in the corner behind the table and picked up the jug to pour Aurelie a glass the second she saw her. Aurelie gestured no with her hand and walked closer to the edge to see the city
Mount Wexler, was the largest mountain in Highfire, and covered the whole town, the river and far past both with its cooling shadow. It was named after Kayla, a famous historian, whose twenty books filled a whole row of the castle's library.
Below it, the buildings looked like tiny doll houses in comparison. Steam rose from the chimneys. The walls were painted in bright colors, the windows large and all the roofs tiled, unlike the thatch she came across in other parts of Highfire.
The cathedral was a rectangular building made largely out of glass, grand and three times taller than all the other buildings in its surrounding. Aurelie thought that it looked way ahead of its time. Rows of trees, blooming with white and yellow flowers, were planted around it, with a large pond on the right and walking paths on both sides leading through the trees.
"Ah, there you are," Revin said and came to stand near her. "Grand, isn't it?"
"I was just about to come see you, but I've never seen the city from here before and I'm afraid I couldn't tear myself away," she said.
"I'm just here for the cakes. Fresh daily." He wiggled his eyebrows. "You should try the custard and caramel puff pastries."
Aurelie smiled. "Next time," she said. Food didn't sit right with her that afternoon. She felt like a puff pastry herself. The heat made her fingers and toes swell, in fact, everything felt swollen and downright uncomfortable.
Revin tapped his round belly. "Was lean before I came here," he said.
Aurelie rested her back against the barrier of the balcony. "So, how about those cards? Clap's, unfortunately, the only game I knowâoh, no! I know Lavatory too."
Revin with half a pastry stuffed into his mouth frowned. "Lavatory?" he said while chewing.
"Yes, you build a card house on top of a stack of cards. The one who breaks the house falls in the lavatory and, well, loses of course."
"I don't think that's a real game."
Aurelie puffed. "It's real."
"As you say," he said and pointed to a seat across from his. "We can play Lavatory another day, Princess. I had other ideas for our times with the cards."
"Oh," she said, her curiosity spiking.
Revin placed a dented metal box, the shape of a brick, onto the table and lifted the lid. A stack of cards lay inside, their corners browned and layered from wear and tear. The first one had a woman drawn on it, crouching like a lioness about to strike. It was certainly not your usual playing cards. A sharpened letter opener lay in the small space between the cards and the side of the box. Revin tipped over the box, the dagger falling into the palm of his hand. "Palm please," he said simply as if she was just supposed to know what for.
"For what?"
"Blood, of course."
Aurelie laughed, leaning back in her chair, to accentuate the ridiculous nature of his request. "I'm not about to give my blood to a shaman."
Revin pressed the blade of the letter opener against the index finger of his right hand. The top end of the finger was covered in white lines, healed from scars. He swiped, creating yet another. Holding his hand up, palm facing Aurelie, he drew a circle with his blood and a line that crossed through it. "I oath to Princess Aurelie of Highfire that I will not use her blood to harm her." Smoke trailed out of the circle. A hissing sound came from his hand and the blood vanished.
Aurelie folded her arm, intrigued but not convinced. "That could be a remedy for heartburn, or," she leaned forward pointing at the sky, "a message, for all I know."
"Well." He shrugged, putting back the letter opener.
"Wait," she stopped him, "I will agree, on one condition."
Revin's expression grew dark. "No."
"You don't even know what I was going to ask," she protested.
"Of course I do," he said. "All you shmucks are the same. Honestly, Princess, I thought you'd be different. Fools in love. I don't see what good it would do you to do this." He stood up.
"Revin, please," she said. As he lifted the lid of the box to close it, Aurelie reached out to stop him. "Please."
Revin splayed his nostrils and let out a dramatic sigh. "I've made an oath."
"What happens if you break it?"
"I lose a limb."
Aurelie looked him up and down. Two hands, two legs. None wooden. "So, you've never broken one at all?"
"There are ways to avoid the important ones," he said.
"Which ones aren't important?" Aurelie opened her mouth in shock, trying to comprehend the madman.
"Well," Revin said, kicking off his right shoe.
Three of his toes were missing. Aurelie held her hand over her mouth, trying to stop herself from laughing. Her eyes teared up in the process. "What oath was worth your toes?"
Revin sat back down and pursed his lips. "One that stopped me from taking my brother's wife."
"And the others?"
"Well," Revin shrugged, "I have three brothers."
Aurelie gasped. "No!" she said, "You're not serious."
Revin smiled and shook his head. "No, but that makes for a better story."
"So, there's no way to undo it now? You're never to harm me?"
Revin folded his arms over his chest. "The spell they used on your boy didn't require his blood to be spilled. Those little veins in your eyes are all I need. It doesn't fall under an oath because you lose much more than the physical. You have to offer up a part of your soul."
Aurelie looked down at her hands, unable to look him in the eye any longer without revealing the hot tears that were welling up. "Does it cost the same if you don't go through with it up to the end?"
"No," Revin said. Aurelie heard him shift in his chair and glass shift as he lifted the jug of lemonade. "But, I must warn you, Princess, you won't find any comfort in knowing his pain."
"So he was in pain?" Blinked back tears. "Does it last?"
"A few days. Though, I think he'll handle it better than others. We use the same gateway that the shadow walkers do, just a different route. It's pushing him in without a portal that does the damage."
"Why?"
"Imagine having to fit through a hole as big as your nostril."
"If the spell could be done by one man, why did they have so many present?"
Revin took a long hard breath. "Because you were near, he was powerful himself..." he paused, waiting for her to look up. His eyes narrowed with extra focus on her. After contemplating, whether he should share, no doubt, he licked his lips and continued, "And because it goes faster with every extra participant . . . and is more painful."
Chills ran down Aurelie's spine. The image of Lukas' smug passed through her mind. She looked down at her hands and pictured all the vile things she would do to him. At first, she had an urge to kill him. But no, she wouldn't do that. His death wasn't going to be enough for her. "Show me. Show me what they did to him." She looked up, ready.