Marcus swept back into the castle like a shadow and as he made his way to the office, thinking he still had some time to finish off some work despite it getting quite late, he heard the sound of people laughing. He turned a corner and found Serendipity sitting on a wooden bench in the corridor, a book in hand, and to Marcus’ annoyance Evard sat beside her, a finger poised against an open page in the book.
“You need to break the word up.” Evard was saying to the Princess.
“That’s what I’m doing. Est-ab-i-s-hment.” Serendipity replied and laughed afterwards, shaking her head all the while.
“You forgot the l. It’s est-ab-li-sssssh, do you see what I’m doing, Establi-ssssh-ment.” Evard replied.
Serendipity placed a finger to her lips and shushed him, earning a playful shove from the boy. Around her, a series of guards were smiling, and they all started a chorus of shushes, helping the Princess out with her difficult word.
“What’s going on here? Why is Evard with you?” Marcus hissed to Serendipity. He had snuck up on them all without anyone noticing. When he looked around at the men, he frowned. “Where are the guards I had originally assigned you?” he was growing incredibly annoyed now.
Serendipity gave him a wry smile, and she closed her book. “I’ve scared them off.” she replied, pushing her luck.
Marcus looked to Evard and clicked his tongue at him. “Evard, leave. You’re not to be around her anymore – not after that little stunt you’d pulled before, you should consider yourself lucky I hadn’t killed you myself for having helped Serendipity try to escape.” he said. His tone was enough to send Evard rising to his feet and giving the Princess a bow, before he left. Marcus could tell the boy wanted nothing more than to roll his eyes but, he was glad he had not done such a thing. Marcus would have gouged his eyes out for such a gesture and he would have happily done it in front of the Princess too.
Serendipity watched as Marcus found a seat beside her and she shuffled away when he got too close for comfort. Her body froze as he slung an arm on the back of the bench.
“I’m assuming Valerius had assigned you these guards. I don’t appreciate you encouraging my son to go behind my back like this, his level of respect for me has already dropped to such a low that I feel like I hardly recognise him.”
Serendipity looked at Marcus and her eyes glared with anger. “You mean he doesn’t let you walk all over him anymore. What kind of father bullies their children into loving and respecting him? Your love for alcohol certainly doesn’t help,” she began.
Marcus’ hand came down on Serendipity’s face before she could finish and he clenched his teeth at the sound of her crying out. The Princess pressed a hand against her stinging cheek and when she heard the bench creak as Marcus stood up, she did not look at him this time. His mind was filled with angry thoughts; ideas of the things he wanted to do to her at this very moment in time. Apparently slapping her was not enough, Marcus wanted to wrap his hands around her throat instead. But Serendipity knew he needed her alive. “You forget yourself!” Marcus yelled at her.
Serendipity rose to her own feet. “As do you. You can flaunt me around as your prisoner all you want but, I’m learning to control my gift, Marcus. Oh yes, I’m learning quickly. If you had any sense, you’d steer clear of me as much as you can. Why don’t you go and wait for your wife - be a good little husband - and stop following me around like some lost puppy?” Serendipity left him standing there, gaping at her. She walked away with a hand pressed against her pink cheek.
Marcus was getting incredibly fed up with the Princess’ disobedience, no one had ever dared to act like this towards him before. He did not appreciate it and the source of her savagery needed to be pulled out root and stem. If only he knew how to tame her, and quickly.
Adelaide
The next morning Adelaide entered the grand hall and found Nicademius already awake and sitting on a plump chair, he had his nose in a book and didn’t even realise that she had entered.
Only as Adelaide approached, did the Prince look up from his book. He smiled, still dressed in the silk tunic and breeches he wore to bed, and put his book down onto the small table in front of him. “Did you sleep well?” he asked kindly.
“Yes, thank you.” Adelaide replied, sitting down on a chair next to the Prince.
Nicademius looked at the Princesses bandage and extended his arm towards her shoulder. “May I look?” he asked.
Adelaide only nodded and moved closer to him, watching as his hands unravelled the bandage. She shuddered as his skin brushed against hers.
Nicademius felt her do so and the corners of his mouth tipped up. He placed the bandage aside and examined the wound. All that was left were four shallow holes where The Keeper had bitten the young Princess. How strange, that the wound had healed so quickly.
“Why is it called The Keeper?” Adelaide asked.
“He keeps people from entering the cave. There must obviously be another passage down there, we could go and explore it further, only I hadn’t actually managed to kill the thing the last time.” he suggested but, Adelaide cut him off.
“And we will. I need this book, please come with me. Daegar will come too.” she said and looked around the hall for the imp, remembering only then that he was still asleep.
Nicademius shook his head. “I don't want you to get hurt again.” he frowned and rose from his seat.
Adelaide stood up too and smiled wryly at him. “I'm touched that you're worried about me but, I still need that book Nicademius.” she said and turned to leave the hall.
Nicademius grabbed onto her arm and turned her around until she could look at him. “My father wants me to marry you.” he cried out.
Adelaide took a step back. “So it’s true, your father did speak to mine? They had managed to agree before the Emperor died?” she asked. Although why she was even surprised, she did not know. She had expected this from the start and only chose to believe it was not true,
Nicademius nodded and let out a heavy sigh. “I wanted to tell you earlier I, I didn't want your stay to feel awkward. I'm sorry, Adelaide.” he hung his head low, ashamed of himself.
Adelaide folded her arms across her chest and watched him from where he stood, not drawing any closer to him. “Let's change and we'll meet up back here in a few minutes.” She did not hesitate to change the subject and left the hall quickly.
Nicademius did not reply, he hadn’t been given the chance to. He left for his room to change, before he and Adelaide dared to venture down to meet The Keeper one last time.
*****
Adelaide drew a deep breath before opening the bookcase in the castle library. Nicademius had offered to go first, only she politely turned it down and explained that she wanted to face her fear of the ugly creature that had dared to attack her. Daegar went into the tunnel last, following after Nicademius as he crawled in behind the Princess.
The tunnel was stickier than Adelaide last remembered and jagged too. It bit into her skin, yet she forced herself to ignore the pain and continued crawling deeper down the tunnel. Adelaide jumped down into the cave and soon enough the young Prince came down after her. She looked around the cave and found it was empty, still as dimly lit as before; like someone was routinely changing the two torches.
“Where's The Keeper?” Nicademius asked in a whisper, scanning the cave with extra care.
Daegar swore loudly. “Look up!” he cried.
Both the Prince and Princess lifted their gazes and saw The Keeper devouring a small bat that had somehow found its way into the cave. Perhaps there was another tunnel leading elsewhere? There must have been.
The creature dropped the bat and hissed. It extended its long claws and gripped the ceiling tight as it leaned forward to show its face better in the light. If the creature was trying to be intimidating, it was succeeding. “Red…bane.” it snapped and began making its way down to the ground, its long tongue lapping against its lips as it moved.
Nicademius unsheathed
his silver sword, a giant blade of great beauty; whilst Adelaide drew her own weapon. The Prince stepped in front of her protectively, beckoning the creature to come closer. He wanted to finish what he had started the first time they came down here, now that the Keeper had decided to emerge from its previous hiding space.
The Keeper hissed and lunged at Nicademius, only striking the cold ground as the young Prince dodged effortlessly and swung his sword at the Keeper. The creature let out a wild screech and curved its back in at the sharp pain of the blade tearing through its skin. Before it could find its feet again, Adelaide buried her sword into its spine while Nicademius ended the creature for good with one single swing of his sword against its neck.
Adelaide was the first to take a step back as the creatures head thumped against the ground and went rolling. She covered her nose at the sudden smell of blood pumping from the stump of the creatures neck. The thing had died so easily, although it had not really been any bigger than Nicademius himself and far thinner. Adelaide turned to look at the Prince and managed a weak smile. “If that bat he was eating had gotten in here, certainly not through the library, then there must be another tunnel leading through this cave. I keep on picking up something – distorted voices – but I, I just can't tell what they’re saying clearly. It's making me nervous.” Adelaide said and glanced over her shoulder at The Keeper, making sure it had not somehow grown another head and was charging at them as they spoke.
“Come and see this.” Daegar called out, hovering over a small rock pool. It had been concealed by the shadows of a lonely corner unlit by a torch. He pointed to yet another small tunnel leading further into the cave, to a second room or something like it.
Adelaide went first. Stepping into the pool, she found the water swallowed her up to her hips and she beckoned for Nicademius to follow. He did. As the Prince was taller, the water only came up to his thighs. They both gripped their weapons tight, holding them above the water, and Nicademius slowly reached his free hand out towards the Princess.
Adelaide laced her fingers through his and they held each other upright like that. They both waded through the water, groaning at the feel of their boots pressing into what they could only guess was sand or mud at the bottom of the pool. “Do you think The Keeper had a friend?” Adelaide asked.
The Prince just laughed.
“You'd better hope not.” Daegar said from over their heads. “Gah, this place smells. Like rotting flesh.” Just for the hell of it he began to gag.
Adelaide fought the urge to roll her eyes. It was getting increasingly hard to wade through the water now and she found herself stumbling often. Yet Nicademius always caught her in time. She gripped onto the Prince’s arm most of the time and cursed quietly under her breath. She hoped this change in their adventurous plan would be worth her wet feet, the last thing she needed was to be bedridden with something as simple as a cold.
A small set of stairs led out of the rock pool and up to an old wooden door, they were slippery and even though they were only five steps high, one wrong move would send both explorers tumbling into the water again. Only this time, head first.
Nicademius went first, with Daegar hovering over his head. He pushed at the door and it opened with ease. Then he turned to face Adelaide and extended his arm out to her one last time, which she took gratefully, and he helped pull her up to the top of the stairs. With their hearts racing from the fear of what they might find, they all made their way through the door with only the feel of their swords against their hands to comfort them.
FYE
The secret room was small and by the looks of it, untouched. It was messy with books strewn on the floor, as well as random pieces of paper scattered around which suggested the room was still in use. The thick layer of dust covering the room, however, begged to differ. A desk sat in the middle of the room, just like in Faradwyn Castle – Adelaide noticed, along with a plump armchair that had been tucked under. It was dimly lit, a candle on the desk being the only source of light, yet it was enough for the trio of explorers to see where they were going.
The Prince started with the bookcases that stood in the corner. He coughed as dust flew from its hiding spaces and found new ones in his nose. He swatted the dust particles away and began inspecting every book he came across, mumbling “The Awakening” to himself as he did, over and over.
Adelaide hated having to do this but, it was an efficient way of finding things. She closed her eyes and worked hard in an attempt to slip into the bookcases skin, feeling rather ridiculous all the while. She did not take her gift for granted and considered herself lucky to have this… talent of hers, even if it was physically painful to use. Despite her years of training to master her abilities and deflect the pain, she still preferred not to use it – it took a toll on her energy with every use. She stood still for a moment, focusing, and then something began to tick. Her mind throbbed as she slipped into the bookcases skin and her eyes rolled back slowly as she allowed the content of the bookcase to fill her mind. Adelaide walked with great care besides the shelves and she brushed her fingers over the books as she went, each title swirling in her mind as she passed by.
Nicademius and Daegar watched in awe as she continued making her way around the room. The Princess stopped her fingers over a book. The Awakening. She rolled her neck around and let loose a breath as her eyes rolled back to normal and she regained her senses.
“I've found it.” she announced and tugged the book off the shelf.
*****
The trio returned to the library quickly, their clothes soaking wet from the rock pool, yet they ignored the uncomfortable feeling of material clinging to their skin. Adelaide put the book down on a table and turned to the back page. It read:
The Third book is hidden away in
the second city of Kings, the second
City of Dreams...Anderaith.
Adelaide let out an annoyed sigh. she was tired already and her legs ached from wading through all that water; no doubt Nicademius' did too. “We can’t just end our searching here, this book must have something inside it that we might actually stand a chance of understanding.” she yawned. The Princess had never felt fully prepared for long journeys like these and once it took her near enough a week to even rejuvenate herself from all that travelling. She supposed she really had nothing to complain about though, most certainly not about her life of luxury (even if it did include a few powerful enemies here and there). After a moment, she said, “I'll read through these books a bit more, maybe the information in the books will make sense to me if I actually give myself time to process them.” she laughed, despite her aching bones, and then left the library with the book in hand.
Nicademius, however, stayed in his place for a moment, stuck within his own thoughts. The sound of Daegar landing beside him caught his attention.
Daegar leaned on the Princes shoulder and grinned. “You think I don't know.” he tittered and shook his head.
Nicademius creased his brow as he looked at the imp.
“I see the way you look at my dear Princess – you don’t need your parents to try to persuade you to like the girl.” Daegar grinned.
The Prince swatted the imp away and cleared his throat.
Daegar laughed at that. “I’m not stupid, Prince. Adelaide doesn’t believe in this whole love at first sight, la-dee-dah business. But I've seen the way she looks at you too, the way her pale skin fails to hide the red in her face when she blushes.” the imp said, he flew over to the Prince again and this time he hovered directly in front of his face. “Woo her gently and she'll be yours.”
Nicademius blinked. “Are you really giving me advice on how to get a woman, imp?” he asked with disbelief.
Daegar laughed at the Prince. “I happen to be considered quite charming.” At that he flew out of the library to search for Adelaide.
*****
Adelaide sat in the grand hall with King Dominicus and Queen Nynae that evening, seeing as she had not spent some form of
quality time alone with them, she did not want to appear rude or disinterested in their presence. Nicademius was not around and that only made Adelaide more nervous – being alone with the parents of her fiance. She had changed after their trip to the library, opting for a stunning dress of golden velvet. The first layer of her dress was plain and simple, whilst the second was of a soft blood red material with tight sleeves that opened at the wrists and trailed further down the dress. She supposed that the best way to show off her family’s wealth and status (whether she really wanted to or not) was to wear clothes which had everyone else in tears just by guessing how much it was worth.
The King and Queen of Bordennia both looked Adelaide over, impressed by her appearance and they raised their eyebrows at her. It seemed they had forgotten entirely about the Princesses gift, as they sat on their thrones conjuring thoughts of how much better their lives would be once their young son married the Princess of Iradas. The fools.
“Where have you been Adelaide, I haven't seen you all day?” Nynae asked kindly as she fixed her gaze onto the Princess.
“I was at the library, with Nicademius.” Adelaide replied. She was not too sure why she had added that last part in, no doubt the King and Queen would have already guessed it.
Dominicus grinned at that. “You've been spending a lot of time with him, yes?” he asked.
Adelaide simply nodded. She was feeling too distracted to listen properly to what was being said. Instead she thought of those two books she had found. The Awakening. Adelaide had read through most of them but, all she had understood was something about bringing the dead back to life with royal blood. But which royal blood? Redbane? Mouridieus? Valenti? Broadblade? Or all four of them. As she thought about it, she realised that the Valentis, although they ruled Valkenn, were not actually of any royal descent. Or at least she hoped not. The last thing she or her brothers needed was another reason for the Valentis to believe they had another kind of power over them.
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