Princess of Darkness

by Adrianna J Tetnowski

  “And this Lost Princess of Iradas.” Nicademius added.

  Adelaide nodded. “To the meeting hall?” she asked.

  The corners of Fandrelle's mouth tipped up and he stepped to the side, making space by the door for the two young nobles to go through.

  “Yes, to the meeting hall.” he replied and waited for them to lead the way. “We have many seemingly impossible mysteries to solve.”

  Marcus

  “Stop it!” it was the first thing Valerius yelled at his father as he stood huddled in the corner of his bedroom, his arms wrapped tightly around his sister in an attempt to shield her.

  Marcus had heard of the failed assassination attempt on Dominika Urveed and he had gone and done what he usually did when things hadn’t gone to plan. In his rage he had emptied the entire contents of a bottle of rum and he now stood in his son’s bedroom waving a half empty wine bottle around too. He had gone to his daughter’s room first, to ask her why women were so stubborn and refused to die when they were expected to. Kalyani, the poor girl, had not understood her father’s drunken question but, when she felt the sting of her father’s hand against her face she had fled what she thought had been the safety of her room, and towards her brothers instead. She had not even knocked or pounded on the door and when she had fallen into Valerius’ arms, the redness on her cheek had not gone unnoticed by her brother.

  “I said stop it!” Valerius yelled again. This time he forced his sister behind him and used his entire body as a shield against their father.

  Marcus threw his bottle at the wall closest to his children and it smashed just by their heads, sending the both of them falling to their knees and Valerius’ arms were already over his sisters head as shards of glass spat out at them.

  “Who are you to tell me what to do?” Marcus’ roared at his son. When he went to take a step closer to them, he ended up stumbling backwards instead. He flailed his arms around in an attempt to keep himself from falling over.

  Valerius found his feet and rushed towards his father with arms outstretched, grabbing hold of Marcus to keep him from getting too close to the young girl. “You’ve had too much to drink again. Look at yourself! You’re a disgusting mess.” he scolded him.

  Marcus’ hand was around his son’s throat and he applied enough pressure for Valerius’ to let out a cough.

  “Father, let him go. You’re hurting him.” Kalyani screamed. Even though both brother and sister did not always make their love for each other known, in times like this when they had to team up together against their father’s excessive drinking, neither of them hesitated to get in the way of each other getting hurt. Kalyani rose to her own feet and went to loosen her father’s grip on Valerius but, another pair of hands got to him before she did.

  Serendipity appeared beside the Grand Lord and she was already trying to pry his hands off her husband’s neck. The noise from the room had her running, having heard it on her way to see Valerius, and it seemed she had come just in time. Serendipity looked straight at Marcus and when she spoke, her tone was so low and threatening it even took both Kalyani and Valerius by surprise.

  “Let him go. Do it now.” she instructed.

  Marcus felt his head go funnier than it already was and his fingers slipped away from Valerius’ neck.

  “What’s the matter with you?” Serendipity began, watching as Marcus struggled to regain himself from his spinning head. “Abusing your children like this, it’s disgusting. Have you no regard for their well being?”

  The Grand Lord straightened himself up and when he raised a hand to strike Serendipity next, Valerius was already grabbing hold of him by the wrist and he took his father’s absent senses as an opportunity to shove him down onto the sofa in his room. Marcus groaned as he landed on the sofa and he titled his head back. The room was spinning. His brown hair was a mess and his breath stunk of rum. He felt like he needed to be sick.

  “You ought to go to bed, Father.” Valerius said. It was not a suggestion but, an order. Whether Marcus would actually listen. Valerius did not get his hopes too high.

  “Get to bed, Marcus, before you empty your stomach in some inconvenient place.” Serendipity mustered the courage to extend a hand out to the Grand Lord and when he took it, Serendipity nearly toppled over as Marcus tried to pull her down to him.

  Valerius hauled his father up by his shoulder and, with the help of his wife, he began pushing him towards the door where two guards had already been sticking their heads in to investigate the commotion; which they too had heard from up the corridor.

  “Take my father to his room, he needs to rest.” Valerius told the guards. It embarrassed him when he had to do this, it was like he was putting his own son to bed and his father; some Grand Lord of Valkenn he was. The one thing Valerius never had to do was remind the guards to keep their mouths shut about all this the next morning, should they wish to lose their heads for it.

  When Marcus had been taken away, Kalyani deemed it safe to emerge from her hiding space. She straightened her dress out and tried to put on a brave face but, her cheeks were still wet with tears and her hands were shaking. “Why does he insist on doing that? You should confiscate his alcohol, Valerius.” she said.

  The young Lord turned to face his sister and he shook his head, letting out a sigh from his nose as he did. “I’m afraid that would do no good. He’s the Grand Lord of Valkenn after all, whatever he wants, he gets. If we take away his personal collection of drinks, he’ll drain the whole village dry of whatever wine there is. It’s just something we’ll have to get by with.” he sounded wounded at those words of defeat.

  Serendipity gave her husband a light squeeze on the arm. “Can we not somehow ease him off the drinks? Bit by bit, it’ll take a while I know but-” she began to suggest.

  Valerius shook his head lightly. If their mother could not do anything to help put a stop to Marcus’ excessive drinking, then Valerius was afraid to admit that no one could. This drinking problem had become a part of him and while his father believed it to be a remedy to all his problems, for everyone else it was the root of theirs.

  Valerius

  That following day in the afternoon, Serendipity attended lunch with Marcus and Valerius as her only companions, as Kalyani had complained of her usual headache (although Marcus guessed it had more to do with her mother leaving the castle again and the fact that he had been drunk last night). Soraya, the poor thing, had hardly an appetite as she isolated herself in her room to try to pretend both her brother and father had not left her again either.

  The porridge in Valerius’ bowl looked lumpy and he could not help but gag subtly, pushing it away. Even the honey and toasted walnuts on top didn’t do anything to help the flavour, in fact it made the texture itself worse.Valerius left his bowl to be, opting for a roll of raisin bread instead. He poured himself a cup of wine next and offered Serendipity the jug.

  The Princess accepted it gratefully and poured herself a cup, making sure to push the jug far away from Marcus once she was done with it. Taking a small sip, she kept her eyes down at her food. Serendipity cringed at the sight of the porridge too but, feeling the burn of Marcus’ stare, she picked up her spoon and scooped some of it up.

  “What will you be doing whilst Aderico is gone?” Marcus asked her before wiping his mouth with a napkin. His bright eyes sparkled and, despite his brown hair being slightly out of place, he looked fresh and wide awake for someone who had been so drunk the night before. That only meant trouble.

  Serendipity opened her mouth to reply but, the doors to the dining hall came crashing open and a servant came rushing in, clutching a napkin tightly. He ran up to Marcus and gave him a curt bow.

  “My Lord, look. It's an unknown ingredient in our kitchen. It wasn't on our list of orders and we've never seen anything like it. It isn't salt or sugar, its grains aren't visible.” he said, stumbling on his own words, he watched Marcus like a hawk as he waited for a response.

  Marcus leaned in closer to the n
apkin as the servant opened it. He could not smell anything, so he pulled away once bored with the powder. It meant nothing to him. “Throw it away. Check the kitchens for anymore of it in case it’s poison.” and that was that, apparently.

  Serendipity, however, leaned forward in her seat and her eyes widened in shock. “Come here. Let me see that.” she ordered and the servant gave Marcus another bow before he rushed towards the Princess.

  Clumsily, the servant ran and as if oblivious to the chairs that surrounded the table, he tripped over one of its legs and sent the content of the napkin flying.

  Serendipity flew from her chair in turn, coughing uncontrollably as the powder was thrown all over her. Everything happened so fast, one moment the servant held the napkin and then the next moment the powder covered the table as well as the Princess. Serendipity shook the powder from her black curls as she coughed again, stumbling suddenly. She pushed the servant aside as he rose to his feet. “Aderico. Poison.” she gasped before collapsing to the floor.

  Valerius had leapt from his chair to avoid being covered in the powder too and he now ran towards her. “Serendipity.” he cried. Valerius dropped to his knees and took hold of his wife’s chin, shaking her gently in an attempt to wake her.

  The Princess did not stir.

  “Serendipity.” Valerius tried again, only to find that Serendipity’s chest had stopped rising and falling and her hands had grown cold in his.

  *****

  A cold wind came in through the window of the infirmary, so Valerius latched it shut and sighed quietly. Serendipity remained deadly still, her chest rising with staggered breaths and her eyelids closed tight. She could be dying, by poison apparently, and it hurt Valerius to know that he had no idea what he could do to help. Serendipity had been like this for nearly a day now, without having stirred once.

  The strange powder was poison created by Aderico, so Serendipity had told Marcus and Valerius. The young Lord furrowed his brow as he thought it through. “But why would Aderico have poison?” he asked aloud.

  “That's a very good question.” a voice said from behind Valerius.

  Valerius looked to the side and found his father standing by the door; the Grand Lord took a few steps into the room and he immediately shifted his gaze to Serendipity. Valerius watched his father with care. He was trying to judge if he had had some more to drink or not. If he had, Marcus was holding the alcohol very well. Serendipity still did not move. Her breathing remained as ragged as before.

  “Is she breathing?” Marcus asked, suddenly by her side, he took Serendipity’s hand and clasped it gently in his. Sighing, Marcus placed her lifeless hand back down onto the bed and shook his head. “Perhaps Izikiel will know what to do.” Marcus suggested, more to himself than to his son.

  Valerius could not help but shake his head in disbelief. “Izikiel is gone, surely? I haven’t seen him around for a while.” he replied and sat down on a chair he had placed by the bed earlier on, leaning his elbows onto his knees as he waited for a response. Valerius looked up at his father when he did not reply.

  A message was sent and Marcus tucked his hands into his pockets and began to pace the room as they waited for the sorcerer to arrive. Something seemed to be bothering him, something on top of Serendipity potentially dying. “Are you going to finally tell me what had happened to Reynald? I now have to look for a new Captain and quickly. It’s a good thing I already have someone in mind and I don’t mean those fools Reynald liked to call his lieutenants. We need someone who used to work for Hathor, and I think I have the perfect candidate.” he said.

  Valerius rubbed the back of his neck nervously. “We either have a spy in our midst or Reynald had made himself an enemy within the castle, without our knowing. I wouldn’t be surprised if someone wanted him dead, it was only about time the Redbanes had gotten revenge for his betrayal. Perhaps you’ve underestimated what Viktor Redbane is capable of.” Valerius replied. He was treading on thin ice and he knew it. But he could not help simply telling the truth.

  “I can’t believe you’re lying to me with not even an ounce of shame. You’ve changed, Valerius, and not in a way I appreciate. What do you know about Reynald’s death?” Marcus was fighting hard to keep his temper from flaring and getting the best of him.

  “I hope I’m not interrupting anything personal.” Izikiel's voice came from the doorway before Valerius could reply, and he waddled into the room with his leg that looked as if it were injured. Finding his place beside the bed, he took hold of one of Serendipity's curls and inhaled it gratefully. As if it were a drug, he shuddered in delight.

  “What are you doing?” Marcus asked, sounding annoyed, and he folded his arms across his chest.

  “Pardon me, my Lord.” Izikiel replied whilst rolling up the sleeves of his black robe. He offered no explanation for his bizarre behaviour. “I know you can hear me, little Princess.” he now began to the lifeless body before him. Izikiel worked as though unaware of the sudden tension between father and son. Or perhaps he could tell something was off between them both but, he just didn’t care enough to show it.

  Valerius watched with sudden interest as Izikiel worked, only because he was too afraid to look at his father for the moment. Izikiel turned and waddled over to some bottles that had been neatly ordered along a shelf and took one at what seemed like random. He approached the bed again and placed the bottle down onto the table next to it. Izikiel went to tilt Serendipity’s head back.

  Valerius jumped to his feet and pulled him back. “What are you doing?” he asked him furiously.

  Izikiel took hold of the Lord’s arm and silenced him. He picked up a small vial filled with a yellow liquid and spotted with brown specks. “Mustard seeds, my Lord. I have something to show you. Your Princess inhaled the poisonous powder but, she hasn't died, don't you worry. Not enough of it was consumed to kill her, so my guess is that whatever poison is inside of her had clearly not been finished by its manufacturer. I’ll feed her this tonic and her body will immediately reject it; it induces vomiting you see.” he explained. Releasing his grip on Valerius, the sorcerer forced Serendipity's mouth open and poured the tonic down in one go. Then he waited.

  Both Lords also waited, with Marcus’ patience being tested more than Valerius’. Serendipity remained in her place, as still and cold as she had been before. She did not move.

  “Is this some kind of trick?” Marcus began. His blood was beginning to boil, and he was not too sure what was causing it more, the fact that Serendipity could be dying and he feared for her life – or that the fact that his Redbane hostage was on the brink of death and he would have nothing left to hold over the rest of the wretched Redbane family.

  Izikiel only silenced him too.

  Marcus and Valerius shared an irritated look with each other before turning their attention back to Serendipity. The Princess suddenly stirred at her fingertips, they tingled slightly before her arms began to move, then her neck and her head. She jolted in the bed, her eyes opened and she threw herself upright.

  Izikiel moved quickly. He placed a bowl in front of the Princess and watched as she vomited into it; holding her hair back for her as though she was some drunkard. A strange white liquid filled the bowl.

  “Ah, get away from me.” Serendipity moaned, once having realised who was holding her hair. She wiped her mouth and placed a hand on her burning throat, a sharp and vile taste lingered in her mouth. She placed a hand on her forehead next and blinked hard. Serendipity remained silent for a moment. She’d had the strangest dream; or at least what she thought had been one. Serendipity had dreamt of Dedric Vale, his brutal death at the hands of assassins (which she only knew because his death had not been a secret) but, then he was alive again. The Princess didn’t know what to make of it, or where to start in asking how he had managed to seemingly survive what the assassins had done to him. That made her wonder then, if Dedric was really even dead at all. It had felt too real, even as she’d slept. She got out of bed and began pacing the r
oom slowly; not looking up at either of then men as she moved. She felt dizzy, and she began to think that perhaps getting out of bed that quick had had not been the best idea. “Dedric Vale is dead, yes?” she eventually asked and looked at all three men for an answer.

  Marcus was cruel enough to give her a smile as he replied, “Yes, and good riddance.”

  Serendipity shook her head, only making her dizzy spells worse, She took hold of the bed frame in an attempt to steady herself. “No. That can't be. Dedric Vale is alive, he must be.” she stuttered. “I’d found a letter in my room signed D.V. Who else bears those initials?”

  Izikiel clapped his hands together. “Ah, little Princess so you do know about Dedric Vale. Yet you do not know that he was the one who gave you away at birth, would you be keen to learn about that?” he asked.

  Serendipity turned to look at Izikiel with wide eyes. “He what?” she asked in turn, only to watch as Izikiel threw his head back and laughed. What happened to be so funny, Serendipity did not know and partly did not want to find out.

  “Your father, the Emperor, had ordered Dedric Vale to give you away at birth. He believed you were cursed.”

  Serendipity looked at her feet, only to avoid letting the men see her eyes line with tears. She pinched the sides of the nightgown she had been changed into. “Cursed? How? Let me guess, I can kill men with a single stare; or even better yet, a single thought?” she was mocking herself in a weak attempt to make the whole idea of a curse sound ridiculous. It was not doing much good in convincing Izikiel to tell her that it all meant nothing, really; that it was just a foolish thought on her father’s part. But Izikiel did no such thing. So he believed it too?

  The sorcerer shrugged. “It’s not for me to find out. When the time is right, I’m sure you’ll learn all about it. Now, I believe my work here is done.” he replied and left the room with a warning for Serendipity to be careful and get plenty of rest.