Victoria's heart skipped a beat and her adrenaline went roaring. "What? An attack? Where? What does this have to do with me?"
"Slow down," she replied sitting back down behind her desk. "I will explain everything." She took a deep breath and continued. "Castle Sirena in Mancator was attacked this evening. The Noctis and the Guard flew to Mancator's aid, but ever since, Queen Ceto Sirena… she's been missing."
"Queen Ceto? Why?" It was hard for her to convey sympathy for that siren, but Victoria was still curious. "What could be so important as to kidnap such a dangerous person."
The Nokken general seemed to bristle a little at the way Victoria called Ceto dangerous, and Victoria wondered what his relationship was with the queen.
"We're not sure yet, but…" she seemed to be unsure of how to say the next part. "We have a good idea of who's behind this," her mother said. She suddenly couldn't look Victoria in the eye. Instead, she exchanged nervous glances with Peter.
"Who?" Victoria asked.
"His name…" Peter began. "Is Nicolae Blake."
The name sounded familiar in her head, but she couldn't place where she had heard it.
"He was a notorious criminal who was caught around six or seven years ago. Over the summer, he escaped from the Prison with his cell mate Victor Tradat."
"What?" Adrian exclaimed from behind her. In the panic of everything, she had forgotten that they were all still there. "My father's escaped from the Prison?"
"Quiet, boy!" Peter shouted.
Victoria snarled at her uncle, his arrogance becoming a thorn in her side. "Why is this the first we're hearing of this?" she asked.
"The news of the death of the King of Frumos has taken up most of the space in the headlines. Not to mention, there was a time when many lived in fear that they might be next to die at Nicolae's hands. And, at this point, no one knows where Victor Tradat is. We thought that it would be best if we kept it quiet for a while."
Victoria suddenly remembered how her father had been particularly absent recently. He was an absent father in general, but even his stoic presence in Castle Speranta had been negligent lately. This must have been what was taking up all of his time, why he was always out of town and in Teren City. "This is why father's been at Regula Palace?"
Her mother nodded. "Your father was among those who caught Nicolae before. Now his presence amongst the other royals is more important than ever."
Victoria shook her head and sighed. "So, a serial killer and his cell mate are on the loose and everyone thought it would be best if the world just stuck with business as usual."
Peter frowned at Victoria. "You weren't aware of what was going on then, Victoria. You don't know what really went on; the things that some of us had to do."
She looked down at her feet. He was right, of course. She was only… what? Six or seven years old? There was no way she could have possibly understood the things they had to do to keep the kingdom safe. It would be a while before she even had to think about doing any of those things herself. It was about time she learned that sometimes you have to do things that may not always seem right to keep those closest to you safe.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Scientists, Doctors, and Mad Men
"So…" Alex began. "Why are we playing hooky today, exactly?"
It had been a week since Queen Ceto Sirena had been abducted and there was still no trace of her. Victoria and her friends had been doing exactly what the queen had told them since then: keep quiet. For whatever reason, to avoid mass hysteria they supposed, she still wanted to keep the whole Nicolae Blake ordeal a secret. Therefore, they were not to mention what had happened during Stransura; not even amongst themselves. Victoria was thinking that they all wanted to forget the whole thing anyway. That was the reason why she and Alex were now doing everything they could to avoid the subject.
"We're not playing hooky," she replied with a frown. "I have an appointment with the court doctor. I have regular check-ups every month."
"For what? You seem perfectly fine."
"You do realize that I'm the first of my kind to be born powerless, right?"
"You can't possibly be the very first. I'm sure there have been others before you."
"Not that I'm aware of."
She found herself growing more and more uncomfortable as the conversation went on, so she turned her head to look out of the carriage window, ignoring Alex's questioning stare. When the royal carriage had arrived for them this evening, Alex looked like he had never seen anything more awesome. The Abraxus Horses snorted out flames, and he quickly shied away from them. Even now, he still eyed them cautiously from where they sat. She noticed how his fingers kept rubbing against the soft red velvet of the cushions they sat on. Clearly, he had never experienced such a luxury. It made her feel bad for every selfish thought she had ever had in her whole life.
"You mean you haven't researched any other cases. Like, at all? In that big library of yours I'm sure there has to be some kind of record of all of the abilities of vampires, or…" he paused for a moment and she frowned at him. "In this case, it would be a lack of them."
Victoria sighed. "I'm not an idiot. Of course, I've researched it. Oddly enough, there are no records within the entirety of Castle Speranta of our people's abilities. I once asked my mother about it, but she said that there weren't any cases of other cripples, and that I should leave the investigating to the professionals. Lately, my doctor visits have felt more like a formality than anything else."
"And you believe this?"
"Why shouldn't I? We've all been searching for an answer to my disability, my parents more than anyone. We just haven't found it yet. Not even the man you will be meeting today has an answer for me."
"And if he doesn't have an answer, that means nobody does?"
"Exactly."
"What kind of doctor is this guy?"
"Only the smartest man alive."
Alex huffed. "I doubt you can deem anyone the smartest person alive. There are far too many subjects and far too many types of knowledge for any one person to know it all."
"Fine," she said. The carriage stopped as they arrived in the main square outside of Castle Speranta. The front doors to her home were only a few steps from where she stood. Instead, they walked down a hallway off to the side of the main doors that led to where they needed to go. Victoria stopped before the court doctor's laboratory door and turned to Alex. "You'll see."
Before Alex could knock on the door, it swung open violently and they were met with the crazed golden eyes of a man with steam-punk goggles perched atop his head and wearing Victorian-era clothing. The sign next to his door read: "Prometheus Megalos, Court Physician."
"Princess!" Prometheus proclaimed with a wide grin on his face. Dirt and ashes fell from his curly brown hair as he waved his head around in eagerness. "Right on schedule! Perhaps we will be able to find some answers to your little problem today."
Before she or Alex could say anything, Prometheus brushed them into his home and laboratory with a hurried, "Come in! Come in!" After they stepped inside, he looked around the hallway as if there were people trying to get a look inside. After making sure it was secure, he closed the door with a loud slam causing Alex to jump.
"Please do make yourself at home, kids!" Prometheus shouted from somewhere in the room. A rattling came from the opposite side of the room followed by a loud swish as Prometheus pulled open the curtains allowing the moonlight to shine in. Around them, various magical trinkets and laboratory equipment let off chirps and beeps. Walking into Prometheus's home was like walking into a new dimension all together.
"You're the court doctor?" Alex asked. Concern was written all over his face.
"Doctor, surgeon, scientist, astronomer, madman. I can assure you I have been called all of these things and more."
"You see, it's actually the last one that worries me," Alex began but Prometheus just ignored him instead turning to where Victoria reclined in a leather chair.
"Are y
ou comfortable, princess?" he asked.
"Quite," she replied.
"Good, because," Prometheus shook his head. "Over the past month, I still haven't found any clues as to why you're disabled. In all of my years of existence, I have never run across a case such as you."
"Never?" Alex asked. She hadn't realized he had been hovering over the back of her chair the entire time. "Are you sure?"
"The last documented case was thousands of years ago; a few hundred years after Terrarum first began. Even so, those were special circumstances."
"It isn't possible that I could have the same special circumstances?" Hope began to rise within her. If there was a previous case, then maybe they had managed to cure it.
"No," Prometheus said rather harshly. It was clear he was growing more frustrated, as well as maybe trying to hide something, as if he had maybe said too much. Alex eyed him suspiciously. "No one has records of what happened with the boy it happened to before. It's only a rumor that I heard in passing. Once, I asked the oldest woman in Sangera what happened, but she didn't tell me anything except that he had died."
"What?" Alex and Victoria both exclaimed at the same time.
"Oh, not to worry my children," Prometheus backtracked. "The reason why I say your cases are different is because the oldest woman told me that he had died when he was only four years old. As you have aged well past that, I am certain that you are saved from such certain doom."
"It's nuts," Alex said. "There has to be some easy scientific explanation for, well…" his statement faded away as he gestured towards her. Victoria frowned.
"Ah, yes, and everything in the world is easily explainable through science and reason," Prometheus replied sarcasm dripping from his voice.
"Yeah, it is. That's how the world works."
Prometheus and Victoria looked at each other before bursting into a fit of laughter. "Victoria," he wheezed between breaths. "For someone who graduated at the top of his class, your friend certainly is a simpleton."
Alex was frowning now. "You're telling me to just believe that the world runs on magic?"
"Of course not! I'm telling you things like science and reason all have their place. We walk on the ground because of gravity and endorphins help us fall in love, but sometimes, even nature chooses not to follow the rules that were made. I'm telling you to have a little faith in the things that could be if we don't limit ourselves to black and white reason."
Alex shrugged looking at Victoria. "I suppose that makes sense given some of the things I've seen lately."
"Your subtlety is truly amazing," Victoria replied.
Prometheus clicked his tongue. "Believe me when I say that I also wish you had abilities. For you to not is extremely dangerous for someone in your position, especially after what happened on Stransura."
"You and me, both," Alex chimed in. "After what happened to Ceto… her general seems to be especially worried about her. He looked like he could pull Nicolae Blake apart with his bare hands."
Victoria nodded. "It's enough to make you wonder what the people around you would do if you suddenly went missing."
"Make no mistake, princess. If Nicolae Blake ever got his hands on you, I would tear this whole world apart to get you back."
"That's a nice sentiment" she replied fighting back a blush.
"I mean it."
Next to them, Prometheus went on as if the two hadn't even spoken. "What an abhorrent event to take place on someone's birthday," he shook his head. "No fifteen-year-old girl should have to have gone through what you did."
Alex was spacing out, as though he were rifling through the memories of images in his mind. At last, he snapped out of it. "Stransura is your birthday!" he exclaimed.
"Well, yes."
"Why didn't you tell anyone?"
"I don't like to celebrate. Our birthday…" Victoria began before correcting herself. "My birthday is also the anniversary of Antonius's death. It seems wrong to make a big deal out of it." She looked up into Alex's sympathetic face, a look people had been giving her far too often over the years. "If it's any consolation, before everything had happened, it was the best birthday I've had in a while. Even still, I think it might be pretty high up on that list."
Alex frowned at her. "You're incorrigible."
"I think I'm going to take some more blood samples and run some more tests. Perhaps I'll invest in some new equipment. Try out some radical approaches."
"As opposed to your usually calm and collected self?" Alex asked.
Prometheus giggled. "Exactly."
Ω
Alex and Victoria returned to Viata Castle not long after their meeting with Prometheus. As they walked back inside, they passed by a group of gargoyles that included Alex's friends. Victoria did her best to move past quickly, but Alex noticed them and waved. Charlize waved back and tried to beckon him over. Alex just motioned to Victoria with a frown.
"I'll try not to be too offended by that," she said, but Alex wasn't listening.
"I do wish I could have hung out with Charlize and Dmitri during Stransura."
"Ugh," Victoria groaned.
"I'm sorry," Alex asked. "Do you have a problem with my friends?"
"Me? Not at all. It's us they seem to have a problem with. Albert, Raduta, Adrian, and I are vampire trash to them. Not to mention that you seem to join in on that sentiment whenever you're around them."
Alex balked. "No, I don't."
"Yes, you do! Tell me if this sounds familiar." Victoria did her best Alex impression as she said, "The job at least has some perks."
He shook his head. "You took that out of context."
"Then what context was it to be in exactly?"
Alex opened his mouth to speak but closed it again. Victoria stood there staring at him, waiting for the words to come. "Perhaps… I do act a little… different when they're around, but that's just because I've known them for longer." He shook his head again. "You don't understand the way the vampires treat the gargoyles at the Academy. They can all be stiff, stuck-up pricks."
"Am I that way?"
"No."
"Are Raduta or Adrian that way?"
"Of course not."
"Then why can't we all just get along?"
He sighed. "We may be different, but I'll do my best to encourage them to ease up on their prejudices. Don't think that I won't mention the fact that you didn't use Albert in your little examples, though."
"Of course not. Albert is, in fact, a stiff and stuck-up prick."
Alex chuckled and held out his hand. "Truce?"
Victoria clasped his forearm. "I'd say more like allies."
"Deal."
CHAPTER NINE
A World Lit by Fire
"Here they come," Adrian said and Victoria turned to see two gargoyles walking their way. One had flaming red hair and the other seemed to be crafted from the earth itself. Both of their wings were tucked in tight to their backs.
Charlize gave a low growl as she approached them. "Why are we meeting you here?" she asked Alex not bothering to hide the disgust in her voice.
"Because I have lots of friends, Charlize, and I would like them all to get along." He patted the seat next to himself for her to sit down, but she didn't move.
"No, Alex, you have friends," she gestured to herself and Alex's other friend Dmitri. She then gestured to Victoria, "And then you have a job. I would advise you against mixing the two."
Raduta snarled at Charlize surprising everyone. Victoria had never taken Raduta for the aggressive type. A smile spread across her face as she realized there was much more to the girl than what met the eye. Charlize looked back at Alex. "Are these really the kind of people you choose to associate yourself with?"
Alex gulped and looked at Victoria. She raised her eyebrows at him as if to say that it was his call. He turned back to his childhood friend and replied, "Yes."
Her brown eyes turned to steel as her gaze went from him to Victoria. "Cripple," she spat at her. Albert growled, b
ut Victoria just stared at her. Having not received any rise from her, Charlize turned around and walked away with Alex on her heels pleading with her to try.
Dmitri stayed behind a moment longer. "Devil's spawn," he said to Albert before turning to leave. Albert got up and those shadows of his encased Dmitri in a nightmare. His screams were the only indication that he was in there. Albert laughed as he was extremely amused at the pain he was causing.
"Albert," Victoria said tugging on his arm. Albert's smile was still there as he released the gargoyle and sat back down. Victoria frowned at him.
"What?" he asked.
"Why are you the way that you are?"
"What do you mean?"
"You're so different from who you used to be. I guess you were always a mischievous kid, but it's like something changed after your primary school. It's like you don't care about anything anymore."
"People do change, Victoria."
"Not like you did. The summer when you turned nine, you visited Castle Speranta. You were just the way you always were. Then, I'm suddenly not seeing you for two years and it's as if you completely changed." She shook her head. "I just don't get it."
"Luckily, you don't have to." His eyes had suddenly turned dark and his voice rough. There was definitely something he wasn't telling her. Victoria wondered how it was that they could have grown so far apart.
Ω
"How do you stand it?" Victoria asked Raduta one night in the library. Raduta was researching books related to Planeswalking and Victoria was trying to help. The problem was that she hardly knew anything about Planeswalking and usually wound up looking in the wrong place.
"Stand what?" Raduta asked as she dragged Victoria away from the Terrarum history section for probably the fourth time that night.
"Coming into a world that's brand new that you have very little understanding of. Don't you sometimes feel like you're so far behind everyone else that you'll never catch up?"
"Sometimes, but I always ask questions."
The Hunger of Wolves Page 6
