I am going to strangle someone.
That is what I said this morning when I woke up and found myself wandering about when I should've been having things to do and people to worry over. I woke up at dawn for no apparent reason, though I think it has something to do with the fact that I didn't have Lance's body heat to turn into this morning. Instead, I rolled over and found myself finding an empty bed.
Thomas and I shared a room, but he fell asleep on the couch before I could argue and then woke up before me. How in heathens that man still functions perfectly fine that early in the morning, is beyond me. I needed two cups of whatever strong drink the innkeeper's wife gave me. They were up already too, cooking breakfast for all of us and the few other travelers who were passing through the town.
I tried to go to Darius and Clarice's room when the eighth bell rang, but Rohana said they were still sleeping and to come back later. I questioned her but her face remained neutral and she relayed no more information aside from the fact that they were both still asleep, and after having used up a good deal of their powers, they were unlikely to wake up for another hour or two. Of course, I was slightly pissed at the fact considering that would only leave us two to three hours before noon to get Ben presentable which is when Willa told us to leave the town before suspicions flew, and Gods know those two take that long to get ready, not to mention eat.
Everyone else was awake not long after me, and they met in the courtyard to train. They left weapons out of this morning's session, which I suppose was smart considering the small crowd that gathered to curiously watch the two factions. I'm sure they would've been alarmed if they saw the Bhaltayr and Ginerva clashing steel. People tend to get nervous when swords are flying, and they're already nervous as is after yesterday.
I watched them for an hour until nine bells rang, and then I went back to mine and Thomas's room to get Clare's clothes for the day. Thomas was already there and had everything ready, which only made me squint my eyes at him. I didn't see him at breakfast nor walking about the balconies or courtyard, and he wasn't in the room earlier. I swear Thomas is a freaking ghost, or at least has the power to mist. He denies it, but I'm not convinced.
We got to Clarice and Darius's room and Rohana let us in this time, saying to work quietly and not go into the bathroom until their food was up. Thomas and I exchanged glances, but we did as she said when we found the bed empty and the covers thrown in tangled directions. We changed the sheets Thomas got from the innkeeper and then set out their clothes and cleaned the room a little before one of the servants came in with a few plates of food. I knew I had already eaten but at the smell of the eggs, bacon, sausage, buttered bread, powder-sugared toast, and maple pancakes...I was hungry all over again. We set the plates on the table between the couches and then tip-toed to the bathroom's large doorway.
On the other side of the room, Darius sat with his back to the wall and his arms held tightly to Clarice curled up into his chest. There was an odor that was clearly someone's dinner from last night, and my mind remembered the tiny little fact that Clarice is pregnant. I hoped Darius hadn't figured it out, but then I saw how calm his face was with his eyes closed and I realized that if he had, there'd be a raging fire out at the escort's camp burning one specific scar-faced man alive.
That's a lovely thought.
I took one step into the bathroom and Darius's eyes snapped open, fury instantly blanketing his face. It scared the shit out of me, and I had to take deep breaths to slow down my skittering heart. I will never get used to the fact that he can literally feel you enter a room.
He relaxed after realizing it was just us. I gestured to the bedroom and then left them. A few minutes later they both walked in, yawning and rubbing their eyes. Clarice looked a little pale, but the food fixed that no problem to my great relief. I didn't miss how she turned down the powder sugared toast and bacon and stuck to everything else. She also declined the milk, but she took the peppermint tea.
As expected, it took us an hour and a half to make them look less like corpses. We didn't bother with crowns or grand outfits. They wore simple clothing. Clarice is in slick black trousers that hugged her legs, a royal blue loose tunic under a cream-colored and black fur-lined coat. I wove her hair into two long plaited braids down the sides of her head and left her face alone. No touch-ups today - not that she needs it after we scrubbed her face with cold water and woke her up the rest of the way.
She complained that the boots were too pinchy, so I had to have Vanya mist me back to the escort camp and grab the second pair of boots for her. I didn't allow myself to stay long enough to see Lance. I knew that my heart would clench if I did.
Darius wore similar clothing, his tunic black, and coat royal blue. He didn't have any arguments with Thomas about his riding boots. I envied them, even going so far as to shove my middle finger in their faces after they laughed when I yelled at her. Then I yelled at both of them when we walked outside and they saw the Bhaltayr and Ginerva training and decided to join. I shoved them back inside their room and forced them to at least change out of their silk tunics and into the plain ones that I wouldn't have a fit over them getting dirty. Thomas laughed, I smacked the air since I can't reach the back of his head, and then I let them go and train for the last hour or so before they would head into the town.
They're training still, and I'm nibbling on a small bowl of fruit the innkeeper's wife brought out to me as I sit on a nearby bench to watch. People have filed in from the town streets since they've started, lining between the pillars of the courtyard. It's mostly kids, but there are adults who watch curiously, and some concerningly.
Thomas is Gods know where, but I've given up on keeping track of the ghost.
The innkeeper's wife, Kainda, whose name I had trouble pronouncing at first, has been sitting on the bench with me. She asks questions, and I answer, though I make sure not to give too much away. She's noticed, of course. She's many things, kind, gentle, open-hearted, but stupid is not one of them.
"The women move faster than the men," she observes as they all pair off again and go through a series of what is apparently, "cool down sparring." How the fuck cool down sparring is a cool down, I have no idea, but I'm not going to question it. Not when these strawberries are to die for.
"They've trained longer," I answer in between the red berries.
"The townsfolk say that the women could appear and reappear in different places. Is that true?"
I shove another delicious strawberry in my mouth, taking the moment to debate what to tell her. "They...they're different."
"Well, that's not obvious at all." She gives me a knowing look.
"The Ginerva have been gifted with special abilities. Misting - them appearing and reappearing in different places - is one of those gifts."
"What other...gifts do they have?"
I chew on the sweet orange melon, wishing they'd stop and call me over. No such luck.
"They all have their own unique...abilities. They're sworn to protect and guard King Darius and Queen Clarice with their lives," I explain quickly, trying to change the subject. "And even though many won't understand who and what they are, they're not cruel. They'd never lay a hand on anyone innocent, and neither would the Bhaltayr. They'd all die trying to save the life of someone rather than be the one to take it."
"And the Bhaltayr, they have these gifts?"
"No, but they clearly don't need it." Just as I finish my sentence Mal wraps his legs around Alex's waist and...I don't know what happened. It was just a blur of bodies and then Alex was in a chokehold on the ground and tapping out when Mal's legs tighten.
"Indeed they don't," Kainda muses to herself. "But why were the women given gifts?"
"Well, because things like what happened yesterday...they're going to happen again, and even though the Bhaltayr are just as strong, there are some things that they cannot do that the Giinerva can."
"Like mist."
"Yes. The Ginerva are nothing to fear, Kainda," I reassure her, putting the now empty bowl down on the bench between us. She turns to me as I speak, and I make sure to hold her gaze I do so. "Believe me when I say that they might look like stone-faced assholes, but their hearts are the biggest things in the world."
She nods and then glances over her shoulder to the group that has gathered behind us. Her eyes meet mine for a moment, and I realize that she never had any doubts about the Ginerva or Bhaltayr, she was asking questions for the people nearby. Nothing spreads quicker than wildfire like the gossip of a town that just had a frightening night with strange visitors slash saviors.
The training ends ten minutes later, and I bite my tongue to keep the argument of Clarice and Darius bathing the sweat and dirt off of them from coming out. This isn't necessarily the place for a servant to snap at a pair of royals.
Thomas shows up with the silk tunics and coats a minute later, and we have Clarice and Darius at least wash off their faces and I redo Clare's braids before we follow them back downstairs. The Ginerva are dressed in matching leather riding gear, the Bhaltayr in their own clothing. Let me tell you, lugging in sixteen outfits wasn't a task I enjoyed doing, nor do I want to do it again. It was a one-time thing only.
Word traveled fast, and soon people drifted to the inn in hopes to see the new King of Vandaria and Queen of Thralia - who was a far more popular topic of conversation since no one knew there was still a kingdom of Thralia to rule. They all left to walk the streets, and I stayed at the inn and enjoyed some sweet treats and the bar. Thomas has disappeared. Again. And I'm stuck talking to a rather large group of strangers who want details on the King and Queen, Thralia, the Ginerva, and the thing that the injured people keep talking about from yesterday. Typical.
"Are there really such things as water wolves?"
"Where's Thralia?"
"Are they really elementals?"
Yes. On an island somewhere off of the coast. That and more.
No, I don't know what that thing was from yesterday. Yes, I'm in the Queen's service. No, you can't visit Thralia. It was burned down. Yes, Darius is the King of both kingdoms. No, I don't know where the water wolves are. Yes, they are more than just kind rulers. No, the Ginerva are not going to harm anyone.
Yes and no's and explanations leave my mouth for the next hour - half of which I got nervous about because we were supposed to leave by twelve bells. I saw Rohana walking to the courtyard and moved to follow her, but a man's question stopped me before I could do more than slide out of my seat. "Are you traveling to Cadorelin for the Winter's Ball?"
"Um..." I glanced out the windows, finding everyone else trailing Rohana. "Yes. We're headed for Cadorelin."
"I heard that every royal from every kingdom in Ker would be attending," another man yells out.
"It's true," says another. "My family and I are traveling to the capital. We're hoping to get a glimpse at a few of the other royals."
Dread takes root in my gut. "You're traveling to Cadorelin?"
"Perhaps we'll join you," a man with a woman on his lap purposes. "We've always wanted to see the capital." The woman grins widely, agreeing with her likely husband if the bands on their fingers mean anything.
"Oh, a trip to Cadorelin sounds fun," another woman agrees, and then there's a small group of people making plans to travel to Cadorelin.
My stomach starts to twist and turn, imagining each and every one of them there if things go wrong. All of them could end up dead, and I don't know if I should say anything. If I do say something, then it could bring them panic, and then word will spread, and a kingdom in panic is an easily overtaken one. But if I don't tell them, then they'll all be walking into a ball that's more than likely to end up in an ugly fight. It always ends up in an ugly fight, and with Xaxias now pulling up creatures from the underworld, things are getting harder and harder to keep death away.
"Are you alright, Katarina?" I jump at the sound of Kainda's voice over my shoulder. "You've gone pale."
"I, uh...I'm fine. Thank you." She doesn't look like she's convinced one bit, but the room goes into a sudden hush and everyone has stood from their chairs. I turn, already knowing who would be the cause of such silence in a previously loud room.
Darius and Clarice stand in the doorway behind me and Kainda, The Ginerva and Bhaltayr standing behind them. They could at least look less cold and warmer like Darius and Clarice. The other seventeen look like they're close to murdering people. Well, all except Ethan who's smiling like an idiot for no reason.
"King Darius, Queen Clarice," Kainda addresses, lowering into a curtsy. Darius's mouth opens to tell her that it's not necessary for her to bow, but then everyone else in the room is doing so and he doesn't say anything. I think it's funny how he's so determined to stop a tradition that's been going on for centuries.
I only lower my head, giving him a knowing look which he returns. "Everything alright, Kat?"
A small tendril of wind snakes around my wrist and through my fingers, telling me just how they got here in time to save my indecisive and concerned ass. I hate that his powers can sense such things and that he feels the need to keep a...breeze around me, but I can't say I'm never thankful for it.
"They were just telling me how they all are planning to attend the Winter's Ball," I answer slowly. His smile doesn't falter, but his eyes do that weird glazing over thing whenever he thinks about Clarice being in danger. Clarice, however, has a slightly harder time covering up her concern, glancing at Darius with worried eyes. He avoids her stare, likely knowing that he'd cave if he did.
"Really?" he asks, his voice even as he turns to the small crowd.
"Well, just the festivities in the city, Your Majesty," the first man explains, suddenly nervous and keeping his eyes downcast. "I highly doubt we'd be allowed within the castle walls."
Not that you'd want to be.
"Yes, well, I suppose that would be for your safety. So many rulers in one place...there's bound to be a fight or two. Best not risk good people such as yourselves getting caught in the middle of it."
"So it's true then," a woman asks. "All the rulers will be attending?"
"That is what the invitation entailed," Darius answers, his jaw slightly tightening the only sign of his opposition to them going to Cadorelin. "I do hope you all find some fun in the city. I'm told the people there throw quite the parties."
"Yeah, they do." I glare at Gabe. Of course, he'd know.
Darius's own smile says that he's had first-hand experience with said parties too. I remember Thomas telling me that they did, and it was hard to keep it from Claritia when she'd ask if I knew where her son had gone during their visits to the beautiful castle.
Gods if I could, I'd live in those marble and alabaster walls of the Cadorelin castle. I hate to say it, but it sure does beat the sandstone walls of Fernweh. I love the castle, but it could do with a little less bleak exterior.
"I just wanted to thank you and your husband before we left," Darius says to Kainda. "You wouldn't happen to know where he is, would you?"
"Right here, Your Highness." Dikost, the giant of a man innkeeper walks out of the hall beside us. He gives a bow before stepping to his wife's side. "It's been our pleasure to house you and your guard. I hope everything was suitable."
"It was more than suitable. Thank you," Clarice replies. Everyone in the room seemed to lean forward at her words as if they were hanging on her every word and entranced by her voice.
"I have a gift to show our thanks, though it doesn't seem nearly enough for what you've done for us." Darius nods to Nilsa. She steps forward, pulling something out of her pocket as she walks to Dikhost and Kainda. "Should you ever be in any sort of danger and need help, all you have to do is break the glass."
Nilsa wraps something around Kainda's wrist, and when she moves onto Dikost's, I find a similar bracelet that's on my wrist now guarding hers. It's the brown twine holding the small ball of glass with the little flame burning endlessly inside of it. I remember Blaise's voice telling me to do the same thing on the day she gave it to me when the Court of Vandaria had arrived at the castle. Funny how they, at the time, were considered as dangerous as the creatures of the Underworld.
"We've also taken the liberty of restocking your medical and food supplies," Clarice adds. "The Anevay and Sitaras made sure to stock you up on everything. In case anyone in the city was in need of more."
Yeah, that was heavy carrying in too, believe it or not. It was one of the things Thomas and I did before going to Darius and Clarice's room last night. Willa just misted everything into one room and told us to find somewhere to put all of it. So we snooped around and found their medical closet. It wasn't too hard to put the items on the shelves. I think someone else had to do with the food restocking.
"That's more than enough in thanks, your Majesties. Thank you, truly." Dikost smiles at his wife's words, as her eyes find his. A part of my heart clenches at the love spoken in between their eyes and their eyes alone. Sometimes, I could feel the same thing passing between me and Lance, but in recent days his mind has been too distracted to take a break from such a thing. Not that I blame him, it's just hard to see him so troubled.
"It's our pleasure-" Darius bends at the waist just a bit to show his respect, which earns a great many surprised reactions to ripple about the room "-and safe travels to you all."
Everyone in the room snaps out of their trance and bows, missing Clarice's hesitation. She wants to tell them to not go too, but like me, she knows she can't. Not yet, at least. Darius sees it in her eyes as she stares longingly about the room, and he grabs her hand and pulls her away before they arise. I can't help it and look back at the people.
Nilsa waits by my side until I follow them out. I turn to her once we're out of earshot. "We can't just let them go to Cadorelin without warning them of what's really going on."
"Relax, Kitty Kat -"
"Don't call me that. Only certain people get to call me that."
"Dee knew they'd go," she says, ignoring my warning.
"What!" I whirl around to start arguing but she puts her hand on my arm and keeps me facing forward.
"Relax. We left bracelets for all of those who would go."
"How in heathens is a bracelet supposed to help when you'll all be too busy fighting demons and demon mutts?" She doesn't answer, just gives me an amused smile.
I roll my eyes and then chew on my bottom lip as we make it onto the street where horses, Víđarr, and our escort wait. Technically, it's Darius and Clarice's escort, but I'm calling it mine cause it makes me feel
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