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I stopped dead in my tracks. “What? Why?”
“Just the messenger, sweetheart.” He laughed, making his way past me. “But do be a doll and fill me in on all of the details after dinner.” He left me in the hall alone.
I made my way to Princess Daealla’s room, trying to figure out why she would want to meet with me, especially when Gaelin was away. Alfar males were known to take mistresses. She had to be used to this. It was normal in her culture.
I stepped up to her door and knocked lightly. A guard appeared, peering down at me. I dropped my eyes to the floor, remembering proper etiquette.
“Princess Daealla has requested my presence,” I said.
The guard stepped aside, allowing me to pass. I didn’t dare look up once I was inside.
“You may leave us, Termos,” said Daealla. I heard the door slam behind me. Daealla approached me slowly, circling as if I were her prey. “You may look up.”
I cautiously lifted my head to see the grandeur of her chamber. It was twice the size of Gaelin’s and full of gold furnishings. Paintings lined the walls along with statues and musical instruments. A young male stood by the window, eating a piece of fruit. He was tall and lanky with golden blonde hair. He had vibrant blue eyes and a slender nose that pointed at the end.
“Do you find everything to your liking?” Princess Daealla asked.
“Your chambers are amazing, Your Highness. I’ve never seen such beauty in one room.” I hoped I sounded meek. My eyes snagged on the young male before I returned my gaze to the floor.
“I’m sure it is quite the step up from that church basement back in The Frey,” she said, moving to a table. She poured herself a glass of wine, motioning her hand through the air towards the young male. “That is Filo. He is none of your concern,” she said in a dismissive tone.
I wondered how much she really knew about me or could dig up. Was her random comparison to the church basement and this palace a threat? Step out of line, and she will destroy anyone and anything that I held dear?
“Yes, it is. What can I do for you, Your Highness?” She walked back over to me, her eyes assessing each inch of my person.
“How are you and my future king getting along? Are you…satisfying his needs?”
I swallowed hard. I didn’t think this interaction could get more uncomfortable, but I was wrong. “I provide the necessary services that are required of my position, Your Grace.”
She took my chin with one of her long cold fingers and lifted my face to hers. She was so beautiful it was unsettling. “Why did he choose you, I wonder? Of all the humans he could have had, he chose one that looks so opposite of his future wife. Does he talk about me with you?”
I looked back to the floor, shaking my head. “No, Your Grace.”
She straightened. “From this point on, anytime he utters my name you will report it to me directly. I need to make sure this alliance between his family and mine is solidified. That, of course, means an heir,” she said with a bite in her tone.
“Of course, Your Highness.”
She waited for a moment, before finally dismissing me without another word.
I turned to the door.
“Oh, and human,” she said before I could leave. “If he continues to disrespect me in my own court and look at you with desire while in my presence, you will be the one to pay for his actions.”
I waited to make sure she was finished before leaving the room.
That night, I busied myself with laundry and cleaning, not wanting to ponder on Daealla’s threat or Gaelin’s current situation. I could only imagine what disgusting things he was being forced to witness in the court of horrors. I carried the heavy basket of wet laundry out to the courtyard to hang the garments in the night air to dry. Breathing deeply, I expected to smell fresh rain and flowers, but instead, something foul and heavy tainted my senses. It smelled of rotting flesh and decay. I looked around but saw nothing out of place.
A scream erupted from inside the main hall, a floor above me. I rushed into the castle, wondering what had happened. The servants were cowering against the walls in the hallways, too afraid to move. I ran up the stairs to the great hall to see hordes of decaying humanoid figures ransacking the place. They attacked anyone that they encountered and gathered as much gold and silver as they could carry.
One turned himself into a bear four times its normal size before biting a guard’s head clean off. I froze in shock, unable to comprehend what I was seeing. The guards used their magic to fight back. A ripple of air flooded the passage, slamming the bear into the wall. Vines reached from the floor, wrapping themselves around some attackers’ necks and tightened until they left the creatures without heads.
The guards unsheathed their swords that hung from their waists and swung their blades as the monsters met them with their own weapons. Metal clashed, filling the great hall with a vibration. The undead appeared to be intelligent and skilled fighters, able to keep up with the guards trying to fend them off. One turned to look at me as the screaming continued. I backed away slowly, trying to avoid its gaze. I looked around the hall for a weapon, but there was nothing. I was defenseless.
The creature strolled over to me casually, scrutinizing me up and down. My body froze in fear. Though my mind was screaming for me to run, my limbs were useless. Its skin was pale gray, and the smell was unbearable. Part of its jaw was visible through the decaying flesh hanging loosely from its eye. Its body was missing skin, exposing its kneecaps, shoulder blades, and elbows. The hair that remained on its head was thin and matted with blood.
An arm curled around me from behind and the creature went flying back into the air. I turned to see Levos. After he placed me safely against the interior wall Levos unsheathed his sword and walked fearlessly towards the creature. The monster stood up, meeting Levos’s broad stroke of his sword with its own. Levos pushed the creature away, extending his hand into the air, pulling rock from the wall down towards his opponent. The creature dove out of the way, forced to the ground, and Levos took the advantage. As the creature began to morph into a bear, he cut its head clean from its body mid-transition. I relaxed against the wall, watching as the last of the undead were put down.
“What are you doing up here?” Levos asked. “Are you okay?”