NIGHTS OF HALLOW

Perdita walked inside the castle with mixed feelings. Her hands clenched by her sides and sometimes fidgeted with her dress. She didn’t want to imagine the look on Sthena’s face and what he might say after what she had done.

Why did he want her to meet him in his chamber? She questioned herself, her mind reeling from possible answers to her questions which were not forthcoming.

She continued down the hallway, meeting Lady Rosamonda on the way who didn’t spare her a glance as she bowed to greet her. What was wrong with everyone today? Perdita continued to question herself internally. But at the back of her mind, she knew that nothing was wrong and she was the one who had committed an offense she was scared to face now.

Her shoes softly echoed on the marble floor as her feet took her in the direction of Sthena’s chamber. However, just as she got to the hallway that would lead to the chamber, her legs gave in to the fears of her heart as she swiftly changed her direction and walked in the opposite hallway.

She didn’t have the courage to meet Sthena, she cried in her head. Perhaps, when everything has settled down, she would meet him.

Almost immediately as Perdita diverted to the next hallway, Sthena walked past the adjacent hallway leading to where Perdita had just come from.

Sthena’s steps firm on the hard floor clicked as the look on his face remained unreadable as to what went through his mind. Reaching outside the castle and in one of the gardens where he heard Perdita was at, he only met Emily standing there and another movement which caught his eyes was the bird that flew from the castle with a piece of paper in its limbs.

”What are you doing standing there? Where is your mistress?” 𝘧𝓇ℯℴ𝓂

”Your Majesty,” Emily spun around, her heart skipping a beat which didn’t go unnoticed by the king. Regaining her composure and that of heart that had accelerated by suddenly hearing the voice of the king, Emily bowed deeply and replied, ”Lady Perdita has gone to meet you in your Chambers.”

”You skipped a question,” Sthena remarked, peering down at the maid with a scrutinizing gaze.

”I wasn’t doing anything, Your Majesty. I was only staring at the snow, Your Majesty.” Emily replied, her head still bowed.

”I believe this is not where you are stationed to work, is it? Don’t bring yourself the misfortune of doing something you are not supposed to do,” Sthena uttered, his voice calm but yet, daunting in the ears of Emily as there was a hint of threat to his words.

Emily gulped, nodding her head, ”Yes, Your Majesty,” and she left from there and immediately entered inside.

Sthena went back into the castle, this time, he didn’t head to his Chambers, he went to the study room and on his way ordered a maid to call Daemon.

A knock on the door and Sthena’s consent from the inside was heard as Daemon pushed the door open and entered bowing, ”Milord,”

”Daemon, did you or perhaps see who sent out a bird with a message from the castle?” Sthena went directly to the topic, his expression calm yet serious.

”No, Milord,” Daemon replied, a thoughtful look on his face. ”None I could think of. Prince Regan has been mostly outdoors and Princess Sarah is rarely seen. Lady Rosamonda on the other hand just left the castle. I don’t think they could have sent out a message.”

”It is not only the royal family members, what about the maids and servants?” Sthena quizzed just as he finished writing on the parchment he kept on the table to dry before he folded and sent it out.

”The maids and the servants are not allowed to do that,” Daemon commented. He suggested, ”Do you want me to question every one of them?”

”Which makes me question why a maid would send out a message from the castle if it is not from any royal family members,” Sthena said, replying to Daemon’s first words. He further spoke, ”I doubt asking them questions would make the person confess. Bring the guard stationed at the rooftop to monitor today’s activities.”

”Yes, Milord,” Daemon bowed and swiftly left to oblige the king’s order. A few minutes later, Daemon returned with the man in charge of watching the castle.

”Greetings, Your Majesty,” The guard greeted, his head deeply bowed.

”I have a few questions which you must answer precisely,” Sthena uttered while continuing with his work without sparing a glance to the guard who looked as though he would fall at being called before the King.

”Did you see the bird sent out from this castle?”

The guard confused at first had a puzzled look before he understood Sthena’s question. He replied, ”Yes, Your Majesty. I saw the birds.”

”Birds?” Sthena’s hand stopped midway going to dip the quill inside the ink.

”Yes, Your Majesty. It wasn’t just one bird, there were two of them.”

”At what time did you see them?”

The guard scratched his head, trying to recall the exact time he saw the birds, ”The first one I saw was more than forty-five minutes ago, and the second was just about twenty minutes ago.”

”Is that so,” Sthena hummed, his eyes narrowing as he regarded the guard. ”Did you see the person who sent the birds out?”

The guard’s gaze lowered and he shook his head negatively, ”No, Your Majesty. I wasn’t able to see the person involved. From where I stood, I saw a movement in one of the gardens where the first bird flew from but then, the second bird also flew from the direction.”

Sthena nodded, his eyes briefly glancing in Daemon’s direction who was also taking note of everything being said, ”From what you observed, were the birds sent out by the same person?”

”I don’t think so, Your Majesty.” The guard shook his head. ”I believe they are two different persons.”

”You may go now, that is all for now,” Sthena waved his hand at the guard, dismissing him. ”You shall keep a watchful eye and relay to me any movement that goes on outside the castle without missing any detail.”

”Yes, Your Majesty,” The guard bowed and left the study room to return to his duty post.

”What you said is true,” Sthena revealed. ”There is someone in the castle leaking information to Vetis. Now, the problem is who is the real culprit?”

”Do you have anyone in mind?” Daemon quizzed as he sat in one of the chairs facing Sthena. ”The guard mentioned two birds, does that mean there are two of them?”

”I haven’t confirmed it yet but Perdita’s handmaid increased the suspicion to be on her when I saw her in the garden but then, I am in doubt as she is the guardian witch of Perdita.” Sthena expressed his thoughts, his mind thinking of every possibility of who it could be.

”You can not trust anyone, Milord. She seems to be the only maid closest to the Lady. It could be her or she just happened to be at the scene of the event.” Daemon opined.

”Even if she is not involved, it then means that there are two persons who could be working for two different people by giving them information from the castle. There is only one way to find out,” Sthena said, standing to his feet. ”Keep an eye on the movement of everyone in the castle. Nobody is to be trusted, even Ms. Elliot who just arrived.”

”Speaking of Ms. Elliot, Milord, she demanded the chamber next to yours saying she didn’t like the room which was given to her,” Daemon told Sthena who now rolled the parchment he had left to dry.

Looking outside, the snow seemed to have stopped, but he knew it was going to come again and the night would be freezing like it usually did.

He turned to Daemon and replied to him, ”You can suggest the stable for her to stay in. She fits better with the horses than with people, though I would say the horses are more behaved than she is. Everybody keeps getting on my nerves today.” Sthena hissed, clicking his tongue in annoyance.

Daemon let out a chuckle, his red eyes crinkling in amusement. ”Was that the reason you looked as though you would rip Mark’s neck off because Lady Perdita gave him the buns she baked?” He taunted the king, not missing the opportunity to do so as he had done to him with Princess Sarah.

”I could start from your head and practice. It has been a long time since I last snapped someone’s head. Would you mind if I use you to relieve the memory of how it feels?” A crooked smile appeared on Sthena’s face while he assessed his fingernails.

”I doubt the Lady would fancy seeing you in another color other than the black you usually wear, Milord.” Daemon countered as he stood up. ”Red only looks good on your hair, Your Majesty.”

The smile on Sthena’s lips widened, his fangs peeking out to Daemon’s view, ”I wouldn’t know if I don’t try.”

”Your Lady is waiting in your chambers. Don’t keep her waiting lest Mark comes running to take her away.” Daemon chuckled, the amusement on his face evident as his red eyes filled with mischief.

”That makes me a fulfilled man to know she is waiting for me than a boy who can not acknowledge his feelings for the woman he loves.” at the words of Sthena, the smile on Daemon’s face vanished like it was never there.

”I’ll take my leave, Milord as I still have matters to attend to,” Daemon gave a stiff bow and left the study room with an amused Sthena whose smile also wiped off his face as he murmured, ”I want to see how long you will continue running, Perdita.”