Chapter 7: Malevolent Part 2

- Rosenbaum Castle Solar -

Exquisitors: The guardians of the law and order in all of Scaldus. The proud commanders of the Celestian army. Under direct supervision of the Empress herself, each wields legal power over a land of their choosing.

Katalina V. Seraphine is one such knight. Hailed as a prodigy before even graduating in the knight’s academy, she succeeded her mother’s territory, Rosenbaum, and attained the sixth Exquisitor seat at the young age of twenty-three.

Donned in a dark full plate armor adorned by protective runes and crimson linings, her appearance struck fear in foes and allies alike. But through her ominous helmet that boasted two long horns was a tender smile. A smile reserved for another.

Katalina gazed at the land beyond her walls. It was her duty to protect their people now, yet deep inside she knew that what she had concealed inside their walls could very meant be the spark of their own destruction. Christopher’s parting words had been a curse. She began to feel the coldness of fear stabbing her on the back.

“Katalina.” A distant voice yet so familiar. How she wished it was the latter, yet she knew that was naught but superficial thinking.

Katalina turned and faced the overwhelming presence that emerged; the shadow bore the silhouette of a man. She stepped forward, bowing with accomplished grace. “My, Lord Philippe N. Schweitzer. To whom do I owe this sudden visit?”

“Spare me the sarcasm.” The dark figure quipped. “Tales have reached my ears, and I do not like the sound of it.”

She met the shadow’s gaze with steady eyes. “Please, pray tell, what are these tales you speak of?”

“Do not play your games with me woman.” The shadow phrased his authority. “You do not want Rosenbaum to be another Reinbark. What are you two hiding?”

Katalina’s face lost its smile. “Nothing. I have not heard from him after he left his seat open.”

“Really?” The shadow strode past her, stopping in front of the glass windows. “From your reaction when he received his sentence, I suspect your bond is close. Too close,” he emphasized. “Love, after all, can drive us to the extreme.”

The shadow’s words provoked a girlish giggle, but suppressed before it could reach her lips. “Forgive me, but for Lord Philippe to believe in nonsensical words such as love, it was the most amusing thing to hear.”

“Surely then it would be wise, to better guard your tongue?” The shadow warned, his anger spilling over like a bubbling cauldron.

Katalina bowed her head once more. “I hear and obey.”

The shadow continued, “I have seen many, too much in fact, abandon their oath for the very same reason. My brother is one of them. And I suspect you too is under its influence.” Though tension thrummed off him, his voice was monotone.

Katalina faltered over a catch in her throat, recalling the fire that raged when Christopher betrayed his oath; not to the Divine Empress, but to her. “I severed our bond the moment he took ‘that’ wench under his wing. I am no traitor.”

“Then swear upon your oath to the Empress.”

“By Her will, I will not lie to you.” Her voice strong and carrying resolve in the cold air.

Silence descended on the hall. She didn’t move. He didn’t move.

“Very well.” The shadow broke the silence. “I will question you no longer.”

“If I may be so bold to ask, what has Lord Christopher done this time?”

The shadow sighed. “I thought this a chance to let him learn the harsh truths of the world, but the fool continues to bring shame on our name. Now he has gone to Rosetta to pursue the arcane, as a student.”

“Rosetta?” She repeated. “The adventurer’s academy?”

“The very same. I do not know what that little wench of his drilled in his mind, but he believes her salvation hidden beneath a labyrinth.”

Katalina stiffened. “He seeks the forbidden then?”

The shadow shook his head. “I do not know. His actions elude me. It had always been.”

True. Christopher wasn’t one to explain, not even to her.

The shadow gestured a curt bow before opening a portal of unknown location. “My apologies for doubting you, Katalina,” he said. “You have become a fine lady; Madam Seraphine would be proud.”

“Thank you,” was all she said before the shadow stepped into the portal he created.

A terrible sense of weakness assailed her. She sat on a chair and drank a glass of water. She cursed herself for being an idiot, for believing that man who she once cherished the most was sincere. That artifact he left her wasn’t for the good of the world. It was for that damn woman. Everything he did had been for her, constantly chasing the shadow of one who had already past.

In the end, Katalina was left wondering in between the riddles of his true motives.

“What is it that he truly seeks?”