One Year Later

This is by far the weirdest thing I have ever seen in my life.

Standing in the throne room is a giant, red demon with a stinger on his tail, pacing back and forth like a lion waiting to either ambush its prey, or faint from stress. If any attendants come near him, he snarls, and should they scold him, he chases them off. I understand his frustration, which is why I am here.

Well I mean, I understand his frustration, and I'm here because Eva trusts that I will have her best interests in mind.

"So you see, my lady," Sebastian stands with me in the doorway, "The physicians have barred the doors and won't let Kazaxon anywhere near the bedchamber. Kaz refuses to give control back to Alekso until they give him what he wants."

"Honestly it's clever of them," I reply, "Eva is sleeping and Kaz won't make a ruckus for fear of waking her. They won't let you in either?"

"No. They are aware I serve his highness by serving the demon."

Good thing Rosecrest is so close to Cliffside. Took me less than two hours to get here by horse.

"All right, Bash. They won't let Kaz in, but they will certainly let me in. No one has told them of my arrival, have they?"

"No, my lady."

"Well, excellent!" I spin on my heels and head towards Eva and Alekso's bedchamber. The room is surrounded by maids and a few of Alekso's council. Kwenthrith argues with one of the healers in front of the closed door and she looks moments away from drawing her sword on him.

"Lady Rosecrest!" Lord Bron, a big, bald fellow, gestures towards me. "Why, we thought you went home!"

"I did, and then came back." I move past all the bodies and stand beside Kwen. "I just couldn't stay away. Please, may I go in?"

The doctor stares down at me with my big blue eyes and my innocent face, fingers curled up against my chin as I give him my best, sweetest smile.

"Of course you can, dear Lady Rosecrest." He takes my hand and opens the door, shooting a glare at Kwenthrith. "This is how one is meant to behave. You should take pointers from this fine example, young lady."

Kwen says nothing as I give her a wink, and then walk inside the royal bedchamber.

There, a sleeping Eva is watched by a priest and a doctor, who chat with each other about how her healing is coming along nicely and she'll be right as rain in a few days. I smile just a tad, moving past her as the doctor leads me over to the bassinet by the window. Carefully, I reach in and lift the baby out, gathering her in to my arms.

Little Princess Josephine is only two days old, and yet she stares up at me with curious eyes and reaches out to hold my finger. She looks a little bigger than I expected a baby this new to look. Oh gosh, poor Eva. I peek up towards the doctors who have already shut the doors to the room. They are staunch Catholics and won't let Kaz anywhere near here. Under normal circumstances I would be in agreement with them, but not now. Things are a tad different.

I begin to walk towards the bookcase on the far wall, cradling the princess and adjusting her so I have her in one arm. I reach out, and just as the physicians go to ask what I'm doing, I yank on a certain book on the fourth shelf; which is a lever to the servant's passage, of course.

And in I go!

A few of them pursue me of course, but I am smaller and faster, losing them after a few turns. I find the door I want and shoot out from the curtain that sits behind the pair of thrones, coming to a stop with only enough force to fully wake Josie but not enough to upset her. One positive of being a serving maid in the castle is that I know these passages like the back of my hand.

Kazaxon growls and spins around, but I quickly put my finger to my lips to silence him. He calms the moment he sees what I'm holding.

"Here you go. Sometimes bigger is not always better."

"Uhm..." Bash walks up to us, lifting a finger. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"

I couldn't say how old Kazaxon is, but he must have held a baby or two at SOME point in his long life. He easily lifts the princess from me and settles her in his massive hands, bringing her up to his face so he can inspect her with those creepy, black eyes.

"Eva trusts him, so I do, too."

Josephine reaches up and grabs at the ridges on his eyebrows. He smiles. A really sharp, pointy smile that gives me chills. Josie just smiles back.

"And so does she, I suppose."

A job well done, I make my way down the steps, past Bash and out of the throne room. Two physicians glower at me on the way, one mumbling about how I won't be allowed in Eva's room anymore, but it doesn't matter much to me. Kazaxon is not going to eat the damn baby. If he did, I don't think there would be anywhere on Earth, Heaven, or Hell for him to hide from Eva. Plus I'm sure he'll love that baby as much as he loves her, if not more. Nothing wrong with having a beast like that as your protector.

Outside, my two guards Blaine and Guillermo, await with my horse Juniper already prepared. They shake their heads at me as I hike up my skirts and climb up by myself.

"You really should have taken a carriage, my lady." Guillermo chides.

"This was faster."

"But it is not proper for a lady to ride in such a fashion."

"You have been telling me that for the last six months, Guillermo, and I keep reminding you that I don't care. Riding side-saddle is uncomfortable. Now let's go, the quickest route to Rosecrest from here gives me the chills so I want to be done with it sooner than later."

The ride back is very.... unsettling. We have to pass through a dense forest, and around this time of year all the leaves are big and green and block out the light. It was foggy on the way here, so there was an eerie blanket of the fog at my horse's ankles. I expected it to be gone now that it is well past noon, but as we see the woods in the distance, I notice it's still very misty.

Weird. Guillermo takes the front and we press on. To the right there is lots of farmland, and I see smoke and various tents in the distance where the cliffs are. Northmen landed several weeks ago and the castle was in an upheaval, fearing they were going to attack. King Alekso himself went to the shores where they made camp, ready to kill them all if they threatened his heavily pregnant wife. Word spread that they were not raiders, but escapees of a coup who came seeking refuge. Their king was deposed, and these few dozen ships were all that remained of his family and supporters. Since Alekso knew what it felt like, he offered them sanctuary.

I did not see this king at the announcement of Josephine's birth, but I did see a dignitary of his. Big, muscly fellow with a bearskin cloak; the hood was the animal's head. I was too shy to approach him, but so very curious. My father never dared to hunt bears. We stuck to smaller animals that we could trap or end quickly with a bow and arrow.

"Did you hear that?" Blain mutters from behind me.

"Hmm? No, was too lost in my own thoughts." I shrug, looking around to see if maybe a badger was nearby. Nothing out of the ordinary. We enter the forest and its fog, my horse kicking up her hooves and grunting in annoyance. The Northmen brought horses, and I hear they can climb mountains.

Something whizzes through the air, and Guillermo falls off of his saddle.

"Guillermo!?"

Blaine behind me makes a gurgling sound before he slumps over the neck of his steed. I let out a scream, then ride as fast as I can away from them, as several more arrows hit trees around me.

I head deeper in to the forest, lowering myself so I'm not caught by any low hanging branches. I don't know who's attacking me or why, whether they are thieves or political enemies of Alekso, but I'm sure they expected a lady in a carriage and not me. Juniper is faster than any other horse around here and was a gift from Anselm. If anyone can get me out of here, she can.

Risking a glance behind me, I see four cloaked men on horseback racing after me and gaining speed. How did they manage to catch up to me so easily!?

I feel something pulling at my arms, prying my fingers off of the reigns that I was holding on to for dear life. I stare in shock as my hands lift up in front of me, and then yank me off of Juniper. I scream again, but Juniper races on ahead. Whatever force pulled me off of her now has me pinned up against a tree, my shoulders aching from the hard landing I suffered. I try not to cry as the four cloaked men approach.

They get off of their horses and surround me, their faces hidden by black hoods.

"Lady Gisela Hunter of Rosecrest," One kneels down in front of me. "It is a pleasure to finally meet you in the flesh."

I glare up at him, squirming to try and pull my hands down. "What do you want with me!?" I demand.

He pulls a rag from his pocket, a vile from another. "Have no fear, my lady. What I want with you is something that will make you very happy. You may not know how to conjure up and control your powers, but I will help you. You will be exalted high among all the mages in Mercia. No mere baroness in a little farming community, but a powerful sorceress. Does that interest you?"

He soaks the rag in whatever is inside that little vial. I growl and snap at him. "NO! Let me go!"

"Hmm. No matter, no matter. You will thank me later."

"I said NO!" My struggles are in vain; he presses the soaked rag against my mouth and nose. Everything starts to go black.

As I fade out of consciousness, I hear the man mutter "Let us go, now. Matthias awaits."

***