“Rose!” A voice called from the entrance of the hall. Alexandra and Rose turned around to see Adrian, who was accompanied by another man. He was short, but muscular. He wore his blonde hair in a bowl cut.

“Oh, hi uncle!” Rose called back as the two men approached Alexandra and Rose, “I was just telling Mr. Neumann here about grandpa’s paintings,” As the man heard Rose say this, a little bit of color left his face. Adrian’s reaction was less severe, but Alexandra could tell that he wasn’t exactly pleased with this development either. As all of this was going on, Ekkehardt made his way over to Alexandra.

“Oh…” The man leaked out. He then turned to Alexandra. He began to speak to her in a sincere, slightly panicked tone, “Sir, I would like to apologize on behalf of my niece. She’s a bit… odd. Whenever someone brings up painting she can’t help herself. I’m incredibly sorry if she offended you in any way. We’re not…” the man went on. Alexandra could see a look of shame and embarrassment form on Rose’s face. Instantly, she recognized what it said: ‘Oh no, I did it again, didn’t I?’ At that point Alexandra decided to cut off the man.

“It’s fine, don’t worry about it. She didn’t cause any trouble,” Alexandra stated. She could see the man’s body relax. He looked as though there were two hands that held a death-grip on his lungs and they suddenly disappeared.

“Oh… thank you,” He said. He then turned to Rose, “I think it’s time for us to go.”

“Okay, Uncle Klaus,” She responded. She said goodbye to Alexandra before the two of them exited the hall.

“Sorry about that Zimmerman girl. She can be annoying at times, but she’s completely harmless,” Adrian said.

“I was being sincere back there. She didn’t bother me all that much,” Alexandra responded.

“Oh,” Adrian muttered as he thought ‘What they say about this guy must be true if he’s able to put up with her…’

“Anyways, Sir Ebner, what can you tell me about our journey to Weisshart?” Alexandra asked.

“I’m afraid that our schedule has become a little muddled. Mr. Schwartzbaum has informed me that it will take him an additional day to have his forces set up in Weisshart. We could have you depart today, but we would require that you not venture past the village for a day,” Adrian explained. Alexandra scratched her chin.

“Well, if that’s the case then I think that we should…” Alexandra began. Just as she hit the word ‘we’, her vision began to blur, the world began to slowly spin, and Alexandra could feel her breakfast slowly rise out of her stomach. “...stay in the castle today…” she said, speaking as though her mouth was filling up with cotton balls.

“Yes, I agree. That would be the safest option, your highness,” Ekkehardt said, speaking loudly as he positioned himself slightly between Adrian and Alexandra.

“Alright then, I’m glad that you understand. If you have any further questions, you may direct them to either myself or my liege. He is busy right now, but he should be available in two hours.”

“Thank you, if we have any questions, we won’t hesitate to ask,” Ekkehardt said. The two of them then swiftly returned to their room. As they entered, Alexandra nearly collapsed as Ekkehardt shut and locked the door behind them. Alexandra could feel the build up of a sort of pressure and a burning sensation in her throat as she searched under her bed for a small wooden container; a chamber-pot. Without any hesitation, she opened the (thankfully unused) contraption and began to vomit into it. Her breakfast had been turned into a brown mush of kvass, apple butter, and bread with red bits of salted pork sprinkled throughout. Alexandra’s eyes teared up as one final string of saliva dripped from the corner of her mouth.

“That… was a close one…” Alexandra said, speaking in between deep breaths. Ekkehardt sighed.

“I wish Rasmussen was more specific about the side effects when he gave you that elixer…” Ekkehardt complained. Alexandra took a few moments to catch her breath.

“You heard what Rose said, right?” Alexandra asked, finally able to take her face out from the chamber-pot and look at Ekkehardt.

“You mean about this ‘Cedric of Sortpool’?” Ekkehardt responded, “You think he’s our guy?”

“He has to be,” Alexandra replied as she got up and began to walk around, “How many people named ‘Cedric’ could there be in this county? How many could there be in the entirety of the empire? It’s not like we are talking about a normal name, like Georg or Fritz,” Ekkehardt nodded his head in approval.

“You got a point there, Alex,” Ekkehardt admitted, “But if you’re right, then it means that there is a chance that the count has some sort of relationship with the Cursemaker…” Alexandra inhaled deeply.

“If that’s true, then we’re in much deeper trouble than we originally thought…” Alexandra said as she looked out of her window and down into the keep, where she saw two dozen of the count’s soldiers sparring with spears. As she turned away from the window an owl took flight from a ledge above the window.

A little later in the day

Rosalba Artemisia Zimmerman rushed into the back door of a run-down and unassuming building in the middle of Neustadt and was immediately hit with the intense smell of garlic, tomatoes, and alcohol. Just as she passed the threshold into the building she heard a loud voice snap at her.

“Rose! What the hell took you so long?” it snapped. The voice belonged to a portly man with blonde hair on the sides of his head and a large bald spot on the top. He wore a dirty white apron and stood in the middle of a kitchen where there were many pots hanging over open flames.

“Suh-sorry, I tried to get here as fast as I could…” Rose stammered out before being cut off by the man, who emitted a noise that was half-way between a sigh and a growl.

“Stupid girl. Just get to work,” Rose was about to say, ‘Yes, father’, but was interrupted once again when another person, a tall, slim woman with dark brown hair entered the room.

“Fritz, do you know where the hell that brat…” she barked, stopping only when she made eye contact with Rose, “Goddammit, Rose! Where have you been? Do you even know what’s been going on here in the inn? We’ve got the usual lunch rush, we've got some Bergman soldiers, we’ve got people in the little room. Do you even care that your father and I have had to take care of this by ourselves?” The woman shouted. Rose froze up, waiting for the torrent of anger to subside. With Rose unable to respond, her mother just shook her head and decided to move on.

“There’s three plates of Ostermanian goulash, one bowl of agnolini1, and one plate of tortelli2. The goulash goes to the Bergmen near the window and the agnolini and the tortelli goes to the Bagnoli3 brothers. After that I want you to check up on those weirdos in the little room,” Rose’s mother ordered.

Rose said “Yes, mother,” in response, but her voice was so quiet that she wasn’t sure if her mother heard her or not. Rose grabbed all five of the dishes and hurried out of a pair of cafe doors on the side of the kitchen. Once she passed through the doors she was greeted by the sights and sounds of the dining area of her family’s inn during a busy day. The room was roughly six and a half imperial paces by ten imperial paces and all of the tables were filled with patrons. The inn served alcohol as well as both Strivalian and Alemanian (particularly Ostermanian) food. Rose was able to easily identify the three Bergman soldiers that had decided to dine at the inn and set the plates of goulash down at the table. Being Ostermanian, it was thicker than its Peschtian counterpart; more of a stew than a brothy soup. It was being served with a slice of rye bread, sauerkraut, and ale. The men were very pleased by the food’s appearance and one of them thanked Rose in broken Alemanian. She then moved on to serve Antonio and Emilio Bagnoli, two brothers that worked together as candlemakers. Rose served the brothers her food and then moved on to her third task: taking the orders of the people in the little room. The little room was a private room with just enough space for a party of six or so to dine. It was only reserved by wealthier patrons, so it was often vacant. Rose sighed as she approached the door to the little room. ‘Looks like I won’t get to use my hidey-hole today…’ she thought as she opened the door. Rose stepped into the little room to find four people sitting around a table.

“huh-Hello. My name is Rose, and I will be taking your orders today. What would you like?” she said. It was at about this moment Rose realized why her mother had used the term ‘weirdos’ to describe this particular party. Among them there were two men and two women and the women had their hair cut unusually short and dressed in male clothing. Rose could see some weapons either left on the table or propped up against a wall. None of these fore individuals seemed to respond to Rose. Rose wasn’t sure what she was dealing with, but decided that going back to her mother empty-handed was something that she wanted to avoid.

“How… how about we get you started with some drinks? What would you like?” She asked while pointing to a slender woman with pale skin and dark black hair. There was a faint scar that ran from the center of her bottom lip and continued down her chin. She looked at Rose without any emotion.

“Got any slivovitz4?” She said, asking for a type of plum brandy. Rose nodded her head.

“No problem. We should have some,” Rose responded before turning to the largest member of the group. He was an enormous man that resembled a wall of muscle more than a person. He had hazel eyes and a shaved head. He looked at Rose with the eyes of a wild animal and then…

“I will have one bottle of vodka, please, ms. server-lady,” He said in an innocent, care-free, and almost child-like tone. His voice was soft and pleasant. Rose was taken aback for a half second hearing such a big and scary man speaking in such a polite and non-threatening manner.

“You… you mean one serving, right?” Rose asked. The large man shook his head.

“No. One bottle.”

“Okay..” Rose acquiesced.

“Thank you!” He replied with a big smile. She then turned to a man with shaggy black hair. He was sharpening a dagger with a sharpening stone and didn’t bother to look up at Rose.

“Ale,” He said. Rose nodded and made a mental note of his order and moved on to the fourth and final patron in the room, a woman with short brown hair. Her hair was choppy and unorderly, as though it had been cut by a blind person. She had her head slumped down in a way that made her hair cover her eyes. Rose could only barely hear it, but it was clear that the woman was muttering something to herself. It sounded almost like giggling, but it was softer and there was something malicious about it.

“What would you like to drink, ma’am?” Rose asked as she neared the woman. Unbeknownst to Rose, the three other occupants of the little room had developed a look of apprehension on their faces and stared at Rose and the woman. Rose absent-mindedly put one of her hands down onto the table as she leaned towards the woman and repeated her question.

“Do you know what you would like to drink ma’am?” Rose said. Suddenly one of the woman’s hands leaped forward like a snake and grabbed onto Rose’s arm with a tight grip; tight enough to restrict Rose’s blood-flow. The woman then leaned towards Rose and sniffed her like a piece of meat with one deep inhalation. She then looked up at Rose, her brown eyes now fully visible, and licked her lips.

“You smell good…” She said with an ear-to-ear grin before letting out a quiet laugh. Rose began to hyperventilate as the woman’s grip on her arm tightened. She wanted to scream, but only air would leave her mouth. Time slowed down as Rose completely froze up. She was in a state of shock so intense that she didn’t even hear the door open behind her.

“One hundred and ninety seconds…” An angry voice male growled from somewhere behind Rose. She could feel the presence of the speaker right behind her, but she was still too scared to turn around.

“I leave you alone for literally one hundred and ninety seconds and this is what you do?” The voice continued. Suddenly an arm entered Rose’s field of vision. It was clad in a long black sleeve and terminated in a large hand that was white as snow. The arm grabbed the woman’s arm and pulled her off of Rose. Suddenly, she regained control of her body and turned to see the man who had just entered the little room. He was literally unlike anyone she had ever seen before. He was tall and dressed in all-black, but his skin was pale; no paler than pale. It was devoid of all color. This, coupled with his long white hair, white eyebrows, and white eyelashes made him appear as though he was made out of a blank canvas. The only color he possessed was in his irises, which were blood red. He pushed the woman back into her chair and then turned to Rose.

“I apologize for the actions of my associate. She can be… difficult at times.” he said as he slipped something into Rose’s pocket, “I hope that you can forgive us for her indiscretion,” he concluded. Rose was still unable to say anything. She spent a moment or two staring at the man before she muttered ‘thank you’. Rose tried to leave the little room, but then remembered that she forgot to take the pale man’s order. She turned around. Rose tried to say something along the lines of ‘Sir, I believe I still need to take your order’, but she wasn’t able to get past the syllable ‘suh’ without breaking down into a stutter. The pale man spoke up and answered her question as though he could read her mind.

“I will have one ale, she will have a glass of red wine, and I believe that we have a friend who will be joining us shortly. He will have a lager,” he said with an expressionless face as he pointed to the woman who had grabbed Rose’s arm.

“Tuh-thank you…” Rose said before stumbling out of the door to the little room. Once she had passed back into the main dining area she inhaled deeply. It felt as though that was the first time she had been able to do that in some time. Rose then decided to take a quick peek at the object the pale man put in her pocket. One look at it and she immediately identified the object. It was a white circle with a magnificent luster. In the center there was the profile of a handsome young man: Prince Alexander von Adler. Rose wasn’t sure why this object was in her possession, but one thing was certain: this man had just given her a silver coin, more money than she would see in six months. She put it back in her pocket and went to the kitchen to retrieve two ales, one lager, one glass of red wine, one glass of slivovitz, and one bottle of vodka.

Meanwhile, in the Little Room

“Oh come on Nas…” Hienă said before getting interrupted by the backside of Nashorn’s hand connecting with her face so quickly that it was audible to anyone else in the room.

“We’re not here to harm anyone that isn’t involved. You can go back to doing that when this is over,” Nashorn instructed. He then moved to take a seat at the table when the door suddenly opened. It was Sova, the short bespectacled man with flaxen hair.

“Sorry, I’m late. Did I miss anything important?” He asked before taking seat. The dark-haired woman answered him.

“Just Hienă’s usual crap,” She said without showing much interest.

“What have you learned? Tell us everything,” Nashorn ordered. Sova got right to it.

“It’s just like what you predicted. Count Claudius wants the Band of the Crow to take up a fortified position in Weisshart before the princess arrives. Schwartzbaum says that he should have that done sometime tomorrow, so the princess and her guard dog are just lying low in the castle for a day. It doesn’t help that she’s having another ‘episode’ right now,”

“I think that we should just forget about the sword and get rid of her right now while she’s weak. I’ve never got to… enjoy a princess before,” Hienă said with a wide grin on her face.

“As much as I hate to say this, I agree with Hienă. We don’t even know if this whole sword thing is going to pan out,” the dark-haired woman added.

“...I just want to go home…” Niedźwiedź, the large man, muttered to himself.

“I’d like to take the easy way out too, Zmija5, but Father explicitly said that the sword comes first, then the princess. Eliminating her isn’t going to be something we can do until the sword issue is resolved. Besides, what you’re proposing would require lying to Father and we all know how that will end,” Nashorn explained as his eyes narrowed and then darted across the room so that they could inspect the faces of every single occupant. Once it became clear that everyone in the room understood what he said, Nashorn began to speak again.

“Zmija,” he said as he turned to the dark haired woman, “Were you able to obtain that map I requested?”

“Wasn’t a problem. The count’s people don’t even know it’s gone,” Zmija said as she produced a large scroll. She and Nashorn both got up to unfurl the map on the table. Just then the door opened from behind Nashorn.

“Hello! I’ve brough…” Rose announced as she absent-mindedly walked into the little room. She held three large cups in one hand (by using their handles) while holding a tray that contained three bottles, a wine glass, and an apéritif glass. Before she could finish speaking, Rose lost control of her body as she tripped over her own bootlace and began to fall backward. She was able to hold onto the cups, but the contents of the tray were launched up in the air. Before Rose even knew what was happening, she felt something sturdy catch her body and break her fall. What Rose saw next was truly extraordinary.

A white blur shot through her field of vision, grabbing the tray from underneath, and using it to catch the bottles and glasses as they fell down. When all movement had stopped, Rose could see that all three of the bottles and both of the glasses were completely undamaged. She then turned her head to look at the person who caught her: the pale man with blood-red eyes.

“Tuh… thank you…” She stammered. For some reason it felt as though her mouth could not function properly in this man’s presence.

“No problem,” He replied as Rose regained her footing. He then handed the tray back to her. Rose inspected the drinks. Some beer had spilled onto her sleeve, but besides that everything was fine. She began to hand out the alcohol, being extra careful around the smiling woman.

“Thank you, ms. server-lady!” The large man said as received his bottle of vodka. He then proceeded to uncork it with his bare hands and take one swig from it. Rose watched in awe as he consumed a third of the bottle without stopping. Rose tried to speak up, but was interrupted by the man with flaxen hair and glasses.

“Don’t worry; that’s normal for him,” he assured her. Rose nodded her head. She then turned to serve the last person in the room, the pale red-eyed man.

“Huh-here is your ale, sir…” Rose said as she handed the man his drink.

“Thank you,” He said as he accepted the drink. Rose was about to ask them what they would like to eat, but she noticed something lying on the floor. It was a white and black object just barely in the corner of her eye. Rose leaned down to pick it up and, on closer inspection, discovered that it was a small book. The book was lying open with its cover facing up. It was bound in black leather, but when she picked it up and looked at the pages, she found that they were made out of a strange material. It was more coarse and white than parchment or vellum.

‘Paper!’ Rose thought to herself. This must be that new material that the Samudaayians had brought from the east. Rose had heard that people had started making it in Iberistan and Strivalia, but she had never had the opportunity to see it in person.

Once the shock of seeing this new material had subsided, Rose began to analyze what was actually on the paper. It was a sketch of one of the inn’s rooms. Rose had cleaned that room so many times that she could recognize it instantly despite the picture’s many flaws. The young woman analyzed every little detail of the picture. The more she stared at the book, the closer she felt to the artist that made it. In that instant, Rose wanted nothing more than to meet the person who created this image.

“I think you have my sketchbook…” The pale man said. Rose’s heart skipped a beat. She felt a warm feeling rush through her body. There were a million things she wanted to tell him and a million more that she wanted to ask him.

“I uh… it was on tuh-the floor…” she said as she handed the book back to him.

“Oh. It must have fallen on the floor during that little kerfuffle back there,” he said as he took the book and returned it to his pocket.

“I’ll come back in a little bit; give you some time to decide what you would like to eat,” Rose said as she failed to make eye-contact to the man she was speaking to.

“That’s fine. We haven’t decided yet,” The man replied. Rose turned around and exited the room. Once the door behind her closed, Rose inhaled deeply. She had a hard time processing her feelings. ‘It’s like he’s some sort of fairy-tale hero…’ she thought to herself.

On the other side of the door to the little room, Nashorn resumed his plotting. He took one look at the map and instantly determined that it didn’t conflict with the information he had previously been given.

“It’s just as Father said,” Nashorn declared, “There are three paths up the mountain and to the cave. If we split up into three two-person teams then we should be able to ambush the princess as… or I guess I should say, if she returns from the cave regardless of which path she takes.” Most of the room nodded in agreement.

“I don’t know, I would like to… have some fun with the princess before we finish this,” Hienă said before letting out a chuckle.

“If you’re the one that ambushes her then I don’t really give a damn about what happens as long as you make sure the job is done,” Nashorn responded. Hienă sighed.

“So you’re saying that there is a two thirds chance that I won’t get to have any fun?” She retorted.

“I don’t recall your personal satisfaction being on our list of objectives or among any of the instructions I’ve given you,” Nashorn growled. The two of them stared at each other for what seemed like an entirety. Eventually Hienă sighed and capitulated.

“Fine, I’ll just go with your plan,” Hienă muttered. Nashorn nodded in approval, but could help, but feel like Hienă was hiding something.

“Well in that case, I guess I shall propose a toast; a toast to the retrieval of the sword and to the death of Princess Alexandra von Adler.” Nashorn declared as he raised his cup. The rest of his party raised their drinks as well and together they drank.