A ghostly reflection emerged into existence as Helena Bennett approached the window.
Momentarily transfixed by the appearance of her own face staring back at her against the backdrop of the dark night sky outside, she momentarily paused to watch it as though the image might do something more than mirror back her every movement.
The olive green eyes and her flawless tanned skin only added to Helena's beauty and made her appear to be younger than her forty-two years. With jet black hair that had not yet seen a hint of grey, she could have passed as someone at least a decade younger than she really was. As she raised her hand, Helena watched as her reflection obediently did the same as she reached up and tucked a wayward strand of her charcoal locks behind her ear so that her slim neckline was once more free to show off the smart cut of her dress.
It was a dark grey garment that fell just short of her knees. Fitted modestly to her slender figure, it had a surplice neckline that had been secured on the left-hand side with a small circular brooch.
The creamy white moonstone surrounded by a thin circle of sparkling diamonds, it had been a gift from her sister and was one of Helena's most beloved processions. There wasn't a day or place where she didn't wear it and enjoy watching as it the central gemstone glowed against the light of the magnificent chandelier that hung far above her.
Satisfied that she was presentable once again, Lorna reached up with her already outstretched arm and closed the window shut.
The last lingering bouts of the summer heat had finally passed them by and the nights were now cool enough to make the extra ventilation unnecessary. In the coming few weeks the temperatures would slowly begin to drop and the air would become crisper as Valerus began to head towards its coldest part of the year.
Regardless of whatever season it was, however, dusk was always Helena's favourite time.
Although it was in a Nimarian's gift to see just as clearly through the darkness as they could during the day, the emerging lights of Algero still served a purpose. Like a shimmering sea of twinkling stars mapping out the structure of the city rather than constellations, it always seemed to Helena as though Valerus' capital had been reborn as it transformed itself from its daytime version.
The red-tiled rooftops which stretched out as far as the eye could see towards the distant and hazy Halvane mountains were now patches of shadows amongst glowing orbs of golden lights that identified the many hundreds of Algero's narrow streets and twisting avenues. Landmark buildings and structures were far easier to identify thanks to dedicated spotlights that remained trained on architectural marvels such as the splendid dome of the Council Hall, a building which had towered above its nearest neighbours for almost seven hundred years.
Cutting straight through the heart of this glimmering swathe of light was the serpentine bends of the Peligra River. It marked where the streets of Algero were at their flattest after the river had journeyed from beyond the outermost west side of the city all the way down from its source high above in the Halvane mountains. Continuing on into the lush green slopes of the Saljavian countryside, it wouldn't stop until it reached the eastern coastline some five hundred miles away.
Winter usually meant that the flowing waters of the Peligra river would freeze over entirely and allow both children and adults alike to skid and slide with delight in both their humanoid and wolf forms. But until then only the transporter ships bringing goods into the city from all corners of the planet were at liberty to enjoy being out on the sparkling waters of the river.
Tempting as it might be to dive in and cool off when the heat of the summer season reached its peak, however, every Nimarian that lived within the city limits knew the dangers of going for a swim.
Though the water was clear and looked calm enough it was a deceptive appearance that had claimed a few lives over the years. A powerful undercurrent existed just a few meters below the surface and it was strong enough to pull even the strongest wolf under and send them surging down the river, making a rescue highly unlikely at the best of times.
Tracing the river downstream as it made its was towards her vantage point, Helena lost sight of it as it curved in-between the nearest buildings before it would remerge only as it flowed into the grounds of the Royal Palace.
Thousands of people traveled past the seat of Valerus' power every day and nearly all of them would live their entire lives always being on the outside looking in. Helena was one of the chosen few to be privileged enough to be granted permission to be able to do the opposite. Her family had served this place and the people who called it their home for generations now and….
The wailing cries of the infant that was in her care arrived right on time to remind her of the price that had to be paid for enjoying these privileges.
Helena didn't mind this at all and she loved being the one who's job it was to be there to step in and soothe the child whenever he required attention. As his governess, she had quickly formed a close bond with him that already was strong enough for her to know exactly what he needed right now to settle down again.
Turning away from the window and walking over towards the cradle, Helena felt the heels of her shoes sink down slightly into the thick carpet as she began to hum his favourite lullaby.
"Hush now." She cooed. "I'm here."
The baby responded to her voice straight away and stopped crying the moment he caught sight of Helena's face. As she gently reached down towards him, his tiny hand reached up and clasped itself around one of her fingers with a tight grip as though he never wanted to let go of it again.
Helana smiled at this.
He was barely three months old and yet he was already beginning to develop a keen sense of who he was willing to trust to be around him. Great-uncle Emerson hadn't made the greatest of impressions upon the infant when he was presented to him for the first time. Screaming from the moment he'd been placed in his relative's arms, he had perhaps insulted his great uncle further by quieting down just as quickly when his mother had stepped in and taken him back from him.
Privately, Helena couldn't blame the child. Great-uncle Emerson was not a pleasant man.
Whilst there was little chance of this latest addition to the royal family taking after his grandfather's schemingly younger brother, what was certain was that he was going to be the spitting image of the King when he grew up. Already Helena could see the resemblance between father and some, and she could almost envision the man he'd one day become.
The grey eyes with their trademark silver flecks wouldn't change over the years and were synonymous with his family and almost as famous as they were. His tiny tuffs of black hair were much more common, however, and seemed to be growing in both length and volume with each passing day.
Yes, Helena decided.
If he continued to grow up to be his father's son then he would make for quite the handsome young man. Combined with his mother's equal beauty and kindness, there would be no telling what good he could achieve once his time came to sit upon the throne.
But right now he was so small and so very vulnerable. Suppressing a shudder, Helena's mind travelled back just a few weeks ago when this healthy and most precious of babies had been on the verge of dying.
Ardiente fever was trigged by the heated body temperature of a Nimarian running too high for too long. Too much stress could bring it on within adults and every wolf experienced a small dosage of the illness in the week leading up to their first transformation as their bodies grew used to their new abilities. Though it was rarely found in children, there was almost nothing anyone could do about it when it was.
Even the fittest of adults were bedridden for a few days when they fell foul of ardiente fever. But those too young to have the protection that their wolf side afforded them simply had no outlet for coping with the burning temperatures it caused.
The panic the swarmed through the palace union seeing those first few red blotches around the Prince's eyes still haunted Helena. Every esteemed physician in the city had been called for, with further summonings to the outer regions being made when the situation became more desperate. Everyone knew what was wrong with the child of course, but there was simply no way of curing him.
One day passed. Then another…
Somehow he managed to continue clinging onto life as his entire family took turns in keeping his brow cool with a wet cloth and listened to doctor after doctor telling them what might be possibly done to save him. None of them dared to admit it out loud of course that the heir to the Nimarian throne was probably going to die within the week.
But just as Valerus was beginning to except that they were going to be denied their future sovereign and the future that would come with it, salvation was delivered from complete obscurity. The King was advised to grant an audience with one more physician, one who certainly did not have the background that might have otherwise admitted him into the Royal Palace.
His solution came from treating the poorest of Valerus' inhabitants and was as easily applied as though the baby was suffering from nothing more than a common cold. The entire planet had rejoiced and this new saviour had been justly rewarded for his medical brilliance.
But if only they knew the truth!
If only they knew what their new hero had done in order to reach such dizzying heights of notoriety. The people he had cheated and put at risk in his quest for money and wealth. The thought of it caused Helena's smile to transform into a scowl of anger. Such deceiving ways and lies even as he served the noblest family in the world was bad enough, and perhaps his skills were in fact the only genuine thing about him. But good luck and an adequate ability to retain knowledge from stolen books did not excuse the now entitled physician from continuing to conceal his false background.
Helena finally had enough evidence to put him away for good.
At the very least he would be sent back to where he had come from with his tail tucked firmly between his legs. The royal family might be embarrassed by all of this, but they had enough resources to ensure the whole sad situation was quietly dealt with without the members of the public finding out anything.
As her smile returned once more, Helena turned away from the infant and walked across the room in order to fetch one of his favourite toys. The small wooden horse was just one of many gifts sent by Valerus' great and good when he had been born. As her fingers brushed over the gilded ears she turned on her heel and began walking back over towards him.
Freezing as she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up, Helena knew that something was wrong.
The Nimarian's sharpened instinct was already telling her that it was something to do with the guards standing on the other side of the nursery doors. There was always two Kingsguards posted there even when the Prince wasn't even in the room. Being royalty and all of the perks that came with it didn't always attract the best of attention and security of the family was always a top priority, including guarding the rooms they slept in.
Still clutching the toy horse in her hand, Helena changed direction and began to approach the doors. But she did not manage to travel more than a few steps before the intruder silently slipped into the room.
Dressed entirely in black, the man's head was covered up by a threadbare black shawl whilst a ratty piece of cloth hung over his nose and mouth. Such an accessory was usually only worn by the likes of builders and manufactures to protect their sensitive nostrils from the horrid atmospheres of their dusty workplaces. This only left his eyes visible, and they were also just as dark as his clothing and intentions.
Helena's mouth fell open at the shock of being so suddenly confronted with such an intimidating sight. "Who are you!?" She demanded to know as she found her voice. "What do you…"
It suddenly dawned upon her what it was the hooded man had risked so much for by even daring to enter the grounds of the Royal Palace in the first place, let alone making his way into the building itself and into what should have been the most secure of rooms.
The nursery was one of few places in the Royal Palace that did not house a great lot of riches, and judging by the ease by which he had slipped inside it was fairly obvious that he had remained both unchallenged and undetected so far. If he had been a thief after priceless jewels or relics of the past then he would have been long gone by now. But this man wasn't after any material item and nor was he seeking the thrill of roaming through the embellished halls.
He was here for the baby.
The moment the thought crossed her mind, Helena turned around and pushed herself forward in order to reach the cradle first. But strong hands grabbed hold of her waist and pulled her back with enough force to yank her off her feet. Crashing to the floor, she felt the toy horse she'd been holding onto tumble out of her hand. Automatically trying to get back up, she felt the man's gloved hands clamp themselves tightly around her ankles before she felt herself being dragged across the floor.
Helena cried out in terror and could only hope that someone would hear her.
But the two Kingsguard stationed outside had done nothing to prevent this man from entering the room, and it would be much more than their job they would lose should they dare to vanish from their posting. But if they were gone then the nearest guard to them was down three very long corridors and a flight of stairs.
There would be no chance of being heard with both the nursery doors and windows closed.
Kicking out wildly and managing to wriggle free of the intruder's grasp, Helena fell forward onto the carpet and spun around to face her attacker. The man was stood between her and the baby now, and the moment he was in his arms it would be a much harder task to keep the infant safe from harm. "Please, don't do this!" She begged. "Leave him alone!"
But the man did not turn towards the cradle. He instead advanced towards her.
Helena suddenly understood that his intentions extended far beyond kidnapping the child in her care. She was in his way and a possible witness to the crime which he could not afford to be caught committing if he valued keeping his head attached to his shoulders. He needed to kill her before she could summon help.
Screaming again as he launched himself upon her, Helena heard the cries of the baby just a few feet away as the man's hands closed tightly around her nose and mouth.
Fighting against his strong grip as the air was slowly smothered out of her, Helena's gaze travelled over to the cradle and she knew that she was now the tiny Prince's last line of defence. Nobody else was going to come and help her unless it was by sheer chance they chose this moment to walk into the room.
But there was a formal dinner on tonight and all of the focus would be on that. Every member of staff and the entire family were all on the other side of the Royal Palace right now, as were the majority of the Kingsguards. The private quarters were all but deserted save for her and this man who wanted to steal her charge from her after he ensured that no one was left alive to give his presence here away.
She needed to fight back and save herself and the baby from this monster.
The man cried out as Helena grabbed hold of his wrist and twisted it with enough force to break the bone. Instinctively jumping up and away from her, he howled with pain as a pair of glowing yellow eyes illuminated the shadow beneath his hood. Gasping for air that she had been denied for far too long, Helena was suddenly faced with a choice.
She could try to run and summon help, but there was no way that she was prepared to leave without that child in her arms.
As her own eyes turned yellow, Helena used her elbows to push herself up and off the ground. She was ready to run over to the cradle and… The fist came out of nowhere and collided with the side of her head. Not even aware that she had fallen to the floor again, the first thing she saw was her attacker's face as the scarf slipped off his nose to reveal the man hidden behind it.
Recognising him paralysed Helena with shock and cost her any remaining chance of getting away from him.
Taking advantage of her surprise, the man did not hesitate and once again pinned her down before clamping his hand over her nose and mouth. Even as she struggled for her life beneath him, he did not relent even with the pain of using his healing wrist to hold her down.
Tears began to fall down Helena's cheeks as she was slowly suffocated. Her muffled cries for mercy were kept from escaping as she tried desperately to beg him not to kill her.
With the smell of his leather gloves overwhelming her nostrils, Helena managed to turn her head enough to catch one last glimpse of the cradle as she listened to the cries of the infant she had fought so hard to protect. Her last thoughts were of him, and whether he would even live much longer than she would.
Watching as the eyes of the woman trapped beneath him fluttered shut, the man waited a few moments more just to be sure before he got back up onto his feet.
Standing over her body as though contemplating what he had just done, the wailing infant quickly drew his attention away from Helena as he stepped over her body in order to reach the cradle.
Readjusting his scarf so that it once more covered his face, he peered inside and watched the child as he squirmed and sobbed in distress. Knowing that such a noise would eventually attract some form of attention, especially if his mother decided to check in on her son, he knew that he did not have long to make his escape.
Leaving the child and returning to the dead governess, he bent down next to her once more to retrieve the memento of his deed before retreating back to the nursery doors.
There was no time for any emotions and he couldn't afford for them to cloud his judgement. His only reason for doing any of this went beyond his care for anyone or anything here, and it had angered him at first to think that his actions here tonight had been necessary in the first place.
Had Helena just listened to him then she could have stayed alive.