Chapter 22 Calm before the storm
The next morning the whole castle was a madhouse. Servants and other attendants were fast speeding through the corridors, suppliers were bringing boxes of food, drinks and decorations. A handfull of gardeners were trimming the garden outside and the greens in front of the palace. And in the midst of all that stood Queen Lutezia together with Abidale. There were barking orders or pointing at places they wanted something to stand. Marianna, Rath, Ava, Vilandra and Zan took shelter when they heard the first order being yelled at someone and were now hiding in the library. Despite the distance between the the ball room and the library they could still hear the voices of their mothers. Everytime they gave a ball it was the same. One day before the event everything had to be delievered, the furniture moved and the decoration at its place. The garden had to look pretty, which was kinda stupid, because nobody paid attention to it. And the kids were trying to get ouf the way or they had to help in some form or another. They tried to avoid that since they helped one time and everything ended in a disaster and many yelling. Marianna could understand that in a way, because her mother was like that, too.
" Why are they starting today? The ball isn´t until tomorrow after all".
Vilandra smiled at Marianna. The girl had still a lot to learn if she wanted to survive here. " Because my mother and my aunt have a tendency to change their minds in the last second. Therefore today everything will be set and tomorrow they still can fix the things they don´t like or want at another place".
" And why are we hiding in the library?", not that she minded, but it was a little weird.
Rath shook his head. She was just asking that, because she lived her not that long. If she would have been here longer, she would know it. " We tried to help one time. It wasn´t good".
" A total disaster", Zan agreed. He could still picture the whole fiasco. They started really optimistic and then everything changed for the worse. " Rath destroyed a expensive statue".
Rath glared at his friend. Like he was the only one. " Larek broke a few chairs".
" And Zan broke a table", Ava smiled at that. They were all klutzy that day and they still could hear the lecture they received after they cleaned up their mess.
Zan pointed a finger at her. " Hey. The table was not my fault. Vilandra shoved me and I fell on it".
" Great. Now that´s my fault. I just nudged you. It´s not my fault when you can´t stand on your feet", Vilandra wouldn´t admit it, but she really pushed him. She was angry that she had to do hard work and Zan was standing in her way.
Marianna saw that Zan wanted to threw something nasty at his sister. But before a war broke out between the siblings she jumped in. " Alright. I get it now. Helping bad, hiding good".
" Be quiet. I think I can hear steps outside", Rath gave everyone a sign to shut up for a moment. Then he listened really intently at the door. Yeah like he expected, someone was coming their way. " Hide everyone"
Immediately the others tried to find a place where they wouldn´t be seen. But it was a little difficult, because the room was big, but not fully furnitured. Ava and Vilandra were fighting for the spot behind the armchair, Zan and Rath almost knocked over a rack with old books and Marianna was calmly standing beneath the door, so when it opened she would disappear. When they saw the doorknob going down, Ava and Vilandra agreed to share the spot, Zan hid behind a old statue and Rath found a hidden place far away in the back. Everybody held their breath when the door finally opened and a person entered.
" Hello. Is anybody here?".
Vilandra was the first to look over the armchair and regnorize the intruder. " Larek dammit. I almost got a heartattack".
Larek watched how everyone was coming out of his hiding place. What did he do? He was just coming inside for godness sake. They were doing like he was the enemy. Geez, what was up with them? " Why are you hiding?", Then he seemed to remember something and his face changed to a grimace." Oh shit. Don´t tell me it´s the day before the ball again".
" No we´re just hiding because we discovered the joy of playing hide and seek with our parents", sometimes Larek was a little forgetful or he wanted to appear like that. Rath didn´t want to elaborate on that too much. But when it came to a beautiful woman, then he could remember everything to the smallest detail.
Larek wanted to tell Rath were he could put his sarcasm, when he changed his mind. It wasn´t worth to go in a fight right now. Besides Marianna was standing there and she wouldn´t like it. He didn´t want to hang in the air again. Instead he turned to Zan. " So what are we doing? I mean we can´t just stay here the whole day".
" I thought we could try to sneak out of the castle and go into town", maybe they would make it out of here without anybody noticing it.
Vilandra and Ava began to smile at Zans idea. They wanted to look for some accessoirs for their gowns anyhow. And they could introduce Marianna to the world of advantages for royalties. Rath however didn´t look convinced. Besides he didn´t want to waste his time with his sister and his friends. He looked at Marianna with a raised eyebrow. At first she didn´t know what he wanted from her. But then she noticed the passion in his eyes and everything cleared.
" Oh damn. I just remember that me and Rath still have something to discuss with Mael", Marianna slapped her forehead. Hopefully they would believe her lie and not ask too much question.
Rath stifled his laughter behind his hand and tried not to look too surprised about the smooth lie. " You´re right. We should probably go or we´ll be late". With that he took her hand and together they left the room.
The others watched after them with a knowing smile. Yeah they wanted to talk with Mael alright. Like they would believe that. Wherever they would go, there would be no talking at all. Not with those two judging after the hickey´s they got. They just wanted to find a private place where they could it. Larek and Vilandra saw to each other and nodded. Maybe it was time for another bet. A bet they would definitely win.
The training room
Marianna and Rath had finally found a room in which they would be alone for a while. They avoided the parents and no guards had seen them. Sometimes it came in handy to learn to be sneaky. Carefully they watched the corridor in every direction for the last time and then disappeared through the door.
Marianna felt like a kid that was trying to do a prank and was scared that someone might see it. " Do you think it´s safe?".
" Absolutely. Nobody will disturb us here today", Rath should know it. There was no training when a ball was the next day. His mother was worried that somebody could be hurt and she just wanted everybody to look perfect that evening. Hence the no training rule.
" Alright", Marianna didn´t waste more time and pulled Rath closer to her body. Then she gripped his face in her hands and kissed him.
Rath liked it when she was more aggressive. It was a turn on and he could say that she started it. Not that anybody would think he took advantage of her or something. She was a demanding little thing for such a small creature. She could fool anybody with her doll like face and her slender body, but inside she was a true warrior. That was what attracted her the most to him. They were more alike than it seemed on the outside. She just took what she wanted. And oh my was she taking him. Her small hands were slowly making her way into his pants and her mouth to his ear.
" What do you want me to do?", she breathed out and nibbled at his earlobe.
She was expecting that he could still phrase a sentence? Didn´t she know that he even forgot his own name at the moment. She was good, all his blood was pumping in another region, not where it was supposed to be. And her hand massaging his hard member was not helping either.
Marianna seemed to notice that he wasn´t in the position to answer her question. Poor boy, the male body hadn´t enough blood to provide for two working organs. Just when she wanted to suggest that she could give him a blowjob, the door to the training room flew open and Mael stormed in.
Immediately Marianna and Rath jumped apart. Both a little red in the face and with a guilty expression. Thankfully Marianna was standing in front of Rath and Mael wouldn´t notice the tent in his pants. But he didn´t seem to witness anything out of the ordinary anyway. " Finally. Abidale is looking for you".
Marianna´s eyes grew wide at that. Why was she looking for her? Hopefully she didn´t need to help out. " For me? Why?".
" To adjust the dress she brought for you", Mael saw it already and he knew that it would fit her perfectly. It looked like it was made for just her.
Marianna made a face. A dress? Why did she have to wear a dress? Why couldn´t she just wear the uniform like every other member of the royal army? Dammit, sometimes it sucked to be a girl! " I don´t want to wear a dress!".
" But you have to. You´re a princess", why did Mael knew that she would make such a fuss about it. The girl was as stubborn as Rath in some things and he shouldn´t be surprised, because Rath was the same when it came to dressing up for a ball.
" I´m also a soldier", nobody could force her to wear a dress. She would probably look like a nightmare in pink. She hated pink and lilac and every other colour that was associated with a girl. Now black, that was her colour.
Mael knew that he wouldn´t get far with the rational side. Maybe he should try the emotional. " Can´t you just do it? It would mean so much to me and my wife, please".
" Alright. But I can´t garantuee for nothing", damn conscience. She couldn´t resist such a plea. Also she could always say that she didn´t like the dress and wear something else instead.
" Thank you", Mael was glad that she caved in and he knew that she would like the dress. " Now shoo. The others are waiting in the dressing room".
What could Marianna do, besides obeying the order she got. With a wave of her hand she went out of the room and let Rath alone with his father.
Mael faced his son, now that they were alone. " What where you two doing in here?".
" Eh nothing", yeah like that was conviencing. He was stuttering like an idiot. Oh for godness sake he was a grown up and not a teenager anymore.
Mael laid his right arm around the shoulders of his son. It wasn´t like he didn´t know what happened here. After all he was young and in love too. " Don´t worry, that stays between us".
On the westside of the planet
King Khivar stood before his soldiers in the war room. He and his second in command had finally found out how they could outsmart the enemy. Now they were explaining their plan to their mens, in hope that they would understand the importance of the attack they wanted to do. Khivar had sent a few spies to the castle of King Salem so that they could snoop around and collect valuable information for them. So far they did their job expectably and nobody noticed that there were traitor amongst them.
" Our spies informed us that there are two guards who keep a close watch at the outer wall, two at the gateway and at least 5 in the castle itself", Khivar pointed with a stick at the corresponding places on the drawing from the palace of King Salem. " Furthermore there will be traps at the entrance, the garden, the windows and the dungeon".
A man with black short hair was lifting his arm. " What kind of traps?".
Khivar looked at his second in command and made a gesture that he should continue. At that a middle aged man with dark blond hair and light green eyes was stepping forward. " The traps at the entrance and the garden will be shields, which only appear when they feel the aura of evil. The traps at the windows and the dungeon react simultanous. As soon as someone tries to forcefully open a window or destroys it, the path down will be blocked through heavy steel grids".
" That means you have to be sneaky and careful to not attract attention until it´s too late", Khivar smiled over his whole face. Finally his victory was within his reach and nothing could stop him now. King Salem wouldn´t know what hit him. " At least for them".
The commander didn´t like the excitement in his kings eyes. It was one thing to fight against a enemy in a battle, but another to attack someone who didn´t even know what was happening. If Khivar wouldn´t have something on him he wouldn´t be here at all. But if he didn´t play after the rules he would lose his head and that literally. He just had one secret, which Khivar knew and now he had to pay for it. " Ok. Here is what we do".
While the commander talked about the tactics and who went which way, two guys in the back were talking to each other. One had light brown hair and brown eyes, the other black hair and grey eyes.
" How are you holding up?", the guy with the light brown hair asked.
The other guy looked straight ahead. What should he tell? That he was still sad and hurt. That was namely what he was feeling right now. " Like expected".
" It happend weeks ago. Let it go and try to move on. I´m also sad, but we can´t do anything to change it", the lighter one replied.
" Marius, you don´t know what it feels like to lose your soulmate, so I suggest you keep your oppinion to yourself!", the darker one whispered angrily. Why could nobody understand what he was going through at the moment? He lost his fiance and the love of his life. And no matter what the others told, he would never believe that his Marianna would kill her own mother.
Marius was taken aback from the intensity of the words from his friend. What did he think he was feeling? After all he grew up with Marianna and they were insearably. " Hey, I lost my best friend. She was like a sister to me".
" Yeah I noticed your misery. You´re doing like it doesn´t matter to you".
Marius was slowly getting angry. " She´s dead Lykus. It´s sad and we´re all suffering, but life goes on and so should we".
" I´m sorry. But I can´t do that. Not as long as I can still feel her", with that Lykus jumped to his feet and left the war room.
Marius watched after the retreating back his friend. A part of him understood Lykus, because he felt the lose of his best friend very deeply and he upbraided himself that he wasn´t there to help her. But he also knew that he couldn´t change anything, if he would mourn after her. Besides what should he do? If someone would notice that he didn´t believe the lies that was spreading around, the king would probably kill him like he killed his own wife. No he didn´t want to end this way. Someday he would see Marianna again and then he would apologize to her. But until then he did what was expected of him. Marius looked around to see if someone realized that one soldier was missing. Thankfully nobody noticed the dramatic exit of him. The commander was just finished explaining his formation for the attack, which would happen soon. The king was standing beneath him and seemed to be happy, because usually he never smiled like that. When the commander gave the order for dismissal Marius was the first out of the door. He needed to talk with Lykus, after all they were friends and they were facing a war. He didn´t want to do that with his friend mad at him.
Khivar, the commander and a young boy with a hardened expression on his face, the same hair colour and eyes like the king were the only ones who stayed back.
" Do you know what you have to do?", Khivar wanted to be sure that his son was grasping the importance of his work. He was the trump card in this battle.
Nikolai smirked cockily. Who did his father think he was talking to? Of course he knew what he had to do. " Don´t worry father. You will be proud of me".
Khivar patted the shoulder of his son lovingly. " That´s what I wanted to hear. Now I want to have a word with Hewik. Alone".
Nikolai nodded at his father and made his way out of the room. Soon his day would come and he would be celebrated like a hero. Everybody would bow before him and kiss the ground where he walks on. Life was slowly starting to go his way.
Hewik was a bit confused. What did Khivar want to talk about with him? He said everything already. The plan was ready and everyone knew their duty. What more could he want from him?
" I just want to be sure that you´re absolutely certain about the attack. You know that it wouldn´t be healthy for you if you fail", Khivar didn´t care about that. Hewik would die one way or another. It didn´t matter if the attack would be successfull or not. He betrayed his king and he had to pay for it.
Hewik noticed the look in Khivars eyes and for the first he was afraid of him. He knew that twinkle and it wasn´t good. It meant he would die anyway. " Of course, your majesty".
Khivar, satisfied with the answer, went out the door without a word. After all he still had to prepare a speech when he was ruler of the whole planet. With what should he start?
While Khivar was trying to find the right beginning for his speech, Hewik went to the window and watched the scenery outside. And like always when he was alone, his thoughts were drifting to Marianna. He still couldn´t believe that she was dead and would never come back. It had been a shock when he heard of her death and what she was accused of. Marianna was much, but no murderer and everyone who really knew her wouldn´t believe that crap. She had loved her mother above everything and she would have never harmed her. No, she was the kindest soul he ever came in contact with and she was always friendly to everyone. Slowly Hewik wiped a few tears from his face. It still pained him that she was gone. He had loved her, more than his own life. And he wanted her to be his follower someday. But he could forget it, now he had to look for another one. However hard it would be, because nobody could replace his best soldier. Not Nikolai and not any other of his men.
King Salems palace
The whole castle was finally quiet again. The servants and the attendants had done their work, the suppliers brought all their things and the gardners were finished with the garden. The ball room was really nice decorated and the furniture was stowed away in another room. Everyone was tired now and on their way to their bedrooms. Marianna successfully survived the fitting of her dress. It wasn´t as bad as she thought. At least it wasn´t pink or any other feminin colour. Actually it was a beautiful green and matched the colour of her eyes. The others were all in awe when she tried the dress on. Thankfully she had almost the same measure as Ava and the dress didn´t need to be changed. Ok she whined because it was a bit too tight, but everyone told her that it had to be that way. How anybody could wear something like that everyday was a mystery to her. She liked her clothes perfectly fitting, but it shouldn´t squeeze her entrails together. Ava and Vilandra had the same dress, only Avas was blue and Vilandras was red. That made her feel better, that she wasn´t the only one who had to suffer tomorrow. Althrough they were used to this getting dolled up, in contrast to her. But she would be a good girl tomorrow, even if it was just for a few hours, which wouldn´t kill her. At least she hoped so. Marianna wondered how Rath would react when he´ll see her dressed like a princess and behaving like that, too. He´ll probably ask who she was and what she had done to the real Marianna. Yeah that´s sounding like Rath. Ava and Vilandra teased her the whole time about him. They even tried to copy his reaction and what he would say when he saw her in the dress. It was hilarious to watch these two with their dramatics. For a few hours she forgot the feeling she had all day long. But that changed as soon as she stepped a foot in her room. Immediately the feeling was there again and it seemed to be stronger than before. When she first noticed it, she thought it was an upset stomach or she didn´t stand something in the food, but after a while she realized that it couldn´t be it, because her head was spinning slightly and for a moment she thought she saw a flash of her fathers war room. Something was going on, but she had no idea what or what the flash meant actually. All she knew was that it wasn´t good and it would bring pain and even death. Marianna went to her window and opened it. Maybe the fresh air would clear her head a little and the bad thoughts would disappear. Slowly she bent her torso forward and propped her ellbows on the ledge. Then she laid her head on her hands and watched the sky.
" Everytime I´m coming into this room, you´re looking out of the window".
Marianna turned slowly around. This time she wasn´t so surprised that Rath was in her room. In fact she expected him already. " It´s calming to watch the course of nature".
" And I thought you were trying to get a look at Vilandras new boyfriend again", Rath was a bit worried about Marianna. Her emotions were such a chaos that even someone with no empath powers could feel them.
Marianna smiled slightly at him. " No. That´s the least of my worries at the moment".
Now Rath got really curious. The least of her worries? Why did she worry at all? " And what is your biggest worry at the moment?".
" The storm that is coming", Marianna turned back to watch the sky again.
Rath stretched his head out of the window and observed the sky. But as far as he could see, there were no indication that a storm would be coming. " What storm? I don´t see anything".
Marianna sighed really loudly. " Because I didn´t talk about the weather".
" What is bothering you? I felt so much fear coming from you last night and now I got the same, only a littler strong this time. You know that you can tell me anything, even if it sounds crazy", Rath embraced her and pulled her tightly against him. Slowly he stroked her head with his right hand while the other kept her trapped in his hug.
Marianna relaxed instantly when she felt the strong arms of Rath holding her. It was strange that he just had to be near her and she felt safer. " It´s probably nothing. But since this morning I got the feeling that something bad is coming. And I don´t know what it is or what it means or even if it´s something to worry about at all".
" Maybe you´re just nervous because of the ball?", that was a thought that had to be considered to. After all if something dangerous was near them, wouldn´t be he the first to notice anything? He was an empath and most of the time he knew things beforehand.
Marianna had thought about that, too. And to an extent it was possibly true. But if that was the case, why did her mind tell her a different story? " Maybe. But what if it´s not? What if this feeling should tell me something and I don´t realize what it means? Or if I ignore it and something happens? I couldn´t live with myself if I could have prevented it."
Rath took her face in both hands and made her look into his eyes. " Nothing bad will happen. I promise you. Not under my watch".
" I wish I could be so sure of that like you", Marianna laid her head against his chest again and listened to his heartbeat. It was soothing her soul and her mind.
Rath smiled at the back of her head. She was finally calming down a bit. But it had probably to do with the fact that she was sleepy now. Carefully he lifted her off the ground and carried her to the bed. And strangly she didn´t say anything or complained that she could walk alone. When he put her down on the mattress, he shred his own clothes and laid himself besides her. Then he took the blanket and covered them with it. Within a few minutes Marianna was sound asleep. Rath held her close to his body and caressed her face with his index finger, before he kissed her forehead.
" Don´t worry. Nobody will harm you as long as I´m near. They have to go through me first before they can hurt you. I swear".
TBC