54: Prick of the Blackthorn

Prick of the Blackthorn

When dawn broke, the first rays of light started to conquer the kingdom of Versailles, first touching the ground and then gradually ascending to illuminate the upper floors of the palace. The concubine named Kailani woke up with an abrupt jolt, still in the first prince's room. 

It would be wrong to assume that Kailani had stayed in Prince Dante's room since his exit, especially when the prince had her drink three glasses of water, and she had to release her bladder. But the concubine had returned to the prince's room in hopes that he would return so they could continue the night, considering the reason she was summoned there in the first place. 

Getting up from near the prince's bed, where she had fallen asleep while waiting for him, she stood up and stepped out of the room. 

Once Kailani arrived at the concubines' quarters, the other already awake concubines noticed her walking through the room's entrance. They quickly hurried to where she was and gathered around to question her, 

"Is it true that you were summoned by Prince Dante?" 

"How was your night with him? He kept you until morning! Did you serve him until morning and sleep in the same bed as him?" 

"Is he as scary as they say he is? Did you see the curse that people have been talking about?" 

As questions kept being thrown at her, Kailani stood quietly, listening. She was the top concubine right now, and telling them that all she had done was drink three glasses of water would not only sound stupid, but would even risk her reputation. 

Kailani smiled at them and replied, "Prince Dante and I had a wonderful night, something none of you could imagine. He took good care of me."

One of the concubines complained, "You are so lucky that you got to serve him. No one has ever been able to do it. It must be nice to be the best concubine here."

Another one then said, "Does this mean that you could become his exclusive concubine if you were to give birth to his child?" 

"That is true. Once I give birth to his child, I will be nothing less than his legal wife," Kailani's smug smile broadened as she absorbed the attention of the other envious concubines, who weren't in as much demand as her. 

Madame Minerva appeared at the entrance and overheard the chatter of the concubines. Since Lady Maya was elevated to be a queen, she had been assigned to oversee the concubines along with the courtesans, though primarily in the absence of the new soon-to-be queen. The woman spoke to Kailani, 

"Looks like a miracle has taken place in the palace, and Kailani has finally managed to survive an entire night with Prince Dante. Everyone should learn something from her. Good work in pleasing the prince."

Kailani offered a deep bow, and a wide smile stretched on her lips as she made her way through the place and took her seat as if she had already turned into an exclusive concubine. After all, it wasn't like the prince would know what went on in the concubines' quarters for him to punish her. 

But the concubine underestimated the situation, as the news about Prince Dante having summoned a concubine to his room in the middle of the night had spread like wildfire and everyone knew about it before breakfast. 

Princess Emily was getting ready with Anastasia's help when Princess Niyasa stepped inside the room. 

"Lily, did you hear?" Princess Niyasa asked, coming over to gossip; her blue eyes bright with curiosity. 

"About what?" Princess Emily asked, turning away from the mirror to look at her sister, who had forgotten that she had tattle-taled on her maid yesterday. 

Princess Niyasa huffed, staring at the mute maid, who had probably failed to pass the news on. She said, "About Brother Dante. He had a concubine in his room last night! Looks like he is trying to win the favour of the ministers by giving them a child as an heir."

Princess Emily's eyes widened, "That's not possible. He's always chased them away."

Anastasia was wrapping a silk belt around Princess Emily's waist, and upon hearing this, her eyes quietly moved up to look at Princess Niyasa, who was staring outside the window, before she turned back to her older sister. 

"I heard it directly from Madame Minerva, who had gone to Mother's room when I was there too," Princess Niyasa stated in a matter-of-fact tone. "He himself asked for one. Pitiful, isn't it?" 

"The concubines are for the king and the princes' use. There's nothing pitiful about it, Niyasa. What's pitiful is your mother driving away my mother and the rest to the old palace as if they committed a crime," Princess Emily replied, still feeling bitter about how things had changed. 

"Mother said it is only until we find the murderer responsible for Father's death. I don't understand why you are blaming her when she is only trying to protect everyone." Princess Niyasa frowned at her older sister. "And don't make me remind you of how everyone quickly jumped on Brother Maxwell, accusing him of being the murderer when he's innocent. Our father was his father too, and he loved him. I wouldn't blame them since they are only watching their backs. And mine. I am sure your mother would have done the same if the situation was reversed."

"My mother wouldn't drive everyone out of the palace. You know that the old palace isn't as safe as this one here," Princess Emily stated with fear lingering in her mind. Would the presence of a mere few guards be enough to ensure her family's safety? 

"You don't know that, Lily," Princess Niyasa responded and sighed before saying, "I came here to talk to my sister, but it seems there is a misunderstanding." Saying those words, the younger princess walked towards the door and exited the room as she had entered. 

"Idiot," Anastasia heard Princess Emily mutter under her breath. She then quickly said, "Not her, but me."

Noticing that the princess's mind was disturbed, Anastasia stroked the princess's back to offer her comfort. 

"I hope the murderer will be caught soon. The longer it takes to find them, the more the trust in our family breaks down and makes room for suspicion," Princess Emily said with a frown before she switched the subject. "I cannot believe that Brother Dante willingly spent the night with a concubine. I guess it is all thanks to you, Anna," she said, looking at Anastasia's reflection. 

Me? Anastasia asked herself. What did she do?

"If you and he didn't sleep with each other, maybe things would have still been stagnant in the palace, but this is good progress," Princess Emily offered her a bright smile, and the maid shook her head. 

Anastasia had never slept with Prince Dante, which was a big misunderstanding that hadn't been rectified. Princess Emily offered her a proud pat on the back and said, 

"You don't have to be humble about it. If it was another woman in your place, like a concubine or courtesan, they would have bragged about it and would have been moved to the quarters by now."

Anastasia shook her head and moved her hands to make the princess understand that she had neither engaged in any intimate relations with the first prince nor did she desire any promotions within this palace. She would rather hold cleaning rags than wear expensive clothes and serve random men. 

"I know, I know," Princess Emily nodded. "Even though you have slept with Brother Dante; I won't give you away to be placed among the courtesans. I think you already know this, but a maid cannot directly become a concubine and always starts as a courtesan before progressing to exclusive status, and only then can she become a concubine. Though if I think more about it, I believe it would be quite lovely to have you serve as the prince's concubine, no? We would be able to spend better time with each other."

And though the princess meant well, her thoughts didn't sit well with Anastasia, who stared at the young woman. 

While following Princess Emily to the dining room, Anastasia's eyes fell on Prince Dante, who appeared to be in the same clothes that she had seen him in last night. His hair was tousled as if someone had run their hands through it several times, and he looked tired. 

"Good morning, Brother Dante. Lovely day, isn't it?" Princess Emily smiled with a knowing look, which the prince missed as his eyes fell behind his sister to look at the maid, and his jaw ticked. 

"Mm, morning." Dante's words were short. 

"Will you be joining us for breakfast?" Princess Emily asked him. 

"No, I am busy. I will be leaving in a few hours and will be dropping by the old palace before heading to where the troops are waiting," Dante replied, and this had the princess offer him an understanding nod. As if remembering something, she said, "I wrote a letter to my mother and wasn't sure if I should send it through the guard."

"Give it to me before I leave. I will hand it to her myself," Dante walked past them, trying to ignore his sister's maid, whom he had been trying not to think about since last night. 

Princess Emily turned to see her brother's back as he walked away and whispered to Anastasia, 

"It looks like they did it until morning." She said, "The letter is in the first drawer of the desk in my room, inside a book, Anna. Why don't you go and hand it to Brother Dante while I have my breakfast? I wouldn't want him to leave it behind because I don't trust that the letter won't be read or mishandled by someone else."

Anastasia did as she was told after seeing Princess Emily step inside the dining room; she made her way towards the princess's room before taking the hidden letter from between the pages of the book in the drawer, as instructed. Carrying the letter to Prince Dante's room, she knocked on the door and waited a good minute for a response. 

When no one responded, she decided to slip the letter through the gap under the door. But when she sat down on her heels, she started to doubt whether it was a good idea to leave the princess's letter like that. At that exact moment, the door opened, and she looked up to find Dante's narrowed eyes watching her. 

"What the fuck are you doing?" 

Dante noticed her doe-like eyes stare at him, and the position she had assumed sparked suggestive ideas in his mind. After leaving the palace in the middle of the night, he had tried to get rid of his intrusive thoughts before he ended up training at the base camp, which was the best way he knew how to deal with them. 

It felt like Dante had become a giant, ready to trample her, from where she sat. She noticed his hands weren't wearing gloves, but were wrapped in white cloth-like bandages. Anastasia stood up in a hurry, and in her haste, her head went to collide with his chin when Dante placed his finger on her forehead and pushed her head back. 

Anastasia quickly balanced herself on her feet and stepped backwards to maintain distance between them. 

"My apologies, Prince Dante. I came here to hand over the letter from Princess Emily to her mother," Anastasia brought her hand forward, and within a second, the envelope was snatched from her hand. 

"Make sure to keep Emily company and that she's safe. We don't know if the murderer is waiting to strike again," Dante said, instructing the maid, but then the faint thought of how she, too, was in danger passed through his mind, considering her lack of awareness. 

Anastasia bowed and replied, "I won't let anything happen to her, Prince Dante." Remembering how his eyes had glowed last night, she looked to see if they still did now. But instead, she found his eyes narrowed at her. 

She saw Dante jerk his head in the direction for her to leave, and on cue, she quickly turned and heard the door shut behind her. 

By noon, Dante and a few men had left the royal palace, their final destination being Brovia, where they would launch an attack. 

After four days had passed, in the royal palace, the newly-crowned King Maxwell took a stroll with Lady Evin inside the palace corridors and next to the gardens built inside, which kept the place cooler than the other areas. Their arms were wrapped around each other, while not too far behind them, the other prince and princesses followed. 

Lady Evin said to Maxwell, with a smile adorning her lips, "I cannot wait for our wedding, King Maxwell. It has been something I have been looking forward to ever since we found each other." 

"Neither can I, darling," Maxwell replied, and he leaned towards her before planting a kiss on her temple. He said to her, "I cannot tell you what a great support you have been, along with my family, for helping me through this difficult time."

Anastasia, who walked behind Princess Emily, stared at the back of Maxwell's head. She wondered if these were words he had shared with her sister before. He had forgotten about his love for her, which was replaced and erased by the soulmate connection. 

"I don't know if I should throw up or feel jealous about the connection my brother has found," Princess Niyasa spoke in a lowered voice, so the two walking ahead couldn't hear her. "At least it is better than seeing him flirt with those useless courtesans."2

Anastasia noticed that Prince Aiden, who often had something to say, was quiet. They hadn't spoken to each other since the night they had tried to escape. It was as if his father's death and the responsibilities he had shied away from had left an open wound in him. 

Princess Emily, being optimistic, said, "I hope all of us can find our soulmates. To have that person you know was born for you, which was meant to be."

"I don't think you should place hope in such things, Lily," Princess Niyasa remarked, "Not to be rude, but you are twenty and haven't found your soulmate yet. Isn't that why Lady Sophia has been looking for prospects for you?"

"You should know when to stop, Niyasa. Perhaps you don't have a soulmate yourself," Prince Aiden said to her, which made the young princess laugh. 

"I don't rely on finding a soulmate, Aiden, and like to be realistic," Princess Niyasa offered them a false smile before it fell. 

"Is it because you already know that you don't have a soulmate?" Princess Emily asked as they continued to walk through the corridors. She said, "I hope you find a suitable husband, Niyasa." That way, this brat wouldn't be causing more trouble for them. 

When they reached the abandoned side of the palace, Lady Evin asked, "What's over there on this side of the palace?" She noticed two guards standing at the entrance. 

"None of us are supposed to step in there. And the place gives me the creeps," Princess Niyasa informed the lady.

"I would like to take a look at the place. Please," Lady Evin asked King Maxwell, who gave her a nod. 

King Maxwell said to her, "Aiden and I have some work to attend to, but I expect my sisters to take good care of you. I hope you have a good time and bond well with them."

The rest of them walked through the entrance, reaching the corridor where the creepers curled around the pillars and hung from the upper floor. Lady Evin laughed before remarking, "This place appears as if it is haunted."

Anastasia's eyes fell on the dead Blackthorn rose and the thorns that heavily surrounded it. She hadn't forgotten her dream about it, and it still gave her chills. She looked around the place, where some sides of the corridors were dark and hidden in shadows. Not much light passed through this place. 

"Look at that, a rose that still stands. Does no one come here to clean?" Lady Evin questioned the princesses, before placing a foot into the inner garden. 

"Lady Evin, it is forbidden to go nea—" Princess Emily tried to warn her. 

"Princess Emily, I am the king's future wife. I don't need you to tell me what I can or cannot do. Is that understood?" Lady Evin said. She reached the Blackthorn plant. 

"You worry for no reason, Lily. It is a plant which has been dead for years now," Princess Niyasa said to her older sister and reminded her, "Did you forget how a servant was pricked by a thorn and nothing happened?"

Anastasia noticed the look of worry on Princess Emily's face. When her eyes returned to the centre of the garden, she saw Lady Evin's hand reach out towards the lone rose, which enticed one to pluck it. 

And though Lady Evin was careful, somehow the thorn of the plant pricked one of her fingers, and she winced, "Ow! Stupid thorn!" She turned and was about to speak when her face turned pale, and she collapsed next to the plant.

Everyone's eyes turned wide, and they shouted, "Lady Evin!" 

"Guards!" Princess Emily called while Princess Niyasa stood frozen. "Alert King Maxwell and Queen Maya about Lady Evin! Quick!" 

The princesses stepped into the inner garden, and Anastasia followed closely behind. They noticed Lady Evin's body spasming. When Princess Emily was about to touch the lady, Princess Niyasa stopped her and said, 

"Let the maid do it!" Panic was written all over the younger princess's face, and she ordered Anastasia, "Hurry, check if she is still alive!" 

Anastasia checked the lady's pulse and on feeling it, she nodded. The woman was still alive, but barely. She wondered why this had happened, because many weeks ago, she had been pricked too, but hadn't collapsed like the lady. 

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