Ascension (36 page)

After a few breaths, he decided to
go to the servant's quarters. If his suspicions were right, Fara
was the accomplice who fled with the Prince, but it wouldn't hurt
to check. Even if Fara wasn't there, the servants always seemed to
know what exactly was going on.

He carved himself
a path through the hustle and bustle of the hallways until he found
his way to the servant
’
s quarters. In the main room he saw Mathelda calling out
orders to the girls who were sitting at the tables. He scanned all
the faces there, but he couldn't find Fara. He did see a familiar
face, although it was hard to recognize her without her
characteristic smile. What was her name? Mary? No. Sophia? Lydia?
Ah, yes, Lydia.

She met his eyes and a shock of
recognition flashed across her face. Mathelda must have noticed it,
too, because she followed Lydia's gaze to Croxley, who was still
partially hidden in the doorway.

“
Sir Croxley?”
Before Croxley could creep back into the stairway, she was
walking his way, determination in her step. He sighed and entered
the main room. He noticed Lydia sit up from the table and leave the
room as he entered. His eyes followed her out, but they were
blocked when Mathelda moved in front of him.
“
Ah, Sir Croxley. I must say, I
’
m surprised to see you
here.
”

Croxley raised an
eyebrow,
“
Why is that?
”

“
Well, with the
Prince having ran away from the castle for who knows why, we all
assumed you would be by his side. You two are practically
inseparable.
”

Croxley
didn
’
t say
anything. He simply stood there looking at her until she cleared
her throat and looked away.

“
Ah, yes, well.
In any case, I have something I need you to do. I
’
m too busy to do it myself. I
just recently had a few, erm, rogue slave girls who caused quite a
bit of trouble down here. It seems they were trying to hatch some
rebellion plan, if you can believe it. Ha!
”
Mathelda laughed scornfully. Croxley tried to keep a
straight face, but underneath the facade, his mind started racing.
He tuned out what Mathelda was saying, trying to figure out what
exactly had happened while he was gone. The Prince had left, and
apparently Mathelda knew about the planned uprising, although how
much he didn
’
t
know. He wondered if she had connected the Prince to the
plan.
“
And with some of my girls locked
up in the dungeon, I have even less hands to help around
here.
”
This pulled Croxley from his
musings, and he paid attention to the rest of
Mathelda
’
s
grumbles, but she said nothing more of the girls in the
dungeon.
“
That is why I need you to run
this message to Princess Lena.
”
Croxley
looked down to see Mathelda holding a letter out towards him. He
took it, and after he exited the room, he stopped and stared at the
letter for a moment, wondering why Mathelda was writing to Lena.
Other than attending the slave evaluations when a new female was
brought in, Mathelda didn
’
t have much of a role in the
castle. Likewise, without Erik here, Lena shouldn
’
t have much to do with
anything.

No matter how one looked at it, the
fact that she was writing to Lena was suspicious. To be honest, he
was suspicious about the whole damned thing. This castle is in an
uproar, the Prince is missing, and I have no idea where Fara is, he
muttered to himself. Then a thought struck him. What did Mathelda
say? That she had to send some of her girls to the dungeon? Perhaps
Fara was there. He made up his mind to check the dungeons after he
delivered the letter to Lena.

He arrived at
Lena
’
s room and
raised his hand to knock on the door, but stopped when he heard the
bark of a sharp command.

“
What do you mean
you couldn
’
t
find it? It has to be there! The high priests said it was there!
It
’
s the only
reason I came to this wretched country!
”

“
But your
highness, that room is heavily guarded. It was hard enough to get
in once. It would be highly suspicious if I were to go
again,
“

“
Don
’
t tell me that
it
’
s heavily
guarded. You
’
re
a guard! Figure it out! And with the castle in the state that it is
in at the moment, nobody would notice that you
’
ve been there before. Bentley,
the moment is perfect. This must be done now, before the Prince
returns from wherever he
’
s gone off
to.
”

Suddenly, the
door flew open, and Croxley had to jump back to avoid being hit. A
guard, whom Croxley assumed was Bentley, looked at him with wide
eyes. Before Bentley could say anything, Croxley said,
“I
’
m here to deliver a
message to Lena. From Mathelda.
”

Lena, who must have been standing
near the door, pushed the guard aside.

“
I
’
ll take it,
”
she said, coming from behind Bentley.
“Oh, Croxley!”
Her voice went from harsh to a near purr when
she saw Croxley waiting at the door.
“You
’
ve returned! I
’
m so delighted to see
you!
”
She gave a stern glance to Bentley,
and he quickly walked down the way Croxley had come. Watching him
leave, Croxley realized that he always seemed to be with Lena. Did
she bring him here from her country, or was he already a castle
guard? He couldn
’
t remember seeing him before, but then again, he never
really paid the guards much attention unless he and Erik had gotten
themselves into trouble. He returned his eyes to Lena, who was
wearing a deep purple gown with an even deeper plunging neckline.
He traced his eyes down, following the lace embroidery as it hugged
her curves. When he made his way back up, he saw amusement in her
dark brown eyes. They almost look black, he thought to himself. She
took the letter from his hands and then motioned
inward.

“
Won
’
t you come in and sit
down?
”
Croxley entered the room, and was
immediately assaulted by a sweet perfume. It wasn
’
t too strong, just enough to
notice, and he definitely noticed. He took a seat down on the couch
in the center of the room. He looked around the room as Lena went
to grab a wine bottle on the table next to them. She offered
Croxley some as she sat down beside him. He noticed that she had
put the letter away after reading it, and wondered what exactly was
on the paper.

“
I normally
don
’
t serve the
wine myself, but what with the castle in a huff, my normal servant
is gone at the moment. I don
’
t drink the hard liquors you
have here. They are a bit too strong for me. So I
’
ve taken to importing my own
wine. I apologize if it tastes different,
”
she smiled and handed it to him.

“
Thank you, your
highness,
”
Croxley said, as he took a
sip. He tried not to gag as it reached the back of his throat, the
sweetness overpowering his senses, and forced it down. She watched
him for his reaction, and he tried to assemble his face into a
reasonably pleased expression.
“
Worry
not, your highness, it taste
’
s fine,
”
he encouraged as he set the wine glass
down.

“
Oh, I
’
m so glad you think so,
”
she said, obviously pleased with herself.
“
To be completely honest, I think
it
’
s much
better than the drinks offered here. They are so bitter, and they
always give me a headache. Back in Ethera, we drink only the finest
wines, made with the sun-sweetened grapes of our vineyards.
”
She sighed.
“
I guess I
miss home. I haven
’
t really found anyone here to call a friend yet.
”
She slid her eyes down, and looked into her
glass. After a melancholy sigh, she looked up at Croxley, her eyes
half-shut under heavy eyelids, thick with lashes.
“
I can find a friend in you, right,
Croxley?
”

He wondered what
to say, wondered why he was in this situation, wondered what
exactly she was planning. Going off of what he had heard, she was a
spoiled, selfish individual. But then again, he had heard most of
this from Erik, and he couldn
’
t figure out exactly how he felt
about Erik at the moment either. He decided he would make up his
mind for himself just what Lena
’
s true character was.
“
Of course, your highness.
”

She smiled and
put a hand on his leg.
“You don
’
t need to call me
‘
your highness
’
, Croxley. Lena is just
fine.
”

He shifted under
her and she removed her hand.
“
So,
Croxley, you are good friends with Erik, yes?
”

“
We were close,
yes,
”
he said, gruffly. If she was going
to use him to talk about Prince Erik, then it was time for him to
go.

“
Were?
”
She asked,
“
Well, I
was just going to ask if this kind of irresponsibility was normal
for him. To just leave the castle at the same time that the
servants try and revolt, it borders on cowardice.
”
She swished her wine around in its goblet, and
as she watched it swirl around, she commented,
“
I heard tales about him back in my country. They said he
was boyish, spontaneous, and handsome. That he shirked his
responsibilities in favor of parties and woman. Well, I would say
it was all true. Except the part about being incredibly handsome. I
think that they may have confused him with you on that
point,
”
she lifted her wine to take a
sip, and peered at him over the rim of the glass.

“
I thank you,
your highness. Or rather, Lena,
”
he
corrected himself when she frowned.
“
But
yes, I must agree that those traits are very accurate. He always
tends to get himself into what he sees as grand adventures, but
once things turn serious, he doesn
’
t hesitate to leave. And yet he
always seems to get things to turn out his way. I
’
d say it
’
s his most impressive skill.
”

Lena just nodded
and sipped her wine.When the silence had nearly reached the point
of discomfort, she said,
“
Do you want to
know a secret?
”

He looked at her,
surprised. Not sure how to answer, he played around with words in
his mind until he decided on, simply,
“Go on.”

“
When I first saw
you, I had hoped that you would be the one for me to wed. You
looked so much more serious, responsible. Like you could really go
far in life.
”
She leaned in closer and
ran her hand down the side of his face gently. He
couldn
’
t look
away from her eyes as her hand made its way from his cheek to his
chest.
“
I can tell you another
secret,
”
she said, her voice low and
sensual.
“
I know where the Prince ran off
to. And I know that you probably were going to help him. But I can
make you an offer, and I think it would be in your best interest
not to refuse.
”

Croxley said nothing, and deciding
that he needed a drink, quickly downed the rest of the wine in his
glass, grimacing at the taste but welcoming the
numbness.

“
If you tell me
what the Prince is doing, and exactly where he is, I can make sure
to have him arrested. Don
’
t worry, we will keep him alive,
but he won
’
t be
able to live the frivolous life he did before. While you, Croxley,
you will be the man I choose to marry. And with me you can rule the
kingdom! Is that not what you have always wanted?
”
Lena set down her wine glass, and took his as
well, noting that it was empty. She motioned to refill it, but he
shook his head.

“
Um, no thank
you. Your highness, I don
’
t know where the Prince
is-
“

“
Liar!”
She said
harshly, her mask slipping for a few moments before she recovered
her temper. Her voice resumed its low, sooth cadence.
“
You must know where he is. My sources tell me
that you were in on the plan. And by plan, I mean the upcoming
revolt.
”