The next morning Morrigan and Alphegor both sat at their breakfast table poking at their food. Neither of them had slept very well, Morrigan catching a few winks towards the morning while Alphegor diligently watched over her, not having slept a wink all night. Neither of them had the appetite to eat, their mind constantly going back to Azrael. The demon had left on his mission last night, taking along some of the most skilled spies, to find out whether the fallen truly had Morrigan's blood. And if they did – attempt to retrieve it.
The only small consolation came in the form of Haku's recovery. According to the doctor, the dragon had been merely exhausted from enduring so many magical attacks and would recover in due time. This knowledge brought some peace to Morrigan, although it didn't lessen the heavy feeling in the pit of her stomach.
"Lady Morrigan, Master Alphegor, you should eat something," Gunna was the only one brave enough to speak up, the other maids staring gloomily at the floor. Due to the large number of guards who had witnessed the whole exchange, it was impossible to keep the matter hidden from the castle staff. So, in the morning, the whole Demon Castle knew what exactly had happened.
"I'm not hungry…" Morrigan mumbled, setting down the fork on the table.
"Even if you're not, you should eat. It'll make you feel better," the nanny insisted, and Morrigan gave in, cutting herself a small piece of bacon from a creature unknown to her and putting it in her mouth. The meat was delicious and tender and as soon as she had swallowed it, Morrigan realized how hungry she actually was. Seeing his daughter eat, the King also forced himself to eat.
"Morrigan!" The door to the dining room burst open, and Deziara ran inside with Lady Lilly following closely behind her. The girl instantly pulled Morrigan into a tight hug, tears streaming down her face. "I can't believe the fallen would stoop so low as to attack you in our home."
"On a day when even attacking your enemy is sacrilege. The fallen should be banished from the Underworld," Lady Lily huffed angrily, placing a comforting hand on Morrigan's shoulder. She buried herself in her older sister's embrace, enjoying her comforting warmth.
"Trust me, I'll do it as soon as the opportunity arises," Alphegor growled, clenching his hands into fists.
"No matter what happens – we must not give them what they want," Lady Lily said.
"But we shouldn't go to war," Morrigan said, remembering the horrible scenes from the war documentaries she'd seen. It only ever brought misery and suffering, especially to common people and soldiers. The Underworld would become a living hell and that was the last thing Morrigan wanted.
"We'll do whatever needs to be done," Alphegor said sternly. "If the fallen refuse to cooperate, then war might be the only option we have."
This is not good, it seems like one tiny thing will be enough for Father to just go into an all out war with the fallen. I cannot let that happen.
Just as she thought this a second wave of shocked gasps broke into the dining room, this time with less force. Few more of Morrigan's sisters had come to complain about the fallen. She was surprised to see how angry they seemed about the fact that the fallen had attacked her as most of the time, they didn't really care much for Morrigan. Except of course, of how to best take her position.
"Enough with your clucking. You are princesses, not maids spreading rumors in the kitchens," Viana walked into the dining room.
"Why are you here?" Deziara narrowed her eyes while still clutching onto Morrigan's hand.
"Why do you think I have come? You believe I'd just stay mute in the middle of this crisis, just sipping tea in my bedroom?" she retorted.
"Well… yes," Deziara admitted, and Morrigan had to admit that she was kind of expecting the same thing.
"Clearly you do not understand the gravity of the situation then. This is not some personal slight towards Morrigan alone. This is an attack against the Demon Kingdom as a whole," Viana explained and walked towards Morrigan. Their other sisters parted to let her through and even Deziara released Morrigan's hand that she had been clutching.
"Viana is right. We need to take this matter seriously," Alphegor nodded grimly.
"Father, if the Fallen King agrees to come and negotiate for the life of his subject, I'd like to participate in the negotiations," she said resolutely. Alphegor arched his eyebrow at that, and then all other princesses also began begging to be allowed to participate in the negotiations as well. Morrigan could see her father's irritation rise with each second, no doubt aggravated by his poor night's sleep.
"Quiet! This is not some party to show off your dresses and jewelry," he barked and all of his daughters simmered down, looking guiltily at the floor. "Morrigan will attend, and I'll allow Viana to come too."
"Why Viana? Why not me?" Rosalie, the third eldest daughter, spoke up, her cheeks puffing out in a pout.
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"Because Viana knows how to behave herself properly," Alphegor retorted, and she skulked back. He was right, and she knew it. All of the princesses knew. Despite them being much older than Morrigan, all of them with the exception of Viana acted rather childish. Even when they're trying to spite Morrigan, in the end it was no better than some school bullying. Not that they have many chances to bully Morrigan since she is together with Alphegor or Azrael most of the time.
As the princesses pouted and grumbled, suddenly another person – one of the royal messengers ran into the dining room, huffing and puffing. "Your Majesty, I have a message from the fallen Prime Minister."
"Speak," Alphegor commanded.
"He says that the Fallen King will arrive in Linberor in three days," the messenger said, his face pale. If there was any semblance of cheer left in the room, then now it was completely gone. The princesses suddenly didn't look very eager to participate in the meeting anymore.
"Good. That means we have time to prepare for the worst case scenario," Alphegor said and after throwing a short glance at Morrigan, disappeared into the shadows.
Worst case scenario. He means war, doesn't he?
***
Two more days remained until the Fallen King would arrive at the Demon Castle. Everyone was busy preparing for his arrival, one meeting of nobles happening right after the next. Alphegor was so busy with all those that Morrigan barely ever saw him during the day. She asked to attend at least a few of those meetings, but was completely shot down. Apparently it was no place for children.
You're going to allow me to meet the Fallen King but not with the demon nobles. That just isn't fair. Viana is allowed to attend.
With the tension high and having nothing better to do, Morrigan had hoped to maybe distract herself with some magic lessons. Only to remember that Azrael was away on a mission and unable to teach her anything. So in the end she had nothing better to do than to pace around her room and stare at her many paintings, both finished and unfinished. Also she wasn't allowed to leave her room until the whole matter with the fallen was settled.
She looked at the half-finished sketch of Haku she had done some time ago. Perhaps it was time to finish it. But at the same time she felt far too nervous to actually draw or paint anything properly. Morrigan never could manage to draw anything nice while she was stressing out, so it was best to leave it for some other time.
But what do I do then? There aren't many ways to entertain yourself in the confines of your room aside from painting and reading. And I'm pretty sure I've already read everything that is in this room. Aside from Father's documents.
Morrigan went to her bedroom, hoping to find something to do there and noticed the ruby sitting on her nightstand next to her bed. The treasure she had worked so hard to win was completely forgotten due the recent events.
Since I have nothing better to do I might as well absorb it and see what ability it will give me. What if it gave something like – forcing your enemy to obey your every command. Now that would be useful. I could force the fallen to return my maybe stolen blood, go back to their kingdom and never attack us again.
Yeah, as if anything that convenient could ever happen.
Morrigan sighed and picked up the Burmese Ruby. It shone with brilliant red light, and she could feel the power within it resonating with her touch. As if it wanted to know more about her. To understand her from deep within and adapt to her needs. It was almost creepy in a way, but incredibly fascinating at the same time. What could have happened for this stone to give the user whatever ability suited them most.
Magic. There's no other explanation. If it even can be considered as an explanation. I still know so very little about magic and how it works, it's embarrassing. Azrael never bothers to explain the theoretical stuff. As long as I can shoot fireballs or change to look like him, he's content.
Morrigan shook her head, trying not to think about Azrael at the moment. He was away on a mission and thinking about him would only make her nervous about the Fallen King arriving in two days. No matter how hard she thought about it the result could either be bad or worse. Best case scenario – they do not have Morrigan's blood (unlikely), Father returns their prisoner and then they only resume their attacks the next day. Worst case scenario – a bloody battle begins right in the center of Demon Castle, plunging two kingdoms into instant war.
Morrigan had considered various solutions that could help to avoid that. She even thought about arranged marriage since that was how apparently her father had solved a lot of political issues in the Demon Kingdom. But she quickly dismissed that thought. She didn't want to marry with some fallen prince or demand one of her sisters to do it. Besides there was no guarantee the Fallen King would even consider that beneficial.
Oh, enough thinking about all that. Better absorb that ruby and see what kind of ability it will give me. Maybe it really could be something useful for this situation.
Morrigan closed her hand over the ruby and imagined its power flowing into her like a steady stream of water. But as its power started going into her, she noticed that it felt different from other times when she absorbed gems. Instead of a cool stream of magic spreading through the body, this felt almost electrifying. Not in a painful way, but rather in a tingly sort of way. The energy also flowed much slower, so she had to concentrate on keeping the flow of magic within her body to be steady.
After several minutes, the gem had finally disappeared from her hand, its energy fully ingrained in her body. She smiled, happy that she had finally absorbed it, but then paused, looking down on her now empty hand.
"But what ability did I get?" she said to herself, blinking down at her hand. Morrigan knew that there was some new power within her, but there was no mysterious message in her head that would tell her exactly what it was. It only told her that there was something there.
Alright, let's try doing various things then. Maybe something will click.
She extended her hand forward and imagined dark tendrils appearing from the shadows and grabbing the clock on the wall. Nothing happened. She imagined creating a spark of lighting coming from her fingertips. Nothing. A giant icicle appearing from the ground. Nothing.
It's supposed to be an ability suited for me so maybe it has something to do with painting and art.
Morrigan imagined a sculpture rising out from the ground and becoming her protective golem. No. She imagined paint coming from her fingertips and swirling around her. No. She even imagined a giant paintbrush appearing in thin air. Still no. No matter how many times she tried, Morrigan could not figure out what ability she obtained from the ruby.