“I am fine, the Dream was a total Nightmare.”

“Do tell me, you will feel better.”

Seeing her scaled Maid hold her hands she could feel the skin was human skin, but it looked like a snakeskin.

‘Is that because of Drak’s Magic? Does that mean she is part of my Cage? She is one of the ones keeping me captive without me knowing?’

“In my dream I was… I was being besieged by many Goblins with silver and bronze tattoos. They held me captive and ripped flesh off of me little by little but would not let me die! They… they used me, toyed with me and mocked me while I was unable to move! They just made me feel miserable and no one cared about my suffering.”

“That sounds horrible. Please be at ease, this would never happen. Were there some things you could do?”

“There was a ring… It had the seal of the Empire but I was so weak. I could not use it properly.”

“Properly? What did you do? Were there also Goblins with a golden tattoo?”

‘Does she always throw in some questions like that? I remember her guiding me sometimes, when I was disturbed.’

“One Goblin with a Gold tattoo. He sat on a throne behind me, laughing and mocking. Near me was a small chubby dog on some chain. He bit some of the Goblins and they hated him. But somehow did not go near him because of his unusually big teeth he had. The only one who helped me, but somehow I knew I needed to watch and work to tame him, but was not able to. The Ring… yes I remember wanting to throw it at the Goblin behind me, but was not able to as my Fingers were already gone! I could only hit him slightly but he was hurt badly, making him furious and playing me to death and… here I am, now.”

“Shh, everything is alright. You are safe here. Those goblins might be some kind of spies or Enemies against the Empire, but the loyal dog of the Empire did help you, didn't he? I will make you tea and light some incense.”

“Thank you Miranda.”

Not really believing her own Maid anymore she uses one of the secret tools her Spymaster gave her. While Miranda was lighting the incense, Eleonora opened a ring with a hollow pearl, inside a near imperceptible tiny black pill which Eleonora took right away.

‘Hopefully the generic antidote is strong enough for whatever is in the tea or Incense.’

Time flew, the incense mellow smell always put Eleonora at ease but today she only faked it. The tea was one of her favorites and now tasted like some bitter bile but drank it with fake delight. Lying down she slowly closed her eyes while Miranda still soothed her.

“Don’t worry about Nightmares, dear. While they might haunt you in your sleep, they can never touch you in real life. The Empire would never let that happen. The Gracia Family is one of the major branches and although we are low, we are the most dedicated and hard working. Even the Emperor knows that and will always be just in time of our need. Just relax and keep in mind your strongest shield, your bond to the Empire as it is always there and keeps you protected. Let us both keep everything safe by working hard for our Family and the People.”

Stroking her head until the breath was soothing and steady Miranda stood up and filled up the incense to burn for a longer time while Eleonora was again sleeping. Closing silently the door, steps were heard quickly walking down the hallway away from Eleonora’s Chambers.

A while later Eleonora opened her eyes. Sweat was seen on her forehead as she has no idea what to believe now. Why would she suddenly see visions while awake? How come they overlay with reality? More questions were throwing one conundrum after the other into her confused mind but right now she had to do something important.

“The window. I need a small gap to breathe fresh air. Better not air all of it and create suspicion.”

Sitting in front of the Window a small gap was opened,small enough to only let a fly the possibility to squeeze in, but was large enough for Eleonora to breathe while she was close to it.

‘Should not be a strong drug if I am not just paranoid. Maybe something subtle to let suggestions prior said sink in better? She said much I always thought to be right, so it should not… Maybe I should ask myself if the always believed statements are true? No, I could never… Keep an open mind Eleonora, even if it might go against what you are thinking. You also know about how the School works on those Kids… But I am always looked after and there is no mind bending Magic… Is there some secret hidden Magic imperceptible or maybe something non magic? No, that would be silly… but what if it exists?’

Inside Eleonora's mind were two voices of herself fighting and arguing. She knew she was an Imperial Princess but still she had to make her own Worldview. Her Uncle always said to be abiding but not unthinking.

‘I have so many questions, but I can't ask my Uncle for now. A Letter might be caught or read. I can't even trust the self-destruct seal right now. How can I write him something so dangerous?’

Being stuck in a dilemma, Eleonora was hard in thinking as she heard steps again. At first she wanted to close the window, but thought otherwise after an instant. Rushing to the Incense burner she scooped a miniscule part of it out of the Burner right into the cavity of the pearl ring. Afterwards she lied down and started to breathe deeply and rhythmically.

As the door opened Miranda noticed the slight draft. Seeing the Incense being drawn to the windows she saw it not fully closed. Looking out she saw nothing and closed itbefore going to the incense burner. She cleaned it thoroughly and afterwards put fresh incense into it and lit it again before leaving and resting on the chair right outside the door.

Silently Eleonora opened her eyes again and took some of the new incense, struggling to think of a place to put it until she placed it into her hidden drawer under a few pages of her now rather large stack of papers pertaining Drak, neatly sorted into different Categories named after different Maids. There were no Stacks of Paper pertaining to the possibility of multiple Maids being together with Drak as this stack of Paper was stored in a different bigger hidden compartment she called the ‘triangle Compartment’.

Finally at ease she was fully exhausted and could not go any further. Even if the Incense was maybe drugged she could only hope the antidote kept working for how long it might be. She had no way to defend herself and needed Rest the most right now.

—

“Good Morning, Princess. Did you get a good sleep? Any more Nightmares?”

Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.

“Ah, Miranda. No, I could sleep well afterwards.”

“Thank goodness. Do you need anything from me?”

Seeing her Maid Miranda in her normal Form made it look like she had only been seeing things, but had a thought about something.

“It is embarrassing, but… can you give me a hug? You are the only one I can fully trust around here and I need one right now.”

“Of course, Princess.”

With a warm smile she came close to Eleonora and gave her a warm hug. She felt Eleonora was still not fully at ease, which made her a bit puzzled, but thought the Nightmare was especially scaring for a ten year old Girl seeing herself being eaten like some kind of meal.

“Do you feel better now, Princess?”

Eleonora was looking at her scaled Maid slowly turning back into a human form, nodding while smiling.

“I feel better now, as I am not confused anymore. Thank you for your help, without you I might not be able to know who I could trust and what is real. You are like a golden beacon to me Miranda. Thank you.”

“I do not know why I am so much praised right now Princess, but I appreciate it. Still I am only doing my Job, please lean on me in the future, I will always be by your side.”

“I know.”

Both were smiling at each other, but Eleonora was slightly thinking different thoughts than Miranda was suspecting.

Afterwards Eleonora got back to her usual self and started changing. The day was already starting and she had to work double time as she did not write the Report right away.

“Miranda, can you call the Spymaster? Also afterwards I want to not be disturbed for a while. The Report should be first looked after by the Spymaster, because I don’t want to embarrass my Family with a Report of low quality.”

“As you wish, Princess. Do you want something special for breakfast? I will right afterwards be supervising the Kitchen, while you are busy.”

“You are the best Miranda. Yes, I would like to have something special today, but not for Breakfast as it can be as usual.”

“As you wish, Princess. Please let me know, what do you want to eat?”

“I somehow have a craving for something exotic for once. Last night I had eaten simple dishes, so I want to see what might be some tastes I only heard about.”

“I would not advise to look at lower class food too much-”

“No, you misunderstand. I want to see what was talked about on some Parties inside the Castle, as those had mentioned once something strange being cooked, but was thinking I would never. Now I want to taste it myself to see if I really would not like it.”

“Um, what are you talking about?”

“I want to try Snake Soup, please.”

Eleonora was smiling vividly like a morning sunshine but something in that smile made Miranda unconsciously shiver. Afterwards Miranda had taken it as some imagination while ordering the Snakes to be cooked.

—

“The writing is concise and detailed. Some aspects like the baked goods taste can be omitted but is not a necessity, as such details can sometimes tell if some drugs were ingested by orally intake.”

“Good, then I keep that part. Please come here for a second Spymaster. Could you take off your glove and lay your Hand on the table for me?”

“At once, Princess.”

Being taught to obey orders no matter how ridiculous the Spymaster did what he was ordered to and put his hand on Eleonora’s Study. Afterwards Eleonora just put her hand on his and looked him seriously in the eyes.

“...”

“...”

A few seconds of silence passed and the Spymaster was not sure what was going on, so he spoke his mind on the conjecture he could only make.

“While I am an experienced Spy, I am not versed in the goings ons of Romance. Also I never laid my Hands on the other gender and can therefore not be a suitable partner in-”

“Would you shut up and stop with the nonsense?!”

Becoming angry at her Spymaster she sighed and took her hand from his.

“Let me explain, it was a kind of test. I need your help and have to know if I can trust you.”

“My loyalty to the Empire was never a problem and my record can be seen as spotless.”

“And yet you are here babysitting me, an eleven year old Princess being trained to become a spying tool for the Empire, under circumstances where the probability of success of the Mission was marginal.”

“Yes, as some internal Commanders had trust issues about my loyalty and some visions of my future were inconclusive I was delegated to the work as trainer for you albeit not being able to fully train you in most ways as I am a shadow Spy while you will become a social Spy, which has close to no intersections.”

“How does that make you feel?”

“...angry.”

“And I am glad.”

“Why so?”

“Because I need someone I can trust.”

“As said my Loyalty-”

“I need someone I can trust. Internal struggles of the branches are getting more and more heated. The reason they put you with me is to get rid of two obstacles at once. I believe my failure was already ascertained as it could not be read in some kind of probability vision. You being my Mentor would also be burdened with the fault to fall even lower. I do not want that and I want to succeed, but if I were to succeed I would go against their plan and needed to be stopped in secret. You know what I am getting at?”

“The power struggle of the Imperial Family. The Gracia Family is close to being cut off as they have only seven Blood members.”

“Six… My Cousin was married to the Liberatus Family Branch. She cut all ties to us as she was ordered to by the head of their Branch. It broke Uncle’s heart.”

“Then the cutaway is close to being sealed.”

“Will you help me?”

“...”

“I need someone who can help me. Not the Empire, but my Family needs someone who can help us.”

“...”

“I trust you, so please help me.”

“As you wish, Princess.”

Eleonora wiped her eyes as they were a bit moist around the edges. She really had laid everything open to her Spymaster and if he would have not come to her side it would have been a disaster. While hoping and praying she had still one single Card left, if it had not worked, but was scared to play it right now.

“Thank you for your help, Crow.”

“Crow?”

“You have no Name but a Number. While I can not officially name you, I can give you a Name for this Mission as a superior. If we beat the odds and come out on top, I personally use the elevated Status of our Family to keep you under our Branch as a personal Spy with a fixed Name. If Crow is not to your liking, I will talk about it with you in the future to find a better one.”

“No need, Princess. If we survive this Ordeal I will be honored to keep the Codename Crow.”

“I am glad, now on to another topic. I wish for you to train me.”

“Which aspect do you want to train for and what proficiency do you want to achieve?”

“All you know and I want to master it. For now I need training in resisting drugs and breaking through Misdirection Techniques.”