A gentle breeze carried along the mild air from the not-so-distant southern sea. From the chimney of an old inn, which had been run by the same family for many generations, rose dark clouds of spruce wood burning in the fireplace. Its walls were made of round stones, often stacked seemingly without order, held together mainly by the cement between them. A sign reading “Ye Olde Fish Tavern” hung above the gate. A hooded figure now walked under the flag depicting the Camenian eagle, which was flown next to the entrance to the house. In the light of dusk, the man with a dark brown hood and light green pantaloons entered the establishment, deliberately turning his back to the setting sun to better conceal his face.
The gentleman purposefully walked past the bar counter and weaved his way in between the guests to reach one of the back rooms. There he went down a steep staircase at the end of which was a locked door. He knocked five times. Shortly afterwards, the following could be heard from the other side: “The carp is swimming in the big pond.” He immediately replied, “But it will drown soon.” As a result, the key turned in the lock and he was let in. Only when the door was locked again did the lady greet him. “Good evening, Your Serene Highness,” it came from a relatively short woman with shoulder-length hair. She didn't seem to be quite the youngest anymore, but she definitely couldn't be described as geriatric. “Good evening to you too, Mrs. Vogt,” the newcomer replied. Then he let his gaze wander around the room. There were two other men and a youngling sitting together at a table.
One of the men, an old veteran who had seen it all, stared out of his deep eye sockets at the newcomer. The former Field Marshal Etzel radiated all the toughness that the world had thrown at him. He took a puff of his cigar, whose smoke filled the entire room right up to the beautiful brick vaulted cellar and puffed it out again. The other gentleman was considerably narrower and significantly less solidly built than Etzel. He was Petra's current partner. His quiet, timid nature meant that he momentarily was just sitting there, not having a conversation with his counterpart. And then there was the boy. He had medium-length brown hair and very handsome features. He was a little short for a man, but that still could possibly change with a growth spurt. After all, he was only sixteen. Achaz was his name, and he was the son of Petra. “He looks very much like his father,” is what an observer would have thought, if he had known August.
Now the visitor removed the hood from his head. Underneath, a heavily curled mop of hair was revealed, which left no doubt as to his Camenian ancestry, if his traditional clothing had not already made this clear. “I'm sorry we had to ask you to come here so early, dear baron,” noted Etzel, who had examined him from top to bottom to make sure he was indeed the Baron of Alduino he knew and not an impostor. The nobleman replied, “I really wasn't happy about it, as you can imagine! It is a considerable risk to meet your kind here. Of course, I would have preferred a later, darker hour.” - “Anyway, you're here now. Let's get down to business. The longer we take here, the more we run the risk of being tracked down.” The innkeeper was one of their allies, but one could never be too careful.
The noble lord sat down on one of the free chairs and immediately began to report. “What my brother, who was present at the imperial palace, has told me is that the princess seems to be incredibly quick-tempered and rebellious. Her parents don't seem to be able to control her. She also seems to have very few friends.” Hearing this, a sly grin crept across Petra's lips. The woman, who was the only one who hadn't sat down but preferred to stand, now began to walk up and down the cellar room. Weighing up the situation, she said, “Good, that's very good! We can exploit such great weaknesses!” Then she looked over at her son, who immediately asked her, “What do you have in mind, mother?” - “What do I have in mind? Avenging your father's heinous betrayal, of course! Isn't that what you want, too?”, she asked her counter-question. The boy immediately replied, “Yes, I do want that, too!” But his voice had a somewhat uncertain tone. He wasn't good at hiding his true feelings.
“Ahem!”, her ally of nobility now cleared his throat. “I have more things to tell you, if you don't mind.” - “Excuse me! Of course I do,” August's widow returned to the man who felt ignored. He continued, “This is less of a secret now, but cracks also seem to have formed between the military leadership and the imperial house in recent years. The ruler has apparently massively expanded the size of his own troops and continues to do so. A power struggle could be looming here. However, it would be premature to actually speak of such a thing.” Etzel responded with a satisfied nod. The old warhorse was now the first to address what had been said, “We shouldn't bet on such developments. I'm not even going to start with 'could' and 'possibly'. We have no influence over these two factions. Especially since this diabolical system is steeped in heretical ideology, it is unlikely that we will be able to exert any real influence here in the foreseeable future. No! We have to build up our own strength.”
“Haven't you already done that in recent years with your free lancers?”, the baron inquired. “Yes, but I could only get the ones with the highest conviction to join us. They are still a small, insignificant troop.” Di Alduino stroked his short beard. After a moment's consideration, he responded, “It is also in my interest that this demon is destroyed. Show me your men sometime. I might be willing to finance the project.” This was very good news for the former field marshal. While all this was going on, Petra's man just sat at the table and drank from his cup. Achaz also remained silent for the time being.
But then his mother approached him and said, “The two of us are going to do something great, do all of humanity a favour! But you have to do exactly what I tell you, do you understand?” - “Yes, mother!”, the boy replied with compulsion. “Excellent. But I need someone else's help for that,” spoke the lady, nervously turning towards the door. “Where the heck is that guy again?” For a while, Etzel and the baron discussed the matter of recruiting. But then there was a knock at the door. There were six knocks in total, one too many as had been agreed. Nevertheless, the impatient woman asked her “carp question”. The gruff male voice from the other side responded slyly, “You know exactly who I am! Open up, old hag!” Somewhat offended, she opened the gate for the man, who was obviously the right person.
In stepped a clean-shaven figure with short, dishevelled hair, wearing only tattered rags. It was Lucius Cornel and he shook the lady's hand solely to conform to etiquette. He only greeted the others present with a half-hearted wave of the hand. With his worn-out sandals, he immediately stepped in front of the boy and eyed him up. From this a shiver ran down Achaz’ spine and he then addressed a question to his mother: “Mother, who is this man?” - “Someone who has joined us because he has the same goals as we do. We can be sure that he hates the Demon Emperor at least as much as .... no, actually even more than we do.”
The unkempt man now turned to Petra and uttered, “And what do you want to do now? What plan do you have?” The widow replied, “I already have an idea. But we'll have to plan it very carefully and we’ll need the help of our ally, the Most Serene Baron of Alduino here.” - “Okay....?”, it came back from Lucius in a questioning tone. “Though, we won't need you at the beginning, Cornel.” - “What? Then why am I here?”, the man asked justifiably. “To get to know everyone involved and to also be in the know. Why else?” Then they began to discuss their further course of action.
“Come on! You can do it! Aren’t you a really strong doggy? Yes, you are!” The red-haired girl snatched a small stuffed toy, which was supposed to be a pig, from her dog's mouth and threw it to the other end of the room. Full of enthusiasm, the animal ran after its favourite toy and brought it right back to its owner. “Good girl!”, Viktoria praised Wanja and stroked her head. Although her pet still wanted to continue playing, the girl now stopped. With a long sigh, she let herself sink completely onto the floor where she had been sitting. “It's so boring here!”, she whined to her dog. It ran straight over to her and licked her face. The young lady then pushed her Wanja away from her a little, while trying to be as gentle as possible with her, though.
“Still a week left in here! Not even Ylva is talking to me!” The boredom and loneliness were crushing for her in house arrest. She hated it, which meant the punishment was doing the trick. However, much to her parents' discomfort, it wouldn't do much to change Viktoria's attitude. “I have no regrets!”, she said to herself in reference to the events at her father's jubilee. The princess had definitely brought shame on the imperial house with her behaviour. She also knew that what she had done was wrong. And yet she also felt that her anger, which had exploded then, had been justified. Not a good thing! She had gotten a real earful from her adoptive parents after the incident. It was the first time she had ever seen her father truly angry.
And she understood his feelings too, or at least she made herself believe she did. But since she didn't admit that she ALONE was to blame for the whole thing, they had grounded her for a full month. Not even Ylva was allowed to talk to her beyond the bare minimum. It was absolutely unbearable for the usually energetic girl. Even spending time with Wanja wasn't very helpful and quickly became monotonous and boring. Of course, she still had to study, but that was just an exhausting humdrum for her and didn’t offer her any relief from boredom. “Oh, God! I can't take it anymore!”, she announced to everyone present, meaning just Wanja and herself. Tonight, she would definitely sneak out again!
Meanwhile, the imperial couple had been thinking about other things, that would soon be coming up. There was a knock at the door to Viktoria's room. “Yes?”, it came back from her in an unfriendly tone. But she immediately stood up perfectly straight when she saw her mother enter. She informed her, “You're still grounded for another week, young lady.” - “I know that, mother. Is that the only reason you're here?” - “Not at all. There's another event coming up in a few weeks. It's a traditional masked ball and we've decided to host it here in the palace's grand ballroom.” Slightly confused, the princess tilted her head to one side in an inquisitive manner. “Due to your age, you would normally be allowed to attend for the first time this year, but given your recent - ahem - behaviour, it was questionable whether you really should. I and your father have discussed the matter and ultimately came to the conclusion that you should be permitted to attend the festivities. Especially since it's a masked ball, so no one can see who is who, we can allow it. But be aware that we will not accept any bad behaviour from you!”
“Yes, milady!”, the teenager replied. She had never intended to behave badly anyway. The last time it had just been forced on her by circumstances. “Starting next week, you'll also be taking a couple of dance lessons.” - “Oh, geez!”, the teenager gave back. Amalie was irritated by her lack of respect, which she also demonstrated to her here on this occasion. After briefly inquiring about the girl’s studies, she left her daughter again. The emperor’s consort closed the door behind her and strolled back into her chambers. In her mind, it was not a good idea to keep Viktoria away from others. Hence the ball. She wanted the girl to be in contact with others. Regrettably, her dreadful conduct had left them no choice but to punish her.
It was a balmy spring evening, which was very unusual. One carriage after another rolled up in front of the Melgarion Palace. Many high ladies and lords, as well as their sons and daughters, had accepted the invitation to the ball. No one was wearing traditional, meaning regionally specific, clothing that could give an indication of the identity of the person in question. And of course, they all were wearing masks. There were masks of all kinds, in various shapes, some of which imitated animals, and also in a wide variety of colours. Viktoria also entered the building via the main portal of the house where she actually lived. She was wearing a long red dress, a colour that she speculated no one would suspect her to be wearing, because of it being too similar to her hair colour. She also had her hair in a neat updo and had dyed it black, as otherwise it would have been completely obvious who she was. It was only a temporary hair dye that she would be able to wash out again within a few days. On top of that, she also had a mask that only made her recognizable to people who knew her somewhat better.
A lot of people had come, which surprised her. The wizard naturally came with her parents, who were also dressed differently than usual. Walking up the high stairs and through the large halls, they reached the ballroom. It was a gigantic, magnificent hall with frescoes of angels on the ceiling and a huge crystal chandelier hanging down in its centre. There was a lot going on here and it was almost crowded in places. However, the dance floor remained orderly and free, at least for those who went dancing. Of course, only boring, upmarket music was played, but that was just the way it was in the upper echelons of society. However, even if everything here was “controlled” to a considerable extent, the young people always found opportunities to chat on the sidelines or by “having to leave” the hall quickly. Now the princess also mingled with them. The girl couldn't recognize anyone... Wait!
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
She could clearly make out someone she knew who was chatting to another guy. Alexander Kuhn, the son of the Supreme Marshal, was wearing a dark green tabard with a belt that had a big golden buckle. They could clearly identify him by his angular facial features, his above-average height and his tendency to gesticulate a lot. She didn't really like him much, but at least moved a bit closer to the person, who was currently leading a conversation.
“...and then I knocked the sword right out of his hand! Ulrich and the Major General,...um...I can't remember his exact name, were all of a tizzy. So, they sent the recommendation of my promotion to major general to my father. I'll soon be rising in rank again,” Alexander boasted in front of his friend. His conversation partner, who was most likely Wendelin, only replied with regular interjections of “Great!”, “Mhm” or “Impressive!” His best friend was probably rolling his eyes behind his mask. He, just like everyone else, knew that the military chief's son was only promoted because of his connections. As Viktoria stood near him, she was immediately reminded of why she didn't like the guy. “Meglarbruck's number one chatterbox!”, she thought to herself with a sneer.
But then he spotted her standing not far from the two of them and looking in their direction. “Hello, beautiful! Come here, we won't bite,” Alexander said. “I’d rather not,” the mage replied in her typical cheeky manner. He hadn't realized it was Viktoria and now stood there like a poodle left out in the rain. Wendelin quickly turned to the side so as not to show off his smile. Meanwhile, the princess continued walking through the crowd.
Drinking from a hemispherical wine glass, Irnfrid stood at one of the many bar tables. Opposite her was Amalie, whom she had also recognized very quickly. “You've really hit it off with the weather.” - “You probably mean we got lucky,” the empress corrected her in a manner, that was supposed to come across as amicable, and took a sip from her glass. The lady did the same and then said, “I assume that your Viktoria is also here today.” Amalie only replied, “Maybe.” But then she asked, “And you're here with both of your daughters?” - “No, I only allowed Marzia to come. Eleonore is still too young.” - “I see,” her conversation partner returned dryly.
Eventually, Irnfrid opened up a new topic, “I'm really worried about the relationship between our husbands.” - “Wenzel and Theodor?” - “Who else? Ever since they had an argument between them a few years ago, they've hardly spoken a word to each other. I see that as a problem. I know the reason for their quarrel, but I don't think it's a good thing if we keep letting it fester like this. I can't change my stubborn mule’s mind anyway. Couldn't you talk to your own for once?” The emperor's wife seemed annoyed by this request. First, she pressed her lips together and then she responded, “To discuss what? I've already spoken with Wenzel about it many times. Theodor and the military are the ones blocking everything here. Do you think it's right to oppose the ruler of the empire like this, thus exposing him?”
The mother of three was a little affected by this. She countered, “Does His Majesty want to risk his own safety by being softer on the heretics?” As a result, Amalie's face showed a brief hint of ire, which she immediately suppressed. “Let's end this topic, dearest. I don't want to start an argument with you!” Irnfrid agreed with her. Then they returned to less sensitive topics of conversation.
All kinds of drinks were served on a table at free disposal. A swan sculpture carved out of ice was displayed in a large glass bowl in the middle of said table. Viktoria approached it and wondered where they had gotten the ice from and how it had been kept cold until the opening of the ball. Up until now, it had already melted considerably. At that moment, someone spoke to her from the side, “It's a really beautiful ice sculpture.” She turned to the person somewhat abruptly. It was a young man, about her height, wearing a good-looking, black cotte and a rather small mask that was quite simple in its design. On his head he wore a black beret with a silver bordure. “Did you just read my mind?”, the girl asked, but then she answered her own question straight away, “Of course not. You can't.”
She didn't realize how strange and revealing her statement actually was. After a few seconds of silence, the boy replied, “I like your sense of humour. And your dress is really nice, too.” - “Thank you?”, came Victoria's reply with a drawn-out final vowel. In response, the young man had to laugh. “You're probably not used to compliments.” - “Not really,” the undercover princess replied curtly.” - “I can't understand that. You seem really nice to me.” He paused for a moment. The current piece of music had just finished. So, he asked her, “May I ask you for a dance?”, and held his hand out to her. “Okay,” she returned briefly. Then they went to the dance floor.
Lucky for her, she had had dance lessons, otherwise she would have made a fool of herself. She was able to keep to the rhythm of the song that was being played, but frequently made the wrong steps. However, her dance partner was able to deal with her missteps and the dance worked quite well. “You're really good at this..... unlike me,” the girl remarked. As they were spinning around in circles, the young man responded, “That's not true. You can dance quite well, too; you just need a bit more practice.” - “You've got flattery in spades!”, she replied cynically. “I guess so,” he said in a slightly amused tone. The mage actually found his nonchalant manner quite charming. “Are you here with your parents?”, she asked him. He returned, “In a way. I'm trying to get lost in the crowd so they can't watch me too closely.” - “Same with me,” said the girl.
In the meantime, Wenzel had already found some of his old friends here and was chatting happily with them about all sorts of things. The five men, specifically Brahm, Ferenc, Balduin, Peter and Wenzel, stood together and laughed at one of Brahm's “old men's jokes”, with Ferenc, as always, cracking up the loudest. Peter didn't even seem to care about the idea of the ball, which is why he wore his usual clothes and only the required face covering differed from his usual get-up. It was him in particular that the wizard talked to a lot. “I remember when you couldn't even find Greifenburg on a map. And look at you now!” his first friend teased the emperor. “I was basically a completely different person back then. What the years can do to you,” Wenzel replied with slight nostalgia. Next to him, Brahm wanted to say something the whole time, but didn't know exactly how he could tap into any of the topics. Balduin, by contrast, hung on the Chosen One's every word and barely spoke at all.
Amalie now approached the gentlemen in her cerulean dress. “Would you care for a dance with your wife, my love?”, she whispered into his ear. With the ball having been her initiative, so she also wanted to do something fun here. He immediately took her by the hand and informed his friends that he was heading for the dance floor. The imperial couple had just joined the other dancers when the song that had just been played ended. Almost as if the whole thing had been planned, the musicians switched to a slower, more romantic song. Viktoria and her dance partner also began to dance to this very song, even if the young lady was a little embarrassed by it. However, she suddenly saw that her parents were also on the dance floor. “No! They mustn't see me!”, it flashed through her mind and, to the surprise of the person dancing with her, she immediately left this place. Her panic from her parents' eyes had caused her to make a quick escape. She now felt sorry for the guy, who had certainly been given the wrong impression by this. He would probably think she didn't want to dance to a romantic song with him.
She grabbed him by the arm and hurried out of the hall. Over colourful floor mosaics depicting various sun symbols, she pulled him through the vast corridors of the palace. “Where are you going?”, he wanted to know. But Viktoria didn't answer. The young woman led him through a comparatively narrower side corridor and then around another corner. There was no one here now, and there also was no candlelight. However, the moonlight coming in through the windows was enough to see. “I'm sorry. I didn't want you to...um...because of the song. My parents were on the dance floor,” she stammered. He grinned and said, “I understand. No need to get so nervous.” He paused and then continued, “But you didn't have to kidnap me to some secluded corridor.” A smile crossed his lips. Somehow, the girl felt something stirring inside her.
“May I see your face?”, she now asked him. “Only if you show me yours, too,” the guy replied. “Okay.” So, they took off their masks at the same time. The guy in front of her definitely had attractive features, as the girl felt. Her counterpart also seemed to think the same about her, as he looked intently at her cheeks and mouth. “I think that's enough now,” she told him, whereupon the boy averted his eyes from her again. Now they both looked out of the window in silence. “Should I ask him? Yes, I should!”, was Viktoria's train of thought. “Will you tell me your name?”, she inquired in a tone that was unusually soft for her. In response, his facial muscles stiffened briefly. Then the boy returned, “Achaz. .....And you?” It should have been clear to the princess that he would now also ask her name. She finally replied: “My name is Marzia.” He seemed to suppress an emotion about this.
After a moment of silence, Achaz changed the subject again. “And what do you like to do in your free time? Believe it or not, I like to go riding on horseback.” - “Well, I don't mind riding. But most of the time I don't need it,” Viktoria metaphorically bit her own tongue. She had better be careful what she said before she revealed too much about herself. Consequently, the thought crossed her mind as to why she wanted to keep her identity secret in this case. Did she want to remain unreachable? “I guess it's different for girls than for boys. Our fathers expect different things from us than they do from you,” Achaz rationalized her statement. She only agreed with him with a short “Mhm”.
He was a clever, charming and, in Victoria's eyes, good-looking guy, quite unlike the fool Alexander with his stupid bowl cut. The young man pondered for a moment, then uttered, “Why won't you tell me your real name?” The girl was surprised by the intelligence he was demonstrating here. She hesitated for a moment. But then finally her conversation partner heard, “You shouldn't ask too many questions.” The voice had simply appeared in his head. The mage's lips had not moved in order to do this. This only worked because he “let her in”, as a magician could not usually enter someone else's thoughts without touching the person. Hence, the situation became immediately clear to him, too.
Afterwards, the two of them decided on a time and place where they would meet again. “Are you really going to make it there?”, Achaz wanted to know. But Viktoria only replied, “I can make it anywhere!” They then masked up again and returned to the ballroom. The rest of the evening, they spent having a good time. The first domino had fallen.
“And did you have fun yesterday?”, Wenzel tried to probe into his daughter. “Yes, it was fun,” was all he could get out of her. His nature prevented him from questioning her further after she had clearly communicated with her short answer, that she didn't want to talk to him about it. He turned around and was about to take his leave again when Viktoria stopped him. “Wait!”, she blurted out and her father turned to her. “I have something I want to know.” - “And what would that be?”
“I had a strange dream the day before yesterday. I mean, I often have visions of the future, but this dream was particularly unusual.” Wenzel now sat down on the chair in front of her and looked intently into his little girl's eyes. She continued, “In it, men in check robes stood in the middle of wheat fields and harvested the crops. A huge number of weeds grew between the wheat, and they simply cut them down along with everything else. What could that mean? I mean, I know the symbols on the Imperial Guard uniforms were changed to sickles harvesting grain just a few years ago. Surely, it has something to do with that, right?” The emperor's eyes widened when he heard this. He cleared his throat briefly and said, “You'll find out when the time is right. You can't yet understand the path I'm carving out and wresting away from fate.” She felt somewhat offended by this and responded, “So I was right!”
“The visions are right. Even if they can be mysterious, they're usually correct,” the man replied. “But they are not set in stone. You can change the future through your actions! But I still don't fully understand it all. For example, I didn't have visions of the past as a child, but I do now.” The princess looked at him, slightly confused. Then she uttered, “I've never seen the past!” Wenzel stroked his beard thoughtfully. “Curious, indeed”, was all he said. He hadn't learned anything new from this, Viktoria, on the other hand, actually had.
When he returned to his chambers, he met up with his wife, who happened to be returning at the same time. “Darling, I have something important to tell you before I forget,” it came from Wenzel. “What is it?” - “I'm going on a trip, and I can't tell you exactly how long I'll be away,” he began his explanations, which demanded further details. Naturally, Amalie immediately wanted to know, “Why? Where do you have to go?" - “I don't know exactly yet. All I know is that it's south of here.” The lady continued to listen to him intently. “I've been meaning to find the last of the Holy Artifacts for a long time. With the sceptre, I will manage that. It points in the direction where the item I'm looking for can be found. Unfortunately, I don't know the exact location yet, because otherwise I wouldn't have to make the journey at all.”
His wife then wanted to know: “Can't you have a servant do it?” - “No, unfortunately not,” he replied promptly. “The sceptre only works if you use magic on it. That excludes everyone but me and Viktoria.” This actually was a lie. He simply didn't want to trust anyone else with tracking down such an important artifact. “So, yes. I don't know how much time this will actually take. I've already informed Brahm and Peter. I'll make sure it doesn't take me too long.” Amalie looked at him briefly and then gave him her blessing. “Take care of yourself, you hear! There's still a great number of lunatics out there.” This made Wenzel laugh. He had overcome such feelings of fear since the days of the revolution.