Chapter 41 - A Matter of Shadows (Queen Zillya POV)

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The stale, cold, and humid air of the room was already starting to get at me, meanwhile Raziel, who was standing next to me in her maid disguise, seemed unfazed by all of that, even enjoying it. Even the papers on the desk in front of me, illuminated by the light of a candle that was barely able to lit the rough stone walls, seemed to start to become damp.

“Can you detect them?” I asked.

“Yes, they should be here in a few minutes at most.”

I sighed. “I swear, they keep doing this on purpose.”

“A common tactic during negotiations, Your Majesty.”

“We should cut their arms, maybe that will convince them that they should not play with us. I heard it can work wonders during negotiations,” I said, staring straight at her.

She stared back. “As I have already explained, your life was not in danger at the time.”

“What if your judgement was wrong?”

“It rarely is, and the fact that you are here in perfect conditions is proof that it was not.”

“Then is your perfect judgement ability the one that tells you to bed the crazy woman who harmed both me and my son?”

“There have been no negative consequences to her actions, on the contrary the knights of the palace seem to have grown closer to Prince Alexander,” she smiled, “soldiers who keep their ruler in high regard are important.”

I probably had a disgusted look on my face as I said, “are you going to disobey the pact for a stupid infatuation?”

Her eyes grew wide for a moment before she burst into laughter, not a joyous one, but a maniacal sound that seemed to seep in from the shadows of the rooms, a laugh I had never heard from her.

Cold sweat ran down my back as she stopped laughing and leaned over me, her disguise disappearing from her face revealing those blood-red eyes, a smile on her face. “Do not forget that a stupid infatuation, as you call it, is the reason this kingdom and that pact exist, my child, and that the pact itself leaves quite some room to interpretation.”

“You would never-”

“Hurt one of his descendants,” she took a deep breath through her nose, as if sniffing the air, “which you definitely are not.”

I was frozen, just like I was when I was but a girl and I first came to know about her existence, but this time she wasn’t speaking reassuring words similar to those of a caring mother, no, she was showing herself for what I feared she was when I first met her. For the first time I wasn’t in front of Raziel, the woman who had sworn her never-ending life to the crown, but in front of the queen of the dead from the legends, as if my words had shattered a mask that had never been removed in thousands of years.

After what seemed like an eternity she straightened back up, her disguise returning with a caring smile on her face. “Of course, I would never want to hurt the feeling of King August if possible, nor those of the princes, so I would prefer if you refrained from speaking badly of Fortuna... despite her antics.”

I finally released a breath I didn’t know I was holding and said, “of course.”

“Thank you,” she turned to look at the door, “it seems like your guest have arrived, Your Majesty.”

At that moment a knock came from the door. I coughed and fixed my posture before saying, “come in.”

Two robed figures entered the room. When they reached the light of the candle they removed their hoods, revealing the faces of a woman in her sixties, her face showing the signs of age, and her hair grey, and a man in his early thirties with short hair and a stubble. As they arrived in front of my desk I gestured them to sit on the two chairs in front of it.

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When the man grabbed the back of the chair with his left hand I noticed that the middle finger of his glove was empty.

“I do not think we have ever met, Medii,” I said to the man.

“No, I am afraid we have not, Queen Zillya, it is a pleasure,” he said, bowing his head slightly.

“And it is a pleasure to see you are still in good health, Anularii.”

“These old bones will still help you for many days to come, Your Majesty.”

I smiled, “at times I think you will outlive all of us. You will have to tell me your secret.”

“Please, a woman who shares so easily her secrets cannot call herself one.”

“Unfortunate but true.” I took the few documents that were sitting on the desk in my hands and glanced over them for a few second. “Now, time to move to business. In your latest report you said that you were having difficulties with moving our resources to Tureg.”

Anularii nodded, “yes, as it says in the report we have lost an important connection inside the dwarven kingdom, we are working to build new ones to substitute the lost one.”

I glanced over the reports again. “I don’t think the reports said anything on the reason for such a loss.”

“Death, Your Majesty,” Medii said.

I raised an eyebrow and said, “should I be worried?”

Anularii gave a small laugh before saying, “no, we confirmed that the cause of death was natural. The old dwarf liked brothels much more than the medicines for his regression sickness.”

“An unfortunate pairing.”

“Definitely.”

At that moment Raziel interrupted our conversation to ask, “Your Majesty, I am sorry, but may I leave the room for a few minutes?” surprising everyone in the room.

“Ehm, sure, but do not stray too far,” I said, still baffle.

She bowed and said, “thank you, Your Majesty,” before leaving the room.

When she closed the door after her Medii burst into laughter and said, “you should employ more experienced maids if a simple mention of a brothel is enough to embarrass them, Your Majesty.”

“Boy!” Anularii shouted at the young man, a look that seemed able to kill in her eyes.

The young man froze immediately and said, “I am sorry for my behavior, Your Majesty.”

“I shall overlook it this time.”

“Hoping that so will do your maid,” Anularii said.

“Of course. Now, where were we? Oh, right, the connections in Tureg. I hope that this matter will not delay our plans too much.”

Anularii smilied. “Gold always helps speed up an operation.”

“Of course, and how much gold are we talking about?”

“Ten gold per slave, plus a reserve of one million gold. The reserve and two thirds of the payment shall be delivered immediately and the remaining payment after the operation is concluded.”

I smiled and said, “my dear, that is a lot as a simple incentive, especially after all the investments I put in this operation.”

“I understand, Your Majesty, but there were unforeseen circumstances.”

“I see…” I smiled at the woman in front of me, “fifty silvers per slave, no additional payment, half immediately and the other half after the job is concluded.”

“My beloved queen... you should know that I alway work with the best interests of the country in mind.”

“Of course, I know that very well, which is why I am sure you will be able to accomplish this task without weighting too much on the kingdom's reserves.”

“My, my,” she faked a laugh, “for a kingdom as great as ours what I ask is but mere change, I am sure.”

She had just finished speaking when Raziel opened the door and reentered the room. Instead of going back at her place next to my side, though, she bowed and said, “Your Majesty, I request permission to temporarily leave the palace grounds.”

Medii sprang up from his chair and shouted, “maid! Stop interrupting us! Do you not know your-”

“Sit and shut the hell up you idiot boy!” Anularii shouted, stopping him.

He looked back at the old woman, not understanding her rage.

“I said sit! And remember that the Finger has yet to reach the Hand.”

Medii visibly gulped at that and went back to his chair.

“Your Majesty, I am truly sorry for the disrespect this man has shown you today, we will accept your offer,” Anularii said, bowing her head.

“I am glad we came to an agreement so quickly,” I told her before shifting my attention back to Raziel, “what is the reason you have to leave the palace?”

“I have an urgent message for the high cardinal at the cathedral.”

I was a bit baffled at the answer but I still nodded, “very well, I grant you permission to leave the palace and its grounds for this matter.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty,” she said, before disappearing in the shadows of the room.

Medii was staring with his mouth wide open at the place where Raziel had disappeared from when, with a smile on my face, I said, “I was not expecting the Poison to be unable to recognize the Shadow.”