Chapter 1
Lucielle neatly folded the fresh parchment and tucked it into one of the many pockets of her exquisite night blue gown. With her ravine black hair held loose behind her back and bright green eyes, secretly observing her surroundings ; Lucielle looked as beguiling as ever. She had been aware since the very beginning of her trek to the palace , that she was being stalked . "Breathe. Just breathe." she murmured to herself. She was going to receive the letter from the prince , that she knew but didn't know why the prince had suddenly refused to do so himself. " I apologize for the inconvenience , m'lady but the Prince asked us not to be interrupted and we are bounded by His Majesty's words. He gave us the letter in case he couldn't be reached ." Wellen , the guard guarding the prince's quarters sternly said. Adrenaline flowed through her veins forcing her to snarl at Wellen making the man grin . " Flash your grins to someone else , I better get going." Without another words Lucielle began strolling towards the wide verandah, her lady-in-waiting striding beside her. Lucielle wanted to read the letter but she wouldn't read it at least not with her stalker roaming around in those black shadows , just waiting for her to be alone , helpless and slit her throat. She willed her pounding heart to calm a bit as she sniffed the horrible smell.
"Lady Carodoc , wait for me in the carriage. I have some unfinished business left." Lucielle told her escort as politely as she could at the moment yet smirked at her. Her lady-in-waiting gave her a warning look and said, " Madam , just please , make it quick ,I don't like this place especially the smell, it's ....... unusual today. The last time, I smelt something like this , was when I went to the graveyard." That was something she had noticed too, even though it smelt somewhat familiar , she couldn't recall it. Her instincts told her something was definitely off . She shoved the thought away and looked at her escort with a gentle smile and squeezed her shoulders ,"Don't worry , I'll come as soon as I can " Lady Carodoc sighed and gave her a sympathetic look before turning on her heels and down the huge stairs and into the garden below. For a moment Lucielle watched her go from the balcony of the second floor before striding towards the northern premises.
Lucielle began the hunt. She just had to enter General Phillip's office , take the documents regarding the location of the twin blades and get out without being seen. Lucielle began re-explaining her plan to herself in her mind and stopped dead as soon as the stench hit her. What had Carodoc said 'graveyard' it smelt like , like ash and dead bodies. Like coal and fire. Like , like .....Death. "Oh God, Oh MY DEAR GOD" Lucielle shrieked as she took the servants' passageway to the prince's room and burst open the door. She quickly extinguished the burning candles and burst open all the windows letting the moonlight fill the room. The room reeked of death. She ran over to find the prince half-flown in the air. She could've laughed at the sight of his ruffled hair, were it not for the voice that spoke through his body, "You cannot escape from your fate." The voice growled at her , not the prince's soft voice but someone else, something else..... She gathered her courage while the prince hovered over her. " By the power of my great grand ancestor , Evangaline Sadler , I command you TO LEAVE MY FRIEND ALONE." She screamed the last words at the voice and caught the prince just in time as the creature lurked out of him dropping him in mid air and sprang out the window. Taking his reek with him, maybe she could thank that thing for his kindness but she had to look out for her friend first.
"James, can you hear me? James , look at me. Look at me James. LOOK. AT. ME." Lucielle shouted at the prince as she shook him again and again. "I think I'll have hear loss even before I reach my twenties , Lucy" She thumped him hard on the floor and he groaned in pain. " If you don't stop contacting with the dead, I 'll definitely kill you before you even reach your twenties" she grunted at him but with a little calmness. "I know I shouldn't, but they are the only ones who can help us" James replied with gentleness reflecting in his eyes as he sat beside her. "But it's the fifth time , James, fifth time they tried to possess you . You stopped summoning them a year ago, so I thought you understood the danger and I forgot how it smelt like that's why it took me a while to understand the situation. But what if , I was just a second late . What would've happened then?" she snapped a finger at the prince. "POOF, you'd be poof , James and you know there's no coming back from the eternal darkness they drag you in . Trust me, it's not worth it James. Not worth it." " But , Lucy, it's the only source of information . I read every single book I could in the past few years and none of them had any information about your mark . Only a King of the Valg Demons knows about the darkest secrets of the world . Only they can tell us anything about your mark, and as long as I know , the last heir of the Valg demons died in the battle of the EYE , which, according to the legends, ended eons ago. So, yes, no matter the price , it's worth it." Prince James sighed and smiled as he stood up and offered a hand to Lucielle who sat cross-legged on the floor. She stood up accepting his help and began dusting off her dress and asked him with curious eyes, " The mute spell still works , hopefully." "Of course, it does no one beyond these walls " he stretched a hand from behind his back motioning at the huge yet elegant , walls of his room "can hear us " , he said those lines in a whisper, " the fact that no one came for aid when you yelled at my face , supports my conclusion." he replied giving her a soft grin which she responded with a side glare.
"I better get going. You already ruined my chances of getting my twin blades back" she grunted at him. " Well about , uh , not attending to you when you asked for me is because.." "of the mute spell , you didn't hear Wellen call for you but before starting the what-so-ever thing you do to summon the ruthless demons , you gave him the letter that was to be sent to me. Right?" she finished for him and began to move towards the servants passageway when James said, "See you next time with your blades I hope " James nudged her with his elbow and bowed to Lucielle as she shot him a deadly glare and continued going her way.
Soon she reached the royal garden which smelt of roses and pine , she slid back into the carriage and motioned for the driver to continue their way . "Forty minutes was a lot , Madam Lucielle. I expect a lengthy explanation." Lady Carodoc said with a warning look as she shoved her watch back to her pocket . "I expect you need one right now but AAAHHHH...." she yawned and slumped into her seat and completely forgot about her stalker.