29 Poems and Spells

"My Lady, are you alright?"

Annalise was pulled out of her thoughts when she heard Sera's worry-filled voice. Letting out a small sigh, she smiled softly at the girl before shaking her head in denial. "I'm okay."

Yeah, she was okay. Just distracted because her mind was still stuck on the words that Kenric had whispered in her ear during breakfast. 'I'm going to stay with you tonight'...

"My Lady, you seem distracted. Is everything alright in the Capital?" Sera didn't give up yet because she could see that her lady was worried about something.

"Everything is alright in the Capital. The letter... it was a summon from His Majesty. You remember a month ago we heard the news about a family of farmers found dead in the North Province?" Annalise looked at Sera and noticed the girl nodding her head in affirmation.

"... Back then, His Majesty sent a team of royal guards and an official to sort out the matter. However, the news just returned that the guards and the official had also gone missing this past week." Annalise informed the girl and the gasp of pure terror and fear was what she got in response.

"But, My Lady, wasn't these disappearing and murder activities limited to the South Province? How come there's such an incident happening in the North Province too?" Sera raised the question that had been bugging almost everyone.

"That's exactly what everyone is wondering about. If this murder and the disappearing case are indeed related to those cases in the South Province, then our realm is in even big trouble than we thought." Annalise responded as she recalled all the murders and disappearance news she had been hearing for the past year.

"I hope the lords will soon sort out this case. Our entire realm is depending on them." Sera muttered as she picked up the basket of tomatoes before heading inside the kitchen.

Annalise followed behind and noticed that the kitchen was empty with no trace of Aunt Claire or the others. "Where's everyone?" she asked Sera.

"My lady, Aunt Claire, and the others are working in the side garden. Ever since Garron find out about the Lords allowing us to grow our own vegetables and herbs here in the castle, he has been filled with excitement. So, Aunt and Mr. Warren are helping him set up the vegetable garden." Sera informed her as she started preparing for lunch.

Annalise smiled as she moved to help Sera. "It's good to know that he finally found something to do here that he loves and is good at. I just feel bad for Mr. Warren, he's a soldier but he had to do such petty works here with us."

Sera nodded her head in agreement. "Mr. Warren is mostly busy fixing the gardens. Ever since My Lady has helped us in cleaning the garden, that place no longer gets messed up. So, it's becoming easier for Mr. Warren to rebuild the garden. If everything went right, the front garden will return to its glory by the end of the month."

Annalise was also excited to see the result of Mr. Warren's hard work. Because of all the hard work that they all have been pouring in cleaning and renovating the castle, the cursed place was finally changing into a lively house little by little.

"My lady."

Annalise's attention was brought back to the present when she felt a soft nudge from Sera. "Huh?"

"My Lady, there..." Sera whispered as she nodded in the direction of the kitchen entrance.

Annalise turned to look in the direction Sera pointed at and found Lord Valerius standing there.

"My Lord." Annalise hurriedly moved to greet her husband.

"If you aren't busy, accompany me." The Lord didn't wait for her reply as he just turned around and started walking away.

Annalise turned to look at Sera who in return signaled her to hurriedly follow Lord Valerius. Giving a small nod to the girl, she chased after her husband.

She wasn't expecting him to lead her to the library of all places. "Why are we here?" She couldn't help but ask as she watched Lord Valerius looking through the shelves in search of a book.

"Come and select a book at random." He told her as he stepped aside to make way for her.

"Me?" Annalise wasn't sure what her husband was planning. She hesitated for a second before stepping forward to get a book.

The one book that caught her attention first was a book of poems. She pulled it out and showed it to the Lord. "What now?"

Lord Valerius didn't answer her question immediately. Instead, he took hold of her hand and pulled her to sit on the long couch before taking a seat beside her.

A gasp almost escaped Annalise's lips when the man suddenly laid down with his head resting on her lap. She was stiff like wood with both her hands raised high in the air and a dumbfounded look on her face.

"Read it for me. Please." His words were soft as he whispered them while closing his eyes and relaxing.

Annalise felt herself relaxing too. There was a tiredness in his voice and the way he requested her to read the book for him, made her stop questioning everything.

Settling comfortably on the couch, she opened the book and found the first poem, and started reading it.

The poems were so great that she completely lost the track of time as she continued to read further.

Meanwhile, Lord Valerius drifted off into a sweet sleep, something that he hadn't experienced in over centuries.

When Annalise reached the last page of the book, she found a spell written in the ancient Seelie language on it instead of a poem. She recognized it because she had seen some similar parchments before at the Royal Library.

"My Lord, look at this. Is this..." she trailed off when she noticed that the man was fast asleep.

A smile bloomed on Annalise's lips as she closed the book and put it aside. Her fingers softly ran through the long silver locks of her husband as she relaxed in her seat and closed her eyes.