The queen woke up in her room, feeling a sharp pain coursing across her body. “Damn it, withdrawal again?” She growled, reaching into the water bottle at the bedside table.
Dalla stood from the couch and approached the bed, handing the queen the bottle, “In pain?”
“As usual, rage withdrawal,” She gulped as if she didn’t drink in years, “What happened? I didn’t kill anyone, did I?”
Dalla smiled, “Not this time. Arad knocked you out,”
The queen sighed in relief, “Thank goddess, I didn’t go all out, it seems.”
“No, you did,” Dalla said with a passive face, staring at the queen in the eyes. “You even summoned Farryn to aid you in battle.”
The queen started sweating, “Where is Arad, is he hurt? That was divine magic,”
“He’s unscathed. In fact, he wiped the ground with you.” She looked away, “He even pulled a patron without a pact.”
“He’s a warlock? He shouldn’t operate without a pact unless his patron is weak.” The queen stared at Dalla, “You must be wrong,”
“His patron is the curses witch Doma. She is by no means weak.” Dalla sat on the bed, “But for some reason, she’s granting him power without a pact.”
“The curse witch, that’s the only being I expected to have the worst and most unfair pacts.” The queen started thinking, ^Dalla must be wrong. He can’t be a warlock or have the witch at his side,^
“Is she fine?” A voice came from the other side of the bed. The queen looked back, “Yeah, I’m fine…” she paused, seeing Arad sitting at the bedside, staring at her eyes.
“HA!” She cried, rolling out of the bed, “What are you doing here?”
“I felt you wake up, so I came to check on you. I punched you hard.” He stared at her panting and smiled, “You seem energetic enough,”
“You can’t just enter. What are the guards doing?” The queen cried.
“I asked them the same. They said. [Will a sane man stand before a carriage to stop it?]” Arad looked at the door, “I’m more surprised you didn’t hear me walk in,”
The withdrawal doesn’t just cause pain but a decrease in all of the queen’s senses as well. She can’t hear that well, and her vision is blurry.
Cerilla stood, leaning on the bed and looking at Arad’s face, “Bring everyone and wait for me outside. I will lead you to Aella’s family’s mansion.%I will call Cerilla by her name from now on. She is still the queen%
*****
Two hours later, Arad stood at the castle gate with Aella at his side. Jack and Lydia rested on the side, looking at the capital’s map. “The elf goddess, goddess of dances and swords, and the goddess of spiders. It’s rare to see three churches in the same city without a problem.” Lydia smiled.
“From the look of it, guards patrol every street. It’s going to be rough around here,” Jack sighed, and Lydia gave him a disappointed stare.
Eris stood behind Arad like a ghost, her body covered with a black robe from head to toe as she yawned, “I do want to sleep. Can’t we go at night?”
Isdis lifted an eyebrow, “You can stay awake for a bit, right? I heard vampires don’t need to sleep that much.”
“That isn’t right. We need to sleep as much as humans do, and sometimes for longer when blood is scarce.” Eris shook her head, approaching Isdis.
“Blood isn’t a problem for you. Is it? We’ve provided you with plenty.” Isdis stared back at her.
“Your blood doesn’t taste that good, and neither is Aella’s.” Eris smiled beneath her veil, staring toward Arad, “His blood on the other hand is a delicacy.”
“You almost died,” Isdis sighed.
Eris giggled, “It’s a guilty pleasure. It’s sad that his blood is weaker than mine. Drinking it damages my guts.”
“We need to get you off the blood somehow. Can’t you drink animal blood?” Isdis stared at her, looking at a cat walking by the wall.
Eris stared at the cat for a moment. The cat paused, glaring back at Eris and growling.
When Eris moved slightly, the cat fled the scene.
“I can’t, a vampire need to drink their race blood. The further they get off it, the less value they get.” Eris looked at Isdis, “I need to drink half-dragon blood. elves or dragons provide me with less nutrition, so I sleep a lot.”
Eris approached Isdis, whispering in her ear, “To be honest, your blood taste like watered beer with cheese. Unlike Aella’s blood which tastes like sweet jam with a hint of mint,”
“I couldn’t be more grateful for someone to call me disgusting,” Isdis smiled, “How do Arad taste?”
“Like a grilled stake with an amount of hot pepper and garlic. What makes it good is that the taste disappears right after you swallow, making you crave more.” She looked at Arad with a grin, “Ableit all that spices burn my stomach,”
“We should try getting you to walk in the day,” Arad looked at her and soon spotted Cerilla approaching with Dalla and five armed guards.
“You all seem ready,” Cerilla looked at them, inspecting their armor from afar.
“Took you long enough,” Arad approached her, “I wonder why.”
“I had some matters to take care of,” Cerilla approached Arad with a smile. “Nothing you should care about,”
Dalla looked at Arad, “Her armor didn’t fit, so we had to get her another one.” She knocked on Cerilla’s back. “It’s a bit tight around her chest, so she might not be able to pant or bend that much.”
Cerilla glared back at Dalla with an embarrassed face, “Who told you to speak?”
“You’re unable to fight at full power due to that, and they need to know in case something bad happens.” Dalla looked at Arad and then at the guards, “I will protect her, but keep an eye out,”
The two guards saluted her, “As you order,”
“You two always listen to her more than me.” Cerilla cried the guards follow her orders, but they rarely show any excitement when doing it, unlike when Dalla is the one ordering them around. 𝒃𝒆𝙣𝒐𝒗𝙚𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝒎
The two guards looked at Cerilla. “We have to keep a formal attitude around the queen,” They lied.
Dalla as the headmaid had been sneaking the leftover food of the royal court to the guards and always spoke up in their favor to the kingdom’s generals. She might have more power over the castle’s guards than the queen herself.
Arad looked at them, confused at the guard’s smile, “Should we go? We don’t have the entire day.” He looked back at Eris.
***
Several guards rushed to stand at the castle gate, clearing the way for the queen and her guests to step down to the royal carriage awaiting at the street.
People gawked out of their windows, mumbling as they saw Cerilla walking down the steps with a large human behind her.
“Since when did we start allowing humans into our land?” An old woman sighed, closing her window, “This best end soon,”
The carriage door opened and a butler walked out with a smile on his face, “My queen, the carriage is ready,”
Dalla approached him, “I will take over from here, good job,”
The butler bowed, “Take care,” He then returned to the castle.
Dalla approached the carriage and inspected it, “Your majesty, the carriage is ready.”
“I can see that,” Cerilla sighed, getting inside with Isdis, Eris, Lydia, and Aella after her. Arad and Jack sat beside Dalla in the driver’s seat as she took the lead.
The carriage started to move immediately with the guards beside it on horseback.
Cerilla looked out of the window, “It’s been a while since I got out,”
Dalla glared back, “Get your head inside the carriage, do you want to get assassinated?”
Cerilla smiled, “I have you and Arad around, they can try.”
“You have someone after your head?” Arad looked back.
“I don’t know, but all royals are targeted. It’s more annoying than dangerous.” Cerilla waved her hand, poking her head out of the window with a smile.
Jack looked at Arad, “She’s right, killing her won’t be easy.” He smiled, “A lot of fools try it all the time,”
Dalla looked at him, “After years, one fool might succeed, that’s why we can’t drop our guards.”
“Speaking about that,” Jack smiled, “How do you intend to deal with today’s ambush? It’s getting close,”
Dalla stared at Jack, confused, “What ambush?”
Jack blinked twice, “Damn it! I thought you already knew!” He stared back, “Aella, five at the northern tower, seven on the east tile rooftops, and the woman pretending to be pregnant on the street.
Thud! An Arrow flew in toward Dalla’s eye, she swung her hand, slapping it away at the last moment.
CRACK! Aella kicked the carriage door open and jumped outside, pulling the bow string. BAM! BAM! BAM! She fired three arrows toward the rooftops, killing the tree assassins who stood there.
ZON! Arad teleported to the tower, finishing the ones hiding there.
CLANG! Lydia rushed toward the woman in the street, swinging her sword and killing her on the spot.
THUD! Jack rushed out, stabbing the woman’s stomach with his dagger, pulling the halfling hiding inside. “Novices, words about your ambush had already spread.”