Chapter 101: Chapter 83

Agathe

 

A village deep in the forest. The steppe. Centaurs. Julia, who is talking to an elf. A small stream. The steppe.

Agathe opened her eyes. She was lying on her bed in her bedroom. Her head ached and her limbs burned. She had used too much magic. But she didn't care.

Her husband stood at the window and looked out. "And? Did you see anything?", he asked, without looking at her.

"Something, yes. I have a rough idea of where Julia might be."

"Julia and Peter." Now Friedrich looked at her. "He's gone too."

"He is. But I'm less worried about him." Agathe got up and walked on shaky feet to her husband. "Has Cleo arrived? I want these elves to atone."

"She’s here, yes. Along with some gloomy figures. Her shadows, I suppose?"

"Good. Where is she now?"

"Probably in her old room? At least she went there before I came here to check on you. How are you doing? You've been searching the present and future for hours for signs of where our children might be."

"I'm at my limit, but it wasn't in vain!"

"Are you hungry? You should eat something. Over there are some fruit and tea on the dresser. Servants have brought both. The tea should still be hot."

"I'm not hungry. I need to talk to Cleo."

 

Torsten

 

The carriage stopped in front of an eerie but also magnificent castle. All windows were darkened. It stood between two high mountains, and it seemed to have been partly carved into the rock. Servants awaited them with a bow.

"Welcome princess. Welcome, Prince Torsten!" An elderly gentleman, clearly a human being, spoke to the two. With a snap of his fingers, he instructed the other servants to take care of the luggage. "Welcome home. We’ve been eagerly awaiting you. Their Majesties await you in the library."

"Thank you very much, Mr. Kühle. We will find the way. Where is my brother?" Annemarie hardly looked at the servant.

"On the road."

"Wonderful! Come on, Torsten." She gave him a big smile and showed her pointed teeth. "Let's say hello to my parents."

Annemarie led him through several corridors. From the inside, the castle seemed much friendlier and more inviting than from the outside. Bright fabric wallpaper adorned the walls and sparkling chandeliers hung from the high, painted ceilings. The library was small but cozy. With a small reading corner. However, mirrored walls made the room seem endless.

"Annemarie!" The queen got up from the beige sofa on which she had sat before. The king also stood up. The two greeted their daughter warmly before turning to Torsten.

"Prince Torsten!" The queen smiled reservedly. "I hope the ride wasn't too strenuous?"

"It was fine", he replied. "But I'm tired."

"I can imagine that! We have prepared a guest room for you. You can rest there. Some changes await you tomorrow! We have to prepare a wedding!" King Henry smiled. "But I'm afraid I'm not much help when it comes to marriage preparations. When I married my wife, she thought all my suggestions were terrible!"

"We are pleased to welcome you!" Queen Franka reached for his hands. "How do you like our humble country?"

"Very much, thank you. I heard a dragon for the first time. This castle is impressive!"

"Great!" The king winked at him. "A dragon? Two live here. Well, only one now. Marlon has found one dead. Presumably, the animal was sick. Dragons grow very old. They are considered almost immortal. Like witches and wizards."

"And the elves!", the queen added. "Marlon has set his mind on catching and taming the cub."

"Did he?" Annemarie seemed annoyed. "Unsuccessful, I suppose? So far, he's never had any luck."

"At least he found a dead dragon!" Her father laughed. "You two must be exhausted. Rest. We see you later at dinner!"

The king called for a servant and instructed him to lead Torsten to his room. This time the servant was a vampire. "Here vampires and humans work as servants? Together?" Are there also bounded people here?

"We have some human servants, yes. There are not many, but they are here. They receive the same salary as our other servants. In addition, a few people work here as wine donors."

"Wine?"

"Blood. We drink from them. They work here for a few years and are well paid for it. The humans who live in this country all have to provide their blood, and we have found a way to preserve it. Only from those who work here, do we drink directly. We don't kill them, of course." Annemarie winked at him. "The blood of humans is more nutritious and tastes better than that of animals."

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That sounds scary.

"And who decides to work directly here?" To serve as a meal?

"Mostly those who have too little money to live on. It's a great way for them to improve their lives or those of their families. Of course, they must not be sick. The blood of the sick tastes disgusting!"

Marlon came to meet them. "Ah! I see we have a guest!" He let his gaze wander over to Torsten. "Your fiancé is here. Welcome back, sister."

The servant stood discreetly against the wall and waited patiently.

"Brother." Annemarie grimaced. "And? Did you find the dragon?"

"Unfortunately, not." Marlon seemed visibly disappointed. "I'll try my luck again."

"We heard a dragon screaming", Torsten murmured. Unlike his sister, Marlon made a threatening, cold-blooded impression on him. The queen and the king also intimidated him. They radiated power. But Marlon seemed dangerous. Annemarie also had something threatening, but she seemed calm and composed. Lurking. But he knew he had nothing to fear from her. They had a common goal. Annemarie wanted to be queen and he wanted to be king. This was much better than anything he had hoped for when he had embarked on a gamble with his father and the Queen. He was aware that his plan to find a place in the royal family ...to blackmail them... also could have gone terribly wrong. His uncle called him a fool.

Fortunately, the Queen was so obsessed with power that she accepted his admittedly impudent demands. He had hoped for a life of luxury, influence, a good marriage... But now he could become king.

"What crap!", cursed Marlon suddenly. Annoyed, he stared out of one of the many dark glass windows. Grey curtains covered most of them, but one had been pulled aside. From the window, trees could be seen and something flew over them. Something big. Something dark. The dragon.

Torsten couldn't see much, the dragon was too far away, but there was something majestic about the way the animal glided through the air.

"Nice, isn't it?" Marlon smiled at him for the first time, but he suspected that the smile wasn't meant for him. "A magnificent animal!"

"Sure." Annemarie also looked spellbound out of the window. "How old is the cub now? About fourteen?"

"A teenager, then?", asked Torsten. He would have liked to see the dragon up close. Were dragons as magnificent as Prince Marlon said?

"But deadly! In terms of physique, the teenage dragon is already fully grown, albeit slightly smaller than an adult dragon." The vampire sighed. "I'm going to catch him."

Annemarie snorted in amusement. "Well, I'm tired and so is Torsten. Right? We'll see you later."

Marlon just nodded. As if he couldn’t look away from the animal, he stared out of the window. Annemarie looked at the servant and cleared her throat. He smiled politely. With a bow, he led Torsten and Annemarie to the guest room, in front of which the princess said goodbye, and instructed the servant to pick up Torsten later for dinner and lead him into the dining room.

 

Agathe

 

"You know where Julia is, mother?" Cleo sat cross-legged on Agathe's desk.

"Sort of." Agathe was tired and almost hung in her desk chair. "In the forests of the Elven Territory. A small village with a stream nearby.  The steppe of the centaurs is not far."

"A stream?" Cleo held an accurate map in her hand and studied it. "Then about four villages come into question. The creek passes them by."

"Four? That's manageable. I want your shadows to bring my child back. Burn down the village. Or all four villages."

"You want to make an example?" Cleo put the map aside. "What about the elves?"

Agathe straightened up. "These elves kidnapped Julia and dared to threaten us. They deserve death!"

"Death?" Cleo thought for a moment. "There will be children there. What should we do with them? I don't want to order my shadows to kill children. I have limits, mother. That's one."

Agathe smiled. "I don't want anything left of these villages! Spare the children if you insist. They can work as servants."

"Then I have to take more soldiers with me. Because of the children..."

"Do that", Agathe interrupted her eldest daughter. "I want you to leave as soon as possible. It takes several days from here to get there!"

"Not if we take the forest horses of the elves. Then we need less time", Cleo suggested. "My shadows are equipped with these animals..." Forest horses were a breed of horse that originally lived only in the forests of the elves. They were more petite than normal horses but stronger and faster. They were also more persistent. It was not easy to tame them, but now there were some breeders. Previously, elves had tamed them, but after the war, Agathe had quickly forbidden the elves to do so. They belonged to the existence of the elves and Agathe wanted to take this away from them. In addition, the animals had a high benefit for her. However, it took a handful of centuries to tame the animals, as elves refused to teach them. They had paid for this resistance, of course. The carriage with which Julia had been kidnapped was pulled by these animals. A rarity, as the animals were expensive and mainly reserved for the military. Nevertheless, there were a few private individuals who owned such animals. Agathe had seen the carriages with the horses in one of her visions. But she had not been able to recognize the coachmen. She instructed some soldiers to visit the owners of the animals and find out who might have been involved in the abduction. They had to be humans. To keep the animals, a permit was required. The search had not yet yielded any results.

"But most of our normal soldiers don't. There are too few of these animals." Agathe hit her desk. "We won't get new horses that quickly. You have to ride at a normal pace... At least if you want to spare the children."

"That's what I want. I'm happy to support you, mother, but that's too much. You know that."

"That's what I thought..." Agathe was anything but enthusiastic about it. Saving her daughter couldn't go fast enough and she didn't care about the children of elves. "Julia doesn't seem to be in danger in the village. But these elves must atone!"
"They will. We leave tonight. I inform my shadows and have some soldiers gathered who will accompany us. I'll get Julia back!" Cleo got up and left her mother's office. Agathe sighed and turned her attention to the work that needed to be done. She had received a report on the taxes, which she still had to read and sign. Should she perhaps raise the taxes for the elves? And that of the werewolves? If they had to work more to pay the taxes, they had less time to resist. She did not want to burden her people. Of course, they also paid taxes. But not high ones.