Passing the narrow secret passage between the castle walls, the two maidens walked in silence for a brief moment. Alexa felt a current coming from somewhere, so she imagined that soon they would reach a more open place, and she was not mistaken.
Cordelia, who was ahead, exaggeratedly took a deep breath when they arrived in a circular chamber. This was the connection point for several narrow corridors as dark as the one they had come from. On each of them there was a symbol painted in red, symbolizing animals: lion, wolf or dog, horse, rabbit and a bird, and one without any drawing. Cordelia breathed heavily after a coughing fit, and whispered,
"We shouldn't be doing this! They will hear us!"
"If we get caught, what will happen to us? Not a single thing!" The Greek damsel tried to reassure Cordelia about the consequences, and knew it was true. But to her surprise, the other girl took her by the arm, and asked,
"Lady Alexa, tell me the truth! Why did the Sovereign Prince call her back? You act in very peculiar ways for me, and the events that surround you ... And the fact that you and my fiance are always seen together ...!"
It was definitely not the time or the way Alexa would like to address the situation that plagued both of them. Her adventurous spirit preferred to be exploring the secret passages at the moment rather than giving Cordelia these answers. But she did not shy away,
"Cordelia, don't worry, everything you thought and said on the deck of Philomena, proved to be just wrong assumptions. Your fiance was always intrigued by my identity, which is why he chased me. I have told you this a few times, but my family had political complications in my homeland, so they confused my identity with someone else's. A boy. And your fiance thought I was a boy dressed as a woman!"
"You can't be serious!" this was Cordelia's astonished reaction.
"But I am. Your fiance arrested me and lifted my skirt in front of several people," Alexa summed up the facts in a dark tone, not hiding her resentment. Cordelia also revealed that the Holstein Sovereign Prince had forced her engagement to Sleeping Prince, for even greater consternation of Magnus' bride,
"Then are we going to get married on the same day?"
"Yes. It seems that Destiny wants us to be sisters, my dear!"
Alexa expected a good reaction from Cordelia, but realized, even in the gloomy ambient, that the news left the maiden perplexed and uncomfortable. But Alexa preferred not to care that Cordelia's reaction was not as effusive as she expected. The maiden imagined that she had many things in mind at that moment. Turning, she pointed to the drawings.
"Do you know what they mean? I think they can give us a clue as to where they are leading to."
"Let me see… Well, I think I know what they mean. Here in the West, the lion can mean the King and Leader, so this passage must lead to Prince Gutard's quarters. The Dog is the most loyal, therefore the oldest son's chambers, and the Horse symbolizes the youngest son, according to the practice of centuries ago. The other symbols, I think, refer to the women's rooms."
"Ah, it really makes sense," Alexa commented, asking next, "Well, where do you want to go?" If she was alone, she would certainly follow the hallway without identification, because it promised more mysteries to be unveiled.
Cordelia didn't even hesitate, although she had a coughing fit before uttering her choice,
"To my fiance's quarters!"
'What a plain person!' Alexa concluded, a little discouraged, and asked.
"What if he's there?"
"I thought he was with his friends at a party," Cordelia said, and the Greek maiden concluded that Cordelia was very well advised by her attendants. Except it wasn't where Magnus was.
"Very well, so let's explore some of your groom's secrets," Alexa agreed, this time leading the way. Soon they found the sliding door that was half open, and went to the Prince's valet room. There was no one in the room, as expected, and sneakily, the two maidens began to search the First Prince's quarters.
Magnus's bedchamber was, as expected, luxurious and full of intriguing objects. Alexa's attention was drawn to a painting in a golden frame. A stunning woman with mysterious brown eyes and a green gown, was masterfully portrayed. She had the same mole next to her lips that Magnus also had.
The maiden knew at once that this was 'Princessa Letitia', Magnus's mother. The Black Queen. She approached the painting to inspect it further, losing Cordelia's focus for a moment. What caught Alexa's attention in that picture was the ring that Princess Letitia wore on the hand that led to her chest.
Despite the rosary of pearls on the neck, the ring contradicted the Princess's Christian faith. The red stone ring had the symbol of Diana Hecator, the Queen of the Night.
Letitia di Borghesi was also a witch while alive.
Her gaze shifted to the movements behind her, and Alexa saw Cordelia lying on the Prince's sheets, rolling across the huge bed like an agonizing snake. 'What is this weird woman doing? Do not tell me that she is ... in love?'
"Cordelia!" the maiden chided with a peevish whisper.
The other maiden sat on the bed, a little more flushed, and coughed nervously,
"It takes so little time before I finally become his!" Cordelia hid her face, laughing silly. Alexa frowned, and said dryly, turning around,
"Well, there's no accounting for taste... Go on, pretend I'm not here."
She didn't know why she was angry, but of course seeing Cordelia demonstrate her feelings did Alexa to think Magnus's words about marriage. 'And he was right about having been sold out...'
But an object on the sideboard, just below Princess Letitia's picture, intrigued her enough. It was a filigree silver box with an ivory lid. Upon opening, the box turned out to be a case of what she at first thought was a very luxurious razor. But it was so unlikely that even a prince had such a prosaic object of such quality, that she decided to remove it from the case to better evaluate it.
It was actually a small, rather pointed blade, which caused Lex to doubt its usefulness as a weapon. It could also be a letter opener. There was also a capped bottle in the case. She approached, more and more intrigued, to see what the stain on the object's pointed blade was about.
What most puzzled Alexa is that both objects smelled of fresh blood.
How was that possible?
When she actually touched the blade, a breeze blew out suddenly, extinguishing her chandelier.
Alexa shivered, knowing that the breeze had supernatural causes. Most likely, to prevent her from seeing the object clearly.
But she would not be so easily overcome by ghosts.
The maiden decided to take the objects to examine them elsewhere.
"Cordelia, that's enough. Let's go."
"My Good Lord, look at the size of his shoes!" Cordelia exclaimed in a mix of awe and horror, squatted by the bed now. Snorting at Cordelia's frivolity, Alexa went to the small room of the Prince's jack. She wondered if the maiden's bewildered reaction was because of the ridiculous myth that a man's masculinity can be measured by the size of his foot. Lady Eudoxia said that, at least.
The maiden had had the opportunity to find out if it was true, in the bathtub, but she hadn't.
"Cordelia…! Come on!" she called again, more and more inexplicably annoyed. 'How can she not cough so much when it comes to prying on her groom?'
"Lady Cordelia, what are you doing in my chambers?!" The Prince's hoarse voice came from the master bedroom.
Cordelia coughed, and babbled,
"M-my Prince?"
'What a slick bastard!' Alexa thought, turning on her heels to return to the main chamber and save Cordelia.
But the door between them slammed shut in her face, moved by unseen hands.