Chapter 85 - A Visit to

The First Prince only snorted sardonically,

"If the Inquisition could have really established here, this kingdom would be on fire, don't you think? We are all cursed, in one way or another."

"When I first came here, you were sure I was a witch. You dragged me across the floor and I even thought you were going to throw me in a dungeon."

~ Did he do that? ~

"And aren't you?" Magnus retorted.

"No, I'm not. I don't know how to do spells or speak to demons. Or does talking to your brother count?"

~HEY! I'm definitely not a demon,~ Alexander's voice interjected.

"But you lie. That was proven when you opened the door," Magnus said, looking bored. He got up and went to look at the walls away from Alexa.

"Nothing mattered to you until you had what you wanted!" Alexa stood up, feeling that if she didn't say that, she would explode, "Nothing mattered, and you did everything you could to keep me here and open that damn door! You and your father are immoral!" she shouted.

"Shut up Alexa, you are talking a lot of nonsense," berated the Prince, taciturn.

"All I know is what I see. A woman is locked in another tower right now. She is also a witch, as you believe. But the Sovereign Prince is not at all against using the so-called infernal powers for his purposes, when it suits him! And then I think about what happened when I got here, about the diabolic ritual that almost killed Cordelia! And in your less than impressed reaction when your and I bride arrived in tatters, and we reported all those horrors. You knew they would attack her, didn't you? Are you behind this, Magnus? Were you disappointed that she hadn't died?"

"Again you're saying things that you don't know!"

"Then TELL ME!" The Princess couldn't help herself and raged at him.

But Magnus just looked at her as if he were staring at something very strange, an exotic bird from distant lands, perhaps.

Alexa thought the Prince was mocking at her distress. Or that he had clammed into a stubborn silence. Only then did the Princess realize that he was looking behind her. Then, turning around, she saw something truly startling.

It was the intriguing painted scene, of Gisela offering a girl with one hand and receiving a yellow heart with the other. Or vice versa. It was possible to identify the girl's gender because the baby was naked, and Gisela was always painted in a blue dress and yellow hair. The black hand that held the yellow heart came out of a door guarded by a grey dog that, oddly, had four eyes.

Alexa felt a shiver go across her body, a feeling of familiarity that bothered her.

"Alexander, I don't want to be here anymore. If you wish, come with me, or stay with your brother. Do as you like," she said, heading for the exit.

The nightingale landed on her shoulder, and Alexa could hear the little heart beating fast very close to her ear.

~ He can't help it, leave him alone for now, ~ said Alexander.

"What?" Alexa did not expect this comment in defense of Magnus. Could Alexander read thoughts?!

"It was the magic of a witch, my mother, who saved him, milady. But he believes that what keeps him alive is something bad that she has put inside him. He says his heart is no longer human," was her husband's reply. Alexa was thoughtful.

The images they both saw really told the story of a deal with a mysterious entity. A baby in exchange for a yellow heart. Was this the reason Magnus tried so hard to listen to Blue Eyes?

"Where is the record of the family line, Your Highness?" Alexa had an idea that seemed strange, but it might make some sense. She had to check.

"When are you going to start calling me a husband?"

"Do we have the intimacy for that?"

"You called me by name just now!"

"Sorry, I went overboard."

"Oh, well, I liked it," he replied candidly, and flew forward to guide her to the family register.

After many turns in the huge castle, Alexa arrived in the manuscript room. She was delighted to find a large and airy environment, where consultation desks and writing easels were lined up in an orderly fashion. This room had more glass windows, and the glass was more transparent than usual. Several scholars were busy and absorbed in their work. A remote part at the farther end of this library had bars. It was there that the important books were kept, the princess quickly sensed.

~ Talk to the man who carries the keys. He's Master Valerius, ~ said Alexander, again resting on her shoulder.

Alexa addressed the Librarian, who did not hide his surprise when he received the new princess in his domain. With an exaggerated bow, the man heard Alexa's request and led her to the important books repository.

"The Von Wuttenfal Genealogy was just returning to its usual place. We drew it earlier today to include your name, Your Highness!" commented the guardian of the castle's books.

Blue Eyes was sitting at a single large desk, reading a huge codex full of small print. He looked up from the book when the grid opened inquisitively.

~ Father Agnello! He's my confessor! He's my brother's cousin, and many people are afraid of him here, ~ Alexander had no way of knowing that the Princess was Blue Eyes' protegé, of course.

Mestre Valerius deposited the Genealogy Record of the Von Wuttenfal Family at the other end of the desk, and asked, in a soft voice,

"Please, Your Highness, don't let your pet bird damage this record. It is very important to keep it intact."

"My 'pet bird' is trained, Master Valerius. He always tells me when he needs something. Isn't it Romeo?" saying that Alexa pouted funny for the nightingale on her shoulder and rubbed her nose on his head.

~ Stop! What are you doing?! Don't do that in ... in front of the priest! ~ It looked like the nightingale got agitated, jumping on her shoulder. Alexa contained the urge to laugh, and the Librarian just bowed and locked the sanctum again, leaving.

"What are you doing, Father Agnello?" she asked, after all, she was curious. He turned the heavy hinged cover, so it read, in Latin: ANNALS OF HOLSTEIN, followed by a distant date.

"And you, what are you doing here with Romeo, a genealogy, and a bandaged hand, the day after your wedding?" questioned him.

"I saw here to know if my husband had sisters before he was born," Alexa revealed.

"And why is this important?" Blue Eyes stood up abandoning his book, and coming over to where Alexa sat. When she tried to open the book with one hand, he stopped it, and did it for her.

"I found out that everything here is important, Father Agnello. I heard your advice that I should get married to have a home and a family, but now I think I made a deadly mistake."

The priest exhaled and suggested,

"Then we'll talk about it, now let's get to what you want to find," he went to the last completed sheet. The notaries dutifully recorded Alexander and Alexa's matrimony and adorned it with illuminations.

The princess didn't know if the nightingale or Alexander could read, but she leaned over to make this easier while reading the description of her own wedding.

This record had many details, including how people looked. She didn't know why, but perhaps it was meant to help portraitists in the future. It has even been recorded that 'both the Prince and Princess are beautiful and young like angels, with purple eyes and the fairest faces. It is an exquisite eye color that has not yet been seen in this realm', which Alexa found funny and exaggerated. She imagined a tapestry embroiderer choosing purple thread for the couple's eyes.

And she remembered having never seeing Alexander's eyes.

Blue Eyes turned the page carefully, in reverse order, and read Prince Gutard's subsequent marriages and deceased and stillborn children, and the death of his young wives.

They flipped to the pages mentioning Prince Gutard's wedding with Gisela. Father Agnello explained,

"The Prince didn't want to void the Second Prince's rights as a legitimate son, so he didn't request the marriage annulation. He consulted the Holy Church about it."

Alexa nodded, but she was looking for other information.

"Does it say here that Gisela was a widow before marrying him?"

"Yes, but how can you know if it was true? Peasants rarely register their marriages. I don't know if there is a reliable record. But, coming from a person like her, lying to be a widow was a way to hide her profane debauchery."

The Princess was a little embarrassed because the priest was inadvertently talking about Alexander's mother. Alexa had heard horrible things being said from her loved ones, and knew how much it hurt. Alexander remained silent, however.

There was no record of a child before or after Alexander, though. Since Gisela was a widow, the suspicion remained, but the Princess would have no answers in the library.

A little silly curiosity caused her to ask the priest to see the records of Prince Magnus' birth,

"I want to know how the royal notaries registered the color of the First Prince's eyes," she revealed. With a sardonic huff, Blue Eyes granted her request.

To their surprise, the eye color of the First Prince, registered almost two and a half decades ago, was blue. 'Blue like the color of the summer sky,' read the text.

When the priest and Alexa looked at each other, puzzled, Master Valerius opened the door and rushed in,

"Your Highness, Father di Borghesi. I thought you'd like to know! A fire to burn heretics is being built in front of the cathedral!"