Chapter 146 - Lord Cat

Alexa woke up scared, feeling a gooey and sticky thing gluing her lips together and an enormous discomfort. Her body ached, and she soon realized that it was because of the strange, shrunken position she was in, inside the closet. In addition, again he had a feeling of heaviness on her legs. 

Groping in the darkness, she found fine hair and a child-sized head, in addition to the rest of a child's body.

'Jennifer?'

She heard Romeo's loud call outside, and heard his wings flap against the closet door. When she moved to open the door and the first ray of dawn light came through the crack, the girl who had wrapped her arms around the Princess' waist woke up.

In addition, every time Alexa moved a little, things seemed to move over her body. Luckily, it wasn't c.o.c.kroaches or other insects, but little flowers falling out of her hair…

'Oh, she followed me here and was playing with me like I was a… doll? Is that in my mouth ... porridge? ' the princess rubbed her lips with a frown. She really hoped it was porridge.

'Milady, you woke up!' the girl smiled, hugging her tighter. And even though she was not very child-friendly, she felt her heart warm from the innocent tenderness emanating from that little creature.

"Shhhh ..." she put a finger to her lips. Jennifer nodded and jumped out of the closet swiftly. Alexa followed suit, looking around.

Everything remained the same except that she now had a scarf, a new ring, chamomile flowers falling from her hair, and almost tripped over a bowl of cold porridge.

She started by taking off the ring, while listening to Alexander's account.

~ Alexa, they searched for you, but this little girl and her brother kept this place safe. ~ Alexander told. ~ Now we have to get out of here while the day dawns, it will be easier now. 

"Yes, I will," she agreed quickly, knowing she had no time to waste. 

The girl was still sleepy and hugged her again, holding her legs.

"Thank you for taking such good care of me, Jennifer. You really are an independent thinker, aren't you?" the princess bent down to speak to the girl, who looked at her confused.

"Okay, you and I are friends, aren't we? Do you know what's going on here?"

Jennifer nodded thoughtfully,

"Lord Cat hurt the Baron, but Rowan came back home. Only Rowan said that Brentford is better. Lord Cat drank a lot, and he got furious and fought with everyone and they locked him down there. Rowan said that I shouldn't go down there. Rowan said that Mom shouldn't have asked Lord Cat to hurt the Baron. Rowan is mad at mom. And mom is mad at Rowan. Rowan said that Lord Cat had to go. But Lord Cat is married to Milady, isn't he? I don't understand..."

Jennifer ended up shrugging, with a sigh.

~ This means that her brother can help us, Alexa. He is older and have a better understanding of what is going on. He was watching the corridor the whole night. He even told them he was looking for Jennifer and it distracted and divided the searches. But we have little time, soon someone will remember that they didn't look in this room. ~

Alexa nodded, turning to Jennifer,

"Jennifer, me and Lord Cat need to go home. He's ferocious, but he's not bad. We just want to go home, you know? Will you help us?"

"Yes, I'm going to ask my mom and ..."

"Oh, well, there's no need to talk to her about it. I think she's angry at something and will end up mad at you too. I just need to get out of the castle. Don't you want to call everyone in the kitchen and tell them you was playing hide and seek? Just don't tell them about me! Everyone will be relieved that you are well, and I am going to go and get medicine for my husband. So when he gets better and less angry, I can take him away with me and everything goes back to normal! Rowan will be happy and so will your mother!" Alexa found it difficult to get a complex cooperation from the girl, but the princess thought she would at least buy some time to leave the castle.

Alexa supposed that Cymric knew what to do about that powerful narcotic. Now she understood why Mildred had warned her not to take any medicine or drink in Tanbury. She couldn't claim that there were no wizards there. But without a doubt, there were exceptional herbalists, capable of healing and also of poisoning.

The girl nodded vehemently, running for the door.

"Rowan! Rowan!" Jennifer called her brother with a whisper through the crack in the door, and the boy appeared after a few moments, with a stern and suspicious look. 

Rowan was blond like the mother but didn't have many other traits in common with Lady Flairclough. He stared at Alexa for a moment, looking relieved, and put a finger over his mouth asking for silence. He waved for her to follow him.

Alexa didn't hesitate the slightest. Following the boy, she slipped down dark, narrow paths until they came out into a small, empty courtyard.

Rowan pointed out a path,

"Milady must go toward the crosses. Don't come back. They will kill you."

Lex nodded seeing that the boy was quite pragmatic for someone his age. For a moment her mind wandered to remember her own reactions at a similar age, when she still lived as Alexios. 

~ We can't stay long, Alexa! recalled Romeo, resting on her shoulder.

"Thank you, Rowan," she turned to leave as soon as possible.

"Milady ..." The boy touched her hand briefly, and the princess looked at him in surprise.

"Would you give me ... The trained bird?"

Of course, Jennifer would have told him about Romeo and his adventures. Alexander cleared his throat, seeming surprised and flattered.

"Of course! He's yours! You helped me a lot, I owe you my life. There is no greater gift to thank you!" said Alexa, taking Romeo with both hands cupped and offering the boy.

~ Gahhhhh! What?! Alexa!!! ~ Alexander squeaked in surprise. The boy eagerly picked up the bird in the same way.

~ What are you doing?! Alexa?! Alexa?! I demand explanations! You're a traitor! How can you...!?! Hmp! ~

"You will take good care of him. And please make sure to get him to sing for the milord in the bas.e.m.e.nt. Listening Romeo's singing may calm him down."

The boy smiled, nodding. Meanwhile, Alexander complained with every inch of his being,

~ But you have no right to decide that for me! Don't think I will forget this, I won't! You're having fun at my expenses, aren't you? It's some kind of petty revenge, I know! ~

And Alexa, avoiding Alexander's judgment, turned and left. She was taking a risk, but maybe if Magnus heard Romeo's song, he could endure the hallucinations until she came back to free him.

Which couldn't take long.

°°°

Leaving the place had been more difficult than entering the castle, as people were arriving for the festival, coming from the roads and the countryside. The horse was no longer in the place where Alexa had left him. Meaning, most likely, they had found him.

Although Alexa was avoiding people, at times it was inevitable to hear the groups walking along the road, who spoke louder and more openly, to pass the time. She kept herself hidden behind bushes or behind trees, so as not to be easily seen.

Alexa heard a small group of young men and women talking about the coming of the priests at the end of the day, in a very loud and lively way.

"The Baron is not going to accept what happened so easily. Listen to me, he will come back and grab the Red Lady by the hair!" said a woman, laughing out loud.

"If he has the strength to do that, I suppose he will," another woman snapped.

"But he never believed that she could find anyone who could defeat him! " a young man commented sarcastically.

"Well, she did, and I think the next few years are going to be awful. Why did the priests side with her?"

"I don't know and I don't care. The festival only matters because...beer!"

"Not just for that! And all the Fuk Fuk?!" someone said, and many laughed knowingly, agreeing.

She would have had to hear more, as they walked away in the opposite direction where she was going, but she could imagine what Fuk Fuk meant.

Alexa perceived the decay of a religion by the corruption of customs and rites, making everything meaningless and hollow, in that region. Even the Cult of the Lazarites had lost its meaning and had become corrupted over the years. And that would certainly happen with every religion and every cult that lost its essence and allowed petty interests and futile rituals to contaminate it.

As she walked cautiously through the forest, skirting the road to guide herself, she overheard the conversation of a group and it relieved her heart as she recognized Giles' voice among them.

She approached cautiously, but they were watchful. It was a group of three men, and four horses, one of them Lady Gwen's horse!

"Milady Alexa!" one of the men exclaimed when she was spotted, and smiled,

"Thank God, we were so worried!"

"Oh, God Bless, she is fine!" said the other man.

Giles came to her with a stern look,

"Milady! Why did you do it? We've been looking for you since yesterday!"

"I managed to get into the castle, but I only managed to get out of there now," she gave no details but noted in their expressions the astonishment at her audacity and ability. "My husband is a prisoner and they are subjecting him to a ritual so he can receive the Horned One god in Baron's place. It seems that, as he defeated the Baron, he has this 'privilege', even if forced."

And turning around with her best and biggest puppy look, she asked,

"Please help me save my husband!"