Chapter 149 - Can this woman be mine?

The emperor's laughter interrupted any reaction Bryennios might have. Alexa bit her lower lip until it bled, restraining her desire to curse Doukas and if possible, pull the sword from the guard's waist and behead Doukas right in front of the Emperor of Constantinople. 

But that was just a delusion because she knew it would be impossible.

"Now this is a challenge, Doukas! I hope you're not making a fool of us. If you are giving your word that it will be so, I am sure Bryennios will agree. His daughter will be the wife of the great general Doukas and as a family, putting an end to the rumors of insubordination that are undermining Constantinople's military forces."

Alexa looked at her father, in despair. Bryennios Dallassenos was frowning, and even his years of diplomacy and his proverbial presence of mind were insufficient to deal with the person he hated most in the world. 

Doukas however, had the political power to, with a snap of his fingers, destroy with the Dallassenos. Alexa had seen Michalis die to defend her blindly. If her father did the same, everyone would die.

"I have no doubt about both facts, General Doukas. It is abrupt and strange that you want to go to such an extreme just to prove a point. My daughter's situation could be proved by a medical examination, or even by ladies of the court."

A devilish smile appeared on Doukas's face. Face that for Alexa, it was the most unpleasant in the world.

"Are you saying that because you doubt I will keep my word and marry ... your daughter?"

At that moment, the maiden had a strange feeling. If that bastard was willing to do that, he had a lot to gain. And the emperor, with his interference, might have known about his brother's secret. Alexa hardly cared who Doukas slept with, but Orthodox society didn't accept his tendencies.

"If the General wanted to have married earlier, I believe he would have done so already, with a greater benefit than just satisfying his curiosity about my daughter's hidden treasures."

It was annoying not being able to say anything and being silent while they're talking about her life. But the Emperor spoke,

"Doukas, that girl could be my third son's bride. So think carefully about giving your word about it."

"And it doesn't have to be that way, General. There is no need to be in such a hurry to find out what's under Alexa's veil. If there is anything to be fixed between us, I agree with this marriage. But within tradition, and at the right time," said Bryennios, again taking his diplomatic stance with mastery.

Alexa's eyes filled with tears again, when thinking about the ungrateful fate this whole political trade meant. Doukas continued to squeeze her arm roughly, and snorted,

"Maybe I'm in a hurry not to let this person escape and be exchanged for another bride!" 

"Enough! This conversation will not lead to consensus and peace, but to more resentment!" said the emperor. 

They were in the court recess, in the empress's quarters. And that alone might have allowed the subject not to become a deadly shame for everyone involved. Alexa realized that the emperor was angry and didn't want to take sides between Bryennios and Doukas.

"Then please decide, Your Majesty. Can this woman be mine?" Doukas put his hand on Alexa's shoulder, who flinched at his touch. "Tomorrow I will leave for Achaia, but when I return I will get married ... If what I find in bed is adequate."

"It will be appropriate, even if it's not sweet to your tastes," Alexa's father said, in a stern and somber tone.

"Bryennios, we have Doukas' word. Is that enough for us, yes?" asked the Emperor, looking tired of the matter.

"I cannot want to compare my word or my arguments against the word of a great General like your younger brother, Your Majesty. The emperor seals our destinies with his consent," lamented her father, maintaining his composure until the end.

It was the last thing Alexa saw in that room. Doukas pulled her with him after bowing respectfully to the Emperor and his wife.

Her legs were shaking as the general pulled the maiden by the arm, and across the halls of the palace. Alexa wasn't able to pay attention to anything else until they reached a door, and the despicable Doukas to deliver to a huge man in the imperial guard's uniform.

"Put him in my room and don't let him out until I get back."

In a few moments, Alexa was locked up in the general's luxurious room in the palace, in the company of a guard. 

There was no escape that she could see.

ººº

"This is a very interesting story, my lady. I feel like I would spend the night listening to it. But I think they didn't bring me here for that," Cymric's voice was heard at the exact moment that Alexa paused while her eyes fogged up, due to the memories that had been buried in the last few months. 

Shaking her head, the princess returned to the real world and looked at the people around her. All the women and girls were gaping and expectant, and they regretted not being able to continue listening to the poor foreigner's misfortunes. 

"We will leave it for later, but we need to know what happened!" they agreed to let Alexa go with the men to plan what to do to save her husband.

After knowing what was going on in the bas.e.m.e.nts of Tanbury Castle, Cymric gave his verdict,

"Milady, this ritual is intended to bring down the mists between the world of the gods and ours, or so they believe. They want to make your husband believe that he is part of something bigger. And, of course, that he should collaborate with the rest of the ritual. But what happens in practice is that, those herbs cause delusions, which together with the words of the druid, can induce the person to think he sees what they want him to see."

"Um, so can he really come to believe that some god will possess him?" Alexa asked, just to make sure she understood.

"Yes. In the first rays of the sun, tomorrow, the celebration will begin. And the 'Hunt' will begin. The Great Stag, symbolized by this manly warrior, will hunt his Doe, the Queen of Spring, which is Lady Gwen."

Alexa took a deep breath. The beliefs of others were always difficult to digest for a person who didn't live that reality. Even more so when that belief was forcing someone to do what they didn't want to do.

"Well, it will be difficult to get Magnus out of there if he believes that we are enemies, because of the hallucinations. There must be a way to cure him of the effects of that smoke. Right?"

Cymric scratched his beard,

"There is. I can make the antidote. It should take a few hours of cooking, however. Possibly it will be ready only at dawn..."

"We can rescue him and bring him here, so you can administer the medicine," said Giles. But Alexa was against,

"This is my biggest fear. I know we can get to him, but ... He's an invincible warrior. If he believes you are a threat ... He will kill you. We cannot reach him without the antidote."

She really believed her own words, after seeing him killing Florian, and mutilating people in Tanbury like butter. In fact, even she had been frightened by Magnus's transformation from the drug, back in the cage. The Princess was sure that once he was loose under the fog, he would become very dangerous.

"Is the antidote dangerous?" Alexa asked.

"No, it won't hurt him or anyone else, but in a few moments after running in his blood, it will take the effect off the smoke. As a former cult priest, we had to know these things," said Cymric.

"Well, then I have another idea. We can 'hunt the Stag' ourselves!" Giles smiled.

"How would we do that?" The princess asked, although she already supposed how.

"We are going to let them start all that staging, and take him to the countryside and the forest. Then it will be much easier to get him out of there. We might need to force the antidote down his throat, or lure him to drink it by himself… any idea how we can do that?"

"We can detour the Hunt's route, if any. Since it's a ceremony, I suppose that the whole staging of the chase will lead somewhere," Alexa said, looking at Cymric for approval. The old man nodded. 

She continued,

"Therefore, we have to thwart the route so that, assuming that he's really confused by the hallucination, he gets where we want. In this place, we can throw a net over him and give the antidote. Furthermore, doing so we will avoid as much confrontation as possible with the people of Tanbury."

"Milady is so smart!" some men applauded, impressed by the simplicity of the plan. "We have to act right now."

Giles sorted them into groups for the different parts of their plan. Everyone knew that if they were caught, they could die. But the majority there wanted to destroy Lady Gwen's plans, for several reasons.

"As for milady Alexa, she will help me find the herbs I need, and will also help me with the healing elixir," the old man said, standing up and leaning on his staff. "We will spend the night preparing the elixir, so hurry up!"

Alexa couldn't be sure if Cymric knew about her situation or not, but he just waved for her to follow him through the forest.

In a few hours, at dawn, she would interrupt the Spring Ritual.