Chapter 158 - She's Hurt

"I ... I ..." Alexa faltered as she looked at Magnus' eyes raised to her. The princess didn't understand everything she believed she saw in them.

"Is it so difficult to answer? You had no problem in answering when I asked you if you really wanted to marry Sir Blackrose..."

"Aaahhgh! Why would I have?! It was what I wanted! He and I had a nice deal. He was a kind person who treated me with respect. He was considerate and demanded nothing of me. On the contrary! I've never met such a generous person! And when he asked me to marry him, he fulfilled everything a woman could want from her future husband!"

"Why, how perfect! I'd marry him myself..." muttered the Prince, averting his eyes.

"And now? Father Agnello warned me about this even before I got married. In case of annulation, a big bag full of air was all I'd get from this wedding! An engaged maiden suddenly changes her mind, and marries another. Less than a month later, she'll become the rejected pauper! With nothing! No-thing!" she pondered for a moment a picture of such a future and shrugged in horror. "Call me a mercenary if you want! Princess one day, rejected wife and disgraced the next. How could I yearn such a fate?"

"Not to be accepted back by Lord Blackrose is your only fear?"

"Why would he accept me? I turned my back on him when accepting another marriage, didn't I? I'm the wrong part, "Alexa crossed her arms, stubbornly, trying to remember how the conversation got to that point, and quite sorry for half of the things she had said. But she wouldn't retreat.

She had little pride, but she still had some.

Magnus took a deep breath looking at the ground for a moment, seeming to fight his urge to say something else,

"Right. Even a mercenary needs to be paid and you were offered a title and everything that came with it. Alexander is being forced to pay for something he did not choose himself, but that's the life of princes."

The maiden didn't like what she heard at all, and looked the other way,

"Well. Make up your mind. Consider me a mercenary doing a service, if you want. It would have been so simple if they had done it this way from the beginning ..."

"You are always confusing us. Is that what you want? Do you give up trying to have a real wedding with Alexander in the future? Or is being a princess all that matters?"

'Stop asking me what I want! As if I knew!' she thought, aghast.

"If this is what you want, Alexa, you can have it. If it's a title you want, and wealth, and security, I will give you all that, if you accept the annulment of the marriage. What will be a small shame in view of the power you will have afterward? People forget that kind of thing. People accept children of witches and children of commoners, when it suits them."

"Ah, I had forgotten how flexible the von Wuttenfal honor is. For a duel in a foreign province, it's all or nothing. For the kingdom itself, there is always room for negotiation ..." she looked at the sky ostensibly, while speaking, so she did not see the reaction of the First Prince.

"You are in no position to criticize me, dear, when you assume you have a price," Magnus's response was quick and cut like a sword. Alexa swallowed,

"You seem to support this idea of ​​annulment..." she continued to follow the evolution of birds in the sky, speaking casually.

"I hadn't even approved of the wedding. You should have married me. I asked first."

The maiden felt a tightness in her chest. But he remembered that it was all Magnus's convoluted plan, after all.

"Your plans not to marry Lady Cordelia worked out in the end ... And you didn't even have to marry me for that."

Magnus was silent for a moment, seeming not to wait for that answer. Taking a deep breath, he smiled sardonically before saying,

"Well, in the end, I managed to get rid of her. It really was a burden and an annoyance. All of this is the past and now, our future depends on your answer: what do you say? Will you accept marriage annulment? You will have a title, land, and wealth, and the only difference is that you will no longer be married to Alexander. "

"I can't answer that ...!"

"Yes you can!" he interrupted her imperiously. But they stopped the conversation because Cymric was coming towards them, coming from behind the cabin,

"Ahh, you are still there… This is good. I have something for you, my lady, that I forgot to give you earlier…"

Bewildered, Alexa smiled, grateful. He handed over a small enameled ceramic vial, small enough to fit in her closed fist. Magnus moved away to pick up Romeo, and Alexa felt that the old man's intervention could have been on purpose. Perhaps he didn't understand what they were saying, but he could notice they were arguing.

"What is it, Master Cymric?" she asked.

"A remedy for pain. It is quite potent, so dilute it with plenty of water. It can induce heavy sleep and even kill in high doses, so be careful. You never know when our "Eostre" and her knight may need medicine like that ... "

"I am grateful, Cymric, my friend. And if I see any gods out there, I will ask them why they haven't visited you, even if only to have the door closed in their faces! "

Cymric laughed hard.

"I do appreciate the resurrection offer, however! I try to be a good man who hopes to have a good new life, so I follow Christ! " he smiled, "Thanks for visiting!"

They said goodbye again, and Alexa carefully stored the bottle.

It was time to go.

Magnus's offer still resonated in her mind, without definition.

°°°

Their journey away from Tanbury and Brentford started with the small group in silence, and their bad moods kept them silent for a while until they stopped to eat some of the food they brought, when Alexa felt better. Romeo didn't want bread balls this time. He was traveling on his brother's shoulder.

The trio passed Duncaster without stopping, heading for the port of Dartmouth, at the mouth of the River Dart. Alexa knew that Holstein's sea business contacts were efficient enough that they could get a boat easily, and the trip to France shouldn't be a problem. 

After passing by Duncaster and taking the road to the east, Alexa brought the Princes up to date on events in Holstein. She began by gradually telling the events, leaving the facts about the Blue Eyes kidnapping and his rescue last. The Princess wanted to hide the secret of Blue Eyes from them, and the arrival of her brother Narses. The first because the priest had asked for secrecy, and the second, because she would have to tell many things that she definitely didn't feel comfortable telling any of them.

Alexa still did n't know what to do about it, let alone about Magnus' proposal, and preferred to let the matter die quietly, as if it had never happened. She hoped they would end up doing the same.

Perhaps it would be better to think about the future when it was about to become a reality. When Alexander was in his body again, and they were both free from the spell.

"I am concerned about all this interest in the figure of Princess Alexa. It has become clear by now that it can be a political articulation to denigrate the princess's image, but it can be something more," pondered Magnus. Alexa thought it was strange to be treated as if the princess was not her. But she said nothing about it, just commented,

" 'The princess' has disappeared since her wedding, and this is quite strange. At some point, people would start guessing."

"Maybe. But, this funeral staging was an excellent move. If my father just agreed to the Princess's death, everyone would be sure of what happened. But as he denied, there must be some justification for the Princess' prolonged absence. In short, someone wants to know exactly where Princess Alexa is and doing what."

"Don't you think the de Wits could easily know that I boarded Lagos?"

"And if they know that, they want to use it to destroy your image forever, my dear."

"Uhn, I imagined something like that," Alexa agreed. "They are undoubtedly trying to find out the reason for their trip and also my whereabouts. I don't doubt they start a vicious slandering campaign, ruining the Second Prince and Princess's reputation. And worse, if they find out you're after an alchemist, that won't be good either... A third sucessor cold gather more sympathy in the Emperor's eyes..."

"Um, politically it can get complicated, but I think they're afraid of Princess Alexa. Cordelia at least witnessed your power, as you told me. There are reports of what happened at the cathedral."

Alexander had listened in silence, without saying anything until then, he asked,

~ Even if they don't know who you are, Alexa, they already had a sample of your power. Please take care! ~ 

"Actually, I think that instead of acting reactively and waiting for their next steps, it's time to get them out of their shells," Alexa said.

"Let my dad take care of this, and don't get involved anymore," Magnus said, sullen.

"I know he was an accomplished witch hunter, but now he is a ruler and has a lot to worry about. Neighboring kingdoms are at war and the emperor has sent a messenger to Holstein, there is a plague in Holstein and he is also concerned about us and the arrival of the Inquisition. The Poles are hostile because of Baron Florian and ... well, I have news about that, and I'll come back to that later. Listen to my plan first. We need to know Cordelia is being manipulated by the witches, or if she really is one of them! "

Magnus and Romeo turned their heads to Alexa.