Chapter 166 - Tiny Scorpion

"Blackrose!"

He was the last person Alexa expected to find there.

The English knight to whom she had been engaged once, and some of his men, entered the tavern with cheerful expressions and talking among themselves. Their armor clinked as they walked, which made them very noisy. The people in the tavern turned their attention to the group of foreigners, while Alexa watched under the table.

Alexa looked at the long and grimy nails, the dress with muddy and tattered edges. Despite bathing in the morning, the comparison with Alexander's smooth hands and his normally clean clothes made her feel horrible. The princess plucked the flower from her braid.

"Are you sure you will be down there sharing this filthy floor with the dogs?" Magnus grunted. Alexa glanced at under the next table and met the stare of a street dog, waiting for the crumbs from the table.

She shook her head in disgust.

John Blackrose looked around with a smile. Her brown eyes stopped directly at Magnus' table, and Alexa shuddered thinking he saw her. The knight then turned, to hear the innkeeper's suggestion, who showed the stairs to the upper floor.

"So it's how John Blackrose looks like, huh?" Magnus grumbled. "I am not surprised that you are hiding. How could you fool us by saying you were really engaged to him? It was all a sham, wasn't it?"

"Don't say such things! I didn't lie!" Alexa pinched the Prince's thigh, piqued, and he twitched in surprise, leaning down to look her in the eye, under the table,

"If so, what are you so afraid of, anyway?"

Alexa didn't know to say exactly what afflicted her, besides being where she should not be and without a suitable explanation for that. John Blackrose held her in high regard, unlike the von Wuttenfal.

She didn't want him to be disappointed.

"I think I should say hello, after all," Magnus teased, pretending to want to get up to follow the group up the stairs.

On the other hand ... She owed him a lot. If he had not taken her out of Palazzo Ottieri, and if he had not introduced her to the then Bishop Albizzi, the Dallassenos would still be persecuted by the Western Church. She was sure that many of the interests in hunting them down were political, but both Churches were being used as a weapon against her family. 

Narses had survived.

And that was due to John Blackrose's indirect action.

Even feeling embarrassed, Alexa realized that she owed him explanations. And fate had put them in the same place for that to happen. She shouldn't run away from him, but should take the opportunity to thank him.

So she cleared her throat and stood up slowly, smoothing her dress. Prince Magnus watched her movements with suspicious in his golden eyes, swirling the flower that had been in Alexa's hair between his fingers.

"You're right. I must greet Lord John and let him know that I am alive, after all. He invested a lot of resources to help me. I must show gratitude. And, in the future, I must repay my life debt to him."

"...!" Magnus stood up immediately, and took her arm abruptly,

"You mustn't speak to him!"

"What are you saying?! Let me go!" she spoke through, looking at him defiantly. Magnus's eyes flashed, but he released her, annoyed.

That little moment made the princess ponder something important.

The pride. How would the English knight react when he saw her? Would he give her time to explain why she married another?

He was with a group, and Magnus was alone. Although she didn't doubt Magnus' ability, she also didn't doubt John Blackrose's ability.

"I need to explain myself to him, and I will do that, Your Highness! But it won't be here. The ears in this place are unreliable and the environment doesn't provide for this conversation. So, if you want to go shopping for what we need to continue our journey, please proceed. I will be at the city church, where I intend to meet my ex-fiance!"

"Only over my bloody corpse will you be there alone with this man."

"Unlike you, he's a man who didn't try to bed me the first time he was alone with me. Don't judge him by yourself!"

"You fool. This is not my only concern. And I know how different we are, me and him. 

"Self-knowledge is the first step in admitting your mistakes."

Magnus just took a deep breath, without responding to this aphorism that Alexa had just invented.

"Don't be stingy. Despite everything…" he looked at the flower in his hand, "It's for your protection. You don't have to give him any explanation..."

"Ah, we think alike about it! The von Wuttenfal are the ones owing him official explanation. Anyway, I..."

Magnus took her by the arm again and pulled her out of the tavern with Romeo's cage.

"Why are you doing this?! Let me go!" she hissed.

Without listening to her, the Prince practically dragged her back to the inn. Alexa avoided the scandal that would put them in more evidence than they already were, but she was furious.

As they closed the door behind her, she asked,

"Why do things have to be your way?"

"Why, why?! Do you think you always make great decisions?"

Alexa knew she not always did, and took a deep breath. Magnus didn't always make great decisions, either, but she wasn't going to accuse him of that now. She didn't want to continue arguing, and threw herself on the bed, crossing her arms.

Magnus ran a hand through his hair, exasperated,

"Do you really want to resume your relationship with this man?"

"Mehmehmeh, you keep talking nonsense! Your possessive and arrogant attitude will never change. You always resented being wrong about me, treating me like a nobody. Of course, you're used to seducers like your friend, the risque French Ambassadress! But know that she doesn't even love you, she can play this game with anyone! Even with Alexander! And I'm sure you didn't know that she was a spy for your uncle, Duke Kurt von Wuttenfal! And I don't even want to talk about all the other things that I've discovered. If Charlotte hadn't tried to seduce Prince Alexander yesterday, that tragedy would have been avoided! But she certainly was sure that, like all von Wuttenfal, Alexander could not resist a new conquest! Now Alexander is lost in the world of the dead in the company of the White Queen and…" Alexa covered her mouth with both hands, realizing that, as always, Magnus had the gift of making her speak more than necessary.

The First Prince stared at her, livid,

"What. Did. You. Just said?"

The princess exhaled heavily, rising from the bed,

"Well… I was planning to tell you everything chronologically during our journey to our companions, but… I… Don't look at me like that…! You need to listen to judge! Don't look like that…" she started to walk backwards and stumbled again on the bed, falling down while the Prince came towards her,

"What did you do?!"

"I-I ... Do you want the long or the short version?"

The Prince stopped with his legs hitting Alexa's knees, and like a tower rising in her field of vision. His eyes were so light and his pupils so contracted that they looked like two glittering gold coins.

"The short one."

"I was stabbed by Charlotte's husband. The magic has weakened, our lives were cut in half, and Alexander has been swallowed up next to me in the process… But now Alexander is again without a body! Gisela's spirit spoke to us. She says she can help Alexander not get lost as long as we find the necessary help ... in exchange for something."

"I should kill you for not telling me that right away!" he grunted, which was worse than he had screamed. She was sure he would do exactly what he was saying.

"Don't kill me, please ..." Alexa whined, squinting her eyes.

Magnus' face contracted with anger at her words, and the prince went to the water jar. When he realized it was empty, he threw the object on the floor, pushing his frustration against something inanimate. The ceramic jar shattered into pieces.

Soon after, the Prince went to the door, opened, and shouted,

"WATER!"

Alexa wouldn't have cowered or bewildered, as the nobles did this all the time, but she was anxious about his reactions.

She began to tell the events of the previous night. In her eagerness to find the reason for Nerissa's death, which he thought was just a minor piece in something much bigger, Lex had found herself involved in Charlotte's plots ... And it almost cost Alexander's life.

At this moment, Magnus walked like a lion caged around the room, thinking furiously, and Alexa had no desire to get close to him. 

She took a piece of paper carefully stored in her saddlebag, and scribbled lines for John Blackrose. If they could meet at the church, she could undoubtedly explain everything and perhaps even get his support once again.

When the innkeeper knocked on the door to deliver the water jar requested by the noble guest, Alexa looked sideways at Magnus. He was now leaning by the window watching the street, with furrowed brows and one hand playing with the sword guard.

Taking advantage of this moment, Alexa answered the door and took the water jug. With a smile and a coin, she handed over the note and whispered,

"Blackrose at the Arome de Sauge tavern!"

The young servant smiled and nodded, and Alexa closed the door behind her, taking the jar to the table.

Then a thought crossed her mind.

"What will we do now? Aren't we going back to the fair to buy everything we need?" she already knew the answer. Magnus didn't want Alexa to be seen by chance, and recognized by any Lord Blackrose's men.

"Hm," he mumbled. "I can do this myself."

'But there you are brooding over how to do this and make sure I don't run away the moment you turn your back ...' she narrowed her eyes at him. 

Her hand slipped to the sachet at his waist, and Alexa grabbed the bottle of medicine Cymric had given her. According to the ex-Druid, the pain medicine could be a potent sleeping drug.

If Magnus slept a little, she would have time to meet John Blackrose. 

Her fingers trembled as she discreetly opened the small bottle and used her body to cover up the act of putting four drops in the water jug. But, remembering that Magnus was strong and had a stone heart, she added four more drops. Knowing Cymric, she predicted that the medicine was too concentrated. 

Nothing in the water changed, the liquid was transparent and so it continued.

Alexa poured the ceramic cup with water from the jar, alarmed to be doing it, but also knowing that it was the only way to pass Magnus who acted like a real Cerberus in hell's gates.

The Princess hesitated, but went over to him and handed him the cup,

"We shouldn't waste our time arguing. You don't want me to be seen by John Blackrose, I understand. I will stay here, waiting for your return."

Magnus turned to Alexa, and looked at her seriously, taking the cup from her hand.