Chapter 189 - Little Differences

'Why are you calling me a lich?' she remembered that Master Petrus de Languedoc told her what a lich was. There were all over the world, but she didn't think she would ever be called a lich! But her thoughts were quick, as Alexa had to throw her chair back and stand up in an instant, even though she was still holding the wine glass.

The Captain grunted in annoyance, as he also stood up and his tower-like figure made the men shrink for a moment. Magnus clicked his tongue in annoyance as he also stood up, grabbing the dagger at his waist with one hand, and the bottle of wine with the other,

"Got a problem?"

Alexa took advantage of the confusion and the parties glaring at each other intimidatingly, to drink her wine in one gulp. It was a great tasty wine!

"I am not a lich!" she stated.

The men looked at her in a mixture of fascination and terror.

Their leader, who also seemed to own the house, ordered her henchmen,

"What are you waiting for?! You should know how to handle this!"

Of course, the thugs were measuring their opponents' ability and realizing it would be quite a task to get past Magnus and the red-haired giant to get to what was supposed to be a little monster in dress behind them.

At least they seemed smarter than the pirates on the ship.

"Back!" one of them ordered the woman, hinting they would attack next. But even Alexa could see that they were apprehensive.

The woman complied, while Magnus and Dubois glanced at each other, with knowing and devilish smiles, turning back to their opponents.

"Oh, don't start again! I'm starving! If you guys fight here, where am I going to dine tonight?" she complained, and the man who appeared to be the leader blinked, first startled and afraid, then growled with renewed resolve,

"Don't let the monster bite you, or you will become like it!"

With a cry he advanced with his weapons towards the point that seemed the most vulnerable in the barrier between Alexa and them, that is, Magnus.

As soon as he got close to the Prince, he retreated in terror, while a parable of blood gushed upward. Alexa did not see exactly what Magnus did with his dagger, but the man staggered, dropping the stake in his hand, and pathetically holding his sword pointed at the stranger. Magnus sighed,

"It was supposed to be a calm night. A calm night!"

Alexa saw the reverberating sound of skulls hitting each other and didn't want to look at what Captain Dubois did to his opponents. His voice was heard above all,

"Madame! These idiots will end up setting your beautiful room on fire. Nobody wants it. What if we just leave peacefully?"

"I don't want to leave peacefully. They made me lose my appetite," the Prince snarled, pushing Alexa further back, while pointing his dagger at the man with his hand over his mouth, spurting blood.

The last man standing was holding a chandelier in one hand and a stake in the other, and very close to the damask curtains. But clearly, he was panicking.

The madam, outside the room, shouted,

"Don't destroy my room! You, please leave this city for good! We already have too many problems here! I should have known!"

"You have to admit that she is bold, if she thinks I'm a lich..." Alexa murmured to Magnus. At the same time, she wondered what kind of thing might be going on there, so that ordinary people even knew liches existed.

"If you didn't bite people and talk about hunger with your wine-stained mouth..." he replied promptly, in a foul mood. And he kicked the knee of the man who was spilling blood, so that he fell,

"Get out of the way, useless trash! Don't set out to do something you can't do!"

The man groaned, and Magnus gave Alexa his hand to let her through. Dubois followed them out of the room. There was no one in their path, and Magnus went to the bedroom, where he quickly took what belonged to them, with the Captain's help.

Alexa, took the cage with Romeo, and looked with concern for the coffin that would be left behind. It was a very useful method of keeping her safe during the day, but it was obviously causing many dangerous misunderstandings.

As soon as possible, they left the opulent house of pleasures, in a good-quality carriage with four excellent horses. Alexa was placed inside the carriage, but after a while, she squeezed out the window and went to the driver's seat, next to Magnus. Dubois came on his own horse, next to them.

The captain laughed,

"I never imagined that we would have so many adventures in a short span of time."

"I would rather be relaxing now ... And honestly, I didn't quite understand, I just sensed that it had to do with Princess Alexa sleeping in a coffin and being 'exotic' and hungry!" Magnus snapped.

"Don't blame my hunger! They were after liches, which are actually periculous beings."

"Why do I think I don't want to know what a lich is? In fact ... The Captain seemed to know what they were talking about, too..." Magnus looked at the Dutchman riding beside them.

"Well… yes, and no. I just recognized that they had sharp stakes, as in some cities where people believed that the upir existed. In Novgorod and eastern cities, it is common for stakes to be driven into the dead's chest, who people believe will rise to drink blood from the living. A sailor has to learn a lot," he justified, but Alexa really thought this time that the always aloof Captain Dubois knew a lot more than he showed.

Alexa strained her mind and remembered hearing about the upir species in Constantinople. The class of ressurrected beings was a great mystery to Alexa, and she knew only a few terms, and few legends.

She would never have wondered that, in the West, and away from the Lazarites, she would see resuscitated bodies in different states. The mystery of how Mildred had managed to revive her own body, or how Florian was made, was beyond her knowledge.

And at the same time, Alexa was taking part in a spell to donate her life to a body, which would have died if she hadn't done that!

"All I know about liches and upirs," said the princess, "It's just that it's relatively easy to kill an upir by cutting off his head, piercing his heart, or burning him ... Compared to a lich, it is... Piercing a lich's heart is useless ... Since it's removed and stored elsewhere. Obviously they mistake upirs and liches around here."

In saying that, Alexa shivered.

Her gaze went to Magnus, who was looking ahead, worried about the path ahead.

Alexa's gaze then went down to the Second Prince's chest, where he had a huge scar...

And a bewitched stone heart, kept inside.

"Hey, where are we going right now?" she wasn't dumb, and she was seeing they were going towards the city gates, which could already be seen ahead.

"You know we can't stay here for the night with a rumor like that. I could demand apologies from the burgomaster, and the nobleman responsible for this trash town, but until that happens, we are in danger," the Prince explained.

"Well, if I may, I have a suggestion. Nobles of your kind will always be very welcome in the homes of other nobles… Unfortunately, I don't know other nobles as important as Your Highnesses on our route. But… I know a French 'Chevalier'… who lives near around," proposed Captain Dubois.

Magnus smiled slightly,

"It looks like our best option."

"We must be a few kilometers from his cottage… He is an eccentric person and we met in ...bizarre circ.u.mstances. But he said I was welcome at his home."

"That's nice!" Alexa exclaimed.

"And what is the name of this knight, Captain?"

The Captain thought for a moment

"Allaman Sagnac, Your Highness. Sagnac… And if we hurry, we will arrive in time for supper!" he laughed, and Alexa followed him

Magnus shook his shoulder uncomfortably, looking thoughtful for a moment, and then looked at Alexa,

"So you know they think you're a blood-drinking monster or something, and you decide to have wine running down the chin to say, 'I'm not a lich!'" he made a ridiculous falsetto and Alexa restrained herself from laughing. Was him lecturing her?

Alexa was going to wipe her chin with her sleeve, but she remembered this wasn't a behavior approved by Lady Eudoxia. However, there were no handkerchiefs at hand, and her clothes were in a chest inside the carriage.

"I didn't have a handkerchief to clean my mouth ..." she alleged, hoping he would tell her it wasn't a problem for a Princess von Wuttenfal, although temporary, to wipe her mouth on the sleeve of her dress. Alexa was tired of him insisting she was a mannerless ogress.

Magnus barely looked at her, and took a handkerchief from the doublet, holding it out to the princess.

"Captain Dubois," he brought up the subject with the Dutchman, while Alexa cleaned herself up, seeing the smear of crimson makeup on the scarf and wondering if Magnus really didn't like seeing her with red lips. "I'm under the impression that I know this knight, or have already heard his name. What else can you tell me about him?"

"Ah, well… He's skilled with the sword, and I think he has a certain reputation in some circles. As I said, I met him in very special circ.u.mstances, where his infamy proved to be totally harmless. He was valiant when necessary, and furthermore ... His house is open to friends, in his own words. However..." he seemed reluctant to say anything important, but finally decided. "I will tell because I think it's correct to warn. He is an unmarried, good-looking man, and as far as I know, gallant and seductive in manners. There's a rumor that he once seduced the wife of another nobleman on their wedding night ... How did he do that? I don't know. But... I think this is an exaggeration he feeds to annoy his rivals."

"How come?! Is he this handsome and gallant? I'm so curious!" Alexa commented, impressed by the story that, certainly, should be exaggerated. "How would he reveal such a feat and remain alive?"

"I certainly don't intend to be forced to kill my host for that kind of offense. Therefore, the Princess will sleep in my room after supper!" Magnus stated, as if he didn't admit refusals.

'Does he think I can't defend myself?' she would have been mad if her heart hadn't been beating so hard.

Alexa might not have been so uneasy, if every time she thought of being close and alone with Magnus, the images of her vision didn't come back to her mind!

She felt the captain's sidelong gaze on them, however.