Chapter 196 - What's Under

'You did well,' Alexander greeted her, as they rode with Duke Kurt and Father Agnello in a carriage to the cathedral, where a mass would take place.

'Although I trembled at first, when all those looks measured me from head to toe?'

'You probably make me more beautiful. As you spoke, did you notice that there was not a single murmur? They were mesmerized! '

'There was even someone who was sick to the stomach, actually,' Lex remembered. That deconcentrated her speech.

"Your Highness should review the order about keeping Lady Duvignes in prison. You know she's not a traitor, and she didn't plot Prince Alexander's death. It was all a big mess, as she told me," began Duke Kurt, putting his hand out of the carriage window to feel the wind.

"Your strategy was very ingenious. Having a spy inside the castle, with Lady Duvignes' obvious skills," said the priest, raising an eyebrow. "But her usefulness in this regard has been lost, since there is no longer a French Ambassador. Your choice of a woman of dubious morals only put our diplomatic relationship with the French in check after the death of their diplomat, who had been in Holstein for years. ,"

"Please, please, let's leave this matter for later!" Lex asked, distressed, "I have little time. Right now, what I want and need to know the most is what Letitia's ghost wants. Why Holstein, from all places. What makes this place somewhere where black magic can be so powerful, where so many ghosts can coexist, where so many macabre things happen! This is unnatural. And I need to understand it. This afternoon. "

"Take it easy, Your Highness. There are other matters…"

"No! This is the most important issue now! Everything is falling apart and I need to know what I'm up against. You have both been researching o it and maybe you already have the answers I need. I promise I won't help you in anything, anything, if you don't tell me right now!"

The Duke blinked, stunned, and Agnello put his hand on the prince's shoulder, trying to calm him down,

"Take it easy, my child. I also yearn to know what the man who was expelled from Holstein in the past knows about Diana's cult and Letitia's reasons. As for what I know, which must be little in comparison, I will gladly tell you. Come on, Duke," he turned to Kurt. "In front of you is the person to whom the Sovereign Prince has entrusted everything which is most important to him."

Agnello's words had a double meaning, and the Duke raised an eyebrow, looking irritated.

"Well then. Straight to the point, then?"

The Prince nodded.

"Due to her obsession with the goddess Moon and 'her most powerful face, Hecate, Letitia became involved with mysterious writings and arcane and forbidden knowledge. According to her, she let it slip once, and I confirmed in my findings. Even locked in a convent, she got access to whatever she wanted. She used her family's money and other methods to get profane writings smuggled. Taken to her out of other monasteries, where those dangerous writings had been locked up. In one of those profane writings, she learned about the legend of Orcaius," the Duke started.

Alexa scanned the mind in search of that name, but the Light Bearer had never heard of it.

"According to what I learned from the myth, Orcaius was a kind of legendary hero who, like others in the past, defied the rules between the living and the dead. He went to hell and brought back a pomegranate there, as a proof that he had come and gone to the underground realms. Because of this theft, the hero could no longer step into the realm of the dead..."

Alexa breathed heavily, thinking about the kind of curse that prevented someone from dying and having a chance to be reborn.

"Instead of achieving the expected success and praise, this hero, Orcaius, was ostracized. No one wanted to be friends with someone who had so seriously offended the Gods of Death. And they found that getting rid of him was not easy, since Orcaius did not die. So they kicked him out. Orcaius and his pomegranate went far away, very far indeed ... And you guess where he is supposed to settle down, don't you?"

"You talk like you don't believe it," Agnello noticed.

"At first I didn't believe it. Letitia seemed excited about a legend, I would have found it amusing if in the ruins of Holstein she found evidence that a certain Orcaius had lived here. But she was right. Upon arriving here, she actually found evidence of the existence of an Orcaius who lived in this same place in the past. Instead of worrying about it, I found it fascinating, because the legend of Orcaius was involved with the legend of the "Fruit of Sin" that was famous around Holstein, as folklore."

"Is this the legend which led one of His Majesty's wives to be killed?" asked Agnello pointedly.

The Duke shrugged,

"I don't know about my brother's sins or the reasons he had against his other wives. I wasn't here at this time. The tree is considered being poisonous and impossible to remove, as its roots apparently have no end. Nobody of my generation came to test this theory about its roots, but that's what the ancients used to say." he shrugged at the obvious question in the Prince's eyes. "The tree has long been cast in the Forbidden Garden, inside the castle. Everyone knew it was a cursed tree, even though they knew nothing about the Orcaius legend at the end. Letitia, as far as I know, never entered the Garden while she was alive. At least in a natural way, I mean."

"And what happened? Did she find Orcaius?" the Second Prince questioned.

"If she found him, she never told me. But I studied everything I could find about this creature. And I believe that, if Orcaius is here, he is the source of all evil in Holstein."

Alexa remembered the White Queen talking about 'the great evil' in Holstein. Could she be talking about this? What was Orcaius, that mysterious figure whose legends did not explain much?

"Letitia wanted the power of immortality and to reign over the infernal hosts as if she were a new Persephone beside her Hades. She spared no effort and used everyone on her way to get closer to her goal. Fortunately, she met a very ordinary and unworthy death, by her husband's sword," Agnello smirked contemptuously when he said those words.

The Duke shifted in his seat. As much as he wanted to pretend to be in control, he seemed to be ashamed of having been one of those pawns so skillfully used by Letitia,

"Her acolytes and she gathered a vast knowledge of witchcraft while they were here. Ancient things, that were here before they even arrived," the Duke resumed his accounting,

"Yes. Another legend about Orcaius tells that, after a while, he was sought after for his knowledge of prophecy and also of magic. He, in search of a solution to his curse, and with plenty of time to do so, sought the knowledge of death from assorted ancient civilizations, and became a powerful archimage. Other ambitious and insane sorcerers sought him out to learn his arts, and he corrupted them all. This land became a place of pilgrimage for every dark wizard interested in the black arts ... Until one fine day, Orcaius got tired of it all. And he left all the dark mages at war for his magical estate. Fighting for it, they destroyed the old city that was here, and, unable to cope with everything they did, they just left for the four corners of the earth again."

"It's an impressive story. And now I understand why this place has always attracted sorcerers, and strengthened the connection with the dead," the Prince pondered.

"He's still here, of course. Maybe not in the physical world," Kurt said.

"You know that Letitia's spirit is still around, don't you?" Lex asked Duke Kurt, and he nodded,

"Not only moved by your desire for revenge on my brother, but as a powerful evil spirit. A demon with a human past, if we can call it that. Her surviving acolytes gathered elsewhere and patiently waited for the moment to bring her back."

"Was it really possible, as Father Agnello believes, that she wanted Magnus and Cordelia to produce a baby, that she would use in some way?" The Prince asked.

"Haha. Cordelia? Letitia would have spit in that girl's face, just because she is ... ugly. Maybe Zilda thought her own daughter was the v.i.r.g.i.n who should be part of a ritual with Magnus, but ... Maybe it was just a mother's wishes. She wanted to unite her lineage with that of the 'queen of demons'. That was clear to me," the Duke grimaced.

"Anyway, they believed it would work," Agnello mused.

"That male figurine that was found on Cordelia's bed, was it a love spell?" Again the Prince asked.

"Most likely," said the Duke. "But they say that Magnus has a cold heart, and apparently not even a spell could make him fall in love… Words from my young friend Charlotte. The one the Regent must forgive," recalled the uncle, with a smile.

Lex kept his thoughts to himself about Cordelia's disappointment at having only Magnus's contempt. And also about Charlotte's views on Magnus's ability to love. Her cheeks were hot with anger just thinking about them.

'Here I am, jealous of women he doesn't love, while maybe I don't even have a tomorrow…' Taking a deep breath, Lex straightened up, as the carriage had already reached the front of the cathedral,

"If all goes well, we can continue our exchanges of information tomorrow," the Prince's statement drew a surprised reaction from Alexander's uncle. "Father Agnello can tell my 'current problem' to my uncle. He better know, if we're all going to help each other," he said, turning to his tutor.

After saying that, Lex jumped out of the carriage without waiting for help or following protocol, striding into the church. Lex felt she needed to breathe after hearing everything she heard.

It was mid-afternoon, and the sun was shining on Holstein's rooftops. The streets still stank of death, and there weren't many people around to watch the Prince's arrival.

Lex imagined that, inside, she would see Narses.

And when she saw him, waiting by the door, she couldn't help but smile at him.