Chapter 244 - Looking at the Monster

"Magnus ... Are you coming back?!" she recognized his hasty handwriting. The message was short, as were all messages by carrier pigeons.

"When did this come? How did you get this?"

"Princess, I have many contacts at the castle. That message cost me some money, as it would go directly to the Duke's hand," Charlotte crossed her arms, taking a deep breath. "Well, the First Prince must have found a way to escape, and he tried to send a message, probably from our fortified port further west, Lubon."

Alexa had already been in Lubon when Duke Konrad went to pick her up, in her unsuccessful attempt to go to England. Magnus had gone to get her, too!

If he was so close, it was even possible he was arriving, or even already in Holstein.

"He needs to know where I am!" it was the only plausible thought at the time.

"But if you go to him in the castle, you will be arrested again. However, in the current situation, it's also not wise to inadvertently let the Prince go to the castle. What can happen if he arrives unaware that his uncle had Your Highness and Father Agnello arrested shortly after the death of Prince Gutard!"

"And Cordelia? What happened to her?" Alexa wanted to know.

"She left with a large escort on a ship early in the morning, heading for Amsterdam," said Lady Duvignes. "To be the hero of the political impasse. I wonder if she'll be back in time for her husband's last rites..."

Alexa regretted having been hasty and begged Cordelia to do this, but maybe was for the best. Maybe she would never come back and it would all be over.

"Lady Duvignes, help me! I need to find the Prince before he meets the Duke!"

"I feared that Your Highness would ask me for this. You know you're taking a lot of risks, don't you?"

Yes, she knew, and nodded. But it was necessary!

"I think as soon as the Prince arrives in the city, he will see the smoke in the cathedral, and will know that his father is dead. He may go there first, instead of going to the castle, because he won't know how long ago it happened!"

Alexa knew that Charlotte's mind was sharp, but she admired her for her quick thinking.

"Well then, that's what we have to do. There are many places to hide in the cathedral. I can find him there!" she stroked the bird on her finger, before carefully storing it with her.

"We must leave a message for your brother," after fiddling with a drawer, the French woman handed feather, ink, and paper to Alexa, who quickly wrote in her native language where she was going.

Her heart was pounding with anxiety.

They didn't have an extra horse, though, and had to walk to the cathedral. 

Luckily, the French woman knew the city very well and guided them through some obscure shortcuts. The city was emptied because of the plague that had expelled many residents, so they had no problems and the only unwanted encounters were with cats, rats, and dogs.

Despite being the middle of the night, many carriages were standing around the cathedral, full of servants in their liveries, waiting for the nobles who came to be the first to pay tribute to the late Sovereign Prince.

"Damn, so many people!" Alexa evaluated, worried.

Of course, there were soldiers around the cathedral.

"I guess it's better to split. I will enter normally, and Your Highness can enter using the cemetery's access. Meet me on the stairs to the steeple."

The Princess nodded and saw when the French lady went into the crowd, acting discreetly. The guards approached her, but Lady Duvignes lowered her hood, showing herself to be a totally different person from the fair-haired princess they were looking for.

Despite her current state of anxiety, Alexa took a deep breath and started looking for a way to get to the steeple staircase, holding Romeo against her heart. 

It was essential to warn Magnus about his uncle's betrayal!

But that wasn't so difficult at all, compared to everything she had already done.

And in minutes, she would sneak into the church, across the side septum, toward the main steeple tower. She scanned the main nave, seeing the candles burning in the hands of the nobles. Alexa had no idea who was presiding over the ceremony, since at the moment there was a shortage of priests in the city.

Alexa saw the door open, and Lady Duvignes peeked through the crack. As soon as she saw her, the woman waved for Alexa to come over.

It was a split second that exposed the betrayal.

The Frenchwoman glanced sideways, as to someone close and behind the door. It made Alexa's heart jolt painfully and Romeo protest with a jump. She had fallen into a trap, but maybe she still had time to retreat!

Turning on her heels, the princess ran in the opposite direction, trying to access the cathedral's reserved rooms, since she could not get through the crowd or the guards.

'I should have known that if it involves this damn cathedral somehow, I will be in trouble!' she reproached herself, resisting the curiosity of looking at whoever was chasing her over her shoulder. She just knew he was a big man, from the way the ground vibrated with his powerful strides.

Dodging two altar boys coming out of the hall where she had entered, Alexa tossed on the floor some chairs she found in the hall. Perhaps she could delay her pursuer. 

Looking this way and that, she saw only closed doors. 

Arriving in a hexagonal-shaped room, Alexa saw that her only way out was through a barred gate or a small door, which she hoped was open.

It was.

Trying this one, she found that the dark path was a narrow spiral staircase, and she only had one way to go, upwards.

But the man was on her heels, this time closer.

She found a door with a simple wooden lock at the top of the stairs, and getting rid of the obstacle, went out into the night.

She was on the eastern portion of the cathedral roof, and turned to close the door, but there was no time.

A huge hand grabbed her wrist, violently, and Alexa let out a cry.

Romeo finally escaped her clothes, and flew away, scared, while Alexa was pulled towards the person.

Alexa had no strength, and her wrist had barely recovered from her confrontation with Emmeline. Even so, she tried to squirm and break free, to no avail. 

She turned to face the person, at the same time that the voice and name by which he called her made her paralyze with terror.

"Alexios!"

The princess looked up, facing the person she most feared in the world.

The disfigured face, drawn by a hideous twisted scar that started in his mouth and ended in his left ear, examined Alexa with bright, satisfied eyes.

"Doukas?!"

A sadistic smile appeared on that terrible and insane face.