Chapter 259 - Under the Surface

"Balbo!" Alexa whispered, leaning over the drunk man, with his face lying on his arm on a table at the bottom of a tavern. 

Narses had brought her there, and being a princess, Alexa was in disguise, but she would have come even if she couldn't hide.

She should be waiting with the other guests in the cathedral for Magnus's Coronation. But Narses warned her they had finally found Balbo.

Her voice seemed to have some effect and Balbo struggled to raise his head a little and confirm. "Why are you here, Your Highness? Let this stupid man rot without the right to a quick death!"

So that was it. 

Alexa tapped her big friend on the shoulder, "Is your reason for leaving your post and wasting your precious life in a bar?"

"I was a foolish blind man, and I helped to destroy your life, Your Highness! What justifies my stupidity?"

"You cannot be responsible for my actions, Balbo! And besides… I still need you." This wasn't what Alexa had come for, and she didn't even know if she could do that. 

Officially, Balbo was an elite officer, one of the kingdom's fencing masters, and one of the Second Prince's trusted men. 

She sensed that none of this was of any importance to Balbo Cerdán. Like Konrad, he was heartbroken to see the shining Alexander leave and make way for the Dark Prince of the Dead Orcaius.

"Prince Magnus wants to speak to you!" she shook her friend's arm. "Don't show up this way in front of your sovereign!"

"He was merciful not to execute me for treason for trying to kill him. Thanks to Princess, I failed. I must be glad to the Fates that they favored you and not me that day. What I can do is disappear from his sight in gratitude."

"Balbo, he didn't take it wrong ..." Alexa said. "He understood his point of view."

"I… I'm waiting for a Galician boat to reach the port. I'm going to join pirates and…"

"I would never have imagined, considering your ever composed stance, that you had this kind of fantasy. Become a mean burglar, with so many talents you have."

"Furthermore, it's unnecessary to be either clever or skilled to be a pirate ... But to be responsible for the Kingdom's Elite Intelligence ..." commented Narses casually, in a low voice. "Don't look for death so eagerly, because it will run away from you. What needs to be done now has a greater purpose, and you are an essential part of it, Brother. So get up!"

Alexa raised an eyebrow. She didn't know that part. What was Magnus up to? However, if that could make Balbo not give up on himself, she was good with. After he showed autonomy at the lighthouse, even Prince Gutard had approved it. He prevented the incident from becoming a problem of much greater proportions - despite the controversial and merciless method.

"Me? Intelligence Elite? If I can't even point out what was going on under my nose?" He raised his head and finally accepted the mug of water that the Princess was offering him.

"Starting from that, we have a mission now, Brother. We have many things to discuss while everyone celebrates. You have the necessary padding for this type of action, you are the kind of person the Prince Sovereign needs to organize an incorruptible and vigilant Intelligence Bureau. That's what he said, at least," Narses shrugged.

Magnus was willing to reform and protect his kingdom, and Alexa was proud of it. He would change the way he dealt with political spies, and sorcerers in search of Orcaius' forbidden knowledge.

"Accept it, Balbo!" she insisted. 

"I am not in a position to make demands, but it would be nice if Your Highness were the secret leader of this operation!" he replied, unexpectedly blushing.

The suggestion took Alexa by surprise, but she found out that, in her heart, she longed for something like this.

°°°

The days drip through their fingers as water, and Magnus was finally crowned the new Sovereign Prince. 

His older brother's Coronation was also Alexander's last public appearance.

With the coronation of Magnus as Sovereign Prince, according to the tradition of the kingdom, the Second Prince Alexander also became the Duke of Ashgrau, the rich mining province in the North.

And Alexa, consequently, was turned into a Duchess. 

Unless she wanted to draw attention to herself and her uncomfortable situation, it was best to remain silent until they managed to do something about it. Alexa suspected, however, that Alexander intended to hinder the change in his marital status indefinitely.

And the new Duke took turns between the tower and his quarters, with rare visits to the garden. Only people of strict confidence could go to him or serve him. He was frugal and a recluse, and would need little attention.

One thing was remarkable, while some parts of the castle had become noticeably more pleasant overnight, other parts had to be closed down as accidents and strange events occurred at any time. 

During that time, politics consumed all the time of the new Sovereign Prince Magnus I, who administered the kingdom and dealt with many other problems besides what happened inside the castle.

Also according to tradition, Cordelia was designated as responsible for the castle's domestic affairs above the Chamberlain, since officially Magnus was a single Prince. Alexa remembered the day when Gutard told him that, because he was a widower, Alexa would take charge of that role. Things didn't turn out that way in the end, and Gutard's widow would hold on to that role until the Sovereign Prince married.

Alexa at the same time felt relieved, because she didn't want to busy herself with a castle this big and problematic, but in the back of her mind she thought she should be concerned with that. She and Cordelia, who was now a Countess and no longer Princess Consort, hardly spoke to each other, since there was little reason for that. They only met at events that forced them to do so. 

Alexa's attention was on another matter.

Father Agnello had recovered Jette's writings shortly after the troubadour's death.

During the afternoons or evenings, Alexa met with the librarian Valerius and her brother Iacintho, the most focused on this type of subject, for a specific reason. 

They gathered Jette's drafts and notes, and all the materials the bard woman found about Holstein. And the two scholars could investigate everything that was known about the past. Iacintho was convinced that there might be some clue about Orcaius and the Pomegranate Seed. 

It was a surprise when Valerius came in to help, as he was the one doing the researches for Gutard in the past. A man like Valerius knew a lot about Holstein. 

She knew that her brothers were dedicated to finding a solution to her dilemma, and lately they didn't want to involve her because they knew she was pregnant.

This was a little unnerving, to be honest, as Alexa felt no change in her body.

But her mind was divided into a thousand pieces, occupied with big things and small things. Among the big ones were Magnus and Alexander.

Not even every night she was able to wait awake for Magnus. But he always came to her room after his work, no matter the time. One night she woke up from dreams she didn't remember, and found him looking at her, sitting by the bed.

"Mags?" she had mumbled, sleepy. "Why are you there?"

"Shhh ... Go back to sleep,""he had replied with a whisper. ""It'll be dawn in a little while."""And are you going to stay here, watching me? Go to sleep!" she could barely speak, but she had the impression of seeing his smile.

"I think I got used to seeing you sleep. Just sleep, you're safe."

"Ah! How scary you are ...!"

Now that she thought about it during the day, she was still undecided about feeling loved and worried about Magnus. He had something strange inside him that gave him almost infinite energy, but even Magnus needed rest and nutrition. And mostly, he shouldn't be watching her sleep anymore.

At other times, Alexa sighed when she thought of that other lonely figure who lived in the castle, hated and feared by everyone. 

And, unable to bear this thought for more than a few days of indecision, Alexa went back to the maze again.