Blackstar

The guards were working double what they normally did, questioning everyone in the castle. I oversaw everything, determined to find out who broke into our castle. Captain Gregory approached me the next afternoon, a grim look on his face.

“No one has seen anybody, Your Highness,” he said. “Everything was quiet.”

“Perhaps it was someone who stayed behind after the ball?”

“If that’s true, they’d still be here but we haven’t found anyone.”

I groaned and punched my hand. “I don’t get it. If someone broke into the castle, why attack Raven? She’s just a hand-maiden.”

“I don’t know,” Captain Gregory sighed. “How goes your hunt for your Cinderella?”

I frowned. “Cinderella?”

“It’s a fairy tale about a woman who goes to a ball for the Prince. They fall in love but she runs away because her fairy godmother gave her a gown and glass slippers that would disappear when the clock strikes twelve.” He shrugged. “Or that’s one of the many variations.”

I shook my head. “I haven’t sent the letters out yet. Just before I could, this happened.”

“Alexi?”

Vera was walking up to him, looking excited which took me by surprise.

“Is something wrong?” I asked.

She shook her head no and was about to answer but looked at Captain Gregory doubtfully.

“I’m sorry we weren’t able to find anything,” the captain said, bowing.

I nodded him away, my mind preoccupied with the woman I danced with and whoever attacked Raven.

“What do you need?” I asked Vera and a smile slowly spread across her face. “And why are you looking at me like that?”

She handed me the mask from the party. “We found her.”

“You did?” I whispered. “Where? Who is she?”

“She’ll be here in three days,” Vera said.

“Who is she?” I asked again.

Vera shook her head. “I promised not to say. Oh, don’t look at me like that,” she snapped when I glared at her. “Now what did Captain Gregory find?”

I sighed, tucking the mask into my pocket. “Absolutely nothing,” I said. “None of the servants saw anyone come or go and the guards say the same.”

“Do you think someone is lying?” she frowned.

“It’s entirely possible,” I nodded. “And if that’s the case, they’ll regret it.”

Just then, Raven descended the stairs. When she saw me, she froze for a second before approaching us.

“Sorry I’m late,” she whispered to Vera. “The King wanted me there while they fixed my door.”

“We’re putting guards outside your door,” I told her and she tugged at her hair.

“I don’t think that’s necessary,” she said.

“I do.” The clock in the grand entrance struck noon and I sighed. “Let’s get some lunch.”

-Raven’s POV-

I couldn’t even look him in the eyes. I tried to eat but my mouth was dry. My lateness was not due to the door. She had been speaking with the King and Queen, informing them that I was the one Prince Alexi was looking for.

“You?” the King had asked. He laughed. “Oh, this is wonderful!” He stood. “Let’s go tell him!”

“Please don’t,” I had begged. “Not yet, at least. Let’s let everything that happened blow over first.”

They agreed and let me leave.

Now, in the dining hall, I picked at the food on my plate. Vera cleared her throat.

“We should go for a walk,” she announced. “Just the three of us. We can go to the market so you can buy your fabric.”

“I don’t think that’s a wise idea,” Prince Alexi said immediately.

Vera sighed. “You’ll be with us.” When he didn’t budge, she pulled a puppy dog eye face. “Please?”

He groaned. “Fine. But we’re bringing two guards with us.”

Vera giggled. “He can never say no to the face,” she said triumphantly.

I excused myself to speak with the head of the serving staff, Tilda. She was a kind woman with short black hair and green eyes.

“I’m here to collect my wages,” I told her and she rifled around in her desk.

“Ah, here we are,” she said cheerfully and handed me a leather coin purse. “Make sure you bring that with you each time. You only get one.”

I nodded and thanked her. Word had spread about my attack but it was clear Tilda and the King and Queen had forbidden people to badger me about it. When I passed by servants, the pointed and whispered. I did my best to shrug it off, though. They were merely curious about what happened.

I met Vera and Prince Alexi in the grand entrance. Two guards were behind them, solemn looks on their faces.

“They look so excited,” I said sarcastically as we walked out.

Prince Alexi was standing straight, his eyes sharp. The guards walked on either side of us and I sighed. This wasn’t turning into the trip I wanted it to be.

The air was thick and humid, promising spring time rain. As we descended into the village, people backed out of the way, bowing to the twins. Vera grinned at them all but Prince Alexi was still stoic. Vera smacked him.

“Show some respect,” she said through her teeth as she smiled. “They don’t know what happened. You acting like this will only scare them.”

He sighed and did as she said, taking his sister’s hand and smiling at everyone. I walked ahead of them in the market, looking around at the different stalls, until I found the one selling fabric.

-Alexi’s POV-

“Isn’t it beautiful out?” Vera asked as we waited for Raven to pick out what she wanted.

“It’s going to rain soon,” I nodded. “Who is the woman?”

Vera smiled. “Nice try but I can’t tell you. Three days.”

I sighed. “What do you think happened to Raven?” I asked in an undertone as she did business with the vendor.

You could barely see the bandage still wrapped around her shoulder.

Vera frowned and didn’t answer right away. “I don’t know,” she said slowly. “It’s almost like she was attacked by a demon or a spirit of some kind.”

I looked at her. “What makes you say that?”

“She kept muttering ‘Blackstar’ and ‘blood’ in her sleep last night,” Vera whispered, shivering. “When I asked her about it this morning, she couldn’t remember.”

She came back over and they both put smiles on their faces.

“You can keep whispering about it,” she said, leading the way back to the castle, “but it won’t change the fact that I can’t remember.”

“Do you think ‘Blackstar’ has anything to do with the burn mark on your shoulder?” I asked.

“Probably.”

“And blood?”

She stopped walking and looked at me wearily. “Can we please talk about something else?” she whispered.

“Of course,” Vera interjected. “What are you going to make with your fabric?”

While the girls walked ahead, talking about dresses and shirts, I fell back a step. I watched Raven carefully, remembering what my father had said about something was different about her. Could this be what he meant? This Blackstar?

When we returned to the castle I let the women do as they pleased and went to our library. Orrin, the man who took care of and catalogued our books, was sitting at a desk.

“Good afternoon, Orrin,” I said, smiling at the old man.

He smiled back. “Hello, Prince Alexi. Did you get the information on amnesia you wanted?”

“Yes, thank you. Have you heard of something or someone called ‘Blackstar’?”

Orrin tapped his chin. “I’m afraid not.” He opened his desk and pulled out a list. “This has every book that’s in this library. Do you have any cross references?”

“Blood,” I said and he gave me a grim look.

“Is this about what happened to Miss Raven?”

“Word spreads fast,” I sighed and he smiled apologetically. “Yes, it is.”

He made a few notes on another piece of paper for a while before handing it to him.

“Here are the books that hopefully mention something about it. I wouldn’t be too hopeful, though,” he added. I looked at the list with dismay. There were a grand total of two books. One was about…. “Vampires,” Orrin said, spitting the word out.

“Vampires,” I repeated, looking at the word. “Thank you for this.”

I found and took the two books that he wrote down and headed back for my room. I didn’t get very far before I ran into Raven. Literally.

She landed with a thud and sighed irritably. I helped her up, spluttering apologies.

“We really shouldn’t make a habit of this,” she joked, straightening her dress and I laughed a little. She picked up a book I dropped and frowned. “Late night reading?”

I took it quickly. Figures the one I would drop is the one about vampires.

“Just some research,” I said and she shrugged.

Our eyes met again and I felt something stir in my memory.

“Your eyes,” I muttered, stepping closer. “There’s something familiar about them.”

She cleared her throat and looked away. “I should get back to Princess Vera. Good night, Prince Alexi.”

She hurried off down the hall but I called after her and she turned.

“Call me Alexi,” I said and she nodded, practically running away.