Chapter 15 You Can Always Count On a True Friend. #2
Poor Percy. I hoped that she was okay. I worried greatly about how Selene was handling the absence of her soul match.
I had felt the grief of losing a soul match; it was one of the gifts I was required to experience when I came into my magic.
A memory that was to be shared so that we knew how important such a bond was.
The last Coactus witch to have and subsequently lose a soul match had been my great-great-grandmother and her husband, who had both passed long before my birth.
My great-great-grandmother had gone first before her husband followed, after a period of being driven mad with grief; he chose to follow her, unable to stay and live with the loss.
I decided that I had to inform Selene of Vladimir and his suggestions regarding the standing of Obscurum.
It wasn’t difficult to find my way around; the servants were more than helpful with directions, even offering to escort me directly to the Royal Wing. Selene had a whole floor to herself. Rylan stood guard outside the entrance along with another of his men.
“Lady Coactus,” he greeted.
“Captain,” I replied. “Is she home?” I asked.
“Yes,” he answered and seemed to hesitate.
“Speak freely. We are best of friends, and I am here to offer her my support. How is she?” I asked.
“You are aware that Percy was taken from House Ardens during the attack?” he asked.
“Isn’t the whole kingdom?” I answered.
He nodded in understanding.
“I’m afraid that the Princess is not coping well. She was injured during the attack, and now it seems that her emotional state is out of balance. She is oscillating between calm control to dangerous anger,” he told me.
“I think that was the case before she even left Sanguis Academy,” I replied with a confident smile. “I can handle anything Selene throws my way,” I insisted.
“If you require any assistance, I am right here,” he said as he held open the door to her floor.
I nodded in understanding as I passed.
“Which room is Selene’s?” I asked as he shut the door without answering.
“Rude,” I whispered under my breath.
“In here,” came the answer to my question, and it was easy to forget how well a vampire's hearing could be.
“Does it not drive you crazy?” I asked as I approached a door near the end of the corridor.
“Does what, now?” she asked as she stepped out into the corridor.
“Hearing everything. I would lose my mind,” I said.
She cocked her head to the side slightly and smiled.
“It’s nice to have you here, are you with your grandmother, Lady Sofi of Coactus?” she asked.
“Of course. But I’m here for you, Selene,” I told her. “How are you? What do you know of Percy?” I asked.
She sighed and looked away.
“Physically, I am fine,” she said, taking my upper arm and dragging me into a room, and shutting the door behind us.
“You know how I hate being dragged,” I complained.
“This is the only safe room within the entire castle in which to talk, although truthfully, I’m not sure if that is true,” she told me.
I looked her over closely. She seemed physically okay, but dark purple circles hung beneath her eyes, and she looked as if she had not slept in weeks.
“Correct me if I am wrong, but vampires do sleep?” I questioned.
She nodded, “Of course, what does that have to do with anything?” she said, frustratedly.
“You look like you’ve been foregoing sleep. Have you looked in the mirror lately, Selene? You’re dishevelled!” I told her honestly. Even her hair, which was always impeccable, was frizzy!
“I’m sorry if I’ve been preoccupied trying to locate my soul match while recovering from venom poisoning. My appearance isn’t the top of my agenda right now.” She growled angrily.
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t judge, but perhaps your appearance should be a priority during the Royal Conference,” I suggested. With my grandmother’s warning and Vlad’s notions of coming power, now wasn’t the time for Selene to appear weak.
“Are you not in the least concerned with Percy?” she asked accusatorily.
“I am!” I was quick to reassure. “Truly, I worry for her greatly, but I’m sure that wherever she is, she is safe.
She’s not exactly the typical Flores witch, not with her novel ability.
” I highly doubted that she was being mistreated.
She was a valuable bargaining chip or weapon.
“Grandmother told me that she was not taken by a northern rebel group.
That there were others involved in the attack against Ardens —"
“The New Foundation,” Selene interrupted, “What do you know of them?” she asked me. I shrugged. I knew nothing, really, “Grandmother said that there were secretive alliances forming in the south; I assume they have something to do with that.”
“As far as we are aware, they are an Auster loyalist group,” she told me.
“I wasn’t aware such groups even still existed.”
Selene exhaled and walked to sit on her bed.
I looked around the room. It was sparse, given that it was her room, but the floor contained many doors, and I suspected her bedroom was entirely for sleep and other bedroom-only activities. I sat beside her.
“They are more than a rebel group; our intelligence suggests they are a true threat to kingdom stability. So much so that Father has ordered all resources to be pulled from all other areas and focused on them. I’ve been told to find Percy myself,” she revealed.
“Yourself?” I questioned in shock. “But how?”
“I know that she is somewhere within House Halvorsen, most likely within the estate of Arvid Halvorsen,” she answered.
“How? House Halvorsen? Are you sure?”
“Yes. General Creel confirmed it. It appears that House Halvorsen has joined an alliance with House Viridis, and all the intelligence that we can gather puts the New Foundation base firmly in their land.”
“What do they want with Percy, other than the obvious?” I asked.
“It’s a terrible trifecta. I suspect they are most interested in her novel ability; if she ever mastered her gift, she would be the most dangerous witch alive. It is obvious her worth to me, and she is one of only two surviving heirs of Auster.”
“WHAT?” I asked, “Sorry, I’m simply shocked.” I apologised for shouting, “Our Percy is an heir of Auster?”
Selene nodded, sadly. “It seemed poetic at first when I learned that my soul match was the great-granddaughter of Prince Nikolas Auster, but it seems the fates were planning to use her lineage against me.”
“I’m sure not. Such a thing is just a coincidence. An extremely unlikely one, but still…” I tried to reassure. “What is your plan?” I asked her.
“Plan?” she asked in return.
“To retrieve Percy, of course,” I clarified.
“I do not know yet. General Creel revealed that we could not obtain any intelligence, as Arvid’s estate is guarded by Synoptic witches.
All we have to go on has been learned on the ground by our spies.
They know that some large structures have been built in recent years on the estate, large enough to house a battalion, at least.”
“An army?” I asked, “That’s far more than a rebel group.”
“Exactly. We can’t get eyes inside or close,” she explained.
“And how are House Halvorsen explaining themselves?”
“They aren’t. We haven’t asked. It’s all hush-hush. Whatever they are up to, whatever we know. Each House is too concerned with preserving the upper hand to call the other out,” she answered.
“Well, that’s ridiculous, sounds like boys too scared to measure their willies, when we all know that’s all they really want to do. See who measures up to whom,” I said.
Selene stood abruptly from the bed.
“What?” I asked.
“You’re exactly right. I’m going to give Arvid a call and ask him directly if he has Percy.”
I stood up too.
“Wait, before you do that, I have something to tell you,” I told her, needing to tell her about Vlad before I lost my nerve.
She turned to me and raised an impatient eyebrow.
“Grandmother told me that times were changing. She asked me to spy for Coactus,” I admitted.
Selene hummed, “That makes sense. A wise request,” she replied.
“You aren’t upset that I’m spying on you, on everyone?” I asked.
Selene laughed, but it didn’t sound right; there was no life to it.
“You are a bad spy, Heidi. We’ve been together not ten minutes, and already you’ve told me of your spying.”
“Yes, well, I told grandmother I wouldn’t be very good at the job, but anyway, that’s not what I have to tell you,” I explained. She looked at me more interestedly. “I bumped into Vlad, of Obscurum, on my way here.”
“Yes, he had a meeting with Father earlier. Why is this important? Please make your point,” she instructed, and I felt tired just looking at her and the way her body seemed to slouch in exhaustion. Was the loss of Percy having more of an impact than Selene was letting on?
“First,” I cleared my throat, “I request immunity,” I told her.
“Immunity?”
“Yes.”
“From what?” she asked, and I felt her suspicion of me like a slap, in the way she was suddenly standing straighter, eyeing me.
“I need to tell you something that may or may not cause you some distress or anger, and I wish for immunity for any and all past actions before I disclose what I have learned,” I explained.
Selene exhaled and nodded.
“Verbal confirmation, if you please,” I responded.
“Yes, Heidi, I grant you immunity from any and all past transgressions,” she agreed exasperatedly.
“Vlad told me that he expects Obscurum to be in power soon,” I said, with relief, “There, best to rip the bandage off quickly. That wasn’t so hard.”
“You’re going to have to explain that somewhat, Heidi. Why would Vlad expect Obscurum to be in power, and why would he tell you?” she questioned.
“Ah… that is a good question. Yes, well, you see, we have a sort of history, and I believe he was bragging to perhaps reignite that history,” I explained.
“A history?” Selene questioned.
“Mhh-hmm,” I hummed in the affirmative.
“What history, Heidi?” she continued to question.
I interlocked my fingers in front of me and bounced slightly in anxiety.