"Ok~ you guys played enough~"
Chains glowing with a red gleam bound the quarrelling saints. They halted and struggled to get out of them.
"That is a big no-no~" Red lightning bolts hot from the chains and throughout the room electrocuting the saints
"AAGGGAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!"
Claudina electrified them until their quavering bodies stopped screaming. Instantly she dropped them on the floor the chains and bolts gone.
They groaned in pain though the Holy magic was healing them. They slowly sat up.
"Now! Since we have finally quieted down I suggest we formulate a plan on how to assassinate the crown prince!" She tilted her head to side eyes glinting. "Or if you want I will electrocute you again~"
The saints flinched in fear as they lowered their heads in their laps.
She smirked before saying, "Now when can I see your face Anatole? I did my part of the deal."
Their heads shot up. "What?!"
"Hey Anatole why are you showing her your face when you didn't even show it to us yet?!" Oriane demanded.
"Yeah! What gives?" Sullivan shouted. "You said we can see it in your deathbed so why are you showing it her?"
He signed. He pressed his hand to his veil while the other waved at them. "Saintess. If you will."
"Alrighty~" She electrocuted them once more this time pausing in between.
"Do you want to talk more nonsense?" She leaned toward their limp bodies. Red sparks were jolting out. They trembled shaking their head no.
"Good children~" she laughed. She sat back down, crossing her legs.
Anatole glanced at them kneeling before he gestured for them to sit. They did but they sat the furthest from Claudina. Even Oriane was fearful of her.
"Where were we…Ah yes. That suspicious herbalist."
"Is there any information about where they are now?"
"No. In fact all written records have vanished. The letters that Lady Carlos exchanged with them, everything; all of them are gone."
"Gone?" she echoed.
"Clearly they don't wish to be found."
She put her chin on her hand deep in thought.
Though she didn't miss Sylvester and the others sneaking out.
"You aren't leaving." The chains returned bounding them and bragging them back to their seats. They openly struggled. "This is group mission. You can't leave."
She picked up the fallen parchment and unrolled it. "If you don't want to do it because of me, I will go back to Chronostis. Whether the gods die from the five nations fall, it's none of my business." She looked them over the parchment. "But people will blame the so called Saints who fought amongst themselves which ended in their destruction."
She gave the parchment back to Anatole. "Frankly I couldn't give two flying crap about the gods dying but Chronos is holding over the fact he found a way for me to go home if the mission is successful."
They hushed up guilty expressions evident on their faces. Claudina signed. She turned to Anatole. "This herbalist or whatever, I suspect is the mastermind of the cult or at least part of it."
He nodded at her words. "I agree. All information about demon worshiping, summoning and blood rituals all of them are heavily guarded in the temples that the gods currently reside in. The only other place you can find information about demons is from the cults. This person must be part of the cult."
"Since we don't know the current location of the herbalist we will put them in our second priority."
"Hm."
"Excuse me~" Both turned their heads at the same moment. Sylvester and the others meekly stared at them still bound. "What is it?" Anatole asked.
"Well you see," Sullivan started carefully. "You said second priority. What's the first?"
Claudina raised an eyebrow. "The assassination of the crown prince and stopping the spread of the cult by eradicating any traitors. Or the reason why we are here." 'Did the shock reduce their brain cells?'
"Ah. Right"
She squinted at them. "Hmm…" She went back at Anatole.
"I have a suggestion to get close to the crown prince." "Let's hear it."
"How about we use the upcoming ball that is going to be held for the visiting envoy? We will enter the ball as guests and use that opportunity to kill the crown prince."
Anatole appeared thoughtful for a minute. "A good idea indeed, we can not only use the crowd to hide our tracks and create evidence that it was an enemy attack but also slip unnoticed."
She grinned. "Yes and while they try to figure out how their hidden enemies, we will use that moment to finish off the rest of the cult people. In the obvious chaos the cultist will be agitated since a one of their useful pawns just died. They will do two things; one, place another influenced cult member to be next in line of the throne or they will try to escape."
He pointed out, "Or they will attempt do both of them. We need to keep a watch on the list of cult suspects as well as anyone who shows sign of cult behavior. Then we will use the element of surprise take them off guard."
Claudina gave her signature high pitched laugh. "An excellent plan wouldn't you agree?"
The other saint watched open mouthed at the plan that was formulated within a few minutes.
"It is. But…" he raised his head. "…how will we sneak in an invite?"
She smiled widely. "Why, we will simply become part of the envoy!"
"I don't quite…understand." Anatole said. He was shaking his head. "How on earth will we sneak in another kingdom's envoy? Also one that is not under the jurisdiction of any gods?"
"Well…"
Claudina watched the snow drift in the air as she stood outside if the hotel. Her pale skin flushed red from the cold while little puffs of breath came out from her nose. She cupped her hands to catch the snow flakes.
She caught a few. The intricate design of each flake was unique. It reminded of her the porcelain dolls she owned back home. The clothes those dolls wore all had a lace sewn at the bottom.
"Miss Spade?"
She spun on her heels.
Lucas May was standing behind her warmly wrapped in a long brown coat, a black scarf and a winter hat with ear flaps. Both the coat and hat were lined with fur. "Mr. May," she greeted back. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"
"Miss Spade you wound me," he said coming towards her. "Don't be so distant."
"But Mr. May we just met."
"Exactly! Even if we met one time doesn't mean that we shouldn't ignore the other."
"I am not ignoring you though." She tilted her head to the side, her dark curls swaying.
He signed dramatically. "That's what I said to Arche too. There's no way you would ignore us." Now he looked sad but Claudina could see he was simply putting on a show. "But even I couldn't help feel that way you know~ After that fateful night we never saw your shadow in the past few days."
"I was busy." She lied. She wasn't busy. She purposely avoided them. 'Finally in the trap~ Just a few more steps now!'
Claudina went back to the flying snowflakes. Some of them had melted on her grey mittens.
"Please don't be so cold." He stared at the snowflakes on her hair. He grinned as a particular one landed right on her nose. In the fresh driven snow, with her black hair and bright green eyes she resembled a forest fairy. He couldn't see well that night with all the wine he drank but Claudina looked more ravishing under the white snow then the yellow lights of the hall. "You said you would meet us."
"If my schedule clears up. But I was too busy" she said. She clapped her hand closed before turning with a coy smile. "Seems like Mr. May missed me?"
He spluttered with his words. "Uh…err…M-miss Spade sure loves to tease people." 'He is certainly not used to others flirting back…'
"Oh~ don't be like that~ Just a minute ago you said you missed me."
He frowned but his toothy grin didn't disperse. It only widened. "Yes but with people who I am fond of."
"Dear me! Do you always wear your heart on your cheek like this or it with me only?"
"Take a guess Miss Spade."
"Fufufu~ But I don't want to~"
"Are you worried my treatment will change?"
"Take a guess Mr. May~" she said the words back at him. He looked baffled before his face broke into amusement.
She opened her palm again. This time she stood on her tiptoes to catch the snow flakes. She stumbled a bit but she managed to catch a few good looking ones. She smiled. With this many she could freeze them permanently with the new ice spell she created. She wondered though if the snow will melt in the heat wave of the hotel.
"Miss Spade?"
"Yes?" 'Don't interrupt me fool.'
He had a curious look as he watched her crouching over fallen snowflakes. Although he liked the very pretty picture it painted with Claudina on the snow he much preferred to her speak. In his opinion her voice was like a siren's; captivating, enchanting but ultimately leading to someone's doom.
"Are you fond of winter?"
"Yes and no. I like the beauty of it but not the cold. What about you Mr. May?"
"Uh…I am not very fond of it." He looked away.
"Oh. Why?'
He smiled sadly. "I lost my mother last winter."
She blinked.
Lucas laughed a little. "She loved the winter season too. Unfortunately that same winter killed her. It was a cold she had been suffering for a long time. "
'Stop opening up to me. I only asked why not for you to open up about your family history. I don't want to know about your family history. I don't care about it either. So stop. Also I don't like the winter season. I am indifferent to it.'
"She insisted that day to go out. We let her do it, a strong gale blew at her. She laughed a lot that day. I think she knew since the next week her fever got worse. She died with a smile in the middle of a winter storm."
Expressionlessly she stared at him. 'What does he want me to do? Comfort him? That woman I call mother isn't dead yet and frankly I wouldn't care if she did die. Everyone in the duchy would actually be happy if she did die though. No wait I think I should probably say something like this…'
"…I am sorry about that." She looked down at her now folded hands. "I must have opened up some old wounds."
"Don't be. It wasn't your doing." 'No I think I would I kill your mother for giving birth to a complete imbecile.'
"That reminds me! The reason I came running down the minute I saw you outside." He said it so suddenly that it made her jump. Turning he flashed her a charming smile. "Miss Spade, are you free this morning?"
She raised an eyebrow. "Why?"
"To invite you to the festival."
"Festival?" 'Was there a festival supposed to happen here?'
Yes. Will you? Please don't say no."
She gently smiled. "Very well. Since you insisted I will." He punched the air with the excitement of a child. "However I must return early. One of my friends is ill you see and I need to take care of them."
'I get to see Anatole's face today. I can finally verify whether or not is he as handsome as the rumors. I am not missing it for anything in this world. I have some time to kill until then.'
"Fine by me." He gave her his hand to hold. "Also call me Lucas from now on."
'The things I do for my ambition…Truly Claudina…'
Grinning she took his hand and he pulled her forward. "Alright…Lucas."
Lucas led Claudina through the snowy land. After walking a few distances she could see signs of the festival being held.
Arrangements of silk flowers were tied to the lampposts and the snow had been cleared off the streets. Food and game stalls in bright colored tents were being visited by eager people. A bonfire burned in the cobbled square. The cold frigid air had the warm bustle of people laughing.
Claudina felt herself being pulled towards the festival.
"Miss Spade where do you wish to go first?" he asked.
"Where ever you wish to take me."
"Don't be like that! I want you to enjoy the festival," he pleaded.
She looked around trying to find something interesting. 'Never once have I participated in a commoner's festival. I even refused to sneak out to the town with Prince Lucian. It's unbecoming of a noble to behave like a street riff-raff.'
Nothing caught her eye however to appease the sparkly puppy dog eyes Lucas gave her she randomly pointed at a game stall.
He beamed and practically dragged her there. 'I am regretting this so much.'
It was a shooting game. Sharp darts rested on the counter. At the very back were colorful balloons blown and stuck on a square broad that was as big as the tent. The balloons had numbers written on them; the red ones 5, the yellow 10, the blue 15 and the green ones 20. Tired around the tent were plush toys of various animals.
The man in charge was a thin pale man with an unpleasant smirk. A young couple had been playing the game. After a certain amount of balloons were popped the man handed a medium sized plush to the couple. The girl squealed in delight and gave a kiss on the boy's cheek.
'The production of guns hasn't reached here yet it seems.'
She looked at the darts. They were new and didn't look tampered with. Neither were the balloons.
'The game must be a point system; the more points, the bigger the prize.'
"Which one do you want me to get for you?" Startled she gazed at Lucas as he took the four darts given the man. The man took the coins on the counter with a greedy swipe. He leered at Claudina before glancing at Lucas with open disgust.
"Choose one or I might just win them all for you," he said winking at her. Laughing lightly she directed her gaze at the plush. 'Aren't I too old to play with a toy? What will I do with one? I suppose I can give it to Oriane…' "Hmm…that one," she said pointing to a white rabbit with long droopy ears and glass beads for eyes.
"Alright!" He threw the dart right of the bat it hit a green one. He took another one and shot at another green. He popped two more with loud bangs. The man raised his eyebrows in surprise. All four arrows hit their mark. Some people stopped to look in amazement.
'Is it that amazing? I could hit the marks too.'
"Well I think with that many points I could get the first prize but what the lady wants is what she will get." He snapped his fingers at the man. "So my good man I want the rabbit." The stall owner begrudgingly untied the rope from where the rabbit hung and tried to hand it to Claudina but Lucas was quicker.
After he seized the toy by the ear and plopped it on her chest he speed walked out of there with her.
"…Lucas?" His grasp on her hand tightened. She scowled. 'First he brings me here to have fun, now when I start to have fun he gets angry; bipolar fool.' "Lucas. Lucas! Mr. May!!"
Lucas halted his movements causing her bump her nose on his back. "Ow!"
Immediately he turned. "Miss Spade are you alright?" 'Where do I look alright, you blind deaf?!' "A-ah yes I am fine. But are you alright? I called your name but you seem out of it."
He looked apologetic. "It's my fault. Your mood must be down." Sheepishly he down casted his eyes.
"You are fine now though."
His head shot up. Slowly he nodded. "Then let's continue on with the festival." She smiled and took his hand to lead him. 'It's like I looking after my younger cousins again.'
Afterwards Lucas felt much better as they participated in the games. Claudina participated as well to reciprocate the endless prizes he gave her. They ate from the food stalls upon many insistence from Lucas. With a pained smile she swallowed the street food. Unbeknownst to him, she secretly spat out the food in her handkerchief before throwing it away.
Though ever so often, Lucas would suddenly grab her hand to take her to another part of the festival. After the first few times it happened Claudina observed and deducted what conditions was that it made him like this. If it was a strange illness she could use it against him if her plan didn't work.
However it was nothing like that.
Rather every time a man of any age was inching close to her he would remove themselves from the near vicinity. The same applied to the women that were in the festival.
'He is oddly jealous over someone he doesn't know long enough.' She grimaced inwardly. 'Thinking back he had a fiancée. She's part of the envoy. Lovely lady, I met her myself. A bit shy but lovely nonetheless. So why is he playing around in a festival with me instead of such an adorable lady?'
A thought crossed her head. She made a face that went unnoticed by Lucas.
'Please don't be what I am thinking!'