"Aren't you going to find lady Elizabeth?" Ceaser asked Crow who was standing idly by the window.
"No. It's not as thrilling to hunt when you know whom your prey is. Gregory, Paschar and Lucien haven't gone either." Crow answered in an uninterested tone.
"Do you know the women they have been paired with?" Ceaser asked.
"Yes. Let me see here.... Paschar is with a lady known as Scarlett, Gregory and a certain Maria and then Lucien and... Pipper." Crow responded bored.
"What happens if someone sees your shadow?" Ceaser asked lifting his feet from the basin of water,"Or maybe they see you wondering about without a shadow?"
Crow chuckled but gave no answer to Ceaser's question. He was looking at Elizabeth who was inquiring about his whereabouts from a palace guard while Eve stood alone under a tree playing with the white rose that had been on her flower crown. The sun had set by now and only a few people were roaming around. Crow looked behind at his master who had frozen his flower crown to preserve it and smiled. He hadn't accepted for Ceaser to marry Eve because of his past with her family but he had come to the realization that she wasn't a part of his past. They resemblance she had to his own mother made him develope a soft spot for her in his heart and he felt that he owed it to his mother to protect her.
"What are you doing thinking about Eve?" Ceaser asked standing next to Crow.
"She wants to look for you but is too shy." Crow said, pointing out the obvious.
"That's not all." Ceaser said feeling that Crow was keeping something back from him.
Crow smiled innocently and looked at Eve once again and then said in a whisper,
"She's my niece."
Ceaser's eyes widened and he nearly lost his balance as he looked down at where Eve was sitting. Niece? Was she also a century old?
"No she isn't." Crow said with a chuckle,"Her father was born only after my fall at the hands of Ceaser."
"What?" Ceaser asked confused.
"Her grandfather was but a young man then, about to ascend the throne. He was denied that right on account that he hadn't a wife then making him unfit to ascend the throne. My father, her grandfather's brother, was already married so grandfather chose him instead."
"How do you know?" Ceaser asked.
"Her grandfather was envious because his birth rite had been taken by his younger brother."
"I asked you something."
"Let me finish the tale before I lose interest."
Ceaser frowned but listened to Crow.
"Father reigned for over ten years without an heir and it made most of his subjects anxious so he took over twenty concubines, my mother inclusive, to bare him children. It so happened that she was the first to conceive and then the queen. An old wise woman or witch was called to determine who was carrying a male child and when it was found that my mother was the one with a male child she was made queen instead. When I was born about a year later, the first queen had already found out that my mother was a witch and had gathered some fanatics to burn us both."
"What happened to her child?"
"She used the girl as a sacrifice to blind my father."
"Physical blindness?"
"Yes."
"So she was a witch as well?"
"Not really. She had gotten a witch to help her with it along with my uncle, Eve's grandfather. My mother fled and I'm sure you know the rest of the story." Crow concluded.
Ceaser nodded and looked at Eve who was now looking up at them. It made some sense to ceaser with how similar their eyes were. So she was his niece.
"So how do you know? The question still stands." Caesar asked Crow in cautious tone seeing how emotional Crow looked.
The sad expression that was on Crow's face instantly fell to be replaced by a frown.
"Can't you read the occasion sire? Does it seem like a good time to ask such a question?"
"Is there ever a good time for anything?" Caesar countered trying to escape Crow's scolding.
"Yes. I know there's always a good time and then there's a better time. Couldn't you see that I was lost in thought."
"Is it my fault that she had your head in the clouds?"
"Yes it is. If you hadn't asked me why I was thinking about my niece."Crow said as if it was obvious.
"I didn't know she was your niece." Caesar defended himself. Crow rolled his eyes at his sire and Caesar just shrugged his shoulders.
"The witch who raised me is the one who told me about it."
"So, is there a possibility that she was lying?" Caesar asked.
"No there is no possibility," Crow answered his voice slightly raised. "....She was a witch but she never told a lie. She might have killed but she never lied."
"So did she ever go around telling people she was a witch because she didn't want to lie?" Ceaser asked.
"She would just keep quiet on such occasions so that she doesn't lie." Crow answered walking to the bed while Ceaser remained by the window.
Caeser raised his brows at Crow and the latter looked absentmindedly at his hands that rested on his lap. A few minutes went by in silence where none of them looked at the other.
"So is Lucan also taking part in the game?" Ceaser asked finally.
"He did try to look but he has given up." Crow answered in a tone that told Ceaser that Lucan had barely tried.
In another room Lucan sat with a teacup in his hands that he occasionally sipped from. He was enjoying his time like the princess hadn't asked him to play a game with her.
"Peaceful." he said as he watched the night sky fill itself with stars and the moon that was starting to glow and give off it's brilliant light.
He took a deep breath and held it in for a minute before exhaling. He took a few more sips from the cup and then gulped down the rest of the warm liquid. At the same time, a knock was heard at the door in three light taps just like when Evirelda had arrived in the courtroom to tell them about her silly game. He didn't answer or make a noise and slowly put the tea cup on the table. He walked to the bed and sat down and removed his shoes slowly then he got into the blankets and covered himself completely. The knock was heard again and after a few seconds the door opened and he shut his eyes. At the door stood Evirelda in a plain white night gown and her hair was let down so she could sleep more freely.
"Are you sleeping?" she asked in a small voice that he knew meant she was about to ask him to do something for her.
He didn't answer her and continued to act like he was sleeping. He heard her footsteps coming towards him and hoped she would just leave him alone. The flower crown she had given him was neatly placed on a shelf while he had burnt the rose.
"Are you not playing?" she asked again when he didn't respond,"Your partner is waiting for you outside. I know you aren't sleeping."
Lucan still remained silent in hopes of her departure from his room.
"Your breathing is uneven." she said.
Lucan uncovered himself at those words wondering how a 7-year-old child could tell from someone's breathing that they were not sleeping. "Of course I'm not sleeping but I did look." he said,"I looked around earlier but saw no maiden with a pink rose then I quit."
Evirelda's face fell and she contorted her face at him. Just when he started hoping that she might leave out of anger she started crying helplessly. She run towards the door and Lucan rashed after her to stop her from leaving the room. He covered her mouth and waited for her to stop crying but she bit his finger and he hissed from the pain. He smiled at her and covered her with the blanket and she uncovered herself to glare at him.
"I'll play if you keep quiet and go to sleep." he said to her sweetly even though he felt like strangling her.
"You should play otherwise I will inform Caeser about this. I will report you for this injustice that poor woman is going through. She is waiting for you outside where she might be hurt."
"Did I tell her to go there?" Lucan retorted.
"I told her to go there and wait for you."
"Then go and get her."
"I have been forbidden from stepping outside the palace after dark so I cannot go."
"Send someone to tell her then."
"She won't listen. She's waiting for you."
"Who is she."
"Penelope." Evirelda answered enthusiastically.
Those words were enough to make Lucan's blue eyes darken and become a dark deep blue. Of all the women she could think of, why Penelope? He got back on the bed and covered himself again. Evirelda started punching him so he would go and get Penelope but he refused to move. Then he had a brilliant idea that he was sure Penelope would love very much.