I slid into the tub, marveling at the room. The white marble floors shone to the point of showing my reflection, and the matching furniture had golden accents to complete their luxurious look. Big windows were on the walls with white curtains that flowed in the wind due to a slight breeze. I guess the royalty of Robaine really know how to live.
Nanny Emilia entered the room with a towel and a bucket. "Is the water a good temperature for you?" she asked. "I picked a lavender oil to help with your nerves."
She poured the oil into the bath and I inhaled the scent, which tickled my nose. I let out a deep sigh and sank into the water, my body beginning to tingle.
"The Crown Prince uses this whenever he returns from battle," she smiled. "He recommended I choose this or chamomile for you. I didn't want you to fall asleep so this was better. You'll have to remember to keep some stocked when you take over the kingdom."
That reminds me!
"Nanny, do you know anything about the agreement of the marriage between the Crown Prince and I?"
She paused for a moment, seemingly to ponder telling me.
"It was an agreement between the king and your father when you and the prince turned 7," she answered, grabbing a sponge and gliding it over my back. "It was decided to be the best thing to ensure the royal family could maintain power after the king began to fall ill. Has his highness explained anything about your father to you?"
"No, there hasn't been much time to set aside for the conversation."
"Your father was very famous," she said. "He possessed a rare type of magic called purification magic. He helped purify the lands of Robaine when we had an outbreak of dark magic that spread. He also fought to keep the lands bountiful, expanding our agricultural industry which helped boost the economy. In the eyes of the people, he and the king had the same amount of power."
Whoa. My father was never that amazing of a man in Kitelle. He was just a tired man accused of being a smuggler.
"Your bloodline possesses a stronghold on purification magic," she continued. "No other bloodline carries it. That rarity coupled with your father's popularity, made the vassals nervous. They didn't want there to be a sway to the king's other than their own, especially with his health declining. If the king dies, and the crown prince is unwed, his position would be unstable. Their positions would be unstable."
She's right. The people could easily have chosen my father. Being the man Nanny explains him as, he wouldn't have been easily controlled. A devastated young prince is a more attractive choice, if they could get him engaged to someone in their pocket to keep their seats.
"They began to bring notions to force the prince to get engaged," she said with a frown. "The poor king was in bed with a fever for a week but they kept visiting. Not only that, the dark magic from before had begun to seep back through our western border from the unfounded lands. But they only cared about themselves. Soon, the king lamented to engage the prince but he chose to ask your father for your hand."
That makes sense. He could trust him enough to know he'd have no bad intentions if he agreed.
"Unfortunately," she said, "your father declined. He wanted you to choose who you were to wed. But the king was desperate and decided to make an agreement with your father instead. If he allowed the marriage between you two, then after the dark magic was cleared and the threat from the vassals was dealt with, you would be free to divorce and remarry as you pleased. Your father agreed to that, seeing a sense of duty in it. But not long after that woman began showing up with your father to the palace. Then, you were all gone."
That woman...she must be referring to my mother. Well, the mother I know.
"Do I have a mother separate from Remier?"
"Well yes!" Nanny said, slamming her hands into the water in excitement. "Your mother was such a beauty. You look like her spitting image! Lady Catherine was a strong hearted woman that would join your father in his younger days of clearing out the dark magic. Her magic was a water type. Many of the knights were afraid of her though. Apparently she was quite strict."
I felt a faint headache and she stopped noticing me cradle my head into my hands.
"That's enough for now," she said, panicking. "But that's the agreement. Since you're here now then I'd imagine things will get back on track."
As she said this, I couldn't help but feel anxious. There were more adversaries piling up against me as the days went by. Also, this marriage...if they still wanted us to marry...would be until the vassals were replaced and until the dark magic was cleared out.
"What is dark magic?"
"Dark magic is more of an ooze than magic," she said, pouring water over my head. "It's a physical manifestation of a collection of curses. Just like how our magic is derived of a blessing, dark magic is derived of a curse. When a curse is placed on an object, person, or thing, it emits an essence that corrodes the life around it. Slowly but surely. That essence can build up due to a large amount of curses in an area and create an ooze. This ooze kills anything it touches. It's extremely dangerous to even get close to it as its vapors can kill you. Maliece spent a while doing research on devices that could help magicians not immune to get close but they would all corrode as well. Your bloodline is completely immune to it and able to purify it."
That's incredible! I've never heard of any of this before. Is it because of Kitelle's control over magic users that I hadn't heard of such things or is evidence of it hidden?
Wait.
"But I've never used magic. Nor have I tried."
"You are never far from being able to learn something," she said. "You...can do it. I know you can."
Her expression was one that told me that she was sure of her words. Possibly to the point of having seen it before.
I was beginning to believe in what they were saying more and more.
"Are we almost done? I'm starting to feel a bit sleepy."
"Oh my!" she said, wiping her hands. "Maybe I put too much lavender. I'll grab a gown and tell them to have dinner delivered to your room. I'll show you there. Excuse me!"
My room?
I haven't had a room in a while.
Nanny Emilia left the room and I was left alone with my thoughts. I had a lot to process. I was a princess, I had a powerful bloodline, and I was supposed to marry the Crown Prince. But I also had a lot of questions. What was purification magic exactly; it doesn't seem very simple? How did I use my magic? And what happened to my mother? Who was my father exactly?
I sighed and sank deeper into the water. I would have to find the answers to these questions soon. My future seems to depended on it. Hopefully, I can trust this High Magician to help sort things out.
Nanny Emilia returned a few minutes later with a gown and a tray of food. She helped me out of the tub and into the gown, then she showed me to my room.
The room was small but cozy. It had a bed, a dresser, a desk, and a chair. There was also a window that looked out over the gardens.
Nanny Emilia helped me into bed and then she left me to rest. I was exhausted, but I couldn't sleep. My mind was racing with thoughts.
I closed my eyes and tried to relax. I took a deep breath and imagined myself in the gardens. I could smell the flowers and hear the birds singing. I felt the sun on my face and the wind in my hair.
I slowly drifted off to sleep, feeling more peaceful than I had in a long time.
**The next morning, I woke up feeling refreshed.**
I got out of bed and went to the window. The sun was shining and the birds were singing. It was a beautiful day.
I went to the dresser and found a note from Nanny Emilia. It said that she had gone to the market and would be back soon.
I decided to explore the castle. I wandered through the halls, admiring the paintings and tapestries. I eventually found my way to the library.
The library was huge. There were bookshelves everywhere, filled with books of all shapes and sizes. I couldn't believe how many books there were.
I started to browse the shelves, looking for anything that might tell me more about dark magic or my supposed family lineage. I found a few books that looked promising, but they were all written in a language I didn't understand, the language of Robaine— Robainox.
How inconvenient. But it'd be weird to find a book I could read in here.
I was about to give up when I saw a book that was written in the language of Kitelle—Killeon.
Why would a book in Killeon be here?
The title was "The History of Dark Magic." I took the book down and started to read.