[R&S 1.2] Castle Servants in Wikkthronrarenta

Mid November, 1525Linen closet of the CastleWikkthronrarenta

“Shivan! Over here.”

“Rosie, what is it?

“Quick, come inside…”

“Why are we hiding in a linen closet?”

“I want to ask you something, but it’s not for the ears of anyone else… I heard there was another apparition last night, is it true?”

“You know you shouldn’t be asking me such things! Where did you hear that?”

“One of the footmen said there was shouting from the King’s room. Was it King Imrik again?”

“That snoop! He should know better than to listen at doors. Who was it? What’s his name? I ought to report him to the Steward this instant. It’s no good for the castle to have footmen who speaks about what he hears, and even worse for them to be going about listening at doors. If he ever gets caught, they’ll hang him for a spy. Tell me his name now, and I’m sure the Steward will see he’s fairly treated.”

“Oh calm your tempers, he wasn’t listening at any doors and you know it. Even if he wanted to, how could he? With the King’s Guard standing out there? He, and I’m not saying who, was just minding his master’s business in the night. And before you ask, no, I won’t tell you the errand or his master. The poor footman’s done nothing wrong but hear something he couldn’t help but hear.”

“Even so, it’s unfitting to whisper about what happens in a lord’s chambers after dark. That’s why you’re still serving in the guest rooms and I’m attending her Highness.”

“Don’t play high and mighty with me, Shivon. I know very well you take home the ribbons and linens the Empress is done with. How would the Steward feel about that if I told him? Hmmm?”

“Rosie! That is another matter entirely. When the Empress is done with something, it is up to me how best to dispose of it. Never you mind what becomes a rag, what gets burned, and what ends up where. If the Empress didn’t trust my judgment, she wouldn’t have asked for me.”

“Well then, it sounds like you don’t actually know anything, do you? Are they still not spending time together? Did he not tell her about it? When was the last time they-”

“By great eight… the only thing worse than whispering in corridors is spreading falsehoods and slanders. I’ll tell what I know, but only to set the record straight. And don’t you go telling anybody else what I’ve got to say. No good comes from gossip.”

“I wouldn’t even speak a word of it to you if you weren’t you.”

“Alright then… There’s truth in what you’ve said. The King of Roses appeared in his highness’s chambers last night. He woke the king from his sleep with his ranting and raving again. Shouting like a madman about an invasion of devils, of plagues and horrors so foul. Just as the Kingsguard was bursting in through the doors, ready to defend him, the King banished the apparition with a silver chalice.”

“A silver chalice? Was it holy?”

“Don’t be foolish. Nobody has need of a holy chalice.”

“The last Empress…”

“ROSIE! Mind that twisted tongue of yours! That is not funny!”

“If it’s not funny, then why do you grin so?”

“You are going to get us both in so much trouble. Behave yourself!”

“I grieved for her grace just as much as you did. If her grace, peace be on her, were alive today, she would have smirked just as much as you. You know it that she had a streak of dark humor run through her. I don’t think she would mind a quiet jest said in private. Not from two people who loved her so.”

“I’m going to pretend you didn’t say any of that. Anyways, after he appeared in the King’s room, he appeared in her highness’s too”

“Father protect her, is the Empress alright?”

“Oh she’s fine. Our lady is made of sterner stuff. A little haunting won’t ruffle her feathers. Its well known that the apparition can’t cause any real harm, and besides, he’s been visiting the King almost every night for the past half season, it was only a matter of time before he started to creep on her as well.”

“What did he say? Was it the same demands and instructions like he gives the king? Was it threats and ominous warnings to-”

“Hush now. Give me leave to speak and I’ll tell you. He didn’t shout. He woke her real gentle, with soft words and cooing sounds. He whispered to her that the King shouldn’t be trusted, that his arrival was too fortuitous, that his true aims were hidden in shadows. King Imrik said that King Van was a follower of the goddess of lies and half truths. That he cared not for her, nor us, nor anyone but his own cultish ideations. That he was intent on raising armies and sending them off to distant lands for his own ends. He begged Empress Lissandra to seek an outside cleric and break free of the charms that he claimed bound her. He told her that all she had to do was give him a signal, and that he would come and rid the castle of the Van-Healsing once and for all.”

“No! He threatened to kill the king!?”

“Shhh, quiet down. He didn’t threaten to, he just asked if the Empress wanted him to, and that he would if she said so.”

“That’s a distinction without a difference if I’ve ever heard of one.”

“Perhaps, but she calmly stood and told the ghost to come visit her in the flesh. She told him that he had done great things, wonderful things, that he was a mighty warrior, and a true member of her family. She told him that his mind had been gripped by some form of madness, that he was jumping at shadows, and lashing out at imagined slights. She said that his family loved him, and would care for him during his time of duress. If he only came to the castle King Van could abjure the demons that bind his heart, cloud his vision, and darken his soul, and he would see clearly once again. She told him now was the time to rest, and that she would see to it personally that her son would watch over his lands so that no other pretender could claim them. That her son could be trusted because he is heir to the Empire, that governing Mistrya would be good practice for him, and that he would need to turn it over to his wise uncle - she meant Imrik of course - when he was recovered.”

“Mother have mercy… what did the apparition do?”

“He went white as a sheet - and as soon as she reached out to him, he fled. Run back to his palace under the mountain, just like all the other times he appeared before the king.”

“Blessed Aaris… I can’t imagine waking to such nightmares. At least he’s not appearing within the privy anymore. That was crude, even for a… …what is the king anyway? He looked like a normal man, handsome even, when he appeared in court. But if his mind and soul are bound to some demon, does that make him something like a vampire? A skin walker?”

“I… I don’t know exactly. They say he was a drunken layabout before Her Grace armed him and his brothers. They say he used to keep one hand on a bottle and another hand on a bottom until his prince of a brother, gods rest his soul, turned him into a gentleman. Perhaps he was always a beastly creature, and it was only the goodness of his brother, her grace, and the great golden dragon that kept his dark desires in check. You’ve heard the stories about how they can’t keep a chamber maid for more than a year in Crownhold, and they pay thrice what we get.”

“Is he still a man?”

“Why are you asking me for, Rosie? Do I look like a witch to you? All I know is what I hear and what the Empress tells me. And this morning, while we were dressing her, she told me and the others all about last night. It didn’t sound like a vampire here to seduce her and drain her blood, more like an addled old man who can’t remember who he was or what he was doing. Like someone lost in a dream they couldn’t awake from. She sounded sad and looked wounded.”

“Oh now, I’m beginning to pity him. Once a great hero, now all alone in that castle. Richer than anyone alive, but can’t find a wife. Can’t even keep a servant. Family is all dead. Nothing but cold hearted killers, thieves, and worse to rule over. No wonder he has taken to visiting people by spirit in the middle of the night. A tortured soul like that, it’s almost romantic.”

“Now, don’t have too much pity Rosie. He still a dragonslayer. He still has the power to destroy this castle and every one in it with the snap of his fingers. Whether he’s a brute by nature, or an addled old man, or his soul is held by a devil, he can still cause terrible harm to those anger him, and gods know who that might be on any given day. I think that’s why the good King has been so patient with him. He doesn’t want to rouse the beast. Now come on, you’d best be getting along before someone asks where you’ve been. And remember, not a word of this to anyone. It does no good to gossip about what happens behind closed doors.”