Mara and Morok

“Well,” he is forced to continue, “you already know my son Daniel. And this,” he points to the left where the golden-haired woman is sitting, “is my daughter Elena.”

“Your Highness.” I turn to the princess and bow my head.

“Welcome, Mara. Your name is Agatha, is that right?” She has a pleasant soft voice. “Brother has told me so much about you. I should say, I’m impressed and glad to have you here. You look wonderful.”

“Did you expect to see a half-rotten corpse, Your Highness?”

“I don’t know… I mean of course not but…”

“I was expecting to see some signs of decay myself when I first saw my own reflection. And I was no less surprised that Your Highness when I didn’t see any.”

Princess nods in response, a little embarrassed. I glance back at the king, who looks even more exhausted now, and decide to cut the courtesies short so that we can finish our conversation before he nods off. Besides, I feel tired myself, it’s been a long day.

“Your Majesty, let us cut to the chase. Your son has not yet explained to me why I am here.”

The king gives Daniel a quizzical look and turns back to me.

“About a month ago, my elder son Nikolay was poisoned.”

“Did he die?” I prompt as the king doesn’t continue.

“No, thank gods. Nikolay is my heir. I have been raising him to be a king. I wanted, when my time comes, to pass the country on to a strong and competent ruler. I wanted someone who would put an end to this long-running and fruitless conflict with Serat and would help return Araken to its former glory. If he dies, it’s all been in vain.”

So, the king and his heir want to end the war. The king’s voice has a definite edge to it now. I cast a fleeting glance at Daniel, but he doesn’t seem to mind that his father doesn’t even consider him a worthy successor to the throne. His smile is easy and relaxed and he is scanning around the hall absent-mindedly. Princess Elena still has the same discreet smile on her lips.

“Are you planning to sign a truce with Serat?”

“What was that?” the king seems to have zoned out again.

“Peace. Do you want to make peace with Serat?” I repeat slowly trying not to let my irritation show.

“There will be no peace now!” The king throws up his arms. “But gods know, I tried! We had an agreement with Aleksey Lasnetsov that his son would marry Elena. But Aleksey is dead and the other one, Severin, just went and married another, throwing the whole deal out the window!”

Out of the corner of my eye, I can see Elena pursing her lips.

“You tell me, Mara, haven’t I done EVERYTHING? Haven’t I been kind and FORGIVEN him?” the king raises his voice and bangs his fist on the armrest.

I try to stay calm telling myself it’s not me he is angry with. The king stares somewhere above my head, probably not even seeing me.

“I’m sure you were terribly kind, Your Majesty.”

“I still offered him a truce! If he had just gotten rid of his fiancée,” the king spits the word out with obvious distaste, “and taken Elena as his true wife. I gave him a second chance, but he THREW IT IN MY FACE! Do you know what pitiful excuse this suckling gave me?!”

“He said he’d fallen in LOVE!” the king pounds his fist again and almost yells the last word, so that Elena starts and seems to shrink in her seat.

I just stand there watching all of them, watching their reactions. I see now that Daniel only pretends to be disinterested and distracted but he’s listening to his father, his eyes are cold and his lips have become a thin line. Then a slight movement behind the royal family catches my eye. It’s that dark-haired man again. Daniel must really trust him if he’s allowed him to stay during such a delicate conversation.

“I’d say good riddance, Your Majesty,” I say.

“What was that?”

“I’m saying you’re probably better off without this marriage. The Lasnetsovs have traitor blood, I learned that the hard way.” I raise my head higher and look the king in the eye. “You shouldn’t have even promised the princess to them. Their word is worth nothing, as you’ve seen for yourself. You hoped that after the truce Nikolay’s throne would be safe. But why did you think marriage bonds would stop Severin from attacking Araken? I say it would have been worse had the wedding taken place. Elena would be their lever of pressure on you.”

“He wouldn’t have dared,” king Dmitry says more quietly and with less certainty.

I cock my head and give him a cold smile.

“I remember thinking the same about the Prince of Serat. And now I see where I am and remember why I died.”

“So, the rumors are true… He did that?”

“Yes, and I heard it from the victim herself, while she was bleeding to death in my arms.”

“Horrible, horrible,” Dmitry repeats even more quietly, stroking his beard pensively.

“I told you, father, that they are behind the poisoning! Isn’t all the evidence pretty conclusive? They know I’m not a rival for them,” Daniel cuts in.

“So, you believe Nikolay has been poisoned by Serat?”

“I do, Agatha. There’s proof, we’ve even found the poisoner who’s confessed everything,” Daniel nods.

I’m still holding my hands in front of me and they’ve gone numb. So, I unclasp them and drop my arms to my sides, allowing myself a more relaxed pose.

“What do you want from me, then?”

“To prolong Nikolay’s life,” the king replies.

I scoff but pull myself together as soon as I see the expression on the faces of the royal family.

“Do you understand what you are asking for? When we prolong someone’s life, time freezes for them. If we prolong an old man’s life, he will not grow younger, he will just be old for longer, since the charms won’t let him die a natural death till they wear off. If Nikolay is in a bad condition now, and I put such charms on him, he will suffer from the poison in his body for many years to come without the mercy of death.” I can see their faces turn paler by the word. Could they really have no idea about how these charms work? “How is he now?”