Eudora

Chapter 3

Eudora was just about returning to the Ballroom to satisfy her pastry cravings when the watchman's bell was set in motion.

The echoing of the bell spread fast across the entire Kingdom, and the people began trooping into the Ballroom.

'The watchman's bell? What could have occurred to cause such a stir?', Eudora asked as she frantically made her way to the Palace Ballroom amidst the panicked crowd.

The once organized evening party turned into pure chaos.

Servants walked about in fear, their knees visibly shaking as if they were the perpetrators caught in the act.

The female singers huddled themselves in a corner and began screaming.

The maids whispered anxiously to each other, 'They say the King is dead,' 'I hear it's the King's jealous brother Yusan, ' 'It may be the proud Prince Vynn wanting power,' Oh, how dreadful,' On a day like this,' 'Heavens, have mercy upon us'.

They were everywhere. A tide of white coats and gentle voices, nurses and physicians weaving through the marble halls, binding the Palace together with extreme vigilance.

Upon getting to the entrance of the Ballroom, she immediately understood it was an emergency. But who was so unfortunate?

'The King is dying, save we pray. Merciful comforters, spirits of the living. Goddess of youth and life, save we pray. Turn sour the evil hands that did this and breathe life back to our King. Save we pray, sacred mothers,' bellowed the Priest as the physicians surrounded the already late King.

'The King is dying, pray, pray, save thee,' the crowd chanted loudly as though it would resurrect King Valerius.

Eudora was already drowning beneath the press of bodies and noise, but the whisper that the King was dying tore through her and left her hollow, as though her very strength had been poured out onto the tiles.

Wailing and outcry filled the ballroom.

The Queen had long collapsed and was rushed to the royal clinic alongside Vynn, who appeared to be in a state of conscious unconsciousness.

Adolphus broke, and his grief tore from him like the wail of a storm.

Rage rose from him like black smoke, fury crowning his brow in a dark aura.

It was no lament. That cry was steel and thunder, the first drumbeat of war cast into the world.

It was the dread he had carried in silence; now, made virtual, all his nightmares came to pass in a single, shattering moment, the shadow he feared most finally fallen across the throne.

And yet the young master was but a sapling, untested by storm, green in power, with hands unbloodied and a crown he had never earned, armor he had never worn in battle.

With the lion fallen and the throne sitting empty, whose blood was worthy to fill it? Who would dare rise and claim the name of the King's position?

It was to be a day of happiness; who turned the tables?

'Here, our King has departed from us; our kind and generous leader had his neck slit so deeply it killed him almost immediately. For look, if any amongst you had harbored such animosity towards our King, and here you have carried it out. Let not the heavens reveal your matter; approach the priest for an exorcism, for this is the work of a force darker than we can ever imagine. My King,' hollered his cousin Reiner Allisan, the Constable.

Everything felt unreal to Eudora; just a moment ago, the Palace walls echoed with bliss.

The wine goblets now lay bare on the ground like it was in mourning too.

The fine dining was left untouched.

Chandeliers swung from side to side, making eerie noises that added to the gloomy atmosphere.

In a sharp outburst of turmoil, Eudora was slowly losing it. She finally gave way to her knees and fainted.

‐--

The sweet aroma of brewed Chammomile tea woke Eudora up from her trance.

The scent of home swept over her like spring rain on dry earth, and suddenly life returned to her soul.

'Ma, father,' she screamed, leaping to her parents as though they were the ones she had just mourned.

Her mom, Elowyn, rushed and embraced her only daughter.

'My little trifle cake, you had me worried sick. I searched everywhere, the garden, the watchtower, but to no avail. Ohhh, it is dreadful what has befallen our Kingdom today, ohhh dear,' cried Elowyn as she showered Eudora with several kisses on her face.

'My little bean sprout, you ought not to wonder in such manner. You had us faint-hearted. Had a fine gentleman not found you unconscious and brought you here, I fear we may have added another casualty,' said her dad, Jaber, as he opened the curtains, revealing the gloomy moon.

'Fine gentleman, what fine gentleman, father?' Eudora asked, secretly hoping it was not Fersus, for she had played the role of fool countless times before him.

'He goes by the name...er darling, what was that Count's name?' asked Jaber.

'Count Fersus Davoine,' Elowyn replied sharply. 'Are you perhaps acquainted with the Count, Eudora?'

'Umm, no, Mom, not at all. I've never heard such a name before,' Eudora chortled.

However, her face told the bitter truth. Her eyes sparkled like sunlight breaking through forest canopies. At the mention of his name, her cheeks swelled with excitement, and the pink blush overwhelmed her fair, pointed nose.

She buried her face in Fersus' fur coat to avoid being spotted by her parents.

Perceiving the luxurious texture of the fur coat and the unwavering sandalwood scent, Jaber inquisitively asked, 'Eudora, which young lad gifted you this fur coat?' As a Palace treasurer, he knew that coat was made with the finest and most expensive materials, so it piqued his interest seeing Eudora with it.

'No one, Pa, just my best friend, Amarantha.

'Ohh, Father, allow me, please, to return this fur coat to her; she may be worried about it,' Eudora said, giving Jaber puppy eyes.

'Make haste, my dear, for fear the Velvet Devil gets to you.'

'Alright, pa', shouted Eudora as she dashed out of their home.

To make it back on time, she would have to pass through the dark alley.

It was the Velvet Devil's hideout. He would wait in silence, weaving elegant words like a poet, to draw in an unsuspecting lady, only to silence her forever with a tulip-embroidered handkerchief.

The Velvet Devil, according to detectives, targets unsuspecting young ladies.

As Eudora approached the dark mouth of the alley nearest to her home, the air turned cold.

Every step echoed back at her twice, reminding her that she wasn't alone.

Thanks to the sickly streetlight stuttering overhead, she could only see an ominous wrong-shaped figure drifting towards her from the distance.

Within the tenth of a second, a skip of a heartbeat and a rise of adrenaline, Eudora spun around and fled the scene.

But the shadow fled in the opposite direction as though it had been herding her.

Eudora had barely escaped when a hand pulled her in and shut her mouth tightly.

Another arm locked around her waist and yanked her towards the wall at the very entrance of the alley.

Her vision blurred with tears, soaking the miscreant's arm.

She could hardly breathe...or no, that wasn't the problem.

It was his weight—the heat from his body.

The miscreant caged her so tightly, she couldn't tell where her body ended and where his began.

Was she the next victim?

Would 'Eudora' be the next name they would whisper in the morning?

Another girl gone into the alley?

Her heart hammered against her ribs. She had to save herself. She had to at least try, or die trying.

Suddenly, the arm let loose...

Eudora turned around, fist lifted and ready to pass on the rage and terror she had been hiding.

But she froze...

It was Fersus.

And in the dim light, his eyes were not sorry; they were rather pleased.

In a bid to calm her fright, Fersus whispered, his voice honeyed, 'Ohhh, Princess, forgive me. I didn't mean to startle you. I was just strolling by when I saw you running; you know you shouldn't be out here this late. The Velvet Devil still hasn't been captured yet.'

Eudora found his sudden appearance very unsettling, but she was allayed to see him.

Her tears welled into relief and poured down freely.

Seeing this, Fersus pulled her in for a warm hug.

Unknown to Eudora, however, Fersus had stalked her since she left home.

He buried his face in her neck; the warm Jasmine scent in her hair excited him.

She couldn't help but notice his heartbeat was slow, calculated and natural; she was the frightened one.

Amidst her breathlessness, Eudora noticed a silver hair pin sticking out of his coat pocket.

His hot breath pouring down her neck made her brain numb.

Still enveloped by Fersus, she muttered, 'Beautiful hair pin.'

'It's a souvenir, Princess.' Fersus replied calmly, patting her back.

After a long warm moment, he freed her.

Fersus looked down at the tiny, fragile being before him, wiped her tears and gently asked, 'Where to, Princess?'

Eudora sobbed, 'I wanted to return the coat to you.'

'But Princess, you have no idea where I live. Tell me the truth,' Fersus snapped.

'Well, I was to visit my best friend, Amarantha, for a little sleepover,' she squeaked, staring at her shoes to avoid eye contact.

At the mention of the name Amarantha, Fersus went rigid. His eyes gave a small, traitorous twitch. One by one, the hair on his body rose, as though it remembered something that needed to be revealed. The name caused the mark on his face to throb severely.

Amidst the dark atmosphere, she could sense he wasn't composed as usual.

He smiled softly, ran his fingers across his face and commented wearily, 'Okay, Princess, just be careful not to engage in a conversation with anyone on your way.'

Immediately he finished saying this, Fersus went off into the night.

Eudora shrugged it off as a misunderstanding on her part.

She went home speechless, not even daring to visit her friend again.

Eudora put on the fur coat; it was chilly, so she decided to put her hands in her pockets when she touched a small wet metal piece.

She brought it up to the light only to see that it was stained with blood.

'Blood?', Eudora shouted as the metal dropped from her trembling hands.

Her knees became weak, her heart stopped for a second...it had to be a joke.

Eudora mustered up strength and fled home, already crying.

This time around, however, his sandalwood scent faded into something sinister and metallic.