Chapter 24

​"Wait a minute."

 Setia quickly tied the headband so that it was partially covered by her hair. She went to the door, and behind it stood a messenger from the Prince Tendred. After a moment of surprise, he smiled and asked her to follow him. Setia took Hiron's letters and followed the guide. 

The young man, around 15 years old, had neatly cropped hair, a few red pimples on his face, and was probably undergoing a late mutation in his voice, as it changed from a falsetto to a male baritone. He was dressed in purple and red robes - the colors of Emfer. He led her dexterously, with confident steps, between the townspeople's houses along cleaner, paved roads, straight to the inner wall. There was no gate here, only a wide entrance with an arched ceiling. Then, after a few steps, they found themselves in front of a decorated door leading to the castle. 

Without a word, the guards let Timor - that was her guide's name - pass and went straight into the brightly lit corridor. Timor turned right. The corridor was decorated with tapestries depicting battle scenes, and the floor was wooden. The corridor ended with an entrance to a small room. Equipped with a table and two chairs. On the side there was a fireplace over which hung a hunting trophy, a large boar's head. Setia watched it curiously as the young man knocked quietly on the door and then entered. All she heard was a vague - wait, and Timor reappeared in all his pimply glory.

"His lordship still has an audience. We have to wait a while." The young man sat down on a chair, obviously wanting to wait with her.

"Can I have something to drink?" Setia was craving a moment of solitude.

"Of course." Timor jumped up and quickly went the same way he had brought her here.

Setia approached the half-closed door, opened it gently to eavesdrop what they were talking about.

The prince, with a raised voice, was explaining to a man that he would soon pay the due bill. The prince's interlocutor calmly demanded the immediate repayment of all debts. Setia heard footsteps, her guide was coming back so she sat down in the chair again.

" My Lady." The young man handed her a glass, she took a sip and noticed that the wine was watered down.

"Beautiful trophy," She said, pointing to the boar's head.

"Oh, yes, our Lord hunted it down himself. It was last autumn on the border with the Perian forest. I remember how it happened just as if it was today. Our master stood alone with a spear in his hand, ready for anything …" Setia was nodding her head, making comments like - oh, really or amazing.

At the same time a completely different plan was on her mind. Timor continued to babble, now with a flushed face, telling her about how the prince had once again killed a huge bear all by himself. Setia, on the other hand, recalled everything she knew about Fenigrid and the problems with the division of power. She felt a rush of adrenaline, an accelerated heartbeat and some inner determination. 

She remembered that Nefer, the former king of Fenigrid, had three sons. The eldest was Maler who married Aktis from an old aristocratic family living on the outskirts of Fenigrid and Basaldia. Tendred, Nefer's younger son, was in disgrace. His father removed him from the court and gave him the Emfer fortress and its subordinate villages, while the youngest, whose name she could not remember, was 3 years old when his father died. Shortly afterwards, Maler died childless, leaving behind a wife determined to take over. Aktis was effective. She joined forces with the most influential Baron Brandis. Together they lust for Fenigrid and rule until Nefer's youngest son reaches adulthood. At least that's what they say. Well, that would be it. Tendred had the greatest rights to the throne, theoretically... her deliberations were interrupted by the creditor leaving the prince's room. A short, balding man with a cloudy face moved quickly towards the exit.

"Timor!" The prince's voice was weary , "Another person may enter."

Setia put down her empty glass of wine and walked confidently towards the audience chamber, as Timor called it. As she walked, she was making a plan in her head for the upcoming meeting. Perhaps the Uales themselves controlled her fate, maybe this visit would change everything. 

The room she entered was three times larger than the one she had just been in. Everything here was tastefully decorated. Tapestries on the walls, elegant decorative furniture, porcelain dishes placed in an open cabinet and a sculpture of a naked young man that caught her attention for a moment suggested that the owner had a sense of taste, especially for luxury items.. 

The prince himself sat on a throne-like chair behind a huge ebony table. He stared thoughtfully at the glass window, of which Setia counted six in the room. Tendred may have been around 30 years old. He had long blond hair that fell in golden waves to his shoulders. Blue eyes and a well-groomed beard completed the sophisticated look. The prince was dressed in a red shirt and purple caftan and black trousers. There were rings on their hands. When he finally deigned to look at the next supplicant, Setia could have sworn that his lips were painted with dye.