The stain

"That is beyond your job description, don't you think?" he chuckled lightly.

"I really do not mind."

"You know my hand is almost healed right?"

She had completely forgotten about that. She was only there because of his injury, when he got completely well, she would have to return to the infirmary. She couldn't protect him from there.

"I will make it work, somehow," she insisted.

Lucien nodded with a smile, he liked how persistent she was. He found her stubbornness almost cute.

"Come on," he stood to his feet and helped her up. "We need to get you home."

"I can get home myself, thank you," she said stubbornly.

"That is completely out of the question. You have two options, Levina," he said, peering into her face seriously. "You either sleep here, I'll have Seilah prepare a room for you, or, I will arrange a carriage to take you home."

She bit her finger absentmindedly, pretending to be weighing her options. She knew sleeping at the castle was out of the question, which would be the stroke that breaks the ice. Her father has been oddly considerate, she did not want to find out how far his patience could stretch.

"The latter," she whispered.

Lucien smiled knowingly. It was clear she would never choose to sleep at the castle. Levina led the way through the small path that led out of the dovecote. She did not hear the footstep approaching, by the time she heard it, she collided with the person. Lucien's hand was quick to steady Levina before she would fall.

"Sorry," a female voice whimpered, fear evident in her voice. Her head was lowered, so Levina could not make out her face, but the voice sounded almost familiar. The lady bent and picked up a mug that had clattered to the ground.

"Sorry," she muttered and hurried away.

"Are you alright?" Lucien asked.

"Yes, she only spilled the drink on my dress, that's all," Levina retrieved a handkerchief from her pocket and scrubbed the part of her dress that was stained.

"I will lead the way this time."

Levina followed without complaint.

___________

When Levina got home, the house was oddly quiet. She could tell her father was up, by the absence of his snore and the dim light filtering from the dining area.

She braced herself, as she walked to the dining area.

"Father?" she curtsied, carefully evading his eyes.

"Where were you?" his calm voice held an air of foreboding.

"With Prince Lucien, I had to discuss something with him."

His eyes flared up with anger, "I told you to stay away from the royal family and what do you do? You take up a job there. What are you going to do next? Tell them you are a witch?"

"It's not like that, I swear it. I just wanted to….."

"And what in the world is that dreadful stain on your dress?" his eyes were trained on her chest.

She followed his eyes and gasped when she saw it. The dreadful blackish-grey color contrasted greatly with her milk-colored dress. When she lowered her nose to the spot, she almost gagged at the smell of rot.

Just then her eyelids flew open in realization. The poisoned drink!

The drink was poisoned!

The realization made her skin crawl. She had almost begun to doubt what she thought she heard earlier. And this was proof that she was right; she was right about the wizard in the castle and right about someone trying to kill Lucien.

She had foiled their first attempt to kill him, what if they try to give him the poison again tonight? She couldn't protect him from her house, she needed to be close to him if she should have a shot at keeping him safe.

What was she going to do? Her forehead creased in worry.

"Levina!" Augustus yelled, slamming his hand against the table.

"Huh?" she replied, clearly startled. She had completely forgotten that she was still with her father.

"You are making it difficult for me to trust you, Levina!" he swung to his feet and began pacing.

"Father, listen to me," she went to him and took his hand, which he hesitantly welcomed. Levina was not sure if telling her father about the situation she discovered was a good idea but that was the only way she could get him to be more understanding of her situation.

"There is a wizard in the palace," she announced, peering into her father's face for a reaction. Augustus's tense expression relaxed the moment the words left her lips. Levina was not sure if it was a bad thing or not. "I was about to leave the palace when I overheard weird voices in the buttery. And," she hesitated, "I decided to eavesdrop."

Augustus snatched his hand away and slapped his palm against his forehead in exasperation. His face turned an unhealthy shade of red, "Why would you be eavesdropping Levina? That is not why you're there. I have told you severally…"

"Father just listen to me, please," Levina begged with folded hands. "I overheard a male voice casting a spell and it was meant for Prince Lucien. And when I told him, he didn't believe me,"

Augustus's eyes widened in shock and broke into a peal of hysterical laughter, "You told him there was a witch in the castle?"

Levina ignored his question and spoke faster, to avoid any more interruption, "And when I was about to leave, I bumped into someone who was bringing a drink for him and it spilled on me," she pointed at the dark substance emblazoned on her blouse.

Augustus shook his head, "No. No. Levina, I have heard enough. I allowed you to work at the palace because I thought that you were smart, I thought you would put your nose down and stay out of any drama. How wrong I was!" He resumed pacing about.

"It's nothing like that. I just can't sit back and watch someone hurt the prince. If it were someone else in his place, I would do the same thing for them."

"Are you trying to expose yourself? Your mother and I have tried so hard to…."

"To keep me safe and alive, yes I remember. You remind me every single day of my life," she snapped. Levina paused, feeling bad for raising her voice at her father, "I'm sorry," she muttered under her breath.