Make him see the truth

Lucien shook his head, realizing that yelling at Levina right then would not be necessary. She already looked miserable, and there was no need to make her feel worse. "So, you were wrong then?" he said, calmly, trying to keep his annoyance at bay.

Levina stuttered, looking around helplessly. "No...I mean, the moss is..." Lucien interrupted, "So, you will leave it alone now, right? Like we agreed a few minutes ago," he arched his eyebrow. Levina stared at him, helplessly. It didn't matter what she said; he would not believe her.

He was clearly annoyed, and there was no need to push her luck. If he did not believe her, she would have to bring him undeniable proof. But where was she going to find it? This was supposed to be the proof of her assertions, but for some reason, it wasn't there. Levina nodded her head in defeat. "Yes, my lord," she muttered under her breath. Lucien stared at her for a while without uttering a word, then turned and walked away.

Levina walked down to the bench and sat down quietly. She was angry that Lucien did not believe her and scared that whoever had done this would succeed at their next attempt. Maybe it would not be a bad thing if they succeeded in feeding him the poison because then he would be forced to believe her.

But by then, it would probably be too late to save him. She never learned how to conjure an antidote to a poison spell during her time at the White Witch Coven. If Lucien consumed any poison, she may not be able to save him. She sighed in frustration, fiddling with a leaf she plucked off the clover tree she sat under when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

Levina jumped in her seat, startled. "Sorry, I did not mean to scare you," Aerilyn apologized with a smile. She settled into the bench beside Levina.

"It's alright," Levina smiled back at her. Aerilyn's expression turned serious. "So, I saw you and Prince Lucien. You both seemed to be having a tense conversation. Is everything alright?" she looked up at Levina. Levina shrugged and returned her attention to the leaf in her hand. "It's nothing serious. I tried telling him something, and he indirectly called me a liar."

"Oh, the royal family and their suffocating sense of entitlement," she laughed dryly. "What do you want to do about it, then?"

"I don't know. Probably let it rest and hope that when he finally sees the truth, it would not be too late," Levina glanced at Aerilyn and then at the majestic dovecote building before them.

"Alternatively, you can make him see the truth," Aerilyn suggested.

Levina looked like she was considering what Aerilyn had said, but then shook her head. A frown formed on her face as the memory from earlier flooded her mind. "I already tried that, but it blew up in my face."

Aerilyn smiled, "Come here!" She hugged Levina, and the hug lingered for a while before she let Levina go. "You will be fine. If he does not believe you, then that is his problem, not yours."

Levina laughed dryly. It really was more of his problem than hers. If he did not want to see what she was desperately trying to show him, then maybe she should just let it be and see how it played out.

A petite maid with frizzy blonde hair walked up to them and curtsied. "Good afternoon, miss," she said.

"Miss Aerilyn, Madam Seilah is asking for you," she announced without looking up at them.

Aerilyn nodded and dismissed the woman with a wave of her hand. "Duty calls," she said with a smile and stood to her feet.

She took one of Levina's hands. "Are you sure you're doing okay? You look really glum. And that is not a pretty look for a woman," she teased.

Levina nodded, her lips curled up in an amused smile. "I am all right. It's not a big deal."

"You know it's been a rough couple of days for Prince Lucien, but don't worry, he will come around. Just give it a little time," Aerilyn added, concern etched in her eyes.

Levina nodded.

Aerilyn let go of her hand and turned to leave, but stopped abruptly. "So Draven will be coming around later today. We are going horseback riding. Would you like to join us?"

Levina nodded with a smile. "Why not?"

"I'll come and get you when it's time," Aerilyn threw over her shoulder as she walked away.

Levina sat for a while, biting her nails absentmindedly. She wasn't ready to let go of the situation with Lucien yet, not until she proved that she was right.

But how was she going to do that?

She stood up and returned to the spot where the drink spilled. She stared at the spot for a while, as if staring hard enough, the grass would show her what happened.

Then it hit her, like a revelation. Since she was dealing with a wizard, if he was trying to clean up his tracks so as not to raise suspicion, he might have used a concealing spell to cover the rot or he cast a spell to grow new fresh grass. But he would have to be a really strong wizard to cast that kind of spell. Not every witch could cast a spell to bring dead things to life, whether plant, animal, or human. It required a different kind of magic: blood magic. And blood magic was banned amongst witches centuries ago.

She squatted down and looked around to be sure that nobody was around to see her. "Revela quod absconditum est!" she chanted. She looked around again and chanted the spell once more. The concealing spell fell, and a patch of rotten black grass came to light. It smelled musty and like death.

A wide victorious smile appeared on Levina's face. She was right all along. She wished she could just drag Lucien back there by his ear to show him how right she was about everything. But she couldn't do that. She would have to prove how she uncovered the spell, and that would mean exposing herself. There was no way she would put herself at risk like that.