Chapter 29: The Messenger's Study

Kazi dipped the quill into the inkpot, her gaze fixed on the parchment as she carefully finished her letter to her sister Nia. With careful strokes, she folded the parchment, sealed it with wax.

꧁༺ 𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓵𝓮𝓽𝓽𝓮𝓻 𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓭:

"𝓓𝓮𝓪𝓻𝓮𝓼𝓽 𝓝𝓲𝓪,

𝓘𝓽 𝓱𝓪𝓼 𝓫𝓮𝓮𝓷 𝓪 1 𝓶𝓸𝓷𝓽𝓱 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓪 𝓱𝓪𝓵𝓯 𝓼𝓲𝓷𝓬𝓮 𝓶𝔂 𝓪𝓻𝓻𝓲𝓿𝓪𝓵 𝓪𝓽 𝓐𝓵𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓪, 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓘 𝓶𝓾𝓼𝓽 𝓪𝓭𝓶𝓲𝓽, 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓼𝓲𝓽𝓾𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷 𝓱𝓮𝓻𝓮 𝓲𝓼...𝓬𝓸𝓶𝓹𝓵𝓲𝓬𝓪𝓽𝓮𝓭. 

𝓘 𝓱𝓪𝓿𝓮 𝓯𝓸𝓾𝓷𝓭 𝓸𝓾𝓽 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻𝓮 𝓱𝓪𝓼 𝓫𝓮𝓮𝓷...𝓽𝓻𝓸𝓾𝓫𝓵𝓮. 𝓣𝓻𝓪𝓭𝓮 𝓼𝓱𝓲𝓹𝓼, 𝓽𝓪𝓴𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓪𝓵𝓽𝓮𝓻𝓷𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓿𝓮 𝓻𝓸𝓾𝓽𝓮, 𝓱𝓪𝓿𝓮 𝓫𝓮𝓮𝓷 𝓶𝓲𝓼𝓼𝓲𝓷𝓰. 𝓝𝓸 𝓼𝓾𝓻𝓿𝓲𝓿𝓸𝓻𝓼, 𝓷𝓸 𝔀𝓻𝓮𝓬𝓴𝓪𝓰𝓮, 𝓳𝓾𝓼𝓽...𝓿𝓪𝓷𝓲𝓼𝓱𝓮𝓭.

𝓘 𝓱𝓪𝓿𝓮 𝔂𝓮𝓽 𝓽𝓸 𝓯𝓲𝓷𝓭 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓽𝓻𝓪𝓲𝓽𝓸𝓻, 𝓫𝓾𝓽 𝓘 𝓪𝓶 𝔀𝓸𝓻𝓴𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓽𝓸𝔀𝓪𝓻𝓭𝓼 𝓲𝓽. 𝓔𝓿𝓮𝓻𝔂 𝓬𝓸𝓷𝓿𝓮𝓻𝓼𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷, 𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓻𝔂 𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓻𝓱𝓮𝓪𝓻𝓭 𝔀𝓸𝓻𝓭, 𝓘 𝓪𝓶 𝓹𝓲𝓮𝓬𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓽𝓸𝓰𝓮𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓹𝓾𝔃𝔃𝓵𝓮.

 𝓘𝓽 𝔀𝓲𝓵𝓵 𝓷𝓸𝓽 𝓫𝓮 𝓮𝓪𝓼𝔂, 𝓫𝓾𝓽 𝓘 𝔀𝓲𝓵𝓵 𝓯𝓲𝓷𝓭 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓪𝓷𝓼𝔀𝓮𝓻𝓼, 𝓝𝓲𝓪. 𝓘 𝓹𝓻𝓸𝓶𝓲𝓼𝓮.

𝓟𝓵𝓮𝓪𝓼𝓮 𝓽𝓮𝓵𝓵 𝓯𝓪𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓼𝓲𝓼𝓽𝓮𝓻𝓼 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓘 𝓪𝓶 𝔀𝓮𝓵𝓵.

𝓚𝓪𝔃𝓲" ༻꧂

The question of how to get it to Nia nagged at Kazi as she rolled the letter up, tying it with a length of ribbon she had found in her trunk. She knew she couldn't simply send give it to the royal messenger. He would surely read the letter and expose her identity.

A mischievous glint sparked in Kazi's eyes. Tonight, she would take matters into her own hands. She would slip the letter into the messenger's bag, and hope for the best. It was a risky move, but one she was willing to take. After all, she had loyalty towards her kingdom...Niameda depended on this.

Kazi extinguished the candle on her desk, the room plunging into darkness. A small smile played on her lips. This was just the beginning.

The castle was silent as a grave as Kazi crept through the halls. Her heart hammered against her ribs, her breath coming in short gasps as she darted from shadow to shadow.

Her objective: the messenger's study. Reaching the oak door, Kazi paused as she heard footsteps on the marble floor, growing louder with each passing second. She held her breath, pressing herself against the wall as the sound passed by, fading into the distance. With shaky hands, she pushed open the door, revealing a dimly lit room cluttered with parchment and paper.

Kazi's eyes darted around the room, searching for the messenger's bag. There, in the corner, she saw it resting on a small table. She took a deep breath, steeling her nerves, and crept towards her target.

Reaching the bag, Kazi carefully slipped the letter inside, making sure it would not be noticed by anyone. As she replaced the flap, her heart raced, but she felt a sense of triumph welling up within her. She had done it. Now all she had to do was get back to her room without being caught.

Suddenly, a noise echoed through the study, making Kazi's heart leap into her throat. A footstep echoing down the hallway towards the study! Panic surged through Kazi. There was no time to flee. With a desperate glance around the room, her gaze landed on the massive oak desk.

Kazi quickly hid under the desk, her heart pounding as the footsteps grew louder. She held her breath, praying the darkness would keep her hidden. The footsteps grew closer, the sound sending shivers down her spine.

The study door creaked open, spilling light across the floor. Kazi squeezed her eyes shut, every muscle in her body tensed. "Blast it, where did I put those maps?" a voice grumbled.

It was the messenger! Relief flooded Kazi, so intense it almost took her breath away. She strained to hear his movements, the rustling of papers, the creak of a chair. Then, to her immense relief, the footsteps faded, and the door creaked shut once more.

Kazi waited for a few more moments, her ears straining to pick up any sound that might indicate the messenger was about to return. When all remained silent, she carefully crept out from under the desk and dashed across the study, ducking back into the hallway. Her heart pounded against her ribs as she raced back towards her own chamber, but she knew she had to move quickly.

As she walked, a voice came from behind. "K?"

Kazi froze, her heart plummeting to her stomach. The voice belonged to none other than Azrael. He stood at the end of the hallway, a sardonic smile playing on his lips. He had seen her.

Kazi closed her eyes and sighed before slowly turning around to face Azrael. "Y-yes, Your Highness?" Kazi stammered, her voice betraying a nervousness she desperately tried to control. Thinking fast, she needed an excuse, and fast. Her mind raced, searching for a plausible explanation for her presence in the messenger's study at this ungodly hour.

"K?" Azrael repeated, arching an eyebrow. "I thought you were supposed to be asleep." He took a step closer, studying her in the dim light. There was something off about 'him'. But Azrael couldn't quite put his finger on it.

"I, uh," she stammered, "I just wanted to make sure the letter I...wanted...sent...had reached the messenger." The lie felt clumsy on her tongue, but it was the best she could come up with on short notice.

Azrael raised an eyebrow, scepticism etched on his face. "What letter?" he asked, his voice low. His gaze held hers, his blue eyes boring into her with an intensity that made her feel...weird.

Kazi's mind whirred. She couldn't reveal the real letter, not to him. Another lie, a bigger one this time, bubbled up from her desperate mind.

"A friend," she blurted out, "a friend named Ren. He...he wanted to visit, and I was just confirming if the letter inviting him had been sent." she internally cursed herself, she had brought Ren into this mess.

Azrael continued to stare at her, his expression unreadable. Then, to Kazi's relief, he rolled his eyes. "Whatever," he finally said, his voice dripping with boredom.

"However," he continued, "since you are already up and about, I need you."

Kazi groaned inwardly. Of course, he did. Just her luck. She knew that smug look on his face – it usually meant trouble, or worse, some ridiculous errand that only his precious "guard" could handle.

"What is it, Your Highness?" she asked, bracing herself for the worst.

Azrael's lips twisted into a smirk. "A bath," he declared.

Kazi blinked. "A bath?" she repeated, confused. "Your Highness, I do not understand."

Azrael's smirk widened. "I need your assistance," he said as if stating the obvious.

Kazi's eyes widened in disbelief. "Assistance? Your Highness," she began, her voice tight with barely suppressed anger, "I am your personal guard, not your...servant!"

Azrael glared at Kazi, his expression suddenly shifting from amusement to annoyance. "I do not recall asking for your opinion, guard," he snapped. "I am expecting you in my chambers in five minutes K," he said, his tone leaving no room for argument. With that, he walked away leaving Kazi to stare after him, a mixture of frustration, anger, and confusion warring within her.

A groan escaped her lips. This couldn't possibly be happening. Helping a prince bathe? This was a new low, even for her undercover mission. She closed her eyes, picturing the long night ahead of her, filled with not only danger but now...bathwater?