No More Loss

Adelia reached her workroom in seemingly no time and she rushed over to the inscribed plates, pulling the sunshine ring from her pocket. She only had hope and suspicions to work off of, but it had to be enough. It had to help her figure out what to do, because she was not losing Rowan nor her new home.

She had just started adjusting the plates when the door was thrown open and both Sorceress Iva and Steward Lambrecht appeared, faces tense.

"Is it true?" Steward Lambrecht asked with a grim sharpness that she had never heard in his voice before, and for just a split second his eyes reflected the light in her workshop strangely. "Has our friend been taken?"

"He'll be forced into a trial by sunrise," Adelia answered, her own voice coming out curt and tense as she kept shifting and adjusting the plates. "But I think, if this works, then I can save him." She looked up. "If we can find him in time."

"I'll contact his sire right away," Steward Lambrecht said. "While she broke the spawn bond to let Master Rowan become a formidable vampire of his own right, they kept the sire-bond between them alive. She can track him down anywhere, just like he can find her."

A soft brush of brief relief eased the tightness around her heart. "Please do," she said, her voice a little softer now, gratitude easing the sharp curtness of her tone. "In the meantime, Sorceress Iva, I am direly in need of your expertise."

"Certainly," the sorceress stepped forward, the embroidered, golden flowers on her warm-yellow dress shimmering in the light. "But why did that worm take our Rowan?"

"He wants Ivan," Adelia answered, stepping aside to let the sorceress join him while Steward Lambrecht lingered in the door a moment, listening. "We learned that the sunstones were made of the faith and souls of sun priests, I suspect he wants to take Ivan's."

The door closed softly just as Sorceress Iva cussed, then she sighed roughly. "Alright, one problem after another. What do you hope to do with the ring? I'll do what I can to help."

Adelia finished moving the last of the plates and the golden glow of the ring's stone changed to a silver-white shine. "Can we do something with this?" she asked. "I was hoping it could somehow help with the sunlight."

Sorceress Iva's brows were raised and she took a step closer, leaning forward, a look of sharp focus settling over her face. Adelia stepped aside to let her examine the cobbled together disk more closely.

A moment later her brows went back up. "This feels like moonlight," she murmured and reached out, gently pressing careful fingertips to ring and the now opalescent-white crystal. After a brief second she suddenly grinned, sharp and fierce. "I can work with this."

"Can you help Rowan?" Adelia asked, taking a step forward. "Does the crystal do anything like this?"

"It doesn't do anything by itself, but I can cast a spell through the crystal, giving it a different property." The sorceress turned to Adelia, fingers still resting on the ring. "I could never protect Rowan or his sire Carmilla from the effects of the sun. But a crystal like this never existed before, either. With it I can morph some of the warding and protective spells I have so Rowan's body treats sunlight like moonlight."

He wouldn't burn, wouldn't suffer when standing in the light of dawn. Adelia inhaled sharply, something like hopeful relief gripping her throat tightly for a moment and she had to blink back a sudden sting of tears. If this worked, she wouldn't lose him, wouldn't lose someone she loved.

"But I'll need your help," Sorceress Iva said the next moment. "Because I can't very well stand beside Rowan and cast the spell, can I?" She slipped her fingers past the ring and tapped them against the disk. "Nor can we give Rowan something enchanted, because then a mage would notice it and take it from him."

She smiled. "But with one of your creations, inscribed with my enchantment, no mage would be either able to stop the spell being cast, for they won't be able to see it happening, nor will they be able to locate the source of such short little bursts of magic among silver chains and monster hunters and the king likely being decked out with plenty of protective wards."

She brushed her fingers over the ring again. "They'll check Rowan before they take him out to face his trial and when they won't find any magic on him, they won't suspect him to be the source of those magical bursts either, even if they start looking. Especially since we'll likely need to have the protective spell cast more than once. The protection will wear off rather swiftly considering just how deadly the sun is to our boy."

Which meant Rowan had to wear the enchanted item along with the changed sunstone somewhere on his body and the enchantment had to get cast perhaps once a minute, or every thirty seconds or so. It also had to lay dormant until Rowan had been checked over for magic.

Sorceress Iva picked up the ring, the moonlight glow fading back to a golden, gentle sunshine shimmer. "Can you make something small enough to fit into a ring?"

Adelia had never worked with something quite that tiny before, but she had plenty of experience with working with small gears and even smaller screws and her hands were steady. "If you help me assemble everything with a bit of magic," she asked. "Then yes, I can."

She glanced to the lenses Rowan had gifted her not too long ago. "We'll use these," she said, stepping away a moment to retrieve them. She picked the thickest lens up, holding it over the ring, which suddenly looked absolutely huge. "This way we can inscribe the metal and get everything working."

Sorceress Iva stepped aside so she could set the lens into the arm mounted at the side of one of the work desks. As soon as that was done, Adelia grabbed a blank page and something to write. "How does your enchantment work?"

Thankfully, it wasn't hard to figure that part out. Sorceress Iva was truly an expert, for she could take the enchantment apart into its individual components and together they figured out what sort of clockwork it would take to get the ring to cast the protective spell as often as needed.

She could see it in her mind, the tiny plates turning around steadily, carrying the energy from the crystal from one plate to the next and to completion over and over again. Like a water wheel keeping the milling stone moving without pause. Like the clocks keeping the hands moving, showing the steady, calm passage of time.

Once that was done, Adelia began to design the dimensions of the ring that everything had to fit into, along with the clockwork design, writing the various sizes of the tiny parts down neatly beside it.

She was more glad than ever that she had so often built small things so they were easy to overlook, easy to hide from her father.

As soon as she was done with the final sketch, Sorceress Iva went down to Ravenburg to wake the black- and silversmiths to get their help to make everything Adelia needed.

Adelia, in the meantime, counted the hours left until sunrise, fiddling with the papers and tools around her, arranging everything they would need neatly.

She was restlessly shuffling about as soon as she nothing more to do, worries eating through her, a slight nausea settling firmly into her gut. She needed to keep busy, she realized, or she'd think herself into a frazzled mess and she needed to be as collected as possible now.

Then an idea found her. She would travel to where Rowan was being kept and she would most certainly attend his trial and since Emmertal was well and truly poisoned at this point, there was no need to uphold the whole charade that she would marry him after ensuring Rowan was safe and sound.

As soon as she had Rowan back at her side, it was time to properly cut ties with her old home, to burn bridges infested with rot.

She rushed up to her rooms with large steps to fetch the emerald and gold dress her father had commissioned for her, one she was supposed to wear at the next ball thrown by King Harold while announcing the date of her and Tirn's wedding. It was a beautiful dress, one meant to see her eyed with envy.

She was glad now that things hadn't gone according to her father's plans and she would make sure he'd never again get his will, at least in regards to her.

She settled into the workroom with the dress and her embroidery kit, a bag of jewelry set to the side to be taken along, and got to work, her hands precise and swift. She knew that adding to the dress wasn't necessary, that threading blood-red into the embroidery of the dress was hardly needed for what she was going to do, but it would be a beautiful middle finger to her father. She could do nothing but wait right now, either, wait and plot and try not to worry too much.

Time passed more swiftly now that she had something that she could focus on, though she still had to bite down on the urge to ask about Sorceress Iva's return more than once, to send one of the night guards down to Ravenburg to see when she'd be done. She trusted that Sorceress Iva knew what she was doing and how much time was left before the sun rose in the kingdom.

She had just wrapped up the last stitch when Sorceress Iva returned with a bag full of the teeny-tiniest screws and gears and bolts and bits and bobs that Adelia had ever seen.

Apparently, with the aid of a mage, the smiths had been able to make all the needed parts far quicker than otherwise and they could work with quality materials that would be reliable and durable.

Sorceress Iva had also brought back a signet-style ring, a small hole on the top of the ring to allow them to fit the crystal into while ensuring the crystal would be slightly in contact with the enchantment.

The ring was otherwise bulky and wide enough to let them fit the tiny clockwork design into the inside of the top of the ring without it looking too oddly large. The top of the signet ring was easily removed, a tiny hinge allowing the tiny gold plate to get flipped open.

Sorceress Iva carefully began carving the sigils and runes along the metal insides of the ring while Adelia began assembling the clockwork innards. The sigils and runes would coalesce on the point of the bottom of the plate where the crystal would be set into the small hole left there.

And once the crystal got slightly pressed down and clicked into place, it would get the inscribed plates moving in a circle around the crystal, like a wave cresting and falling over and over, casting the protective spell at a steady pace.

Sorceress Iva had reassured Adelia that a mage looking for enchantments wouldn't notice the crystal as anything special, if they noticed it at all, especially as long as it wasn't yet connected to the enchantment.

"Rowan still should keep the ring off and hidden on his person while he is being checked for magic, just to be safe. Since the crystal itself isn't enchanted, nor is it filled with the sort of magic a mage would be looking for, it should go unnoticed. Even I can't feel the power of this crystal, not unless I know exactly what I am looking for, which these people won't."

Her smile was sharp and a little hard. "They can work with Alexzander all they like, he can only teach them how to look for sun crystals, they will not know how to find this moonlight one."

That was very reassuring to know. Still, Adelia couldn't help but think of what to do if this failed. If the ring was taken. She would not watch Rowan die. Could not watch him die. She couldn't lose another loved one.

She was done with loss.

With everything ready, they finished assembling the ring and set the crystal into the very middle of the ring's top plate lat last, carefully securing it with a tiny dab of glue.

They could always make a better ring later, this would work well enough for their purpose for now.

As soon as the crystal was carefully set in place, it changed from a golden to the faintest of pale-white glows. If Rowan wore the ring with the crystal facing down. If he curled his fingers into a loose fist, he could hide the glow against his palm.

Adelia had just checked the ring one last time, ensuring the top of the signet would not unlatch easily or quickly and therefore cause the enchantment to fail in the middle of the trial, when the door to the workroom was thrown open and a tall, thin woman strode through, skin pale like bone, hair like frosty snow and with eyes the color of a deep, ominous and dangerous bloody red.

Her long, sweeping dress was blacker than night and of a simple, downright scandalous cut, the woman's shoulders and arms exposed and the dress fell down her frame without any of the underskirts or bone-lined petticoats Adelia had used to make her dresses more sweeping and decadent during balls.

If anything, the woman's dress reminded Adelia of paintings of old, more southern portraits of women from two or three hundred years ago. The woman wore golden jewelry, a delicate, golden belt and a collar-like golden necklace that had golden lines spreading out and down her chest like the rays of a stylized sun. The tips of her fingers were clasped in golden rings that formed metal-claws.

Adelia recognized her from one of the paintings in the entrance hall. This must be Carmilla, Rowan's sire.

The woman's red eyes focused on Adelia immediately and she stepped forward with the lethal grace of a predator who had fought and won countless of battles and knew she would fight and win more.

"I hear my son is in danger," she said, her voice downright deceptively soft. "And unworthy, cruel fools intend to sacrifice him to the sun." Her gaze briefly darted to Sorceress Iva and she offered a curt, but clearly respectful bow. "Precious, powerful Iva, it gladens my heart to see you."

"Carmilla," Sorceress Iva greeted her back, curt but quietly warm. "Thank you for coming, please, meet Adelia Aria, the lady of our lands."

Carmilla's countenance softened slightly, something in her previously dark and dangerous red eyes warming as she turned back to Adelia. "I know you, Rowan sent me plenty of letters over the past months and he spoke often of you," the vampire mused, before offering a smile. "I am glad he has found someone as wonderful as you to love."

Adelia found herself smiling back a little, before she held out the ring she had clasped in her hands. "We want to save Rowan with this," she said. "It will protect him from the sun, but we need to find him first."

Carmilla's eyes widened briefly and the red glow of her eyes now looked like glowing, dark blood. "Oh, you clever, brilliant ladies," she whispered, a breath of downright reverent relief in her voice. "If either of you want anything, immortality, heads on spikes, let me know, I will gladly fulfill your wishes."

"I have no with to be immortal," Sorceress Iva said with a little half grin, gesturing at herself, "I did not cultivate this beautiful face for so many years to stop here, I intend to keep going. But speaking of going, you only have two hours left to find Rowan and I can drop you off somewhere in the kingdom, but you're on your own for the rest."

Carmilla nodded, before casting a glance over Adelia and she frowned slightly, "I could carry you, if you like," she offered and Adelia was about to accept, before she paused.

"I have a nightmare," she said. "If that's acceptable."

The vampire's brows rose briefly. "My, you are full of surprises. I can see why Rowan was taken with you so swiftly. It is certainly a good idea, I can fly more freely without a passanger and a nightmare can keep pace well enough. Very well, fetch your nightmare, Iva and I will wait for you in the courtyard."

They swept out of the room together, though Adelia called for the aid of a night guard, for she needed riding clothes, a thick cloak, gloves and scarf, as well as a hat. Spare clothes were fetched easily enough and she dressed in a storage room off to the side while the night guard waited outside.

Once she was done she was swiftly brought to the tack room of the stable out in the courtyard. She selected a saddle that would fit her nightmare, along with a saddlebag that she carefully put the dress and some jewelry into and at last a bridle.

Adelia chose a bit-less one, trusting that Baron would listen to her as he had before and she also remembered how easily nightmares had bitten through the metal bars while put in front of a carriage. She didn't want to make him uncomfortable if he hated it now.

Baron perked up the moment she entered the stable and rumbled in that sweet, familiar way of his that made her blink back a surge of tears anew. She still wasn't used to his return, her heart aching and grief clogging up her throat for but a moment.

The moment her sweet, undead horse saw the tack in her arms his ears perked and he looked quietly eager, as he had in life. Adelia was so, so deeply glad that he was back, his return a gift she had no idea how to repay, but it hurt all the same. It hurt to see the changes and know that he was this way because her father had ensured her horse got killed all because of her.

"I'm sorry," she whispered again as she opened the stall and he politely stepped aside, making space for her to enter.

He briefly and gently brushed his nose against her arm and then stood still as she put the saddle on his back. He was as well mannered as Adelia remembered, lowering his head for the bridle and when she led him out, he followed with easy grace and calm certainty.

She led him to where Sorceress Iva and Carmilla were waiting and while he slightly lifted his nose to scent the air, staring at Carmilla for a moment, a faint glow to his black eyes now, he didn't so much as tug the reins from her grip nor did he get impatient and bump into her.

"Alright, let's send you to the kingdom," Sorceress Iva said the moment Adelia and Baron joined them. "Keep your nightmare calm, he won't like this much at all."

Adelia shifted her hold on the reins and as soon as the world started to swirl around them and Baron tensed, she placed a settling hand on his neck, murmuring softly. He remained tense, but he also remained at her side, that prey-response of flight gone entirely from him and he seemed ready to attack at a moment's notice.

But the swirling colors that blurred everything around them faded a moment later and they stood beside a broad road, the snow trampled down by feet and horses and sleds to create a harder, firmer surface to travel along. This was the king's road, if Adelia had to venture a guess.

"I brought you to the most advantageous point I know," Sorceress Iva said, a grim seriousness settling over her. "Do you need anything else from me?"

"We'll be fine, leave this part to us," Carmilla reassured. "Thank you, Iva, your magic is as wondrous and irreplaceable as ever."

Sorceress Iva smiled briefly, before she stepped back and Adelia hurried to speak up, "Ivan needs to be located and we need to prepare for Alexzander to likely show up again."

Sorceress Iva nodded, her expression growing determined. "I will reach out to my mage friends to help track Ivan down and I will set up extra wards to keep Alexzander out, but I can't uphold them forever."

Adelia nodded. "We will return as soon as Rowan is safe and then we will deal with him."

Sorceress Iva's smile now looked sharp and pleased, a spark of magic almost making her entire being look even more vibrant. "I will look forward to it. And keep Rowan safe, none of us want to lose him." She then handed Adelia a golden round seashell. "Speak in this if you have need of me and I will hear you, the shell also helps me track you down, so don't worry about anything."

With those words she vanished in a swirl of color and Adelia turned to Carmilla, who gestured for her to come along. As soon as Adelia mounted Baron, she politely averted her gaze as Carmilla reached for the ties of her dress, letting it fall into the snow, her jewelry dropping on top of it the next second.

A moment later the vampire's body shifted and Adelia glanced over when she heard a bit of shuffling to see a massive, white bat crouched beside her, holding out the dress wrapped around jewelry that dangled from the claw-thumb atop the wing.

She shifted her seat, Baron easily stepping forward so she could accept the dress bundle to stow it in her saddlebags. Carmilla looked a little different from Rowan's bat form and not just because her fur was snow-white. She appeared larger, the claw-thumbs along her wings hardier and longer, her nose looked more like a snout and her ears were shorter but rounder.

And just like with Rowan, once Adelia got over the uneasy feeling that instinctively spread through her chest, she couldn't help but think that Carmilla looked formidable. And when Carmilla chittered at her, the sound was just as cute-creepy as Rowan's had been.

"Lead the way," Adelia answered and shifted her seat, along with her hand holding the reins and Baron stepped back, giving Carmilla the space she needed to take a running leap.

Adelia gently and lightly urged Baron forward, only to nearly get thrown out of his saddle when he galloped forward with a force and speed she hadn't been prepared for. But he was still her sweet horse at heart, immediately adjusting his pace, slowing until she was used to it and only picking up speed again when she urged him forward.

It was impossible to focus on the immediate surroundings, but looking ahead was a little easier and Adelia had to rely a lot on Baron to avoid running into things. She might be able to stay seated on his back at this pace, but her reactions of suddenly appearing obstacles was not up to par yet.

They followed Carmilla, who flew ahead, low enough that Adelia could keep her massive, white form in her sight. Baron caught on quickly and followed without her steering, ears perked and he wasn't even slightly out of breath as he thundered across the snowy landscape of Adelia's old home.

It felt like mere minutes had passed before Adelia started to recognize bits and pieces that thundered past her almost too quickly for her to notice them. They were heading towards her childhood home.

Of course, she couldn't help but think with a bitter twist of her mouth. How very much like her father to offer to house Rowan in his castle as revenge for Rowan taking his daughter. For ruining what advantages her hand promised to another should have brought him.

What a petty, ugly man her father was.

Carmilla slowed moments later and Adelia didn't even have to tug on the reins, merely had to shift her seat and Baron slowed as well. Carmilla landed ahead of them and Baron trotted up at her side and Adelia got to look down the road at the town surrounding her father's castle, covered in snow, quiet and asleep, tendrils of smoke rising from chimneys.

She took a deep breath, the familiar scents of her home finding her, the woodsmoke of the burnt wood, the cold stone of the houses before her.

"My old home," she told Carmilla after a moment, Carmilla glancing at her and making a low hissing noise. Adelia took a deep breath, "Please leave this to me, I know what to do best here."

Carmilla shifted back and Adelia averted her gaze just in time, resolutely looking forward as the woman stepped up to Baron to remove her dress and jewelry from the saddlebags.

"You are a polite one," Carmilla mused. "And I entrust my son to you. Shout if something goes wrong, I will hear you and come to your aid."

Adelia nodded and Carmilla vanished, snow dispersing where she had moved through. Taking a deep breath, Adelia nudged Baron forward.

It didn't take long at all, a mere blink it felt like, before she stopped him in front of Julie's home. Getting out of the saddle, she stepped forward and knocked as firm and loud as she dared without fearing that it would wake her neighbors.

To her relief, she heard scraping beyond the door a few moments later and the door was opened by a young man in a haphazardly thrown-on night shirt and, peeking over his shoulder, Adelia spotted Julie, hair sleep-mussed and face concerned.

Julie's eyes widened and she swiftly pushed past the young man, though she did it gently and he remained close, glancing at her and then Adelia in silent curiosity.

"My Lady," Julie gasped out, reaching out to usher Adelia in. "What brings you here in the middle of the night? Is everything alright?"

Adelia stepped inside and reached out, taking hold of Julie's hands. "I need your help," she said, quiet but clearly. "Do you still work for my father?"

"Of course," Julie answered, concerned still and she took a step closer. "What can I do for you?" She then quickly gestured at the young man who had taken a step to the side to light a candle. "Please, meet Aryn, the squire I mentioned to you, we married last month." Her smile was quick and a little sharp. "His parents threw quite the fit, but they caved at last."

"I would not let them stand between me and the love of my life," Aryn said firmly then turned towards Julie, whispering, "Shall I stay?"

"Let us talk in private, pleas," Julie murmured back. "But I will sure to call for you if I need you."

Aryn nodded, his gaze soft on Julie, before he bowed to Adelia, murmuring, "My Lady." He stepped away then, vanishing through a door at the side of the living room and kitchen.

"I'm happy for you." Adelia turned to Julie with a warm smile on her face, giving her hands a squeeze. "I truly am." She grew serious the next moment. "Did you hear about my father imprisoning my husband?"

Julie faltered. "They said he is a monster." She watched Adelia closely for a moment. "Is he?"

"He is the best man I ever met," Adelia answered, firm and a thread of something unyielding in her voice. "And my father is a terrible, resentful man. They will not take him from me, but for that I need your help."

She let go with one hand and pulled the ring from her pocket. "Can you bring this to him before he is brought to the trial?"

Julie looked down at the ring, at the faint silver-white glow of the crystal. A moment later her expression firmed with determination and she took the ring. "You have been nothing but good to me and the others, My Lady," she said steady and faintly unyielding herself now. "I will aid you, but I must ask for a boon in return."

"Everything I can give you, you shall have," Adelia answered without hesitation.

"Your father will seek someone to punish when your husband escapes him and as the last one to see him, it will likely be me." She looked up at Adelia. "My darling Aryn and I will get a place in your household in the Wilds, you will pay us well and treat as well as you always have."

Adelia found herself smiling. Julie was so very clever and she couldn't help but adore that about her. "You have my word," she said. "Bring this ring to Rowan, tell him it is from me and to keep it hidden. To put it on and press the crystal down until he hears a click before he faces the sun."

She grew more serious the next moment. "I fear it is best if you and Aryn pack as soon as you return. I will see that you are fetched before the trial ends."

She pulled out the seashell and spoke into it, telling Sorceress Iva of Rowan's location and the plan and asking for her aid to see Julie and Aryn safely brought to the Wilds.

A moment later she heard a soft, melodic answer from the shell, "It will be done."

Julie took a deep breath and straightened. "I will get ready, will you stay here, My Lady?"

Adelia shook her head. "I will attend the trial, it's best that my father will not see me before then."

"It will take place in the king's palace," Julie told her. "I overheard your father speak with the king's mage. They will fetch your husband half an hour before dawn and they will bring him out in front of the gathered nobility to face the rising sun."

What an ugly trial, meant to humiliate and make King Harold feel all the more superior.

"Thank you, and might I ask that I get changed in your room?" she requested and Julie was quick to nod. Her former maid waited in the entrance door while Adelia fetched her dress and jewelry.

Aryn was only too accomodating, waiting outside the door while Adelia got dressed, folding her riding clothes up.

While Adelia put the riding clothes away in the saddlebags, Julie and Aryn got dressed themselves. When she returned inside, Julie was ready to leave. She gave Adelia a quick, slightly nervous smile, before she grabbed her woolen shawl and stepped outside.

"Julie told me we'll leave," Aryn said as he stepped into the living room himself. He was dressed properly now, pale hair combed back by his fingers. "I... thank you, for this chance, My Lady. We were planning to save up before we left. Julie mentioned sending to you in the Wilds, asking if you would take her back as a maid."

Adelia paused slightly in surprise. "She wanted to come to the Wilds? And forgive me, we never asked if you wanted to come."

He gave her a crooked little smile. "Don't worry, Julie and I have talked at length about where to go long before you arrived tonight. I always lived in the shadow of my family and as the youngest of eight brothers I never held much importance in their eyes." He gave a small shrug. "I come from a rich family, but even a family like mine doesn't really know what to do with a ninth son."

He straightened then, smile sliding away to make way for a more serious expression. "I was knighted two months ago and if you will have me, I will serve you faithfully."

He didn't make vows, which Adelia found made him more truthful than if he had dropped to a knee and promised her things. She was a stranger and Julie was clearly the most important person in his life. As long as he was loyal to her, that was all that mattered, she had no need for grand words that rang hollow in the end.

"I will be glad to have you," Adelia answered and found herself smiling a little. "Julie spoke quite fondly of you even before I left."

His soft smile was back and it made him look like a charming young man, full of quiet love and happiness.

He told her about meeting Julie and their conversation flowed easy and light, though they also stuck to harmless topics, the bit of lingering awkwardness in the air dissipating slowly. Adelia tended to her appearance while they talked, braiding and pinning her hair, before donning her jewelry.

Julie returned before long, slightly out of breath, but there was a gleam in her eyes. "He has the ring," she told Adelia while Aryn stepped towards her, taking her shawl and putting it back on the hook beside the door. "I'm supposed to tell you that he loves you and he looks forward to seeing the dawn with you."

Adelia took a deep breath and nodded, glad that Rowan was well enough to speak. And that he likely wasn't too injured, at least outwardly, if Julie wasn't more alarmed. Her gaze was thoughtful, though.

"I will let Sorceress Iva know," Adelia said and pulled out the seashell. A moment after she finished speaking, there was a knock on the door.

Julie opened it and Sorceress Iva gave her a brief smile, before she focused on Adelia.

"It worked, then?" she asked and Adelia nodded.

"So far," she took a step forward. "Might I ask you to take me to King Harold's palace? I wish to attend the trial."

Sorceress Iva gave her a slightly sharp, crooked half smile. "Gladly. Shall I go with you?"

"That might be for the best," Adelia admitted. She would prefer to not be stranded with people who would enjoy seeing Rowan dead.

Sorceress Iva nodded, before she turned to Julie and Aryn. "I will come fetch you after the trial, get everything you want to take along in a pile, I will teleport it to the keep ahead of us."

"Thank you," Julie said and Sorceress Iva inclined her head, before she turned to Adelia.

"Shall we?" she asked and Adelia nodded, briefly turning to Julie and Aryn to say her goodbyes before she stepped outside.

Baron was where she had left him, waiting in front of the door. He stepped forward and a moment later Carmilla appeared beside them.

"I shadowed the lass," Carmilla said. "She did give Rowan the ring, though he sounded tired. If I had to venture I guess, they have him shackled in silver." Her lips flattened for a moment, the bloody glow of her eyes growing darker and more ominous. "He will be fine for days more before the silver kills him, but it will keep weakening him. If either of you have a way of speeding that trial along, then I suggest you do so."

"The protective spell the ring will cast will be strong enough to protect him from the sun, no matter how weak he is," Sorceress Iva reassured. "But I agree. At one point everyone will see that the silver is poisoning him."

"I wish I could stay with you," Carmilla said with a grim face. "But I can't do anything once the sun rises. Send me back to Rowan's keep, I will ensure he has fresh blood waiting for his return."

"Thank you," Adelia said quickly, before Sorceress Iva could whisk Rowan's sire away. "For everything."

Carmilla softened. "I would do anything for my son. I hope to speak more with you later, Adelia, especially once we have him back with us."

Adelia nodded and Sorceress Iva glanced at Baron. "I shall send him away, too. It's too dangerous for him to come with us, especially with the sun confining him to a hidden, dark place and monster hunters at the capital."

Adelia was quick to agree. She would never endanger Baron and if she lost him again... she had already lost a part of herself when he had been killed before. If he died again because of her, she had no idea how to recover from that.

Baron was less than willing to go, but in the end he obeyed Adelia and Sorceress Iva teleported both her horse and Carmilla away.

"Well then," the sorceress said and waved Adelia closer. "Let's go."

Their surroundings vanished in a blur, dark and white swirling together and then fading again, seeing them standing in front of the gates of the king's palace, the capital city spreading all around them.

The guards had startled, hands tightening on their weapons and Adelia straightened and stepped forward.

"My name is Adelia Aria, I heard there will be a trial in regards to my husband," she said, voice clear and steady, her hands folded politely in front of herself as she ensured she looked every inch the noble lady she had been born as. "I request entry."

One of the guards left to deliver her message and a couple of minutes later she was let in, Sorceress Iva at her side.

The king's steward awaited her by the large, ostentatious entrance doors, the wood carved and painted to look like it was covered in climbing, red and white roses.

It wasn't Adelia's first time in the palace, though it was her first return since she had gotten married to Rowan. She glanced at the various artworks around, the paintings and vases and gleaming, polished sculptures made of copper and some of silver, encrusted with gems. There was even a goblet on display in the entrance hall, which had cost King Harold as much as a barony, for it was made of pure rose-gold and was covered in diamonds of various shades, forming a swirl of color that glittered and shone.

They were brought to a guest room and servants brought a platter of fine foods along with fine wine and a carafe of juice.

Adelia touched none of it, not even after Sorceress Iva checked it for poison. She was too nervous. The trial would take place soon and all they could do now was wait.

She ended up checking her appearance again, ensuring she looked like a daughter of her father's house at first glance. But she had embroidered bloody drops onto the flowers and thorny stems, small splashes of color that was all the more easy to see for it was a dark, deep red on top of a paler green and gold.

Sorceress Iva was better at keeping busy than she was, but Adelia had experience with silently enduring unpleasantness and she had to trust everyone. She had to trust herself, too, that the ring was made right, that the enchantment would work.

That she would get to take Rowan back home without causing a war. He would not die either way, she would not allow it to happen, but she still wished to protect her new home at the same time.

A knock at the door made her straighten, but when she bid the person to enter, to her surprise it wasn't a servant sent to fetch them, but Queen Nina.

Queen Nina wore a fine dress, a deep, rich red with white leaves climbing up the arm and bodice, roses blooming along the neckline of the queen's dress, white-gold jewelry glittering with diamonds around her throat and dangling from her ears.

Adelia offered the bow she had been taught, though her thoughts were racing. Queen Nina and she had spoken a few times, but the conversations had always been polite and mostly for the sake of appearances.

The queen inclined her head back. "I was informed you are here for your husband," Queen Nina said. "Though your divorce has been allowed just last night, my husband has put quite a bit of pressure on the people in question to see you free to marry another."

Without someone speaking with her, ensuring she was as untouched as she claimed to be? Her surprise must have been visible on her face, for Queen Nina smiled. It wasn't a happy smile, but a humorless and almost grim.

"Will you join us as a witness to Lord Morrow's nature or as his defense?" Queen Nina asked and while Adelia straightened.

"His defense," she answered firmly, lifting her chin. "He has done no wrong and I will see him returned home before the morning is over."

Queen Nina watched her a moment longer, before something along her face shifted, not quite relaxing, but she appeared more open now.

"Then I have a proposal," Queen Nina offered. "If you desire to see this situation resolved without further trouble."

Adelia watched the queen a moment. "I know King Harold is working with Alexzander, what deal could you now offer me?"

"One with me," Queen Nina answered, a subtle glint in her eyes as though she appreciated Adelia's candour. "For I did not make a deal with Alexzander of the Wilds."

"Why?" Adelia couldn't help but ask. Everyone knew that Queen Nina was loyal to King Harold, that she shared secrets with him and stood at his side at all times.

The queen exhaled softly and Adelia got a glimpse beyond the calm and quiet watchfulness Queen Nina always displayed in public and around her husband. There was something dark there.

"My husband crossed me when he did not care about my daughter's fate. He promised her hand to Alexzander and I am not fool enough to ignore what this means. Once your Wilds fall, so will we."

Her voice dropped to something cold. "My children are everything to me. He already disregards his sons, but they at least get to stay at my side and I can steer them to a kind future. But he intends to take my daughter's away from her."

The queen lifted her chin. "So I intend to take his."

"What is this deal you offer us?" Sorceress Iva asked, her gaze sharp. "We can't be the only ones you can ask for aid."

"You are not, but you are the last link I need for my chain of events," the queen answered. "There are other nobles who pledged their allegiance to me. Besides, I will not see my husband murdered." She glanced at Adelia. "I merely wish him thralled."

Which she needed Rowan for.

Adelia blinked, realizing just how clever that plan was. If the king died, the throne would be vacant for at least two more years, for the queen's children hadn't finished their education yet. They were not ready to rule and while Queen Nina would be Queen Regent in their stead, it was a risky position.

Everyone would seek to topple her, to get rid of her and her children to see their own succeed the throne instead.

But if King Harold was under her control she had all the time in the world to steer him, to steer the kingdom, to steer her children's future.

"I will agree under one extra condition," Adelia said and Queen Nina's perfect brow rose slightly and she gestured for her to go ahead. "I want a guarantee that Alexzander will be told nothing and that the Wilds will not be attacked after King Harold is thralled, nor will you later make a deal with Alexzander yourself."

"An easy enough promise, war at this time is a foolish idea," the queen answered and she brushed her hands down her dress. "Please excuse me, I have a few more preparations to make."

With those words the queen left and Sorceress Iva stepped forward. "Do you believe her?" she asked.

Adelia was silent for a moment. "I do," she answered. "And even if she lies Rowan himself will be safe." Queen Nine didn't know about the ring, after all. "But if she says the truth, we'll be able to avoid war without tipping Alexzander off."

It would buy them a few extra precious hours in which they could start figuring out what to do. And even if they couldn't find a solution, war would be avoided, at least for now.

Still, it would be foolish to believe Alexzander didn't have more tricks up his sleeve, so the sooner they dealt with him, the better.

Exhaling, Adelia nervously wrung her hands. "We'll do our best to deal with things," she said. "It's all we can do right now, unless you have a better idea?"

"None that will let us avoid war," Sorceress Iva admitted with a sigh. "But I trust your judgement, let's see if that queen is as good as her word."

And all they could do, now, was wait.

Adelia sat down beside Sorceress Iva after a moment and they began to talk. Outside, the sky brightened, dawn approaching until, at last, the sun itself began to peek over the horizon.

"They'll want direct sunlight as much as possible," Sorceress Iva murmured. "The trial will begin any moment now."

Which was the moment a servant knocked at the door, bowing and gesturing to the side, "Lady Aria, please follow me to the trial of one Lord Rowan Morrow."

Adelia followed, Sorceress Iva at her side and she slipped effortlessly into the posture of a noble lady. Straight back, hands folded in front of her, chin slightly dipped down, her steps measured and quiet, her shoulders soft.

They arrived in the throne room of King Harold, the windows covered in thick curtains, chandeliers spreading light and at a glance it looked as though everyone of rank and name was in attendance, even if a number of people looked bleary at the early hour, others yawning.

And then she blinked in surprise when she saw Izabel hugging Katrina, Iris standing beside her with a small smile. All three noticed her the next moment and Izabel and Katrina rushed towards her to hug her, too, Iris trailing after them and greeting her and Sorceress Iva.

"You came," Adelia whispered and Izabel and Katrina, squished side by side to get to hug her both stepped back.

"I would not let you deal alone with this," Izabel whispered reassuringly.

"I want you to be happy," Katrina murmured, before she bit her lip, glancing at Iris, then she took a deep breath. "And when I read your letter, I decided to join you in cutting ties with my home."

Adelia's eyes widened slightly. "Are you certain?"

"I was offered a new home," Katrina answered and Iris smiled at her, all glad warmth. "And if my parents are willing to apologize I am willing to speak with them again."

"And I'm not going to just let my best friend die," Iris added. "Rowan would do the same for me without hesitation." That he would.

A sharp knock on marble caused chatter to cease and Adelia and her friends were quick to split up. Adelia stepped forward, accompanied by Sorceress Iva and Iris stepped forward.

As they walked towards the podium of the defender, she caught her father's eye, her mother standing silently beside him. He stared down at her with an expression of silent, haughty victory.

Not today, she thought. Today you will lose everything you want to gain.

She reached the podium just as the great double doors of the throne room were pulled open and King Harold strode in, accompanied by Queen Nina. And behind them, chained in silver and pulled along by burly monster hunters, was Rowan.

"Let the trial begin!" King Harold proclaimed as he marched forward, hands thrown up as he gestured at everyone around him. "Behold, Rowan Morrow of the Wilds, accused of vampirism and of enthralling us and his former wife."

He turned to Adelia and his smile was the coldest one she had ever seen on the king's face. "As it stands, neither Adelia Aria nor anyone else can speak in defense of Rowan Morrow for fear of an addled mind."

Her fingers tightened around each other and she fought to keep her expression calm her posture steady.

King Harold reached his throne and turned around, Queen Nina quiet and unassuming at his side. Adelia fought not to glance at her, instead keeping her eyes on King Harold, who had Rowan brought into the middle of the throne room.

Adelia found herself looking at Rowan, who looked back at her. He shifted his hands, as though trying to adjust the way the shackles sat on his wrists and she bit down on a heavy exhale of relief as she saw the glint of a gold band on his finger.

He was such a clever man, turning the top of the ring down to hide the crystal's glow against his palm. Dear gods did she love him, she wanted nothing more than to stride towards him, to throw the chains to the ground and hold him. To take him home and kiss him and know that everything would be alright.

Everyone was utterly silent and there wasn't even a rustle as people shifted around uneasily.

"This trial is one by sunlight," King Harold raised his voice anew, clearly basking in the undivided attention on him. "To prove Rowan Morrow guilty of the charges brought before him. The sun has risen and with it, so shall the uncontested truth!"

He waved a hand to the side, almost shouting, "Open the curtains!"