Raphael

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Leaving the queen lying unconscious on the bed, I returned my attention to the king, who was absorbed in the illusion of his strongest nightmares, but because of the wizardry, he could not even scream and his body was convulsing, blood was flowing from his nose and ears, his brain felt colossal overload. A wonderful sight.

I regained my wizardry and roughly grabbed his hair, shaking his head and forcing him to focus his gaze on me.

- Well, let’s have a chat, Horel. – through my teeth, with disgust for the interlocutor, I hissed.

He was choking on saliva and bursting into tears before the end, not moving away from his nightmares, but already concentrating his gaze on me, slightly squinting. Then he turned his gaze to the bed and saw the body of his wife, spread out in a bizarre shape on the bed linen.

- You scum. – he shouted in despair, trying to find a magic wand with his eyes to apply magic to me. But in vain, the magic item was lying on the bedside table and he could not reach it.

- Calm down, she’s alive. Still alive. - my whole body radiated a deadly aura, and the King of Riliya felt it, and therefore trembled even more. – Where is the artifact?

- I don’t know what you’re talking about! You bastard, you can’t get away with this. - he was twitching, trying to get rid of the wizardry bonds.

- You know, I have enough free time to make your life a living hell. If that’s what you want with your silence, then we can have fun. – I brought my hands together in front of me and crossed them, cracked my fingers, kneading each of them.

Then I grabbed the king by the hair with one hand and pulled it back, and put the other to his temple. He screamed from the penetrating pain, as if his head had been plunged into red-hot lava with no way to escape. But I didn’t stop his mouth, his screams caressed my ears, I liked to see his agony.

I was back in that day, in that moment. And exactly up to the moment when he left the queen in search of a healer, everything was repeated with similar accuracy. And then a bright flash and a sharp break of memories. Damn bastard. I forcefully threw his body to the side, causing him to hit his head on the corner of the bed and fainted, bleeding.

I walked up and down the room and cursed, selecting the most appropriate words for the situation. That bastard erased his memories. This flash was nothing but a magical effect. But unlike him, no such effect was produced on the mind of Queen Catherine, she seemed to have simply lost consciousness. I rubbed my face hard and cursed again. Nothing again.

However, now it became clear that it was Horel who was involved in this.

Dexter, who had arrived at this moment, assessed the situation around and nodded to make it clear that he would cover all traces of me. I looked back at the unconscious queen once more and came closer, putting my hands to her stomach. Warm and responsive, the child kicked at every light touch. This child is more alive than all the living. How did it happen?

I was consumed with a thirst for revenge, and finally, before leaving, I touched the queen’s hand, leaving my gift for her. It will act painfully slowly, corroding her magical barrier. This is my punishment for her wayward husband, for the aching emptiness that their family left in my soul. But I was not so cruel as to hurt a child who had not even been born yet and had not taken over the guilt of his parents, so my punishment only affected the queen.

/The end of memories/

Remembering that day now, I could not openly say to Thea’s face that I had caused her mother’s death. I just couldn’t. It will break her. Sometime later, I will definitely find the right moment to confess. Although she shouldn’t have died from the loss of magic, but apparently her body was too weak to cope with it.

I briefly explained my reasons to the princess, omitting the details of the abuse of her parents. She listened attentively and nodded periodically, agreeing with my conclusions. But there was one moment that didn’t escape my eyes when she looked wary.

- And then what to do? If my father erased the memories, is it possible to get them back?

- He couldn’t erase his own memories, which means he used someone’s help. If you find this person, you can bring back memories, but it’s like looking for a needle in a haystack, you know. Let’s start with the inspection first. Think about it, are there any things that your father protects or any relics, artifacts that he always keeps with him? Something he hasn’t let out of his sight all his life?

- I’m not sure there are such things. I’ve never noticed anything like this. And everything he wants to hide must surely be in his office. But how do we get there? I didn’t succeed last time, the door was protected by magic.

- We have already examined his office, there is nothing there that would be useful for me. - I hastened to disappoint her at once. – Are there any other places in the castle that are difficult for an ordinary person to find? Secret places?

The princess was deep in thought, biting her thumbnail. She was still lying comfortably in my arms, but I had a feeling that at this moment she was not with me, but somewhere far away. She was too deeply immersed in my problem. I liked her cooperation, her obedience, even though we hadn’t found anything yet. The very fact of our tandem was already pleasant for me.

- There must be a dungeon here.

- Where?

- I... I don’t know. I just know it’s there, but I have no idea how to get there.

- Interesting. Then where did such knowledge come from? – her strange behavior, the way she fiddled with the fabric of the dress, made me wary.

- I-i just heard.

- From whom?

She sat up with a jerk and turned around, frowning with displeasure.

- Does it matter? She asked irritably, making me even more convinced of my beliefs that she was behaving strangely. – Just need to find the entrance and explore, the rest doesn’t matter.

Pushing her hair forward from her back, she combed it with her fingers, straightening the stray curls and was about to get out of bed when...

- What is it? - I grabbed her roughly by the arm, turning her palm to me with the back side, on which a v–shaped scar was engraved.

Getting up with her, I turned her around and grabbed her face with my hands, forcing her to look at me, but she evasively looked down. My premonition did not let me down, something is wrong here. Something has happened that I do not know. This scar didn’t exist before.

- Answer me, Thea! In a good way. Speak. – through the growing anger, I forced her to talk to me.

- He appeared by himself today. - she answered timidly, still looking down at the floor.

- Nothing can appear by himself, of course. Don’t lie to me. - Gritting my teeth, I croaked.

She looked at me in fright, felt the situation heating up and tried to pull her hand away, but I held her tightly, not letting her move.

- I met with Xana, she said that magic is disappearing in the kingdom, and my father and brother are desperately looking for me.

- How does this relate to the scar on your arm? – I was already on the verge of rage from her intractability.

- How should I know? I didn’t draw it. – she screamed in indignation and tears gushed from her eyes.

Closing my eyes, I tried to calm down. Really, what came over me, that because of some scar I snapped at Thea. It was just that the idea that someone had touched her, someone had hurt her, was alien to me. It bothered me. No one has the right to touch my things and people. My people... That’s right, she’s mine. Only mine. I pulled her to me and hugged her, stroking her head soothingly until she cried out all her stress and my shirt got wet.

- She asked to kill me. – through nervous sobs, the princess whispered faintly.

I clenched my jaw tightly and sucked air loudly into my lungs. This family was already getting on my nerves.

-I won’t let anyone touch you. - stroking her soft snow–white hair, I said.

She pushed her hands slightly away from my chest and looked up at me. And then there was something I couldn’t have expected from her.