A Tale of Shadows - THE OUTDATED VERSION

Chapter 19 - A New Opportunity

The sun shone through Maria's office as she was seated by a desk with a heap of papers on it. The light of its rays got through a thin white curtain covering the rectangular window on Maria's right side, the only one in the room. She hurriedly read the reports and used her quill to write her signature when needed, wishing that she didn't have to deal with minor issues while also having to help save the world. Her eyebrows furrowed while she was arched above the dark wooden table, her brain boiling as she processed all those words and the information they contained. 

Memories of the argument she had with her husband appeared in the form of an occasional flash. Those flashes lasted longer each time, making it more and more of a challenge for her to suffocate the negative emotions they brought and keep ignoring them every time. The thing she wanted the most at the moment was rest, even just an infinitesimal dose of it, and so she was relieved when a flying parchment engulfed in shadow magic fell onto the edge of the window. She moved the chair several inches backwards, causing it to creak. After managing not to accidentally disturb the order of the things on the desk, she walked over the window, opening it to pick up the letter before the letter could fall. 

Once she closed the window, she started reading the message. In the beginning, she had no idea who sent it what it was about. Several seconds later, she smiled as she realized that Melinda had managed to send her a letter from her captivity, informing her of what she had found out and her theories as well. It made her heart beat with joy. If what she had concluded was indeed true, then perhaps her plan had a chance of going as she intended. The prophecy wouldn't have to be fulfilled, and she could grab the chance to murder Patrick. Then, the citizens of Obscuria would surely be impressed enough to let her take the throne in the name of justice if she did it at the right time. She laughed heartily, but not loudly enough for it to be possible to be heard from afar. While she was doing that, someone knocked on her door, because of which she stopped.

"Come in," she said, trying to hide her impatience, but with little success in the end.

The person was thus motivated to open the door. They were revealed to be an old man holding a tray with a teacup filled with steaming green tea and six biscuits on it, which Maria noticed after having to try very hard to see their exact number. He had quite short grey hair and wore circular glasses with black edges, their colour also being the colour of his shirt and slightly darker than the colour of his pants and shoes. His look was blank, seeming to be drifting further from reality with each second that passed in silence. She knew that he must have been sent there, and she knew completely how impatient he was with her, but she still waited for a while, biding time until she found just the right words to say to him. As he was about to put the tray on the desk and leave, he saw the letter and stared at her with wide eyes. 

"What is this, Madam Thorne?" he asked quietly.

She sighed. "I was going to tell you about it, but, to be honest, I didn't know how to approach the information contained within it, especially in the context of this whole situation."

He crossed his arms. "I don't really care, and I'm certain that you won't offend me, no matter what you tell me. You could have done that long ago and we all would have been better off for it."

"Alright then. Melinda told me that she managed to get information on Hemmingway's latest evil plan. He is going to burn a village as a warning to everyone in this country, and, after enough time passes, he is going to set the royal palace on fire and spread the fire far enough for it to strike much fear into the hearts of the citizens, which will, I quote 'help his ideals rise'. Melinda formed a theory based on the fact that, according to the prophecy, Jeffrey Bush will have to stride against the rising darkness, which helped her to conclude that he and Hemmingway will have to battle and that it will be a battle that Jeffrey will have to win to fulfil the prophecy and save the world. She also sent me a plea to bring her and her friends salvation as soon as possible. It all is unbelievably sad."