Nothing from The Dono della Morte

Chapter 3 - Dino

 I quickly walked through the palace halls with a serious expression, heading towards the dining hall.

"Aw, you look so grumpy!" A guard teased, laughing with his friends. Passing him, I gave him a cold stare out of the corner of my eye and himself and his friends shrunk in their spot and became quiet. I continued to walk until I arrived at the dining hall, throwing open both doors, gaining the king's attention.

"Oh, Lieutenant! What's the issue?" The king sat in his large, velvet chair at the end of the long table that would hold parties, consuming meals that cost more than most citizen's lives.

"I have a request for you, King Volpe." I walked towards the end of the table and stood facing him, looking down at his plump figure wearing only velvet, gold, and a perfect white shirt, sheepishly tucked into his black dress-pants.

"A request? What kind of request, my boy?"I winced at the nickname and Volpe smiled at me.

"I request for someone to not be chosen to be the next Nulla." I said, keeping the same stature and expression. Volpe's smile faded into a frown and stood up from his seat, maids and butlers running towards him to tend upon his clothing and cleaned plates.

"Someone special?" Volpe looked up at me, almost being the same height, but was a foot off.

"Yes, a close friend," I said, never leaving eye contact. The King's expression grew dark and filled with anger.

"What position are you to tell me how to do my job?" He screamed in my face, some spit flying on my cheek. "The Nulla will be who ever I want it to be! Why do you think all the girls here grew up knowing only one lullaby? Its for this! Don't tell me how to do my job! The Nulla will be chosen, and you cannot control that."
"But Sire-"

"You are dismissed Lieutenant." He turned away from me and walked towards the double doors and exited. Anger boiled within me with every word he spoke and I couldn't keep it concealed much longer. I kicked his velvet chair to the ground and punched the wall next to me, a hole now cuffing my fist where there once was a flat surface. My hand slowly maneuvered back down to my side and my head pressed against the wall as I stared blankly at the white tile floor. I kept trying to tell Luca and Feli that everything will be okay and that there is no possible chance for her to be chosen, when I can't even convince myself that she's going to be safe. Though, sulking here will do nothing, I promised to do something and I will, no matter the circumstances.

I walked with long strides down each corridor that was covered in large windows that went up to the ceiling on my left side, viewing the beautiful garden that lied in the middle of the palace until I made it to the king's private library. I looked around to make sure no one was watching me, and slowly opened the large double-doors and stepped inside, closing the door behind me. The wall to my left was covered to the ceiling with books that were never used, and to my right was a wooden wall with three paintings of the past's powerful leaders. Ahead of me was the king's rose wood desk, emitting royalty and importance. I walked slowly across the red rug and went towards his desk, opening and closing drawers in search of a clue to secrets in hope of a solution. Most compartments contained writing utensils and letters that the citizens wrote to the king for help and enlightenment. Failing to find anything of importance, I moved to the shelves of books, searching for anything that might be used more than the others. I pulled out books that seemed suspicious, such as religious books that were out of place. But the book shelf was mainly filled with fiction and nonfiction books of this kingdom that King Volpe didn't touch, judged from the dust build up.

Following the books lined up about five shelves below my eye level, I noticed a thin book that seemed dramatically less dusty than the others and much more worn. I pulled it out of its cozy nook, opening the cover carefully and was shocked at what I read the title to be, "De Praestigiis et Incantationibus Deamonum et Necromanticorum." I whispered the title to myself, trying to convince myself that this intimidatingly dark book was in my hands. The book is in Latin, a forgotten language, but with my job, I studied the language obsessively. The title translates roughly to "Witchcraft and Incantations of Demons, and a Necromancer". I flipped through the delicate pages finding gruesome details of how to perform summoning rituals and how to talk to the dead. "Why would the king need something like this?" I said to myself, still flipping through the pages. My hands began to shake from reading more of the horrific details, leading me to accidentally drop the book onto the floor. Cursing at myself, I bent down to pick it up off the floor and a slip of paper fell out of the pages of the book. I looked suspiciously at the paper and picked it from the floor. Unfolding it, careful not to rip it, the paper had handwritten symbols and words that I could not understand; it looked like random scribbles on paper and I couldn't make anything of it. Curiosity enveloping me, I folded back up the paper and slipped the paper into the pocket inside of my jacket.