Not So Innocent (A Dark Fantasy Novel)

The Lotus Society

Deep in the quarters of a shadowed castle with only feeble candles to ward off the darkness of the night, the princess threatened to boil over with rage. As she paced, her skirts were clenched beneath the fury of her fists. Her servants could tell that she had worked herself into a fit of anger, and they knew from the lingering pain of purple bruises that now was not the time to attend to her. No, definitely not.

Fragments of plans and plots shattered and swarmed Lexa's brain like like flies. They were unusable now, as Cleo's blackmail and a failed attempt at catching the princes attention caused all her plots to crumble apart at their base.

The dinner with the prince and Cleo had not only not gone to plan, but also failed quite horribly. An excruciatingly long meal complete with Cleo's conniving and long periods of awkward silence, Lexa had failed to catch the wily butterfly that was the attention of the prince. She had sworn she had almost seen him fall asleep multiple times, seeming invincible to her tricks. Batting eyelashes and delicate laughter -the usual fall to any man- only seemed to bore him even more.

A light knock at her doors interrupted Lexa's thoughts, paralleled by the fear stroked into the eyes of the scurrying maid as she moved from her place in the corner to open the door. The maid, returns with a note and eyes downcast.

What was this? The night was not a time that a lady like Adelaide was expected to be awake, let alone be willing to accept notes.

Meet me in the library. I know that you won't fail to disappoint your sister, considering that I can be quite liberal with my information when I am vexed.
-Cleo

Lexa ripped the paper into pieces, slamming to them to the floor as she stomped out of the room. As she walked down the corridors of the castle, she could only wonder what problem was going to arise out of the menace that was Cleo.

Voices crept around the corner of the lowly lit corridor, and A simple avoidance spell spilled from her lips as she halted and  pressed herself against the wall. Just as she did, the people lurked in the shadows. The voices were hushed, but yet urgent, speaking with an intensity only of disagreements and secrets.

"I thought I had ordered you to deal with this predicament, Gwyneth." A gravely voice commanded. The voice, even kept at a low tone, boomed throughout. It was a voice that anyone would know upon hearing.

The King.

Speaking to Gwyneth, the official sorceress to the entire kingdom of Catala.

As Lexa peaked around the corner, she set her eyes upon the sorceress. She was not a beautiful thing, but she was perhaps the only woman in the nation who could get away with such an act. Her robes were silken, but yet she made even the brightly colored fabric look plain. In fact, on appearance, everything about the sorceress looked mediocre. Ditch water hair. Bland gray eyes devoid of any kind of spark.

It was a brilliant move on the sorceress's part. She could choose any appearance in the entirety of the world, but yet she choose the look that hid her capabilities behind a curtain of simplicity. No one would ever look at this woman for more than a moments thoughts, and if they did, they certainly wouldn't expect the vapid and cruel underlying of power within her. She supposed that Gwyneth preferred it this way. She wanted people to underestimate her.

Lexa knew better, though. She knew just exactly the threat that hid behind the covers of a bland face.

The sorceress, however, did not speak the way she appeared. Her voice was a commanding one, a tone fierce enough to rival even the king. "The rebel scum are more complex than we could have ever anticipated, your highness. It would not be as simple as to cut off the head, for another one would simply grow in its place."