Goblin's Hollow 4 The Vampire's Quest

Chapter 8

                           Three months passed, with few real issues. There were the occasional mishaps when dealing with magic; using a little too much of an ingredient messing up a potion here and there. There were a few clients that came to her in the middle of training her newly appointed Apprentice of sorcery; but nothing major. 

         Things had gone on quite well for the empress; her servant girl was  a magical diamond in the rough. Amberosia wasn't just doing a simple task for her boss. She was passionate, dedicated and had a need;not just desire for magic. 

          A few nights had passed when a message came by gargoyle. Ralvania found it to be rather odd, but thanked the gentle nocturnal beast; fed him and accepted the message.

  "It's urgent, miss." He replied before taking off in flight at such a late hour. 

She nodded to him, taking the message back inside with her and strolling into the kitchen.  She saw one of the newly hired servant girls behind the counter.

"Pot of coffee please." She ordered.

"What kind?" She asked politely.

"Witches brew sounds good tonight, thank you." She answered.

         After about seven minutes of small talk her witches brew was ready to go. The girl handed over a steaming pot and fresh silver mug then told her good evening.

The empress nodded; wishing her the same before heading back to her library of magical thought to relax over a pot of coffee and her candles.  She made it to the door careful to balance the knob and coffee without incident; then slowly eased it shut behind her. Setting everything down, she poured herself a fresh hot cup then found her candles, lighting them and settling in for the evening. 

Glancing across the desk, feeling as though she forgot about something but couldn't place it. As she sipped at the still-too-hot liquid; it dawned on her. The urgent message, shaking her head in disgust; the empress scattered her clutter of paper work across the large desk until she found the envelope. Setting it in front of her she stared at it, as if it carried a black plague within the paper folds. 

Pouring one more cup and wondering what it was, who had sent it to her by gargoyle of all creatures. She hoped it wasn't to horrible, not a death or anything. Telling herself only one way to find out, sipping at the cooled liquid, the empress opened up the envelope and looked over the message, uttering only one word. 

"Crap."