Rebirth

12. Help

Dear Journal,
As a silversmith, I remember Genevieve asking for a specifically designed necklace. She wanted a pearl for its pendant and the lock to be magnetized. I remember her unknowingly daring me as pearls were very expensive and as such, were hard to procure. I left the sword shop early that day and walked down to the sea side, purchased several mussels from the sailors and dug through each of them until I found a pearl. Then,  I fashioned the necklace in just two days. What I am trying to posit is...that I do not like to be dared, for I too, am a maker.
                                                            - 𝓔. 𝓢𝓽𝓮𝓮𝓵𝓮
                                                                 (1605)

Emma slipped away from her chambers early the next day.

Her destination was Baltazaar's cabinet as she wanted to acquire more information on all she had discovered.

A cabinet served as a private study or retreat for the prince or king, quite similar to the queen's boudoir, which is a lady's private sitting room or dressing room. The cabinet was located adjacently to Baltazaar's bed chambers and would often be used for small private meetings.

As of now, the queen was now a consort until Baltazaar and Emma married to take the throne as King and Queen. Based on what she heard from her sources, the meeting of the council yesterday discussed how they would move forward with the impending war. Baltazaar had disclosed the existence of supernatural creatures to the relative hierarchy and proposed a plan to move forward and combat enemy forces.

Word had spread throughout the kingdoms after the attack but the high ranking noble men who were unaware of the existence of these creatures were the hardest to convince. Though they did not agree with the usage of supernatural creatures to fight a war, some of them had seen the werewolf for themselves and were frightened into allegiance as they truly believed that a war without their aid was futile.

Emma was lost in thought as she made her way through the hall towards her brother's cabinet. Once she arrived, she use the key she had stolen months ago from Baltazaar to unlock the door. He had thought it to be lost so he had his ironsmiths fashion a new one for his use.

Opening the door, Emma was awestruck by the tidiness of the room. It was not exactly grand but it was well furnished and decorated, suiting Baltazaar's controlling personality and orderly style.

A polished elm table sat at the back of the room with a chair neatly tucked under it. On the wall behind the table, an uncanny self portrait of Baltazaar hung proudly. The painting's eyes seemed to watch Emma as she regarded the room.

In addition to this, red and gold tapestry hung over the small, unlit fire place located on the right wall and a shelf with a plethora of old books stood to the left.

Emma, however, was not surprised that the items adorning Baltazaar's table were made of gold. His goblet, his pitcher, his candle holder, his inkpot, all made from evenly milled, pure gold.

She shut the door behind her and quickly began her search. Skimming through each book, she was unable to discover anything note worthy. She then scanned the stack of papers on Baltazaar's desk but also found nothing.

She noticed a small chest in the corner of the room, behind his table and decided to investigate. Upon observation, she found that it was locked. She grabbed the golden candle holder on the desk and began to repeatedly bludgeon the lock, attempting to pry it open.

"What in the four great kingdoms are you doing?" She heard Baltazaar say from behind her.

Frightened by his sudden appearance, she stood up quickly, dropping the candle holder to the floor.