To Be Determined

Chapter Sixteen: The Palace

The room that I am sitting in is by no means unpleasant, yet my nerves are shooting warning shots. They have confiscated all of my belongings, including my familiar. I have faith that Asha will be overseeing that no harm comes to Belladonna, but without her nearby, I feel incomplete. I am entirely alone, apart from an untouched cup of smooth coffee and a clock that ticks loudly in the quiet space. Very graciously the palace has provided me with a cardigan and a pair of white silk gloves. They know me quite well from my history of employment and knew how uncomfortable it is to have my arms and hands exposed. It was a small token of kindness that allowed me the tiniest shred of comfort. I sat alone, absent from my husband, my cards, and my familiar for over an hour, and the clock mocks me with every passing second.

From what I gathered on the journey over, Asha and Ben returned to the hospital shortly after Iliad and I had left and found Joy passed out on the floor. She had told them that after I was discharged from the hospital she was clearing my room and fainted. She told them that she had visited with an otherworldly being and that they told her how to find the source of the plague. My bag, including my journal detailing all of my discoveries, including Iliad's involvement in the terrorist organization, is now in the custody of the royal guard. Likely, they are in the Empress's hands as we speak. She is a kind and fair Empress, I do not doubt that I will hardly be in trouble. I may even be praised for my effort in attempting to foil the organization that she likely did not know about before now. I spoke of my innocence and inner turmoil with the entire situation. Iliad's fate, however, I am uncertain about. I was not aware of Iliad's change of heart when I wrote my last entry. I hold a shred of hope that everything will work out, but my high hopes are getting low. I feel as though the tower is collapsing around me, and I am afraid of rebuilding anew. The crisis that I have struggled with deeply is approaching an ending, a whole degringolade. I am deathly afraid of being alone once more.

The door opens and I quickly stand up from the elegant sofa from where I sit. She enters alone, but I briefly see the guards posted outside my door. I bow shallowly as the Empress herself walks in.

"Milady," I say greeting her.

"It is a pleasure to see you as always. Olyvia, please sit with me. It has been a draining day and the night is still young." She takes a seat on the far end of the couch and I return to my rigid sitting position. "Please do not look so anxious my dear friend. You have hardly touched your coffee. Have the staff not made your favorite exactly as you like it? I will have them make you a new one straight away."

"Oh no your highness, it is perfect. I am simply not in the correct headspace to drink it at the moment."

"Now Liv, what have I said about formalities. You are a dear friend of the palace and I. Please, call me Kamilia."

"I- yes, sorry for that Kamilia. I wish that we could be visiting under better circumstances."

"I wish so as well. Hopefully, we will soon enough. For now, there seems there is some business to attend to. My head of security wanted to visit with you, but I insisted that I would be the one to make sense of the situation."

"I hope that you can make sense of this all because I haven't been able to. In a matter of weeks, my life seems to have crumbled around me."

"I have read through your journals and I have gathered that things have gone quite sideways lately. I must say if anything your journals have been quite entertaining. Your writing, it is as if I can feel your emotions as they were thoroughly scribed."

"I wanted to stay completely transparent, even if that meant allowing me to exploit my vulnerabilities."

"Vulnerable you were. I was so intrigued by the entries you wrote detailing your tango with magic. I never imagined that one of my top academics would be gifted in such a vastly different discipline. Being a member of nobility I learned about the history of magic. Its origins, its limits, and those who push those limits, and you most certainly have been one to push the limits. I do not think that you understand how few people, magicians and the mundane, have been able to travel into other realms. Yet, you pass with ease, and seemingly without consent at times."