Chapter 49 - Tender Thief

Julia snuck into Michael's chamber in the midnight. Her aim was to get the substance Martha took from the creature. She was sure she must have given it to Michael.

She went straight into his bedchamber. She started checking all the places her instincts directed her to. She couldn't find anything suspicious.

She didn't even know what she was looking for. She paused to think for some time. At least she had to know what to search for.

She tried remembering the last time she saw Martha taking the substance from the creature. She collected it with her hand. She then reached for something that night.

She didn't see what she was trying to take but she remembered she could heard glasses clinking from where she put her hand and from the way it sounded hollow. She must have reached for bottles, small in size.

She put her hand on her forehead as she went deep in thought. Potion like that would be put into vial for easy administration of its dose.

She had to look for vials. And she must do that without getting Michael to wake up. That would lead to the need of answering a lot of questions.

She resumed her search all over the bedchamber. Unlike before that she was looking for nothing in particular. Now she knew what she wanted to find.

Luckily, without wasting much time. She found a vial but she was skeptical about it. Michael put it in a corner away from everything in the room. He wouldn't have done that if the substance was valuable and dear to him.

She held on to that while she searched for another vial hopefully. After a while, she stopped as she couldn't find anything.

She removed the cork from the one she already found. A bad smelling odor overcame the bedchamber. It was smelling awfully.

Julia couldn't contain it. She resisted by scoffing until she started making strange noises. She wanted to stop but she couldn't. She continued making the noise until Michael woke up.

"Who is that?" Michael must have had a hard time recognizing her in the dark.

"It's me" she replied softly. She turned away from him and corked the vial and tied it to the hem of her dress.

Michael lit a lamp and the chamber was illuminated.

"Julia?" he moaned in a sleepy voice.

Julia turned back to him and nodded without saying anything. Her lips seemed to have been glued together.

"What are you doing here?" Michael asked in amazement.

Julia still couldn't find her voice. She was breathing heavily. She wished Michael didn't find out what she had come for.

Michael got up from his bed and walked towards her. He stretched both hands probably to grab her midriff.

Julia quickly pulled off her dress and threw it away from herself. Michael was very sensitive. He could discover the vial by just touching her dress.

She pushed him back slowly to the bed. She laid him on her back and sat on his waist.

"Are you really here for this or you came to check if I am down with Martha?" Michael must have thought he was spying on him to know if he was having sexual flings with Martha.

"That doesn't matter" Julia whispered. "What matters is we are together here right now" she held his lips together.

"You have taken a very great risk coming from the quarters to my chamber. What if the guard caught you. That might end up badly" he complained.

"Risks must be taken to achieve great feats" Julia declared.

"You know I am confused right now. Should I praise you for sneaking round without the guard catching you or punish the guards for failing in their duties?" he asked smiling. He was getting the excitement of the imminent pleasure.

"You can't blame them. I have a lot of tricks, remember?" she started pulling off his night wears.

"I still don't believe how tricky you used to claim" he disagreed.

"I was here for a long time and you didn't know until I woke you up. Are you such a heavy sleeper or I am the tricky expert?" she knew Michael would never deprecate himself as much as he wouldn't want to praise her.

"I will have to think about that later when the night has departed. Right now, we should take care of night matter" he carried Julia off from his body and laid her on her back with him right on top of him.

Julia giggled as he tickled her with the tip of his fingers.

*****************

"Your father kept complaining about her. He has a bad feeling about her" Queen Teresa came to meet Michael in his chamber.

She was talking aloud without minding if Martha would be hearing all what she was saying.

"Father told me and I have find out about that just to get the bitter truth that he was wrong. Martha is just a princess who seek refuge in our kingdom" Michael explained to his mother. He would keep explaining like this until they agreed with him.

"Seeking refuge in our kingdom is nothing to worry about. Seeking refuge in your chamber is the part that needed attention. She wouldn't have done that unless she has a motive" Queen Teresa pointed out.

"Do you really want her to hear this or you came to tell me?" Michael was worried by the way his mother was raising her voice.

"I already saw her in the range and that is what trigger my presence here right now" she revealed. "She is too poor out there. A princess should be very good at that" she grumbled.

"You are doubting her due to her poor performance in the range. What if she has been performing excellently well. You will still think that is strange for a tender young lady" Michael chuckled. His mother was just making up unnecessary excuses to support his father who was afraid of losing his kingdom.

"I may be wrong but be careful in your dealing with her. Do not just eat anything she gives to you and that includes her body. Distance yourself from her" Queen Teresa warned strictly.

Anyone who happened to overhear her right now would think she was certain of her accusations about Martha.

"Mother, tell Father to put his mind at rest. The kingdom has remained together and is still standing solidly despite all what we have faced. We will not be fallen by a helpless lady" Michael enjoined Queen Teresa to assure his father.

"Michael, no one is worried about the kingdom. We are worried about you. You are not only a son to us but to all of Darnley. It is our duty to protect you" she moved close to him probably to get her words sunk deep into his skull.

"So what you are saying is Martha is here to hurt me?" he asked and bursted out laughing. "Why will she? I did her no wrong" he shook his head.

"You don't just assume like that. What has James did to Harold? Nothing!" she cried.

"I think you knew the real story behind Harold's death?" Michael inquired. He had briefed his mother about the details.

"Let's forget what is hidden and deal with what is obvious. Be vigilant, Michael" she instructed severely.

"And by vigilant you want me to interrogate her?" he asked sarcastically.

"That is all I am going to say to you. You know what you should do. I am sure of that" Queen Teresa declared and walked back to the door. She was leaving.

"My Lady!" Martha greeted her as they met at the door. She bowed respectfully.

"The beautiful princess of Harvey" Queen Teresa smiled on her. "How are you doing and I hope Michael has not been a hell of a host?" she was making her feel comfortable.

Michael giggled from behind them. Queen Teresa had just spoken bad about her and was smiling broadly at her right now.

"He is taking great care of me. Should I tell you, he is making the decision of going back to Harvey hard for me to make" she joked and they both laughed hard

"He took after his father on that. That is why you see me here" Queen Teresa started another laugh before their former laughter could dwindle.

"I have to go" Queen Teresa walked slowly out. Martha made sure she bowed her head until she had left.

"Your mother is still as nice as ever" Martha smiled at Michael.

"Of course, it is a habit that runs through our veins. I had you were in the range. I never took you for someone who likes sport" Michael expressed his doubt.

"It's not all about sport, if I knew a little about targets. It would have been helpful when I was attacked" she said sadly.

"Can I ask why the princess of Harvey didn't know anything about targets? Your kingdom is feared for their art of war" Michael made a confused face.

"There are a lot of things that people believe and most of those things used to be pure lies. I think our strength is one of them" Martha chuckled.