The Secret Planning Meeting
POV: Alexandra
We finally got into Faedon, Jheelis told us that he would need to park the car somewhere since there was a tracking spell on the car. He said that our destination to meet up with Cal wasn’t a very far walk so it should be fine. I was so glad that I chose to wear jeans and sneakers. I figured we would be walking around the city so I opted for comfortable walking attire. While Jheelis was parking the car somewhere, Ny pulled me into what looked like a bakery from the outside. A woman came out of the back room with a tray full of what looked like fruit tartlets. She smiled at Ny, “Oh goodness, Your Highness! You are finally home.” Ny smiled widely at her, “Thanks Beesha, I won’t be here long. I will be going back to Vellum with my friend…at least I hope so. There is still so much I can learn from living there.” Beesha leaned on the glass of her case, “So what’s it like over there?” Ny leaned forward, “Everything is so green there, it’s beautiful. The women there are equally as beautiful as my friend here. Let me introduce Lady Alexandra of Vellum, first daughter of House Batiste and soul daughter of Aphrodite and Apollo.” Beesha gasped and clasped her hands together, “A living deity in my shop. Gods be good to me.” I was thinking to myself if that was significant when Ny whispered to me, “Fae believe that if a deity or living deity such as yourself grace them with their presence it is a sign of luck and good fortune for a year. Longer if you give them a token of your good tidings.” I looked down at the purse that I held in my hands. I thought it would be nice to give this friend of Ny’s a token to keep her blessing on her shop. I dug through it and found only makeup, hair ties, and a ring that I bought in a drugstore in Terre. It was a cheap little costume trinket that was too big to fit me but I suppose that it would do for a token. I handed it to Beesha, “I hope this brings good luck and fortune to your store for a long time. Her grey eyes watered as she took the ring and slipped it on her finger. It fit her properly so I took it as a sign that that ring was meant to be hers.
She curtsied at me, “You don’t know how much this means to me. Things have not been so well lately so this will likely help turn things around.” Ny looked at her, “What do you mean? What happened?” She sighed, “Well, your father’s goons have been showing up here wrecking my shop lately. They take the food without paying and they have ruined my supplies as well. They haven’t come for the past two days so I am hoping they forget about my little shop.” Ny sighed, “I assume it is because he is punishing me for staying in Vellum. Since I am home, for now, he won’t mess with you.” I shook my head angrily, “I will speak with him and let him know that this shop is under my and my soul parent’s blessing and he is not permitted, by the Gods, to mess with you.” Ny widened her eyes, “Xan, I don’t know if you can do that.” I shrugged, “I will use my charm on him then. He seemed to like me even if it was fake, I don’t imagine he would mess with something I have protected.” Beesha wiped her eyes and sniffled, “You came in here with Lady Alexandra for a reason. Right?” Ny smiled and nodded, “Yes. Can I get the creamies? I promised her that I would buy some for her since I made her upset.” Beesha winked at her and said, “I have some fresh out of the oven. Let me pack you up a dozen.”
She went to the back of the building as Syl came in the door with Jess in tow, “Jheelis is back and we need to get going. Are you guys done here?” Ny smiled and shook her head, “Not quite but we will be soon.” Beesha came out of the back with a bag and you could smell the sweet smell of the pastries which made my mouth water. Ny walked over to the register and pulled out a bag of coins and placed it on the counter, “Keep the rest for the trouble caused by my father. I reached into my purse and placed a few more coins on the counter, “I would like to contribute since it is partially my fault she was gone.” Syl crossed the room and placed another bag on the counter, “If my father caused you injury in any way, I must compensate as well. Please do not deny us this reparation to your shop.” Beesha once again was tearful and nodded wordlessly while she sobbed. We all turned to leave the shop and she meekly said, “Bless you, ladies. May the Gods forever bless you.”
Jheelis was leaning against a light post waiting for us, “That seemed to be quite a touching scene. I feel a sort of magic coming from that store now that wasn’t there before. Does that mean she has obtained a Goddess’s blessing?” He looked at me amused and I shrugged, “I suppose I gave her my blessing by giving her a trinket.” He smirked, “I suppose the goons wanting to send ill will to this little shop will be repelled by the power of Solamor.” My eyes widened, “How do you know that name?” He chuckled, “I heard the Gods address you as such when they apprehended Lord Loki. It seems to fit you. That is some very powerful blessing magic. Did you know you possessed such a power?” I shook my head, “No, this is a first for me. I didn’t even know I cast magic.” Syl cleared her throat, “Correct me if I am wrong but we have a schedule to maintain so that my brother isn’t missed from the castle too long.” He nodded at her, “Yes, I was stalling for time. I think he got a later start than anticipated.” He pointed at his ear to reveal what looked like a headphone. Syl nodded, “So is he in place yet?” He nodded, “Nearly there. If we leave now, we will get there after he is but only just.” She waved her hand, “Since you are the one who knows where we are supposed to go, lead the way.” We followed him through some alleyways and back streets until we came to a house.
Syl grabbed Jheelis before he could open the door, “What is this place?” He turned to her, “This is a house that was gifted to me through my maternal grandfather. The King does not know of this place.” She nodded and he finished opening the door. We stepped into the lightly furnished house and he brought us to a little living room off to the right side of the entrance where Cal was already sitting on a chair near the fireplace. He looked up at us and smiled, “I’m glad you are all here. It would be best to go over any plans together rather than me telling it to a couple of you and you having to pass it on. Something always gets lost in translation.” Nystasia bounded forward and wrapped her arms around him, “I always miss you, big brother. It is nice to meet with you without the discerning eyes of our father on us.” The rest of us walked into the room. Ny chose to sit on the floor while the rest of the girls took the couch and, despite trying to offer his seat to Ny, Jheelis took the other chair. We all turned our attention to Cal who spoke when everyone was paying attention, “I assume my dear sister has come up with her own plan to keep Lady Alexandra safe from our father while she is here.” Syl nodded, “You can just call her Alexandra, I assume.” I nodded but didn’t care to add more to what she was saying so she continued, “I assume our father was planning on intercepting her letter to Lucien?” He nodded, “Unfortunately, yes. He will determine if he really decides to send the actual letter to him or if he will forge her letter. He has the means to write in her hand and spoof her wax seal.” Syl sighed, “Ever the schemer. I have advised her to write a general letter to him to send via courier. It will just say something like having a good time, language that is rosy towards both of our parents, and the like.” He nodded, “Smart, dear sister. What else?” She sighed, “Before I say that, what is your plan and I can tell you if I think that is wrong.”
He nodded, “Well I was planning on feigning disinterest in Alexandra. He might drop that scheme if I do.” Syl shook her head, “He will punish you for not at least faking it. We are in a hard place with Vellum at this point but more on that later. Will you listen to my plan? We can tweak either plan but I don’t believe that your plan is best for you personally and in truth it wouldn’t be good for Alexandra either.” He waved his hand to indicate that she should proceed. She continued, “We will have the tea later this afternoon. You two could pretend to be getting along.” Cal interrupted, “Won’t be hard for me.” She sighed, “Let me finish without commentary. We need to sell that Alexandra is torn between you and Lucien. In reality, she will send word to Lucien about what is going on in Seely so he doesn’t get word that she’s getting along with my brother. Alexandra has agreed to go along with this plan because she doesn’t want to be the source of pain for anyone. Is there anything else?” Jheelis raised his hand, “I’m supposed to trail you ladies while you are out and about and report back with your activities. Should I report the blessing magic to him?” Syl rubbed her chin, “I don’t see the harm in doing so especially since her magic will keep him from wrecking that shop further. He will probably test it later on and hopefully, the blessing magic is strong and the fallout will be truly awful.” Jheelis smirked, “Another mission I have is with Jess, I’m supposed to seduce you, dear. So if you have anyone out in Vellum who is waiting for you to return, you might send home a letter too.” Jess sighed, “Let me guess, he’s trying to keep me distracted so he can get those two alone?” Jheelis nodded, “Not only beautiful but smart.” She turned to me and said, “I better send Derek a letter then since I don’t want to be the reason for anyone’s pain either.” I nodded, “Very true, you don’t want that meathead to misunderstand and rescind his offer of marriage.”
Syl looked at Cal and asked, “Do you think this would be a better plan?” He shrugged, “It will keep me from the pain of torture sure but it won’t stop him from trying to join our family with House Batiste.” Jess spoke up, “That’s not really up to him though. He can send the offer to the Elder Council but he won’t get a favorable answer when Alexandra wins.” I sighed, “You do know that I am not guaranteed to win. What happens if Melody or Rayla wins? The Council will want to seriously consider the offer. I don’t know how you all feel about that but I am not keen on becoming part of the King’s Court.” Cal nodded, “I’m not keen to put you in that position either. What can we do otherwise?” Syl sighed, “That is the hard place we have found ourselves in. I think I can come up with a plan but I need a little more time to come up with it.” Jheelis smiled at her, “As expected of our witty Crown Princess. How much time do you need then?” She leaned back in her chair, “Give me about a day, I will have something cooked up before Alexandra leaves tomorrow.”
