Operation Vanessa
POV: Alexandra
I stared at the woman in the chair across from me, “You want to repeat that?” She sighed, “You are cursed, I’m not sure what sort of magic did it but it is there plain as day.” The gravity that someone, at some point, had cursed me was a lot to process. I felt the old woman pat me on the hands, “Don’t worry dear. I am sure Whisperia can help out like she’s trying to do for your uncle.” I shrugged, “I don’t feel cursed though. Am I displaying a toxic personality in anything?” She chuckled, “No, no. Not all curses affect the personality. Some of them will affect other aspects of your life. I just don’t know what it is. I just know that it is there and has likely been there for a good while. I can usually find what kind of magic is used with my magic but yours showed up as unknown.” I looked at her, “Then what kind of magic was used on Talon?” She nodded, “The magic used in Vellum is light magic and there is an illegal magic that the Council has determined that will corrupt the soul. It is dark magic. So, we call my magic water magic but in reality, it is light water magic, the opposite would be dark water magic.” It made sense that the opposite of light magic would be dark magic, “So which dark magic corrupted my uncle?” She stated simply, “Dark wind.” It made sense then that Whisperia would be the perfect person to lift my uncle’s curse. I had wondered, though, how Mordred would have known this was the magic that affected Talon.
A voice came to me, “I knew simply because I sensed it in him. I recognize it because of my sister’s magic. Wind tends to recognize wind. You can make my presence known to Dorothea. She is a close friend.” I looked at her, “Mordred is contacting me right now.” She nodded, “Right, I forgot that Whisperia and Mordred knew how to do what weird telepathy thing. Tell him I said hey.” He spoke, “Yep, got the message. So, it seems that you are cursed too, darling.” I nodded, “You could sense my uncle’s curse but not mine?” He sighed, “I didn’t until Dorothea sensed it in you. I can tell you that your curse is not dark magic.” I grunted, “I figured that much from what Dorothea was saying. So, what I’m left with is that I’m cursed, not one knows what magic it is and how it affects me. Perfect. I wouldn’t expect my whole life smoothly but it appears to like to pile on me with death threats, attempted kidnappings, attempted assassinations, poisonings and now curses.” Dorothea held my hand since I was saying all of this aloud, “Dear, you need to breathe.” I shook my head, “Look, I have maintained a level of sanity throughout this whole time I’ve known I was a pyrio until now. I am allowed to have at least one breakdown, let me have this.” Mordred spoke again, “Darling, I am petitioning the King to let me back into Vellum. I would like your help in securing it. It would help you greatly for me to be able to come. You also need to contact Talia and inform her about her brother.” With everything that was going on, I had not thought to tell my mother about her twin being alive. I got up quickly, “Crap! I forgot about my mom. Thanks, Mordred. I just have to figure out the fastest way to get a hold of her.” Mordred said, “Your father has a Mesha stone with him at the Embassy. You need to get to the King and speak through his Mesha stone. That would be the fastest possible method.”
I got up and yelled for Dana who immediately came into the room, “Your Grace?” I looked at her, “What’s a fast way to get an audience with the King?” She looked at me, “You can show up to the castle and petition Malinus. Since you are a duchess in training, you will be allowed into the castle by the guards. Your biggest obstacle will be Malinus.” I sighed, “Ready the carriage, I need to go see the King. I am confident that I will get an audience.” She curtsied and left the room quickly. Dorothea got up from her seat, “I will go downstairs and cast the curse seeing eye on Vanessa. We might as well find out what her deal is before you go. If she is cursed, I will mix a potion and convince Zeb to keep her away from you for the time being. If she got the curse Talon carries, she’ll likely start to hate you enough to kill you.” We both walked down the stairs and I saw Jess emerge from the basement with Whisperia. I looked at Whisperia, “Did you get him under control?” She nodded, “You need to stay away from him for a few days this time dear. Where are you going?” I smiled, “I am going to the castle, I need to contact my mother right away. Will she at least be able to see her brother?” She smiled and nodded, “Of course, her ability won’t mess with his healing. If anything, her presence will help him along since they are twins. They share a soul.” Jess spoke, “You can’t leave without one of us, right? Where is Derek?” I had forgotten that I still needed a guard since I was still being chased after by The Order. We may have their assassin but that didn’t mean they wouldn’t try to come after me still. I sighed, “He went to the Citadel to update them on the fact that Zero is actually Talon.” She said, “Okay, hold on, let me put this tray in the kitchen and I will escort you.” I affirmed with her that I would wait for her before I left the house.
The carriage was ready by the time Jess came back from the kitchen; she still had the throwing knives that Derek gave her strapped to her waist. She smiled, “Okay I am ready. Let’s go.” She was pulling on a pair of leather fingerless gloves. It always threw me off when she got into bodyguard mode because she was so quiet and introverted that you wouldn’t think she was this badass. I nodded at her, “Okay.” We two piled up into the carriage and made our way quickly to the castle. I hopped out of the carriage just as we stopped in front of the castle. The two guards in the front nodded at me as I passed them but they stopped Jess at the door. I turned back to them, “She is my guard appointed by His Majesty King Lucien.” One of the guards looked at me, “Sorry, Your Grace, we weren’t aware. You may proceed.” Jess was let in and she caught up to me. I looked at her, “Do you know where His Majesty’s office is?” The same guard turned to the other, “I will take Her Grace to His Majesty’s office. I will be back shortly.” The guard walked us up the stairs and to an ornate white door, “You may walk in, that door will lead you to His Majesty’s Scribe.” I turned to the guard, “Thank you sir.” He rubbed the back of his neck and shook his head, “It is nothing Your Grace. Good luck getting an audience with His Majesty.” I opened the door and Malinus rose to his feet and his eyes widened, “Your Grace? What brings you here?” I drew in a deep breath, “I need to be able to speak with my mother and I am to understand that His Majesty has the ability to do so via Mesha stone.” He nodded, “Is this an emergency? Are you hurt from the operation the other day?” I explained to him the situation but not the parts where we found out that Vanessa was indeed cursed and so was I or that she gave me a murderous gaze. He gasped and fell back into his chair, “Talon? My cousin?” I nodded, “Yes, it seems he was cursed so he didn’t know who he was. Vanessa instantly recognized him where everyone else didn’t. To be fair, I had never met him where I remember him.” He rose from his chair, “I won’t tell His Majesty your news directly but I will let him know that you have an emergency. Wait here please.”
He went into the room and a short time later, Malinus emerged. He ushered me into the room where Lucien, who looked really tired, was sitting behind his desk. His hair was down and it draped down his shoulder. I had hair envy from him before but seeing it down like that I had more hair envy. Something in my chest fluttered when he looked up at me with worried eyes. He rose and crossed over to me and hugged me, “I don’t know what’s going on, Alexandra, but I see that you are tired. Is everything okay?” I sighed and wrapped my arms around him to return the hug, “Lucien, I have had a terrible day but I don’t want to go into that right now. I need to speak with my mother urgently.” He pulled away and looked down at me, “Oh? What is going on?” I looked up at him and tucked his hair behind his ear since it was in his face, “We found out that Zero was cursed by The Order which hid his real identity.” He looked confused, “Real identity?” I looked down and he caught my chin to look up at him, “You can tell me, Alexandra. We are friends after all.” I sighed, “He’s, my uncle. Talon.” He had a similar reaction to Malinus, “How is Vanessa?” I shook my head and Jess spoke, “Vanessa…is going through something herself that the wind witch Whisperia is taking care of.” That reminded me of Mordred, “Speaking of Whisperia, do you know her brother?” He shrugged, “I only know that my father expelled him from Vellum. I did get his petition to return. Do you know him?” I nodded, “Sort of, he’s a family friend.” He patted my shoulder and walked over to his desk and pulled out the stone, “Let’s talk about that after you break the news to your mother.” I nodded and walked over to his desk, “Thank you Lucien. Truly.” I was able to connect with my mother who, at the news, decided she was taking the red eye to Denver to be able to get to Vellum. Just as I finished speaking with her, Malinus burst into the room, “Your Majesty! Your brother has been injured!”
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