Chapter Forty

IT TOOK ABOUT HALF AN HOUR FOR MY DAD TO show up, and when he did, he seemed strangely off. I was already on top of Moondust, so he mounted on Fireheart - his Astryn caramel horse - and took the lead. Not even bothering with anyone else but me.

Something must have happened for him to be like this.

But I only voiced my thoughts when we were far away from the manor for anyone to hear our voices. Close to the Greenhall Woods. He seemed lost in his thoughts, so I rode Moondust in front of him and stopped her, making him also stop abruptly. "Tasha? What was that for?"

"Come on, Dad, what happened? Why are you acting strangely like this? You didn't even say a word on our way," he seemed bothered like I thought he was.

His shoulders came down, not showing any resistance to answering my questions. "I didn't want to bother any of you with what happened."

"Don't worry about that, dad. Tell me. I'm curious. Moreover, I might even be able to help you," he nods.

"After you left the breakfast chamber, something very bizarre occurred," for Mikla's sake, stop with the suspense. Just spill the tea. "I don't even know where to begin."

I took a deep breath to gather patience. "Dad, just tell me what happened. Be as straightforward as possible," he nodded, so I hope he does that.

"The whole table and the food over it got frozen," excuse me? "Even three of the chairs also got frozen together. I reacted fast, so nothing happened to me. But," he seemed frightened. "That magic was strong."

Fuck. What's happening? "It happened with you too, then?" I asked, but I was talking more to myself than to him. "Why the-"

"What do you mean? Did it happen with you too?" Duh!

"Why would I have said that if it hadn't happened to me?" That made him roll his eyes, but it was an obvious thing, wasn't it? "Yes, dad. It happened to me. When we returned from Pierre's Bistro yesterday, my milkshake had suddenly turned into a Goddess-damn popsicle. I got mad, and at that moment, the most reasonable thing to me was that someone was pranking me, which isn't an uncommon thing."

My eyes met his, and I saw the shock on them. He must be thinking the same as I am.

"But I was probably wrong," I exclaimed. "Now it seems like the culprit was targeting our House. And if it happened inside our territory, the person must; or have infiltrated himself here, or must already be working here," he agreed with his head. "Want me to do something about it?"

He sighed. "Let me take care of this, okay?" Less work for me.

"Fine."

We got back to riding our horses, but I couldn't stay silent for long. Once my mind got flooded with new doubts. So, I stopped Moondust again, and dad mirrored me. "What is it?"

"Hm, dad? Why did you ask to come horse riding with me?"

"Is it so strange?" Yes?!

"Oh, no. However, I was caught off guard. And I can't wash away the thought that you want to talk to me about something, and not only spend time with me!" Let's be straightforward this time. "So, am I right?" I know I am, but I want to hear it from him.

After some instants, he nodded. "You are indeed, right, Tasha," see? It wasn't that hard. Now, tell me. "What do you think it is about?" Don't do this.

Come on, why is he so much similar to me? It's annoying. I'm the one who makes those moves. I don't quite enjoy being in the other position because I don't have patience.

Sigh. "I have two guesses. First: You want to talk about the decorations of my chambers. Second: You want to tell me something about my request to begin archery practice." He seemed bored.

"Oh, you are too sharp and too straightforward to make this game fun," see?

"That's because, usually, I am the one who asks that. Not the one who answers it!" He rolled his eyes, making me laugh. "So, which one is it? Or none?"

I bet he was mentally adding this to the list of things we have in common by the way he was looking at me. "The second one it is. But I also want to know what kind of decoration you want in your chambers. No pink, I guess," now he's mocking me.

"I never want to enter a pink room again," he giggled. "So, can it be gold and white?" It would be good to have a room that color because it's calming.

He nods. "Good choice. Any changes you want to make?"

"Yes. I want more bookshelves, a side of my walk-in closet to put my weapons, a magical refrigerator where I can put food and drinks, and a stronger safer hidden from anyone else's views," with dad's photographic memory, he must have tattooed all of my requests on his mind.

"I like that better," good. "We can make a blood bond on the safer, so it will only open if it's you," oh, I appreciate that very much.

"Mm-hmm. Now that this matter is done. Tell me, dad, what did you want to talk about my request regarding archery?" This is what I'm most curious about. "You didn't go back on your word, right?" I know he wouldn't do that, but I want to pick on him.

He stared at me, offended, "I am a Nicholai, Tasha. We never go back on our words," that is true. Not even Dalilah did that. We are all too prideful to do something like that.

Well, although Octavian does that quite often. But he is an exception.

"Yesterday, after you left, I left right after you to get those matters done," oh, he works fast. "I went to the Imperial Palace," oh, no.

I don't like this. At all. "Why would you go there, dad?"

"I'm Hendri's best friend," and he is the only one allowed to call the Emperor that, "and also his right hand. Why wouldn't I go there?" He has an annoying point. "Plus, I heard he has the best archer of the Empire under of the Imperial Knights brigades."

This isn't happening. Please, tell me this isn't happening. My dad DID NOT get me involved with the Imperial Knights. For fuck's sake. This is bad.

There are two Imperial brigades.

The Golden Imperial Knights, the smaller brigade. Led by 2nd Imperial Princess Adelyn Caspien. Responsible for the security of the Imperial Palace and the members of House Caspien.

And there's the dangerous one, the Black Imperial Knights, bigger enough to surround the whole Theolia with their Goddess-damned Knights, who also do a lot of dirty jobs and have some roots in the black market. Led by the Archduke of Wrynn, the fucking Imperial Crown Prince Joshua Caspien. Responsible for the security of Theolia, the Imperial Capital, as a whole.

Coincidentally, these are the two people I didn't want to be associated with. At all. Not with them. Even less with their underlings who would spy on me and tell them everything. Because that's how those Imperial Knights are. And I'm not even speaking of their big-ass pride.

If dad's talking about the strongest archer in the Empire, he must be speaking of the second in command of the Black Imperial Knights. Sir Leonard Brantley who's known to be a monster while fighting. And he is.

Previously, I encountered the assassin, which my sister blamed for assassinating our parents and Val. That happened when I was 19, and he tried to kill me, so we fought, and when I cut out his mask, it was the archer underneath. I had seen him before, so I knew it was him.

But I don't think he is an assassin now, at least not yet.

And I don't want that guy teaching me anything. He might not be as dangerous as I am. But he is dangerous as fuck.

What was my dad thinking?

Although I'm slightly hopeful that it won't go as my dad wanted, seeing how the Crown Prince despises our House, I doubt he would let his 2nd in command lower himself to teach me archery. He never agreed to my dad's requests regarding Octavian or Dalilah. So, he won't agree now that it's about me, right? I'm of no interest to him.

"Hm, and what happened, dad?"

But my hope disappeared when he smiled widely, "I'm still stunned, Tasha. When Hendri heard my plead, he said that the Archduke would gladly deal with this," excuse me? "I was surprised, especially because I always thought the Crown Prince hated our family for some reason."

I was counting on it...

"However, Hendri told his assistant to go to the Crown Prince and tell him about it, and after some time, the guy came back with a Knight," that made me curse, but he was so into his own memories of the previous day that he didn't pay attention. "And above all that, the Knight is the 2nd in command of the Black Imperial Knights."

This can't be happening. For fuck's sake. WHY would the Crown Prince allow something like that? What is his plan? I never heard of him being a bastard like his brother. Fuck it. What will he gain from this?

And why isn't my plan working as I want? Now it will be hard to get away from the members of House Caspien. Why is this happening to me?

Mikla, come on, is this your doing? Do you want to complicate things for me? I thought you wanted to help me. What am I supposed to do now?

"Can you believe it?"

"No. I cannot," dad stared at me and finally realized how annoyed I was with that.

"You don't seem to be happy."

"Why would I ever be happy to get related to anyone from the Imperial brigades? Especially a guy who's so close to the fucking Imperial Crown Prince. I'm not amused, dad. At all," he didn't like my words.

"Don't curse!"

"Come on, dad. You are smarter than that. Don't you think it's sus? Seriously? Joshua Caspien never tried to hide how much he hates us. He disagreed with your request for him to befriend Octavian," which was a smart move. "And he didn't even listen to you when you asked him to marry Dalilah!" Again, that was the best choice he ever made. "So why the fuck would he agree to help me of all your children? The magicless one at that. It does not make sense when we think about it, dad."

He bit his bottom lip, uncomfortable.

"I... I was too happy to realize that. Do you think he's scheming something?"

"Do you have any doubts about that?" My sarcasm made him even more uneasy.