Eadwig was calm. "Too calm, in fact," Serenity thought as she watched her husband drink his cup. Lowering her eyes to hers, she watched the reddish liquid. Finally, she took a sip of the drink, before putting her cup back in the saucer, with more force than necessary.
"You already knew about the kroseil, didn't you?" She accused, her anger creeping into her voice.
She had realized right away that Anastasiy's explanation wasn't going to please her when Jason had taken the twins with him. Since that incident, both of them had a tendency to lose control of their magic when their emotions were too strong, Serafim more than Ewald. And by Thrymgia, she hated being right.
Oh, she understood very well why the magical circles had made this choice. Concealing information about the kroseil among magicians was in itself a good idea, especially with the oaths they could make. But it only reinforced her opinion that leaving all the Knowledge in the hands of the Magic Towers was a very bad idea. After all, Knowledge was a form of power and whoever had the most could easily deceive others. This was how more than one tyrant had risen.
"I had no idea the kroseil existed," he replied calmly, without looking at her.
"Eadwig," she warned.
Eadwig and Serenity had never loved each other. Their marriage had been arranged, as had all the previous dukes of Draehion. This was one of the few rights the Emperor had over the Duchy, to prevent it from separating from the Empire. And Serenity had cursed this rule.
When she was fourteen, she was chosen to be the wife of Eadwig, then thirty-two. But she wasn't chosen for her status, her wealth or her looks. By an unfortunate chance, she had run into Sarah van Herewald, Eadwig's fiancée, in the arms of another man. Rather than apologize to the Emperor for his daughter's crime, her father, Count Zlatan van Herewald, forced Serenity to attend the ceremony instead of Sarah. And so, at the age of fourteen, Serenity was married, simply because she was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
That was the day she discovered the true face of the Count. His eternal smile, which he had always presented to his family, whether at the presentation of their business or at their ennoblement, was gone. And as a simple baronet's daughter, she had no choice but to remain silent, afraid to see her family fall back into poverty, to see all her parents' efforts reduced to nothing and her little sister suffer again. Serenity had kept silence during that nightmarish week, gradually distancing herself from her family, who had no idea what was going on. Under Zlatan's cruel words and threats, she had become his puppet, learning all the etiquette of the nobility, Sarah's behavior and facial expressions, and the names of the van Herewalds' close associates and friends.
When the wedding day arrived, she had to drink a potion that changed her appearance. Her dark hair became long, while her eyes changed from blue to a dark brown. She gained the inches she was missing, both in height and shape. However, the transformation left her stunned, pain radiating through her body.
She had little memory of the ceremony, vaguely remembering signing the contract of their union and taking the oath that would unite them as husband and wife. But as soon as the High Priest finished his sermon, the effects of the potion wore off and she returned to her original appearance. She paid no attention to the Count when he cried out in scandal. With a blank stare, she prayed that Eadwig's sword would pierce her as he stared at her with a blank face. It was not until much later, long after Raz's death, that she learned that this face was a sign of destructive rage. She seemed to hear the Emperor ordering the Count to explain, but what brought her out of her torpor was Eadwig's order. A simple "silence", which rendered Zlatan mute. And that's when she fell into unconsciousness.
This event was both a curse, for being forced to marry without her parents' blessing and keep that status until an heir was born, but also a blessing for Serenity. Meeting Raz was the best thing that ever happened to her in all of this.
Raz had been a bridge between her and Eadwig. She had taught her everything she needed to know about the Duchy, but also about the region, which remained a mystery to those in Lirdiff. She had charmed her with her joy of living and her iron will, which never failed, even when the sickness took her away. Her smile still lingered, even after all these years, and Serenity was determined to protect all that Raz had left behind, even that fragile friendship with Eadwig.
"I didn't really know about kroseil, but I knew that such a plant existed," Eadwig began, looking her in the eye.
"Tell me about it please," Serenity asked, settling more comfortably on the couch as Eadwig set his cup down on the coffee table.
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