Ileus: The Dark Prince

"Why is she intent on meeting me?" asked Anastasia. That was queer, especially because she was posing as a servant girl. But she really wanted to find out about her and to know more about her aunt.To say that she was enthusiastic to meet the queen was an understatement. 

"I don't know!" Jor'gas replied with a chuckle. She took Anastasia to the palace. Carved inside a mountain, the palace's walls were an obsidian color. Tables, chairs, beds—everything was sculpted from the black stone of the cave. There were no flowers or greenery but through all the giant halls that she traversed, she saw large chandeliers and very few small water fountains. The floor was beautifully polished and reflected the image of the chandeliers on the ceiling. The entire palace was a buzz of activity with servants bustling around everywhere. They rounded the corridor of the main hall and entered the north wing. 

"This is where the king and queen live," said Jor'gas. 

"And what about the prince and princess?" 

"They live in the west wing." 

Anastasia nodded. Her breath became shallow at the excitement of meeting Og'drath. Why was the queen so interested in meeting her when she could have almost anyone in the palace as her servant? Was it because she found it queer that she was found in suspicious conditions? 

They stopped in front of heavy wooden double doors, with gold circular rings engraved at regular intervals. Two royal guards were standing in front of it. When they saw them approaching, the guards flared their wings in disapproval. "Why are you here?" hissed one of them. 

Jor'gas bowed to him and said, "The queen has called us." 

The guard gave Anastasia a frowned look and then tilted his head. "Who is she? She doesn't look as if she belongs to Zor'gan." 

Anastasia's breath hitched. Her heartbeat increased and her pointy ear twitched. 

Jor'gas became silent for a moment, not knowing what to answer. A moment later she said, "If your interrogation is over, I would like to take her to the queen at the time slotted for us. Maybe you can ask the queen who she is then." 

The guard narrowed his eyes at her quick answer, but he was definitely scared on the inside. With a grunt, he tucked his wings back and then opened the door for them. 

Sighing an audible breath of relief, Jor'gas stepped inside and pulled Anastasia along with her. She jostled her in a loud voice, "Hurry up girl, we don't have all the time!" 

Anastasia played along. 

The queen's chamber was large. They had entered the sitting room, which led to the main bedroom. There were three servants already working inside. Queen Og'drath was nursing her baby. As soon as she saw Jor'gas, she gave a pleasant smile. The child had fallen asleep in her lap. She removed her from her breast and handed her to the servant. The baby protested a little, but settled soon after. 

Jor'gas asked, "How is princess Dolgra?" She craned her neck to look at the little girl in the servant's lap. 

"She is fine…" the queen replied wearily. "Trying to keep her safe. The king already dislikes her." Og'drath covered her breasts with her drape and looked at the two of them. "Come over here, Jor'gas," she said. When the two walked to her, the queen said, "So this is the girl you were talking about?" 

Jor'gas nodded vehemently and she looked at Anastasia. "She is Natsya." 

At first Og'drath gave her a suspicious look. Then she said, "Jor'gas told me that you don't remember anything of your past. Is that true?" 

Anastasia licked her lips. "Yes," she replied anxiously. Queen Og'drath was a thin woman for a demon. She had the same sad eyes. Her gray skin was leathery. However Anastasia noticed that she didn't emit the rotten smell. Rather the air wafted with sandalwood fragrance. Perhaps it was an effort to keep the smell at bay. 

Og'drath looked at her servants and then at Jor'gas. "Leave us," she ordered them. 

Surprised, Jor'gas' jerked her head back, but she didn't ask the reason. She just bowed and then all the servants walked out of the door. 

Anastasia was apprehensive. She clutched the drape she was wearing as her heart pounded. 

Og'drath rose to her feet and walked to the window on the right side. It opened to yet more sand dunes. The sun had risen in the sky and the air was warmer. Never ever being in such kind of weather before, Anastasia started sweating. 

Without turning to her, the queen said, "Natsya, did you really think that your blue color would fool me?"

Anastasia's mouth fell to the floor. The queen knew who she was? "M'lady—" 

Og'drath held her hand up in the air to stop her. "Your skin is blue because you came in contact with the bane blood." 

Anastasia's breath stopped. Her mind scrambled to find replies as she stared at her with wide eyes. Where was the queen getting?

"Your ears are pointy and you have colored your hair with dollusk dye, which means your hair is not naturally black." Og'drath ambled back to the couch she was sitting on. She pulled her feet up behind her knees and sprawled her arm over the backrest. Tilting her head she said, "Why do I feel that you are a fae?" She narrowed her eyes slightly to study Anastasia's reaction. "Faes do not die of bane blood. Only their skins become blue. I have seen this with Etaya. Her skin on the back had turned blue a few days back. And after that Seraph has become all the more cautious while handling her… especially at night." 

So this was why she didn't die. Faes were resistant to the bane blood's poison. Anastasia was already too nervous to speak. "F— faes are—"

"I don't want to hear your explanation," said Og'drath. "But the thing is that I feel you are a fae spy. However, if you were Etaya's supporter, you wouldn't need this disguise." She sized her up. "Your whole skin is blue, which means you fought with many of us. I assume you did that to enter Zor'gan. What I don't understand is that if you fought with so many, why haven't the guards reported casualties?"