Heart of Darkness

Roxana woke up before her sister in the morning. They were still in a room in Lord Amore’s house. She covered her sister and decided to let her sleep some more while she got up to prepare for the day. The king’s ball was this evening but now that her sister returned, she didn’t know what to do. She had so much else to take care of as well and a part of her just wanted to stay at home and spend some time with her sister.

She went to see if the chamber had a private room and freshened up before going to find the men. In the parlor, Alexander and Vitale sat drinking tea or coffee.

“Good morning,” she greeted as she went to sit down with them.

“How is your sister?” Alexander asked.

“I am not sure. I told her about father. She was devastated.”

“How are you?” he asked.

She shrugged. “I don’t know.”

He reached for her, cupping her cheek gently. “It will be alright. We will take of your sister and I will take care of you.”

She smiled, placing her hand on top of his.

Vitale sipped his tea a bit louder and cleared his throat.

Alexander dropped his hand with a knowing smile and Roxana turned to him. “My Lord. I am deeply grateful to you. Thank you for finding my sister.”

“You are welcome,” he said shifting uncomfortably.

“Where did you find her?”

“At the local church.”

Roxana smiled. It seemed like they both kept their fate throughout their journey but… “You go to church?”

A so-called demon, went to church?

“Yes.”

She nodded fascinated. “Well, she has a husband. I don’t feel good about him.”

The men gave each other a look. “What is it?” She asked.

“He is no good,” Alexander said.

Roxana kept her gaze fixated on Vitale. “What did he do?”

He looked between her and Alexander. “He hits her and… other things.”

Roxana felt her chest tighten. Her eyes burned and then her body heated up.

Alexander placed a hand on her shoulder. “What do you want us to do?”

For a moment she had dark thoughts, wanting to tell them to just kill him. Her hands trembled. “I should talk to her first.” She said, knowing that she needed to calm down.

After a moment their heads turned. Roxana looked to see as well and found her sister at the door.

“Diana.” Roxana rose from her seat and went to her. She put her arm around her shoulders and led her inside. “Did you sleep well?”

She nodded with a smile.

Alexander rose from his seat to greet her and Roxana introduced them for the first time. “This is Alexander. You future brother-in-law.”

Diana’s eyes widened as Alexander took her hand and kissed her knuckles. “It is nice to meet you.” He said and a blush crept to her face. “He is also King Alexander,” Roxana said to get it all out in the open at once.

Diana dropped her jaw. Her eyes widened even more, almost terrified. “Yo… your… Majesty.” She breathed out the last part.

“Just call me Alexander.”

Diana stared at him blinking twice before she turned to Roxana. “How… what…” She was speechless.

“Breakfast is ready,” Vitale said standing up. “Let’s eat.”

Diana continued to look at her with many questions in her eyes as they went to the dining hall. Roxana decided to lighten up the atmosphere by telling her sister how she met Alexander in a fun way.

She could see her face light up as she listened, her expression changing from happy to shocked to sometimes sad and then happy again. She laughed at many things, about her being a guard and Sir Fulker. Roxana wished she could tell her everything but the demon part she kept hidden.

“This doesn’t sound real,” Diana said with a chuckle.

“I know. It is madness.” Roxana said.

“I am very happy for you two.” She smiled. “Thank you for taking care of my sister, Your Majesty.”

Roxana could tell that the situation still felt strange for Diana. Even she had a hard time believing how her life turned out to be sometimes.

“It has been my honor.” He said.

Diana couldn’t hide her smile and as they continued to eat, Roxana told her about Fanny and Uncle Ben. Diana looked even happier for her but Roxana felt saddened that her sister had no such person in her life.

“I would love to meet them and thank them.” She spoke softly.

Her sister was the opposite of her. She was soft-spoken, demure, and gentle but even more so than she remembered. She seemed drawn back, her shoulders lifted as if always in defense or afraid. Roxana hated it. She knew whatever happened had made her this way.

“Well then, we need to find you a dress as well. It is the king’s Ball this evening.”

“Ball?”

“Yes.”

“Can I come?”

“Of course. I would love it if you did. You always wanted to go to balls.”

Diana looked down at her hands. Roxana’s heart broke. “That was a long time ago.” She looked up. “Besides, I don’t want to ruin your reputation.”

Roxana frowned. “You can’t ruin my reputation because I have no good one to begin with. Remember everything I told you just now?”

Diana smiled faintly.

Roxana turned to Alexander not knowing what they should do now. They couldn’t go to the demon world.

“I’ll take you to Rayven’s house.”

“Here?” She meant this world.

“Yes.”

He must have already made a rearrangement with Rayven.

Diana looked confused. Oh, Lord. Solving all these things would be tricky.

“We are going to my friend’s home. We will prepare for the ball there and then go together.” Roxana explained.

Diana looked a bit hesitant. “I should… probably go back home. I have already been gone for too long.”

Roxana clenched her hand into a fist under the table. “You don’t have to go back there,” she told her.

“He is my husband,” she said.

The men sensed that they needed to speak alone, so they left them quietly.

Roxana leaned over the table. “If you had a choice and you could leave him, would you?”

“But I can’t.”

“Just tell me if that is what you want and I will make sure you can,” Roxana told her.

Diana shrunk in her seat and Roxana waited patiently for her to answer. “I really don’t want to go back there,” she croaked.

“Then I won’t allow him to ever come near you again,” Roxana promised.