Judith's eyes narrowed. "I know it's dark in here but that's not a reason for you to go around making accusations, Princess."
"I know what I saw, Lady Judith. Please show me what it is."
"It's nothing."
"I don't believe you."
"That's irrelevant to me."
Judith stepped around her to leave, but Vivia blocked her path.
"I don't appreciate my path being blocked like that - even if that'd be you, Princess," Judith's expression dropped dangerously grimmer.
"And I don't appreciate being lied to, Lady Judith, especially when someone's life is on the line."
"This has nothing to do with that red-haired woman."
"Let me be the judge of that."
Judith smiled. "We should be fighting with the abductors, not each other."
"We don't have to fight if you just show me what you found."
"Try making me."
Vivia's gaze turned cold and she took one deliberate, heavy step towards her.
"Lady Judith. I won't allow you to protect the perpetrator."
Judith held her stare. "I'll do what I want, Princess. Go ahead and declare contempt if you want. You're free to drag me to the royal court too. But I won't speak if I don't want to speak."
Her fists clenched. "You…I knew it. You're trying to protect Lady Priscilla, aren't you?"
"Priscilla?"
"Don't act innocent. You found something that connects her to all of this - and now you're trying to hide the evidence."
A surge of anger rushed through Vivia, but more than that it was disappointment. For a brief moment at the lakeside, she felt as if she had seen a different side of Judith's. That there was some common ground between them.
Judith said, "I'm not protecting Priscilla. Believe me, I'm the last person who'd want to protect her. Honestly, this accusation is an insult to me."
"You are protecting her. You may have issues with Lady Priscilla but not with sister-in-law Sierra."
"What are you trying to imply?"
"Since she's such a dear friend of yours, would you listen if she made any request to you?"
"You think Priscilla has something to do with that red-haired woman's abduction - and Sierra knows it?"
Vivia smiled wryly. "They are certainly close."
Her gaze darkened. "Being blood-related is of no consequence here, so I'd kindly ask to think before you speak."
"Lady Judith, whether you believe it or not or whether my family believes it or not, Lady Priscilla is involved in Vivia's murder! She killed her and disguised herself as me so the blame would fall upon me. Yet everyone is trying to shield a killer! First, Father puts me under house arrest. And now you. Why?"
Her cheeks ached, but she refused to let her tears come in front of Judith.
"Would she always be protected just because she is the Blessed? Does that one status override a life's worth? That's the real reason you helped me 'escape' didn't you? You wanted to see if I found any evidence against her."
Judith clapped. "That's some very good theory and, yes, I don't like Priscilla one bit but pray tell me. Why'd she kill that woman you keep talking about?"
"So is it a coincidence that she drugged my tea, made me fall ill and stole my coat while I was asleep?"
Judith gave it a thought. "Who is exactly Vivia? I just know that old man, Walterce used to lead an entertainment group. What did Vivia do there?"
Vivia exhaled quietly. An unreadable emotion flickered across her gaze. "She was a dancer…"
A faint sound echoed from somewhere and they went still. They turned at once. Vivia clenched her dagger's hilt in silence.
Abductors?
They moved in silence, following the sound downward. It came from somewhere below, as though the cave had levels they hadn't yet found. They found an old and rusty stairwell that led downwards. Their razor-sharp focus was on an all-time high. They descended into another set of rooms. But these were different from the prison cells above.
Out of all the closed rooms, Judith spotted one door slightly ajar at the far end. A shadow appeared closer to the entrance.
Vivia leapt towards the room. Slamming the door right in the intruder's face, she shoved him back hard. The man stumbled back with a thud.
"Ahhh!"
Before he could open his eyes, Judith's hand closed around his neck with a menacing grip.
"We finally caught the rat - though I had expected more of such pesky scitters. Where are they hiding?"
A sudden peal of laughter cut through their conversation, and Vivia glanced at the intruder, startled.
"A blade through my shoulder…" the man's eyes gleamed with a dreamy glint, "It feels like the perfect time to test one of my experimental potions," he tilted his head, the earlier slam from the door seemingly having no effect upon him.
Vivia took a step back.
Why…why does it look like he's enjoying this? And how is he even talking amidst Judith's deadly grip!?
She pushed her uncomfortable feelings aside for Audreya's sake. "Who are you? What are you doing here?"
"Hm?" The man smiled in a daze and spread his arms wide. "Why wouldn't I be in such a magnificent place like this? This is the epitome of heaven…"
What is heavenly in a place filled with prison cells reeking of torture? Are his mental faculties a bit…compromised? her jaw dropped.
It was then that Judith finally took a proper look at him and rubbed her chin. "You seem familiar."
The man lowered his gaze from whatever imaginary heaven he was drooling about. "You don't jog my memory though," he then glanced at Vivia. "Not you either."
Vivia pressed the tip of her dagger close to his eye. Her frigid gaze was unforgiving. "I want serious answers now. Who are you?"
"Me? I'm Finnian," he smiled pleasantly as though this was some lovely afternoon conversation.
Judith said, "Finnian…from the Magic Ministry?"
"Yes," he sparkled.
Vivia's eyes went wide, remembering what Magic Minister Eugene had told.
'I do have an aide working for me. My son, but he's kind of always lost. I don't know where Finnian has wandered off to at the moment. Just know that he exists somewhere in the world.'
Vivia scanned him from head to toe - this time with a new light.
He is Sir Eugene's son, Finnian?
"Why is a person from the Magic Ministry here?" Vivia asked.
"Hm? Why not? The world is so vast with so many things yet unseen and undiscovered. Do you suppose I will just be trapped within some office walls and miss the wonderful pain and magic our world has to offer?"
Vivia found his dreamy smile a little unsettling.
Judith raised a brow. "What kind of wonderful magic are you trying to find here?"
"Oh my, the lady should ask what I didn't find here," he chuckled merrily. "Let's start with that interesting phenomena over there," He pointed at a certain corner of the chamber.
Vivia and Judith took a look. It was already quite dark, so they had to squint their eyes.
"Some black…mist?"
"It's called a Shifting Vein. It's like teleportation magic. It could take you anywhere in the world if you get sucked into it. Isn't that fascinating?"
"Anywhere as in?"
"Even as far as the Demon Realm. Or Mount Lavos. Or the Aetherios. Anywhere. You cannot control the destination you'll end up in."
Demon Realm too…?
Zerath's face crossed her mind and her heart thumped faster.
Judith touched her chin. "Don't tell me that when Sir Eugene says that you keep wandering around, you were doing that through these Shifting Veins?"
"Oh, yes. Many times. I've landed in some interesting places over time. Ah…" His eyes sparkled. "The memory of landing at the very peak of Mount Lavos is still so very fresh in my mind. The deadly heat from the bubbling lava inside was melting my skin so majestically. The suffocation from the poisonous gases was so exhilarating…I had never felt so alive before."
You would've died you fool! What is wrong with this man?
Suddenly, his gaze snapped towards the Shifting Vein, and his eyes narrowed.
Judith asked, "What?"
"Ah. We have company."
Vivia frowned but soon, she understood. The tip of a boot emerged from within the black haze, and a man's figure followed as he got pushed out through the Vein. It looked like he would stumble with the sudden landing, but he caught his balance with a graceful ease.
Vivia stared at him, unblinking and unmoved. Her quivering lips soon parted. Her eyes turned moist. She couldn't believe she was peering into the familiar pair of golden eyes she loved so much.
"Ze…Zerath…"