“Welcome, welcome my dear.” Susan Redfield had a glass half-emptied of wine in her hand and a smile on her face. “Welcome to my humble home.” There was nothing humble about it at all. Everything in the solar reeked of antiqueness and quality. Susan held out a seat for Druscilla at the table.

“Thank you for having me,” Druscilla said graciously as she took the seat she was offered. “I mean no offence, but isn’t it too early to be drinking?”

“Three hours past noon or three hours past midnight, it makes no difference. Getting drunk is the same anytime.”

“If you say so, Lady Redfield.”

“There’s no need for such formalities – call me Susan.”

“Others would consider that rude of me, but I will humour you in your chambers, Susan. In turn, you may call me Druscilla.”

“What a peculiar name – it doesn’t sound Northern at all.”

“It is what it is. I feel like I was named in the spur of the moment.”

“Tell me about yourself, where you came from. I am curious to learn more about you.”

“I come from a place so far away it might as well be another world. But I was under the impression we were here to speak on matters of faith.”

“That we are. How much do you know of our religion?”

“I must confess, I know embarrassingly little. Do you mind explaining things to me? Assume I know nothing.”

Susan was all too happy to oblige. “Of course, it would be my pleasure.” She set her glass on the table and began speaking at length. “In the beginning, there was only Black and White. Colour did not exist in the world. The Blackness was a vain spirit; he wanted to look at himself, but to his frustration, all he could see was his sibling White. So out of the sands at the beginning of time he tried to fashion a mirror – but what resulted was instead a transparent gem. He showed it to White, who was instantly enthralled by its beauty.

What happened next is a matter of theological debate. You see, White leapt through the gem, emerging from the other side a rainbow. White was no more – she died. So the scholars debate whether Black knew of this when he showed his sibling the gem, thus killing her out of spite. Or was he innocently showing her his creation? We may never know.

Anyway, when the rainbow struck the earth, all manner of creatures sprung forth from the colour bands. From the top three bands arose humans; which is why I have yellow hair, and you have red hair. Far West there are people with orange hair.”

“But what about people with black hair?”

“There is no such thing as ‘black’ hair, it is only a very dark shade of brown – itself a dark shade of orange.”

I have so many questions. “Oh, I see.”

“Yes indeed. From the other colour, bands came other creatures – mermaids, dragons, elves and the others too numerous to name.”

“Wait there are elves in this world??”

“You seem surprised. What’s so hard to believe?”

“Ah – nothing. I just thought humans were the only species of this world.”

“Is that so? I heard that mermaids walk among men to the North. Is this not true?”

“Well, it depends – they are a sea race so they don’t like the land. I’ve met one before actually. She was very unfriendly.”

“A pity. You know, far to the east, there exists a nation of mixed races. It all follows the Holy Spectrum. Your people are the ones who are out of place. Your place should be farthest west, followed by the orange-haired people, then the blonds of Boshamia, and the demihumans of Vitia and the heteromorphs of further east. In old times the various races tried to change this order, to devastating results. The wars dyed the soil red with blood. Those were dark times. That was until our ancestors decided to take a stand, and Boshamia became a buffer between East and West. There was soon peace, on a worldwide scale. But within the Kingdom, there was a lot of infighting to figure out who was in charge of what.

The king’s dynasty came into power – and named the island for themselves. They kept fighting until peace was finally achieved about a century ago. It came at great cost, and the families all decided to follow Boshamia’s sole crown, and when the time came, award the crown to whoever was the Monarch’s first child.

This was how there has been peace; respect for the Monarch. There have been conflicts – all of them solved by royal decree. Our people have forgotten the bitter taste of war that brought about the nobility’s respect for the Monarch.

To the Northeast, Grand Duke Ross Whitestone of Euwaine plots treason against Prince Sancho. He claims, erroneously, that Princess Gwendolyn was born first of Queen Wagnier’s triplets. Gwen is a meek girl, stupid and easily manipulated. He wants his puppet on the throne.”

“Whitestone? Father to the Royal Treasurer?”

“That’s the one. He lies in his castle, bedridden and infirm, while his son inherited his position on the council.”

“Lord Adrian doesn’t seem to be the power-hungry sort.”

“It is not power he seeks, but wealth. The Grand Duke has a foreign wife who is known for extravagant spending. The city of Euwaine is the Kingdom’s largest port. Naturally, the duke wants more lenient taxes. King Ferdinand is not long for this world. I fear that upon his death Whitestone will take up arms for Gwen’s claim. This will split the Kingdom in two; the established nobles will seek to retain their positions, while the lesser nobles will seek better titles if they curry favour with the new Monarch. I imagine Ross will leave Gwen to her own devices once he gets his tax cuts. I’m pretty sure anyone under Gwen will end up landed, regardless of their backgrounds or heritage.”

Susan Redfield did not know it, but she had just pitched Princess Gwendolyn’s cause perfectly to Druscilla. Looks like I bet on the right horse from the outset. “That must not be allowed to happen, Susan.”

“I could not agree more. At the moment we are stuck in a death race. If the King dies before Ross Whitestone – civil war. Our best bet is if Ross dies first. I would be happy to accelerate his demise – but his fortress at Euwaine is impenetrable and too tightly secure. That leaves only one more contestant in the death race.”

My poor horse. “Princess Gwendolyn.”

“That is partly why you’re here. I saw you talking to her the other night. The queen never lets anyone near that girl.”

Druscilla tried her best to look flustered. “So you want me to – ah! How could I?”

“Calm down, my dear, nothing so drastic. It would be cruel of me to ask you to do such a wicked thing. All I need you to do is inform me of anything and everything about Gwen. What she likes and what she doesn’t. Her meals, her routines and all other minor details. Leave the rest to me.” Susan cupped Druscilla’s cheek. “I know that this might bother you – but do it for the sake of the Kingdom. Can I count on you?”

“Yes, my lady.” Looks like I’m playing bodyguard to a princess now.

“Fantastic. My sincerest gratitude for taking such a thankless job. The entire Kingdom will be in your debt for securing its future.”

“I’m just happy to help any way I can, my lady.”

“Good, good. I believe you should retire for the evening now.”

“I feel like my day has only just begun. I will take my leave of you, Susan. Thank you for having me.” They stood and shook hands.

“It has been my pleasure.” Druscilla was about to turn and leave when Susan tightened her grip on her arm. “I hope I need not remind you to keep our discussions secret? I have ways of knowing things. And the Clearwater mansion is beautiful, but porous – be a shame if I had someone cut your tongue out in your sleep, wouldn’t it?”

Ah yes, the oldest threat in the book: ‘I know where you live. “No need for that, my lady, I can keep my mouth shut.”

“That puts me at ease.”

Druscilla wrapped Penelope in a tight embrace the first thing when she got home. “Pen my darling things are looking good for us.”

“What do you mean?”

“We have to gain the princess’ trust.”

“Okay, that doesn’t answer my question and didn’t the Queen warn us not to manipulate Gwen?”

“We’re just befriending her – we don’t need her to do anything.”

“Forgive me for being sceptical. I hope you’re being honest with me – I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if something happened to that girl because of us.”

“You bond with people far too easily Pen.”

“What can I say? It’s part of the charm.”

“Too bad Gwen’s going to get murdered.”

“Wait what??”

“You heard me. And before you ask – it’s not like I can go up to the King and Queen and announce: ‘Susan Redfield wants to assassinate the Princess!’”

“I thought she wanted to talk about religion?”

“Apparently not – people lie, Pen, especially those you’ve just met in court.”

“Ah, I see.”

“So in essence, you and I are bodyguards now. With two Vampires, Gwen will be the most protected person in the world.”

“I honestly just don’t want her to die.”

“In a few weeks, Kissyface will have established Venixia as a guild. By then we’ll have the Princess’ and the Queen’s full trust. Only then can we move to get rid of Gwen’s obstacles.”

“We’re going to kill the Redfields? That’s going to make a splash.”

“No silly, we’re going to kill the King – and you’re right, it will make quite a splash.”