𝑨𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝑰 𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒐𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖- The Cruel Prince

5-Vael ✧

I run through the empty corridors of the building, heading for the Shadow Court Headquarters.

I meet no one, which is good, because in the condition I am in now, they would surely go and tell my parents.
Vael Greenbriar, your son, wanders in a worrisome condition and slightly green in the face through the corridors of your palace. Oh, I forgot, he has just destroyed any possibility of negotiation with the Undersea. And he has just made questionable decisions. Have a nice day and all the best.

No, I definitely can't meet anyone.

I can feel my head throbbing and my heartbeat rapid and irregular as if it is being stepped on repeatedly.

This is a very bad sign.

As much as I have been practicing mithridatism since they tried to poison me two years ago, Crytiomanthila is starting to affect me too.
I begin to feel pain in my spine and bones, as I rush inside the Shadow Court.

What the hell was that little bottle of invisibility potion doing there? It's not even finished yet, and Devi only tried it on two subjects. Who put fricking poison in it? And for what reason right there?
My thoughts get faster and faster.

I'm a hypocrite, with all my talk to Nalyv about how reckless she had been, because I don't bother to enter carefully as I unlock the door to the Court of Shadows, don't worry about being alone, don't worry about my labored breathing, and don't even worry about the color of my face, now two shades paler than it should be.

My clothes are covered with dirt, and I really want to take off this stupid outfit, because it's so fricking hot in here.
Nausea grips my stomach, and the second rush of pain makes me grit my teeth.

Fragments of thoughts invade my head as I rush into the large room where only an hour or two ago I took the old cloak from the closet.

Fuck the cloaks.

I think about how everything tonight has gone wrong: about Queen Orlagh's last words that I couldn't hear, and so now we have no useful information, about Nalyv who practically outed us, about her words when we were in the woods, with a knife at my throat, and about how many true things she said. To everything I was trying to ignore and she externalized with frightening precision.
I think about our pact. To being able to remain hostile toward each other, because neither of us can apologize or forgive each other right now.
I think of my body pressed to her a few minutes ago as the guard was about to discover us, my hands on her hips and her heartbeat as fast as a dragonfly's wingbeat.
It was probably for the poison in her veins.

I'm so overwhelmed and so dizzy with poison as I walk straight to the potions counter, I don't realize I'm not alone.

I feel a hand on my shoulder.
<<Hey Vael, what are you doing here?>>

My heart skips a beat, and I turn sharply as I unthinkingly deliver a kick to what turns out to be the Mask, which locks my leg and knocks me to the ground.

<<WHAT- my god! If you've been ordered to kill me there are much more creative ways, heart attack has gone out of style>> I blurt out, as I press a hand to the bridge of my nose and stand up slowly, to avoid passing out.

Not her. Of all the spies that could have happened to me, she is the worst.
She is deadly and able to ferret out any deception that comes her way. Her code name suggests as much.

<<You are paranoid, Greenbriar. Anyway, why aren't you at the party?>> She asks as she brushes a strand of black hair from her face, her yellow eyes peering at me intently.
She still has a smile on her lips from seeing me on the ground, though I can see from her shoulders that she is tense.
What the hell is she doing here?