Jewel of the Hoard Ch. 01

"That will do, Cadmus. Thank you."

Cadmus beamed proudly. "I am glad to have honored your greeting. I shall go to my personal room to prepare breakfast."

Giscela smiled, her teeth white and dazzling. "I look forward to being treated, Cadmus."

With barely contained excitement, Cadmus walked back into the hall to the back room leaving Aries and Giscela alone.

"So, Cadmus told me about you," Giscela started, her eyes quickly darting towards Aries.

The knight's blush was still on his cheeks. "O-oh?"

"Mmm. My father sure knows how to pick knights," Giscela said with a touch of venom to her voice, her left hand going back to play with the ring. "And what is your name, sir?"

Aries felt anger begin to bubble up. "Aries. And what do you mean by that, Princess?"

Giscela 's lips pursed and she stopped playing with her ring. Her eyebrow twitched and she looked like a snake that was about to strike. Before the retort came, she sighed and her ego deflated.

"I'm sorry. That was not kind of me. I-"

She paused, looking uncomfortable. Aries felt almost naked in his trousers and shirt with someone so...proper.

"You were very brave going up against Cadmus."

Aries' anger dissipated. He knew nothing of Giscela. Who knows how long she had been trapped in the cave under Cadmus' rule?

"Did he hurt you?"

Giscela was startled by the words. Her eyes were wide before she burst into a fit of laughter.

"Oh no. He has been nothing but cordial. You saw the way he greeted you. I think he believes that men should curtsy to women and I find it too adorable to change," Giscela started to laugh again and snorted. Aries was stunned, his mouth agape and he could only stare.

"But you probably have quite a few questions on my containment here. Don't mistake my lively condition. I am prisoner to Cadmus but he is...oddly sweet and caring for the month I have been here. I think he is also curious about humans and he does not wish harm to come to me. It has been more of an extended vacation..."

"You aren't under a spell? Cadmus knows magic...the first step to bedding with demons," Aries whispered.

Giscela rolled her eyes. "My father has been bedding the most powerful of demons, then since he is surrounded by a council of mages and soothsayers, I suppose."

Aries shut his mouth. There was no use arguing. There was some amount of information that Giscela was not telling him. A bitterness to her voice that told him that things were not what they seemed or perhaps that she knew something that he didn't. That was the general vibe that he got from her; she knew everything and he knew nothing.

When Aries felt there was enough of a pause to change the subject, he took his chance.

"So, what led you into getting kidnapped?"

Giscela smiled. "I think I wonder about that myself. It was actually quite serendipitous."

"Do tell."

"Well, I have been betrothed," Giscela said and she held up her ring. "It was my father's choice and if the King says jump..."

She sighed and shook her head. "We went horseback riding. He was drunk and hunting for boar. I lost him in the forest because he refused to wait for me and that is when Cadmus swooped in and carried me off."

She looked Aries over for any signs of her to stop but the knight was silent. She continued.

"At first, I was angry. I tried to fight back against Cadmus but when I realized that he was just trying to get my father's men from hunting him and pestering his way of life when he takes so little..."

Giscela paused, her features drooping. Her lustrous glow and braids looked tacked on and gaudy. "It reminded me of my own position. Sometimes, I feel like a bird trapped in a cage." Her eyes met with Aries' own, the deep hazel burrowing into his darker brown. "My wings are clipped, Aries. Much like your own are clipped by your duty to your circle of knights."

Aries felt as if his heart was stabbed. He was naked without his armor and sword but now he truly felt defenseless. A part of him wondered where his coat of arms went, but there was no time for that. First, he had to gather information.

"I...suppose."

The words felt foreign to say for Aries. For once, he was not bound by an oath. For all the circle knew, he had won and bested the beast. If he did not notify them in ample time, they will send a scouting party to confirm and Aries had a sinking feeling it would be several important members of the circle to verify his kill.

Giscela smiled, her eyes glittering. "Today was the day for me to be married into a noble house. I'm sure my father is reeling."

Aries nodded. "He cannot be pleased that you are not to be wedded to Edward."

"Ahh, so he told you. It is unlike my father to give details."

"I just figured it out. Edward was given armor and a sword personally to help fight Cadmus. He will be coming with the next wave if I do not return."

Giscela 's complexion turned white as snow. "What a fool. He can hardly hold a weapon, much less slay a dragon."

"Sounds as though you have a good opinion of your husband," Aries gauffed and realized he had made a social error when Giscela bristled.

"It was an arranged marriage," Giscela said with a dash of venom to her voice. "I am sure you have not had the privilege of being reduced to an item. My father has no male heirs so I am his best bet to keep our bloodrun running through noble houses. The Lanishes wish for our bitter rivalry to cease especially after Randelen went to war with them."

Aries thought back to who his father was fighting. The Lanish and Rendelen wars were bloody and brutal and his father was right on the front lines of it. Aries clicked his tongue after the long silence. "No, but I do know what it is like to feel as though you belong more in a cave with a strange creature than among your own nobility...or knights..."

Giscela audibly gasped and brought her hand up to her mouth. "Aries...what makes you feel in such a way?"

"I..."

Before the conversation could continue, Cadmus walked out from the hallway holding two plates, one on each paw, and one that he balanced on his tail. Walking into the living area, Cadmus was glowing.

"And here is breakfast! I certainly hope it is to your delight, Princess and bachelor."

Cadmus' eyes were glittering, not seating himself even though he had placed his plate down at his spot. He watched the two expectedly. His smile started to turn; however, when he noticed the two were staring at one another and silent.

"It is simply bacon and eggs...nothing to be so quiet about," Cadmus laughed nervously as he looked over the two. His claws clicked on the table.

The two broke eye contact. Aries looked at his plate, focusing on the yoke while the Princess started to use the silverware provided in order to start to eat her dish. She still watched the knight, her eyes scanning over him.

"Aries, your food will get cold," Giscela chided like a mother would do to their son.

Pushing back his chair, Aries stepped back from the table. He felt sick. Something had to be wrong. How could Giscela just accept her fate? There had to be something he wasn't being told.

"You must be famished," Cadmus said, his words coming clear and gentle. "I promise there is nothing that a meal cannot fix. Have a s-"

"I'm sorry. I'm really tired, Cadmus. I would like to retire to my quarters..."

An uncomfortable moment passed where Cadmus and Giscela stared at Aries.

Cadmus frowned. "Very well. Allow me to accompany you at least. I can widen the tunnel. There's no need for the block any longer..."

With a flick of his right paw, the walls began to widen. The stones moved out of place and shifted. Aries bowed his head. "Thank you for your hospitality. There's no need to accompany me."

Giscela smiled, but her eyes told a different story. They were calculative. "Leave him be, Cadmus. I'm sure he is exhausted. This has been a hard adjustment for him."

Cadmus nodded. He was not convinced but Aries thanked whatever was out there for allowing Giscela to speak.

"Yes, I'm sure I was just...excited. It's been so long since I have had company," Cadmus chuckled.

"It is fine. I will be back after a quick reprieve."

Aries darted away before he could be interrogated any longer. The cave was small but he had to find an area to decompress. Although Giscela was giving him an out, he needed to come to terms with his situation. First, he had to know if Cadmus was telling any lies.

Aries climbed up onto his bed, his body exhausted and his mind full of worry. His stomach gurgled irritably. He closed his eyes, trying not to focus on his hunger. Blurs of light crossed through the dark abyss of his eye lids. The wisps danced around him, their strange movements predictable for a mere moment before dispersing. Aries' breathing slowed and the cloud that weighed down his mind broke apart with each breath that filled his lungs. The cool, constant temperatures of the cave had their uses and the air was temperate and comfortable in his chest.

He imagined himself back home and young. A wooden sword in hand and his mom watching on as she hung up laundry. The fields of wheat that his family relied on for generations upon generations swaying gently in the breeze. His father was off on patrol for Randlen's vast army and serving the vassal. Things were easy...uncomplicated. Dragons were evil. War was honorable. Blood, disease, and death were uncommon. A child's wish, a pipedream. Everything was whole and as it should be and Aries was going to be a knight. He was going to bring honor to his family and serve the King until his last breath.

Sleep took Aries and as he went under, he prayed to the Gods that he could find the truth when he awoke. Instead in his dreams, he found the antithesis. War was hell. Knighthood was complicated. The fields that he played in as a child grew bare.

The last thing he received from his father was his sword and a letter that explained that his father was a traitor to the King and executed. Aries never knew why. He couldn't bear the thought as to why. Now, he was about to find the truth. At night, he would look for evidence. Everything would become clear. He would make his family proud and the King would look favorably upon him. He would become knighted by the royal court themselves. His family would be revived and uplifted. Perhaps he would even get his crest knitted into tapestries and bards to sing his name.

But that wasn't the most important part. He would have access to archives. He would search them and find answers. Why his father was ordered to be killed by King Turden and put his family to shame. He would rise from the ashes like a powerful phoenix and pull his mother out of the slums. A deep sense of renewal shot through Aries like breathing in fresh morning air. It was time to find the truth and time to resolve his situation.

And yet, the dreams he had still did not feel peaceful.