Collin rushed around the room, a goblet in his hands as he approached Kestra who was pacing around barefooted, bumping against some things as she did.
The sound of the muttering from her lips clashed against her farts that ruptured through the room.
"Stupid child." She muttered, her hand resting on her belly.
"This should help," Collin said, handing a glass over to her, and she swallowed all the content of the goblet in one gulp, yet her stomach was still a rumbling mess.
It might take some time for the medicine to work.
The foul smell had completely taken over the room, if Collin didn't feel a deep sense of duty towards Lady Kestra, he would not be here enduring all this.
"She put something in the tea, I'm sure." She stood up from the edge of the bed she was sitting on. "I should have her executed for this."
When Lady Kestra had disrupted the meeting with the rumbling sound that had come along with that life-threatening smell, Collin who had been at the door, rushed away from the meeting room along with her. That had been earlier this afternoon, and that was about thirty minutes ago.
Now he had inhaled far too much to care about her words. Instead, he was focusing on not throwing up or making the situation any worse.
"You may go."
He heaved a sigh of relief, internally, but there was no way he would just dash out at the first chance of freedom from this mess in the air. He had endured much worse for the sake of his wife and child, the thought of having them back at the Red Moon gave him hope and strength to go through anything.
"Are you certain there is nothing else I can get you, My Lady?"
"I feel much better now---" fart.
Kestra's grip around her goblet tightened and she bit back a hiss, no amount of time would ever wash away this embarrassment and shame she was going through right now.
She was tempted to cast some spells and make them all forget about today, but at this point, not only did she have to be careful, she had other things to worry about.
Other life-threatening things to worry about.
Like the one with the White Aura.
She still hadn't been able to figure out who that was.
Yesterday, she had been casting her spells and working her magic when the pain had hit her and she had lost focus, knowing that the King and the girl were once again together.
Now, having broken the Bride's spirit, she must continue.
Kestra was sick of the little bride, she used to be tolerable, but now everything she did made her on edge.
Her next step had to be aggressive, she had to perform a blood ritual, and she had to use a stronger soul. Those birds, no matter how much of them she consumed, just weren't enough.
She needed something stronger, fresh.
"You know what, I think there is something you can get for me."
Fart.
____
The Underground Cave of Badura was in the village of Aniktaki, right under the House of the Village Head, so it was rumoured to be.
Moria Nakunriver had written about it in her book, she was a writer that hardly dabbled into adding unnecessary details in her writing, mostly because the book she had written, "How Not To Get Chosen" had been intended as a survival kit, but the place held so much of her curiosity that it had found a way into her book.
"The treasures in it are locked away, the key nowhere to be found. The people of Aniktaki believe it should stay that way, their fear of the unknown is ridiculous.
If I were the daughter of Aniktaki's Village Head, I would have broken the lock. Perhaps I might get a chance to sneak there once my Village Chosing Ritual is over and I return home. It is stupid to sleep on unsolved mystery, I'll solve it and tell you what it is about in my next book---"
Those were the lines that had been written in the book about the Underground Cave that Belladonna could remember, those might not even be the exact words but it was something like that.
Moria had an adventurous spirit and she was rumoured to be a rebel, her book showed that. Belladonna wondered what her time in the Capital's Castle must have been like, and her relationship with Eli, there was a high possibility that it had been nothing more than just light friendship as Eli had once said, months ago.
Moria was never one for the idea of marriage and love, but what was important right now wasn't the thoughts of the 199th Bride, it was this key in Belladonna's hand.
This key that had formed out of Nadia's grandmother's necklace.
It was almost weightless, yet it felt heavy as she turned the thoughts over and over again in her mind.
Could she trust this key?
Should she take the risk?
Was this a trap?
Who exactly was Nadia's grandmother and how did she know all this?
"Really? Did she really do that?" A servant passing by the hallway, lost in gossip said.
"It was so loud, my son said, the guards at the door had to block their ears. And the stink?"
Someone added an exaggerated sound of disgust before they noticed her and kept quiet suddenly, bowing their heads in light greetings and hurrying off.
The meeting had just been thirty minutes ago and the incident had happened an hour ago, and already, the news of the result of Lady Kestra's troubled stomach was spreading around.
The report had been no different from the last report. There was no sign of the one with the White Aura, even after the search had been made intensive. Eli was deliberating on the next step.
He was apprehensive, even though for now, everything seemed to be returning to normal.
Belladonna had half her mind in the meeting and Kestra's misfortune had just been a blessing in disguise. She had left the meeting shortly after Lady Kestra, muttering an excuse she couldn't remember to Eli. It must have been a good excuse though, Eli had let her go without questions.
The King was logical, he would be able to come up with his next course of action on his own, right now, she had her own problems to deal with.
The sun was already starting to sneak away into the sky and Belladonna couldn't figure out how long she paced up and down the castle hallways, turning over thoughts in her mind until her legs started to ache and she realized that somewhere along the line, she had headed for the floor above the King's.
Her heart skipped a beat, remembering all those coffins. She was tempted, at that moment to continue. Perhaps she would get a chance to speak to Moria, but Eli had put guards up there, and if he were to find her lurking around, he might start to suspect that something was amiss.
She couldn't risk that.
So, she headed to the waterfall instead.
The air outside was good, the sound of the water trickling, and the leaves of the trees moving in the breeze.
It had been so long since she had been outside like this, on her own.
It was very relaxing, except that there was someone in the garden too, pacing around, running her hair through her wild red hair.
"Lady Bell!" Nadia said, startled, her eyes fixed on Belladonna like they would pop out of her skull.
"What---"
"Lady Kestra will kill me, won't she?"
"Why will she?"
"I--" Nadia bit her lips, "I put something in her tea."
Well, that must certainly be a mistake.
Belladonna was sure of it. Nadia couldn't hurt a fly.
"A mistake?"
Nadia bit her lower lip. "No."
Belladonna stopped in her stead, a little confused.
What was going on?
When she said nothing, Nadia rambled on.
"I would have used poison but I'm not a murderer. Wait, should I have poisoned her instead? Would that have been better?"
Belladonna was more than stunned.
"What?"
About that fly situation, maybe Nadia could actually hurt one.
Kill it?
Kill a person even?