Chapter 29

Chapter 29
"Quincy, get up!" Lucien said, trying to pull the old man up. "Come on now. What is this?"

But Quincy remained on the ground. He was mumbling something to himself, but I couldn't make it out. I was queasy and afraid, wondering what it was all about. I had heard the name Seraphina before, but the way Quincy was behaving made me uncomfortable. I wanted nothing more than to leave the shack and never come back.

"I'm sorry about this, Amara," Lucien said, turning to me. "Quincy's really old, and his mind isn't as sharp as it used to be. He's mistaken you for someone else."

"Mistake?!?!" Quincy said, straightening himself up from the ground. "Ohh, boy, this ain't no mistake. I am not mistaken. Who is this you have brought into my abode?"

"You should have asked that first before jumping into conclusions," Lucien said with irritation. "This is Amara. She's my bride and my companion."

"Amara," Quincy said, his eyes trained on me. "This young woman carries the very essence of Queen Seraphina. I can almost smell it off her. You're not so stupid that you also cannot see it, are you, boy?"

The way he referred to Lucien as "boy" made me wince, because I found it belittling, but Lucien himself did not seem to care. He was more focused on Quincy's mistake.

"But you knew Seraphina yourself, Quincy," Lucien said. "She looked nothing like Amara. I'm afraid you are mistaken. Besides, this isn't what I came for. So, please!"

"Ahh, you vampires are always so hot," Quincy said turning around and returning to his seat. "So tell me, what have you come here for? I mean, apart from wandering into my home with Seraphina herself."

"Quincy, I saw Seraphina die," Lucien said, his tone laced with desperation. "What is all this nonsense?"

Quincy waved it off and said "say what it is you want, then. Don't waste any more time."

Lucien breathed in, and without asking him, turned me around, so that my back was to Quincy. And then, he slipped off the strap of my dress so that my shoulder and a portion of my back were now naked. Only then did I understand what it was we had come there for. I stood frozen, facing the door, my heart in my mouth. Perhaps this would spell doom for me and Lucien would decide he no longer needed me and then discard me, or worse still, he would kill me.

"What is it you're showing me, boy?" Quincy asked. He obviously couldn't see a thing from where he sat.

"Why don't you come take a look?" Lucien said.

I heard the creak of the chair as Quincy stood up and the laboured pattering of his feet as he walked closer to me. He placed a hand on my shoulder, tracing the birthmark. His finger had a warm quality to it and was smooth in an unexpected way.

"What does that look like to you?" Lucien asked after a while.

"I think we both know, boy," Quincy said. "That's a foolish thing to ask. This is the Blood Sigil."

"Yes. Yes, it is," Lucien said. "It's the fucking Blood Sigil. But Amara here is only a servant. Well at least now she's not. She was captured from some human kingdom not too long ago by my brother and brought to the Crimson Palace. She's been with me for a while now, so I know her. This girl is a commoner, not even one of the royal humans. How the hell does she have a mark as severe as the Blood Sigil, Quincy?"

Quincy was quiet for a while, and then he said, "because she's the Queen Seraphina."

There was a calmness to his voice that conveyed nothing but pure, unbridled confidence and it chilled me like ice in my veins. Lucien didn't shoot back at him. Instead, he helped me put back the strap of my dress and asked me to turn around. I did so hastily because I had gotten very queasy in the presence of the men.

"Look at her!" Lucien said. "How can you say she's Seraphina?"

"I can feel it, boy," Quincy said. "I've been in this world for far too long for my instincts to deceive me like this. If she isn't Seraphina, then she might be some other powerful figure. But I assure you, she isn't all that she seems."

Lucien looked at me, befuddlement in his eyes. I stared back helplessly, trying to communicate with my eyes that I had no idea what the crazy, old man was talking about. There was nothing powerful about me. I was just ... me.

"Girl, look at me," Quincy said, tipping my chin with his finger so that I now looked directly in his eyes. "Tell me, child, who are you. Or at least, who do you think you are?"

"I'm nobody," I wanted to say, but I knew that that answer would be juvenile and foolish, so I stared back at him, silent.

"Breathe, think about it, but don't stress yourself," he said. "Who are you?"

I breathed, as he had instructed and looked right in his grey, clouded eyes. And then, suddenly, I saw a vision. It was almost as if I was right back in the battlefield in my dreams. I saw the lady on a horse take off her helmet, but this time, she smiled at me. I stumbled backwards, almost falling, so that Lucien had to hold me.

"What?" Lucien asked, panic in his voice.

I was so shaken I couldn't talk. I was completely disoriented.

"It's her true self," Quincy said. "It's coming back to her, I think."

"What true self?" Lucien questioned, but there was more fear in his voice than doubt.

"Girl, who are you?" Quincy asked me again. "You've seen something, haven't you? Talk to me."

I looked deep in his eyes, but this time, the vision did not return. Something told me to keep whatever I knew to myself and not reveal it to anyone, at least not in front of Lucien who seemed to have some sort of relationship with Seraphina, whoever she might hChapter 29ave been.z

"I am Amara," I said. "And I'm only a serving girl."