The warm spring sun bathed Athea in its bright light. The blooming trees brought hope into the hearts of Nodorians for the first time in a year. The winter had been long and cold. A drought had affected the Nodor Kingdom for three years, as such, many of the lakes and rivers had dried out. As a result, almost nothing grew and many people perished from hunger. However, the spring brought rain, and finally, gardens and fields gave fruit. The boats that once went out on the Endless Sea to find fish and came back empty-handed, were finally returning with the fresh fish that had been denied to them.
Mina put another spring onion in her basket before returning to the kitchen and helping Anette, the family maid, finish making breakfast. She didn’t particularly like gardening, but the plot of land behind the Castex mansion, used for planting all sorts of vegetables, had been blessed by the Gods. Else, Mina could not explain how, despite the drought, the garden had always been bountiful while the rest of Nodor had been dry. Even the trees bore fruit all year long, leaving the neighbors to wonder what kind of magic Tedric Castex had cast upon his home, but neither the Duke nor anyone from his family had mana, and without mana, magic could not be used. More than that, the Duke had always denied any allegation of spells being cast on his land.
The two pies Mina put in the oven before going into the garden were done baking. She cut a few slices from each, put them on a serving platter together with other food she and Anette had cooked that morning and took it to the Drawing Room. Hugo was already there, sitting on the sofa while drinking mead and staring out the window.
Mina put the platter on the coffee table and sat next to Hugo, gently taking the goblet away from him and putting it out of his reach. It pained her to see him suffering. “How much have you been drinking since you woke up?”
He shrugged. “I couldn’t sleep.” Since returning from the war, nightmares have been a nightly occurrence. Mina had asked for the help of the Fire Mages, but not even their magic could help Hugo forget what had happened to him during the war. “Each time I close my eyes, I am back on that battlefield, watching how the Necromancer slaughtered everyone while I couldn’t do anything to save them. And then… And then…”
Hugo could not continue talking, nor did he need to, he had told Mina what happened the day the Necromancer attacked him and his men. Out of thirty men, Hugo had been the only one to survive, and he didn’t remember how. After the Necromancer killed all of Hugo’s men and raised them from the dead, he had them attack Hugo. He remembered his sword severing the head of the man who had been his right hand, an intense pain in his body and then the world faded away. When he came to his senses, he was in the Wolf Army, alive, and his wounds healed.
After almost five years of war, the Necromancer had defeated almost the entire Nodorian army. In the middle of the winter, as Litia prepared to conquer Nodor, the young commander of the Wolf Army and what was left of his men launched a surprise attack, halting the Necromancer from advancing. The beginning of spring brought not only rain and the end of the drought but the end of the war. It all came to an end when the Necromancer was defeated and sealed in his tower in a forest deep inside the Kingdom of Litia. King Stig fled to his castle in the mountains and vowed not to attack Nodor again if his life was spared. Oddly enough, King Baswein had accepted.
It had been almost a month since the war ended, and those still alive were slowly returning to their homes. Hugo had arrived in Athea three weeks ago, and since he had been drowning himself in alcohol.
Hugo rested his head in Mina’s lap. “I know,” she whispered.
The spells and potions purchased from the Fire Mages did not work on Hugo, the one thing that always calmed him and helped him sleep was Mina singing to him.
When Mina was little, her mother used to sing her a lullaby, it was this same lullaby that she sang to Hugo now as she combed her fingers through his hair.
Hugo was half asleep when someone knocked on the front door. He sat up, straightened his back and let out a sigh of annoyance.
“Who could it be at this time of day?” Mina wondered the same as visits were usually done in the afternoon.
Another knock sounded and Hugo’s eyes narrowed, “Are you expecting someone?”
She rarely received visits. Her only friend, Ivy, was not currently in Athea as she was visiting relatives in Ora Dorei, the second biggest province in Nodor. “I don’t know,” Mina replied sincerely.
Hugo kept talking. “A man who you perhaps met while I was … not here.”
Despite her never going to a ball—which was where men got to know single ladies — Hugo still hoped that she would, one day, receive a nuptial proposal.
“Of course not,” Mina huffed. In all her twenty-one years of existence, never had a man been interested in her. “Who would want me?”
“Look at me, Mina.” When she kept looking at the carpet, Hugo put a finger under her chin and tilted her head up. “You don’t understand how beautiful you are. The moment a man really sees you, he will love you with all his heart. It’s not only that you are beautiful, but you are also kind and gentle. What man would not want a woman like you by his side?”
She wanted him to be right, but she lost hope of ever being happy three years ago when Prince Liam married Rosalyn and Hugo returned to the war once his injury had healed. A year later, when Rosalyn and Prince Liam welcomed their firstborn, Nolan, Mina poured all her love into him. When she wasn’t busy helping the Fire Mages feed the bastard children who lived in the sewers or embroidering gowns or other items to gain some coins, she would go to the Royal Palace to play with Nolan.
Anette entered the Drawing Room, she seemed hesitant to talk.
“What is it?” Hugo asked her.
“A... a gentleman is here to see Duchess Mina.”