She was sitting with her knees touching her chest. Her gaze was turned out of the window and the drafts of air were slipping through the frames. Winter was approaching, but the heat of the inhabitants was so strong that the demonstrations continued. Some with signs in their hands, some gathered in groups and some others took chairs to throw them against the shop windows.

  A week had passed and in Korotsk the law had just passed that no one could leave or enter the city. The people had risen up but the King's guards knew how to do their job well.

  It was not uncommon, in fact, to see scenes like the one Aria was witnessing at that moment. There was a small group of boys who were bothering the people on the street and one of them decided to create a bonfire using branches and wooden planks. Soon, a nearby shop started to catch fire and the boys had fun dancing around the bonfire, intoxicated by the smoke and also by some strange substance.

  The police soon arrived and put out the fire. The boys were taken prisoner and taken to prison; many of them would not come out alive.

  By now they were getting used to it, but Aria was worried about the fate of the city and, first of all, her chances of attending the academy. She could not set foot outside the door anymore without a guard waiting to follow her, ask questions and protect her. Even sneaking out the window did not seem like a good idea, as her face was known among the guards and in the last few days their activity had intensified.

  “Being a noble sucks.” she said, “Couldn’t I have been born poor? A peasant, perhaps? Or the daughter of a craftsman, yes, that would have been better. I would have had my own shop, customers, I would have bought and sold goods and I would have been able to travel freely, at least within the city.”

  But nothing. She hadn’t set foot outside the house for a week and Madame Doroteya had told her that being without sunlight could lead to serious illnesses. Her father also seemed worried about her, so much so that he suggested that they go for a walk together in the park, but she had always refused each time with different excuses.

  She wanted to be alone, in fact, she wanted to go to the academy to train.

  She got up to lie down on the bed. In those last few days she had consumed an avalanche of books and her library was constantly restocked to allow her to read something new every time.

  She snorted.

  “They haven’t shown up…”

  She was referring to Liza, rather than Sonia or any member of the academy. It was as if they had never existed.

  “I haven’t trained for seven days… what if I lose my ability to fight? And besides, my sword is in Liza’s room, so I’m currently useless.”

  She wondered several times why Liza hadn’t contacted her to continue her lessons, and as the days passed, she became more worried that something might have happened. Maybe the King had them killed? No… she couldn’t think of such drastic things. She was sure that they had problems to solve, but that at some point they would show up. Aria would wait a few more days and, if that didn’t happen, she would be the one to go to the academy, making up something with the guard.

  The door to her room opened and from the perfume that wafted through the air, the girl immediately understood who had opened it.

  “Good morning, Madame Doroteya.”

  “Good morning, my dear. It’s a beautiful day today, isn’t it? It’s stopped raining, so I suggest we go out.”

  “I don’t feel like it.”

  “But you have to go out, your health is at stake. I promise we won’t go anywhere.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You should help me pick flowers in the garden, I’d like to make a nice bouquet to hang in the entrance.”

  Aria snorted.

  “All right. You know I like flowers too… damn.”

  “Very good, my dear, I’ll wait for you downstairs.”

  Aria liked picking flowers, it was one of her secondary hobbies. She loved her garden and in the past she had even helped the gardeners plant trees or trim hedges.

  So, the girl got ready to go out and walked up the stairs to the garden. The day was sunny and the breeze was enough to let her lungs breathe good air. The factories in Korotsk, in fact, released tall black clouds that, especially in the suburbs, created artificial clouds that caused respiratory problems worse than smoke. She still didn’t know whether to say she was against factories or not, but all the politicians said they were happy to have a fast and efficient industrial machine.

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  “We only take the old or sick ones,” the housekeeper told her, “we’ll leave the others here a little longer until it rains or the cold kills them.”

  “Okay.” Aria bent down to start picking some beautiful pink flowers.

  It was Doroteya who told her which ones she could pick and which ones she couldn’t, and then threw them into a basket that would be used for her bouquet.

  During this, the guard assigned by the king had done nothing but follow them and keep an eye on them from a safe distance. Whether it was a dozen swords, or fifty when they entered the thick of the garden, his presence made both Aria and Madame Doroteya nervous, who exchanged glances several times to make sure neither was comfortable with this situation.

  It was the eldest who started a sort of discussion, keeping her voice low so as not to be heard.

  “I hate being followed, but what followed, stalked!”

  “I know, Doroteya, but what can we do? The King wanted it this way and my father didn’t oppose it.”

  “Of course not,” she said as she picked a flower, “bad things would happen if he opposed it. Have you heard of the Vikhrov family?”

  “Vikhrov?”

  “Yes, they say they were exterminated two days ago. Ah, my dear, news travels, runs, and doesn’t stop. Yes, the Vikhrov family was killed by policemen and do you know why?”

  Aria shook her head. She had stopped in her path of picking flowers.

  “I suspect an epidemic.”

  “Epidemic?”

  “Yes, you know when you get those black blisters on your skin and-“

  “No, Doroteya, luckily I don’t know… or we wouldn’t be here talking about it.”

  “Right, right, my dear.”

  It was clear that the epidemic had nothing to do with this and Aria knew it. Suspected epidemic? Maybe the police suspected that the Vikhrov family had contact with vampires and that's why they intervened.

  “Damn…” she then thought, because her father was indeed doing business with a vampire and, if the King found out, who knows what would happen.

  She was afraid and did nothing to hide it.

  “Now let's think about the lotus flowers.”

  Of all the flowers in the garden, lotus flowers were Aria's favorite. It was no coincidence that, lost in her thoughts, she blindly followed Madame Doroteya back to real life. Zotova Manor had a small pond where swans used to live years ago, then died of old age. Now it had become an incubator for lotus flowers and the gardeners did a great job of keeping it clean and safe from mosquitoes, frogs and mice.

  “I saw a snake once.” Madame Doroteya said, “But how I screamed, it ran away.”

  “How disgusting.”

  “You can say it loudly.”

  The two of them wet their feet to enter the pond whose depth was not a problem. The lotus flowers, the older or the sickest ones, had a more purple color tending towards black and, removing them from the pond, allowed the healthy ones to live better.

  “Today we are purifiers.” Madame Doroteya said, “We remove the old to make room for the young.” she thought about it after those words could have been used against her.

  “Miss Zotova.” the guard called Aria, who turned to check what he wanted.

  The guard had a letter in his hand and, as he approached to deliver it, Aria could see the postman behind him, retracing his steps along the road.

  “This is for you, Miss Zotova, just delivered.”

  “Thank you.”

  Aria took the letter and, to her surprise, it was neither signed nor sealed.

  “How can you say it is for me? There is nothing written on it.”

  “The postman told me and said to give it to you. That’s all. Do you want me to open it for you?”

  “No.” the girl said impulsively, “Thank you, but now go back to your service.”

  And with this sentence, Aria meant to leave a few swords between her and him.

  “Suiters?” Madame Doroteya asked.

  “What?”

  “Admirers?”

  “Don-t“

  “Come on, my dear, you’ve received a letter! How long has it been since you last received one?”

  She began to think about it, it was indeed the first time anyone had written to her.

  “Some handsome nobleman?” the housekeeper continued, “Or perhaps a knight?”

  “We are not in the Middle Ages anymore.”

  “Then a rich landowner, yes, it must be like that.”

  “Excuse me, Madame Doroteya, but when did I ever know a landowner? Only nobility are allowed at the receptions, so I imagine a young duke or perhaps a count has come forward.”

  “A count? Don’t be silly, my dear, a count would never propose to a duchess.”

  “That’s true… so a baron?”

  “Those over fifty?”

  Aria raised an eyebrow.

  “I’ll never know until I read the letter, so if you’ll excuse me, I’ll go back to my rooms now.”

  “Okay, my dear, I’ll continue picking flowers.”

  Aria returned to her room and checked the envelope through the reflections of the sun. Inside was a letter with a few words inside, illegible.

  So, she gently opened the envelope with the help of a knife and began to read it:

  “Aria, I’m sorry I didn’t contact you sooner, but you must understand that one must proceed with caution. The police are blazing in the streets and now it has become difficult even to arrange meetings.

  It is necessary that you continue your training, but you will agree with me that coming here to the academy is not feasible, and I thank you for not trying.”

  She stopped reading.

  “A couple more days and I would have done it.” she swallowed.

  Then she went back to reading.

  “For this, I managed to get in touch with a hunter who is visiting Korotsk these days. He will help you with private lessons and will come directly to your house in the next few days, so you will not have to worry about leaving the house. I hope that we can meet soon and that this situation ends.”

  “Signed Sonia.”

  Aria remained with the letter in her hand for a few seconds, then folded it in half and went down the stairs to reach the fireplace.

  “I guess no one should know the contents of this letter.” she said and then threw it into the flames.

  A hunter would come to instruct her and this could only rekindle the flame that burned in her chest. She couldn’t wait and hoped that the letter had been written in the past few days so that the moment had already arrived.

  Then there was a knock at the door.

  “Talk about perfect timing.” Aria smiled and went to open it.

  As the door opened, Aria’s memories came alive and her mental drawers opened one after the other. Sooner or later it was supposed to happen, but the boredom and reading of those days had made her completely forget about that possibility.

  “You are Aria, I guess.” said the man in front of her, “My name is Boris. I am a colleague of your father.”