– Whatever you say, my king. – Sylvia curtsied and hurried out of the grand drinking party.

When she entered her chambers and collapsed on her bed, she clenched her eyelids tightly so as not to cry from helplessness, but suddenly her fingers fumbled for some parchment under her pillow, and, holding it up to the reddish light of the lamp, she read:

"Find the element that suppresses our power and destroy it. And when you do, kill everyone who gets in your way and return home.

We love you.

Burn this message.

Father and mother."

Sylvia dipped the parchment into the red flame and it burned, leaving behind only an unpleasant smoke.

The night passed sleeplessly. She sat on the edge of her bed and stared at the wall, unable to believe that what had happened had not been a dream… And how she wished she could wake up and know that the war with Kaldwind, Derek Merkswerd, what had happened to her parents and herself, had been nothing more than a nightmare.

In the morning, when it was still dark outside the window, Bergil entered the princess's chamber. He silently placed a golden tray of food and drink on the table.

Having completed the task assigned to him, Bergil went to the door.

– We leave at dawn! – He suddenly shouted and slammed the door loudly behind him.

Chapter 7

"Well, it wasn't a very pleasant morning," Sylvia's sleepy mind flashed. Despite her thoughts, she managed to fall asleep, but an uninvited visit from the bearded man jerked her out of her slumber. – I would have slept another hour. Or better two. I wonder if I'm going to have strange men barging into my chambers every day from now on. He didn't even knock! Barbarian!"

The princess was filled with indignation and did not notice how she found herself near the wooden closet. She remembered her hated fiancé's words about not being allowed to take her favorite dresses and shoes to Kaldwind, but this time she didn't want to put up with such a stupid and insulting order, so she coldly gathered her clothes, shoes and jewelry into the large chests. When the job was done, Sylvia looked thoughtfully at the few dresses that didn't fit into the trunks and were left hanging in the closet: which one would be suitable for a long trip and not look so flashy? Yesterday Derek Merkswerd had made it clear that her dresses were similar in his eyes to those of courtesans. She had been annoyed by this fact, and in another situation she would have spoken out, but now Sylvia had to keep her mouth shut, because the demons closest to her were still in danger. But she was not going to be silent about this morning's intrusion: that hairy-rock Bergil had hurt her pride too much.

Putting on a dark blue dress with long sleeves and a relatively closed neckline, the Flammehav heiress twirled a little more in front of the mirror in an attempt to step so that the slit of the dress, rising to the white thigh, would be invisible, but her efforts were in vain. Sighing convulsively, Sylvia clenched her small fists and, assuming a casual look, looked out into the hallway to call the guards to carry her trunks downstairs, but met only derision. Trying to remain calm, the girl began to drag her heavy, overstuffed trunks toward the stairs on her own. The dirty, foul-smelling human warriors smiled derisively, watching her with interest, but the princess remained proud and dragged her trunks onward. Finally reaching the wide black stone staircase, the tired black-haired beauty collapsed right on the chests and, spreading her arms to the sides, called out loudly to her surroundings: