Chapter 337: 337
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It was half-past nine when someone knocked on Chris's door. Chris was practising spells with Dumbledore's wand to get familiar with it. Hearing the knock she cautiously opened the door and found Prince Oziyat standing there.
"Oziyat?" Chris said surprised. Then quickly collected herself. "I mean, Prince Oziyat, what are you doing here?"
"You seemed to be on the edge, Lady Christina? Did something happen?" Oziyat asked in his smooth silky voice.
"For the last time, call me Christina, and no, I am fine. I was just not expecting you," Chris lied confidently. In reality, she was nervous after she escaped the First Vampire Princess that afternoon. But now she looked perfectly calm as she looked at the Prince curiously.
"Of course," The Prince smiled. "I came here to see if you. I heard from Gweneth that you were upset and didn't like the fact that my mother refused to meet you today."
"So your mother refused to meet me, I thought she is unwell," Chris said sarcastically.
"Both are correct," Oziyat raised his one eyebrow in amus.e.m.e.nt. "But I am not here to gossip about my mother's choices, I was here to talk to you. I thought it will be nice to get to know each other, you know for building the trust. To prove that we are not enemies. So would you like to take a stroll?"
"You are not taking me away to kill me, are you?" Chris said bitterly.
"If I intended to do so I would have already done it and to be honest, I think you are not very easy to kill," Oziyat smiled and held out his hand for Chris.
Chris eyed the vampire Prince's hand warily then with a sigh stepped out of the room and completely ignoring Oziyat's hand she closed the door behind her with a few nonverbal protection chams.
"I guess, that's a good start," Oziyat said looking more amused.
Chris gave a small nod and they started walking. An awkward silence stretched between them. Chris thought Oziyat was waiting for Chris to ask something but she didn't want to initiate the conversation, so she kept her mouth shut. As they were walking around the hallways, the guards were bowing to Oziyat and he was giving them respectful nods, that's when Chris realised they were heading towards the royal quarters. Chris instantly stiffened and Oziyat noticed it in a second.
"You know where are we going?" He asked casually, but Chris could feel the scepticism in his voice.
Luckily, Chris knew what she had to do. She cleared her mind, put up the walls of Occlumency in her brain and perfectly faked a suspicious tone of her own.
"Are we going to the gazebo where Zil is?"
"Your Thestral? No, we are not going to the gazebo," Oziyat replied smoothly.
"Good, I thought something happened to her," Chris lied.
"Goddess forbid, if we do anything to your pet, then you will go up against the entire Palace, won't you?"
"Yes. She is not just my pet. She is my companion," Chris replied as normally as possible. "Anyway, you were saying something about trust-building? How are we supposed to do that?"
"By talking to each other and knowing about each other. For instance, this is the royal wing," Oziyat gestured around. "But, you are not supposed to be here, at least, not without my mother's permission, so I brought you here at my own risk."
"Great, it must have taken you a lot of courage to trust me and bring me here, you know, since I can just destroy the entire Vampire Royal Family with a snap of my fingers," Chris said sarcastically.
Oziyat chuckled but a guard standing in the corner gripped his weapon tightly, his eyes trained at Chris disdainfully. Noticing, Oziyat quickly shook his head slightly to the guard and without taking his eyes off Chris the guard relaxed a little bit.
"You should be careful what you say around here, Christina, especially when you are talking about royals," Oziyat whispered. "You are in a castle full of vampires. I think you know that we have far more heightened senses than humans and wizards? If a wrong pair of ears heard you then you will have a difficult time talking to my mother."
"Yeah, sorry about that. But I need to talk to your mother," Chris sighed. "I need to know what happened between your people and Malgino. That's the whole reason for me coming here and staying in this place."
"I understand," Oziyat looked thoughtful for a moment then smiled. "How about this, you can ask me a few questions now and I will answer truthfully. I know I can't tell you something my mother is supposed to say but I will try my best and at least this is a start, right?"
"Why are you doing this?" Chris gave Oziyat a calculated look.
"Is that your first question?" Oziyat asked without missing a beat.
"No, really," Chris shook her head. "Why are you doing this? The way I see it, everyone here is wary of me and I have told you all that I am putting your people in danger by staying here. And considering your relationship with wizards you should not have to help me. But here you are walking me back to my room, taking me out for a walk, offering me answers, why?"
Oziyat turned serious hearing Chris's words. "You don't trust people easily, do you?"
"Not anymore," Chris replied carefully looking away from him.
Another silence fell but this time it was less awkward.
"This way," Oziyat led Chris through a few more hallways before Chris saw a large door at the end of a wide corridor. Four guards stood in front of the door and as soon as they saw the Prince, they bowed, then two of them opened the door.
Chris stepped out to a fresh, cool and crisp moonlit night, and her eyes widened as she took in the scenario in front of her. She was standing in the most beautiful garden she had ever seen. The air was filled with floral scents and the night sky made the atmosphere much more beautiful. Even though Chris was very surprised and mesmerized by the surroundings, she didn't miss the doubtful looks from the guards and the dismissiveness in Oziyat's gesture as he stepped out after Chris.
"A garden?" Chris raised her eyebrows.
"Yes, of course, I assure our royal garden is the most unique and beautiful garden in the world," Oziyat said and started walking. "And it's the perfect place for strolling . . . or a private conversation, isn't it?"
"So you still haven't answered my first question about why are you so eager to answer my questions," Chris muttered following him.
"Well, since you don't go around in circles with your talk, I will give you straight," Oziyat said examining a bright red flower. "I want to help you because I have a few questions of my own, Christina. I want some answers from you too. I thought if I give some truth, I will get some truth from you."
Oziyat kept looking at the flower as Chris processed this. Was she ready to reveal a few truths to a person she met two days ago?
"Alright, but if I don't want to answer something you can't tell me to answer," Chris said finally.
"Then the same should go for me too," Oziyat turned to Chris. "I guess that's only fair, right?"
"Yeah, fine," Chris sighed looking away from the red-ringed eyes of Oziyat. "I will go first. Why didn't your mother meet me today?"
Oziyat sighed before speaking, "It's been a while since anyone has talked about Malgino around here. Even when we found out that he is back and working with the dark lord, we didn't want to get involved. But you coming here changed everything."
"How?"
"One at a time, Christina. I think it's my turn," Oziyat said. "Alright, where were you before you came here?"
"Hogwarts," Chris replied shortly. "Now, tell me how my appearing here changes everything for you people?"
"Because you are the chosen one," Oziyat paused and looked at Chris. "Or at least, that's what we think. We don't believe in coincidence Christina. We believe that everything around us happens for a reason and you coming here, looking for the Undefeated Hill is no coincidence. You are here because you are meant to be here. And if that's the case then it's time for us to get involved, even if we don't want to."
Chris waited for a few seconds to process this then turned to Oziyat with a new hope. She was on the right track. This place had the answers to Malgino's secret. Just the thought made her a little bright.
"Okay, shoot your next question."
Oziyat looked Chris dead in the eye with full seriousness and asked,
"What do you know about Stormy and Ethan?"
___________ ___________
To be continued. . .
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It was half-past nine when someone knocked on Chris's door. Chris was practising spells with Dumbledore's wand to get familiar with it. Hearing the knock she cautiously opened the door and found Prince Oziyat standing there.
"Oziyat?" Chris said surprised. Then quickly collected herself. "I mean, Prince Oziyat, what are you doing here?"
"You seemed to be on the edge, Lady Christina? Did something happen?" Oziyat asked in his smooth silky voice.
"For the last time, call me Christina, and no, I am fine. I was just not expecting you," Chris lied confidently. In reality, she was nervous after she escaped the First Vampire Princess that afternoon. But now she looked perfectly calm as she looked at the Prince curiously.
"Of course," The Prince smiled. "I came here to see if you. I heard from Gweneth that you were upset and didn't like the fact that my mother refused to meet you today."
"So your mother refused to meet me, I thought she is unwell," Chris said sarcastically.
"Both are correct," Oziyat raised his one eyebrow in amus.e.m.e.nt. "But I am not here to gossip about my mother's choices, I was here to talk to you. I thought it will be nice to get to know each other, you know for building the trust. To prove that we are not enemies. So would you like to take a stroll?"
"You are not taking me away to kill me, are you?" Chris said bitterly.
"If I intended to do so I would have already done it and to be honest, I think you are not very easy to kill," Oziyat smiled and held out his hand for Chris.
Chris eyed the vampire Prince's hand warily then with a sigh stepped out of the room and completely ignoring Oziyat's hand she closed the door behind her with a few nonverbal protection chams.
"I guess, that's a good start," Oziyat said looking more amused.
Chris gave a small nod and they started walking. An awkward silence stretched between them. Chris thought Oziyat was waiting for Chris to ask something but she didn't want to initiate the conversation, so she kept her mouth shut. As they were walking around the hallways, the guards were bowing to Oziyat and he was giving them respectful nods, that's when Chris realised they were heading towards the royal quarters. Chris instantly stiffened and Oziyat noticed it in a second.
"You know where are we going?" He asked casually, but Chris could feel the scepticism in his voice.
Luckily, Chris knew what she had to do. She cleared her mind, put up the walls of Occlumency in her brain and perfectly faked a suspicious tone of her own.
"Are we going to the gazebo where Zil is?"
"Your Thestral? No, we are not going to the gazebo," Oziyat replied smoothly.
"Good, I thought something happened to her," Chris lied.
"Goddess forbid, if we do anything to your pet, then you will go up against the entire Palace, won't you?"
"Yes. She is not just my pet. She is my companion," Chris replied as normally as possible. "Anyway, you were saying something about trust-building? How are we supposed to do that?"
"By talking to each other and knowing about each other. For instance, this is the royal wing," Oziyat gestured around. "But, you are not supposed to be here, at least, not without my mother's permission, so I brought you here at my own risk."
"Great, it must have taken you a lot of courage to trust me and bring me here, you know, since I can just destroy the entire Vampire Royal Family with a snap of my fingers," Chris said sarcastically.
Oziyat chuckled but a guard standing in the corner gripped his weapon tightly, his eyes trained at Chris disdainfully. Noticing, Oziyat quickly shook his head slightly to the guard and without taking his eyes off Chris the guard relaxed a little bit.
"You should be careful what you say around here, Christina, especially when you are talking about royals," Oziyat whispered. "You are in a castle full of vampires. I think you know that we have far more heightened senses than humans and wizards? If a wrong pair of ears heard you then you will have a difficult time talking to my mother."
"Yeah, sorry about that. But I need to talk to your mother," Chris sighed. "I need to know what happened between your people and Malgino. That's the whole reason for me coming here and staying in this place."
"I understand," Oziyat looked thoughtful for a moment then smiled. "How about this, you can ask me a few questions now and I will answer truthfully. I know I can't tell you something my mother is supposed to say but I will try my best and at least this is a start, right?"
"Why are you doing this?" Chris gave Oziyat a calculated look.
"Is that your first question?" Oziyat asked without missing a beat.
"No, really," Chris shook her head. "Why are you doing this? The way I see it, everyone here is wary of me and I have told you all that I am putting your people in danger by staying here. And considering your relationship with wizards you should not have to help me. But here you are walking me back to my room, taking me out for a walk, offering me answers, why?"
Oziyat turned serious hearing Chris's words. "You don't trust people easily, do you?"
"Not anymore," Chris replied carefully looking away from him.
Another silence fell but this time it was less awkward.
"This way," Oziyat led Chris through a few more hallways before Chris saw a large door at the end of a wide corridor. Four guards stood in front of the door and as soon as they saw the Prince, they bowed, then two of them opened the door.
Chris stepped out to a fresh, cool and crisp moonlit night, and her eyes widened as she took in the scenario in front of her. She was standing in the most beautiful garden she had ever seen. The air was filled with floral scents and the night sky made the atmosphere much more beautiful. Even though Chris was very surprised and mesmerized by the surroundings, she didn't miss the doubtful looks from the guards and the dismissiveness in Oziyat's gesture as he stepped out after Chris.
"A garden?" Chris raised her eyebrows.
"Yes, of course, I assure our royal garden is the most unique and beautiful garden in the world," Oziyat said and started walking. "And it's the perfect place for strolling . . . or a private conversation, isn't it?"
"So you still haven't answered my first question about why are you so eager to answer my questions," Chris muttered following him.
"Well, since you don't go around in circles with your talk, I will give you straight," Oziyat said examining a bright red flower. "I want to help you because I have a few questions of my own, Christina. I want some answers from you too. I thought if I give some truth, I will get some truth from you."
Oziyat kept looking at the flower as Chris processed this. Was she ready to reveal a few truths to a person she met two days ago?
"Alright, but if I don't want to answer something you can't tell me to answer," Chris said finally.
"Then the same should go for me too," Oziyat turned to Chris. "I guess that's only fair, right?"
"Yeah, fine," Chris sighed looking away from the red-ringed eyes of Oziyat. "I will go first. Why didn't your mother meet me today?"
Oziyat sighed before speaking, "It's been a while since anyone has talked about Malgino around here. Even when we found out that he is back and working with the dark lord, we didn't want to get involved. But you coming here changed everything."
"How?"
"One at a time, Christina. I think it's my turn," Oziyat said. "Alright, where were you before you came here?"
"Hogwarts," Chris replied shortly. "Now, tell me how my appearing here changes everything for you people?"
"Because you are the chosen one," Oziyat paused and looked at Chris. "Or at least, that's what we think. We don't believe in coincidence Christina. We believe that everything around us happens for a reason and you coming here, looking for the Undefeated Hill is no coincidence. You are here because you are meant to be here. And if that's the case then it's time for us to get involved, even if we don't want to."
Chris waited for a few seconds to process this then turned to Oziyat with a new hope. She was on the right track. This place had the answers to Malgino's secret. Just the thought made her a little bright.
"Okay, shoot your next question."
Oziyat looked Chris dead in the eye with full seriousness and asked,
"What do you know about Stormy and Ethan?"
___________ ___________
To be continued. . .
It was half-past nine when someone knocked on Chris's door. Chris was practising spells with Dumbledore's wand to get familiar with it. Hearing the knock she cautiously opened the door and found Prince Oziyat standing there. "Oziyat?" Chris said surprised. Then quickly collected herself. "I mean, Prince Oziyat, what are you doing here?" "You seemed to be on the edge, Lady Christina? Did something happen?" Oziyat asked in his smooth silky voice. "For the last time, call me Christina, and no, I am fine. I was just not expecting you," Chris lied confidently. In reality, she was nervous after she escaped the First Vampire Princess that afternoon. But now she looked perfectly calm as she looked at the Prince curiously. "Of course," The Prince smiled. "I came here to see if you. I heard from Gweneth that you were upset and didn't like the fact that my mother refused to meet you today." "So your mother refused to meet me, I thought she is unwell," Chris said sarcastically. "Both are correct," Oziyat raised his one eyebrow in amus.e.m.e.nt. "But I am not here to gossip about my mother's choices, I was here to talk to you. I thought it will be nice to get to know each other, you know for building the trust. To prove that we are not enemies. So would you like to take a stroll?" "You are not taking me away to kill me, are you?" Chris said bitterly. "If I intended to do so I would have already done it and to be honest, I think you are not very easy to kill," Oziyat smiled and held out his hand for Chris. Chris eyed the vampire Prince's hand warily then with a sigh stepped out of the room and completely ignoring Oziyat's hand she closed the door behind her with a few nonverbal protection chams. "I guess, that's a good start," Oziyat said looking more amused. Chris gave a small nod and they started walking. An awkward silence stretched between them. Chris thought Oziyat was waiting for Chris to ask something but she didn't want to initiate the conversation, so she kept her mouth shut. As they were walking around the hallways, the guards were bowing to Oziyat and he was giving them respectful nods, that's when Chris realised they were heading towards the royal quarters. Chris instantly stiffened and Oziyat noticed it in a second. "You know where are we going?" He asked casually, but Chris could feel the scepticism in his voice. Luckily, Chris knew what she had to do. She cleared her mind, put up the walls of Occlumency in her brain and perfectly faked a suspicious tone of her own. "Are we going to the gazebo where Zil is?" "Your Thestral? No, we are not going to the gazebo," Oziyat replied smoothly. "Good, I thought something happened to her," Chris lied. "Goddess forbid, if we do anything to your pet, then you will go up against the entire Palace, won't you?" "Yes. She is not just my pet. She is my companion," Chris replied as normally as possible. "Anyway, you were saying something about trust-building? How are we supposed to do that?" "By talking to each other and knowing about each other. For instance, this is the royal wing," Oziyat gestured around. "But, you are not supposed to be here, at least, not without my mother's permission, so I brought you here at my own risk." "Great, it must have taken you a lot of courage to trust me and bring me here, you know, since I can just destroy the entire Vampire Royal Family with a snap of my fingers," Chris said sarcastically. Oziyat chuckled but a guard standing in the corner gripped his weapon tightly, his eyes trained at Chris disdainfully. Noticing, Oziyat quickly shook his head slightly to the guard and without taking his eyes off Chris the guard relaxed a little bit. "You should be careful what you say around here, Christina, especially when you are talking about royals," Oziyat whispered. "You are in a castle full of vampires. I think you know that we have far more heightened senses than humans and wizards? If a wrong pair of ears heard you then you will have a difficult time talking to my mother." "Yeah, sorry about that. But I need to talk to your mother," Chris sighed. "I need to know what happened between your people and Malgino. That's the whole reason for me coming here and staying in this place." "I understand," Oziyat looked thoughtful for a moment then smiled. "How about this, you can ask me a few questions now and I will answer truthfully. I know I can't tell you something my mother is supposed to say but I will try my best and at least this is a start, right?" "Why are you doing this?" Chris gave Oziyat a calculated look. "Is that your first question?" Oziyat asked without missing a beat. "No, really," Chris shook her head. "Why are you doing this? The way I see it, everyone here is wary of me and I have told you all that I am putting your people in danger by staying here. And considering your relationship with wizards you should not have to help me. But here you are walking me back to my room, taking me out for a walk, offering me answers, why?" Oziyat turned serious hearing Chris's words. "You don't trust people easily, do you?" "Not anymore," Chris replied carefully looking away from him. Another silence fell but this time it was less awkward. "This way," Oziyat led Chris through a few more hallways before Chris saw a large door at the end of a wide corridor. Four guards stood in front of the door and as soon as they saw the Prince, they bowed, then two of them opened the door. Chris stepped out to a fresh, cool and crisp moonlit night, and her eyes widened as she took in the scenario in front of her. She was standing in the most beautiful garden she had ever seen. The air was filled with floral scents and the night sky made the atmosphere much more beautiful. Even though Chris was very surprised and mesmerized by the surroundings, she didn't miss the doubtful looks from the guards and the dismissiveness in Oziyat's gesture as he stepped out after Chris. "A garden?" Chris raised her eyebrows. "Yes, of course, I assure our royal garden is the most unique and beautiful garden in the world," Oziyat said and started walking. "And it's the perfect place for strolling . . . or a private conversation, isn't it?" "So you still haven't answered my first question about why are you so eager to answer my questions," Chris muttered following him. "Well, since you don't go around in circles with your talk, I will give you straight," Oziyat said examining a bright red flower. "I want to help you because I have a few questions of my own, Christina. I want some answers from you too. I thought if I give some truth, I will get some truth from you." Oziyat kept looking at the flower as Chris processed this. Was she ready to reveal a few truths to a person she met two days ago? "Alright, but if I don't want to answer something you can't tell me to answer," Chris said finally. "Then the same should go for me too," Oziyat turned to Chris. "I guess that's only fair, right?" "Yeah, fine," Chris sighed looking away from the red-ringed eyes of Oziyat. "I will go first. Why didn't your mother meet me today?" Oziyat sighed before speaking, "It's been a while since anyone has talked about Malgino around here. Even when we found out that he is back and working with the dark lord, we didn't want to get involved. But you coming here changed everything." "How?" "One at a time, Christina. I think it's my turn," Oziyat said. "Alright, where were you before you came here?" "Hogwarts," Chris replied shortly. "Now, tell me how my appearing here changes everything for you people?" "Because you are the chosen one," Oziyat paused and looked at Chris. "Or at least, that's what we think. We don't believe in coincidence Christina. We believe that everything around us happens for a reason and you coming here, looking for the Undefeated Hill is no coincidence. You are here because you are meant to be here. And if that's the case then it's time for us to get involved, even if we don't want to." Chris waited for a few seconds to process this then turned to Oziyat with a new hope. She was on the right track. This place had the answers to Malgino's secret. Just the thought made her a little bright. "Okay, shoot your next question." Oziyat looked Chris dead in the eye with full seriousness and asked, "What do you know about Stormy and Ethan?" ___________ ___________ To be continued. . .
