Ileus: The Dark Prince

The yellow petal was forgotten.

Anastasia got up lazily and then took a bath with Ileus while teasing him all the time as her 'official husband'. The maids laughed softly at both of them, as they played in the bathtub.

The maids dressed her up with one of the gowns that Mrs. Babette had stitched for her. She had been assigned to stitch as many gowns for her as possible to fill her wardrobe. Today she was wearing a crimson chiffon gown with silk chemise. Now that she was the 'official crown princess' of the kingdom, she was supposed to wear her crown every time she walked out of her bedchamber. When she was ready, Ileus adjusted the gold crown on her head and said, "This looks wonderful on you." He pressed a kiss on her temple. Then he whispered near her ear, "By the way those books are still waiting for you. I have marked a page that we have to necessarily try out." 

A pink blush rose on her cheeks and she slapped him playfully on his chest. "You have a dirty mind." 

"I agree baby," he replied shamelessly. "My mind is in the gutters when I think about your curves and that thing in between your thighs. After all, now that you are my wife, I own your body. And do you know what it is to have that feeling?" 

"From what I can guess, it means that you only think of sex!" she took her fingers and flicked on his head and turned on her heels to go out.

"Ouch!" he rubbed his skin. "Ana!" He called her but she was already out of the door. 

The queen had called them to join for lunch because she wanted to discuss Anastasia's future jobs as the crown princess in the kingdom. More guards were assigned to them and it was impossible to walk even a step without at least a ten of them walking with them. 

"Mother," Anastasia greeted Adrianna warmly and hugged her. She greeted Dmitri too and they both sat down. 

The servants hurried to serve them basil and tomato soup along with bread sticks and cream for the first course. 

Adrianna asked, "How are you feeling Anastasia? She took a spoonful and had it. 

"I am doing good, Mother," she replied. 

"There is an important job that I would like you to embark upon as the princess of Draoidh." 

Anastasia was all ears. She placed the spoon on the plate and asked, "Sure, please let me know." Ileus had already informed her that her duties were going to increase. 

"Ever since the High Priestess died, her position has been vacant. People are demanding that her position be filled, and there are many candidates who would fill the criteria. However, I don't want to fill that position and scrap it altogether," said Adrianna and wiped her mouth with the napkin, gesturing to the servant to take away the soup bowl. "I want you to start a new religious order." 

Anastasia and Ileus were both startled. Ileus stopped eating as he stared at his mother and Anastasia was flustered. "You mean you want me to found a new religious order?" 

Adrianna nodded. "Yes. After Tamara's incident, I am wary of continuing the old traditions. Because of them people started finding loopholes and exploited them. Corruption has seeped in and I am of the opinion that if we completely scrap the sect that High Priestess was sort of heading, there would be chaos amongst those who have become too powerful. It would be like cutting their roots." 

"But there would be a backlash from the followers. The High Priestess was an extremely powerful woman with a large following. There would be so many who must be looking forward to taking that position," said Ileus. "If we just scrap it suddenly and start a new order, it would be met with resistance!" 

"True," Dmitri supported his son. 

The servant placed the second meal of the course in front of them—a platter of braised and roasted chicken and stewed vegetables seasoned with thyme along with whole grain breads with melted butter. 

"It is the right time to start it, Ileus," said Adrianna. She leaned back on the chair. "I know for sure that the priestesses under Tamara follow the conventional contemplative life, which entails moving in powerful circuits. I want you to break this sect completely and be the founder of an order where priestesses under you embrace an apostolic mission. I want them to be well loved by the general people. I want them to be popular amongst all the subjects of Draoidh as well as Silver Vales."

Excitement thrummed in her chest as she watched the queen with awe. Starting a new order meant a lot of things and she knew that Adrianna wanted her to become popular in her kingdom. She didn't want to force Anastasia on her subjects because as a ruler you could achieve just that much with fear in your subjects, and they may revolt in the long run, but with love—the queen wanted to turn the tides in her favor. She could have asked someone else to start the new campaign, but she chose Anastasia for it, and that was the wisest thing. Now Anastasia would have full control over it. "Why do you think the time is right? She asked. There was no other question to ask. 

Adrianna smiled as she sliced the roasted chicken neatly and placed it on Anastasia's plate. "Because you have saved many from the ugly wrath of Tamara in Level three. Your popularity is high and people are actually looking up to you. There is a large number who are in your favor. Remember nobles are powerful, but they are less in number. And they are powerful because of the powers vested in them by the kingdom." 

Ileus chuckled and shook his head. "I know what you are doing Mother," he said. "But I agree with you fully on this. Anastasia is the best person to lead this movement." 

"How will I do it?" she asked, feeling a little unsure, because it was kind of religious. 

"Go and talk to the Shaman. He will guide you. And you can take Darla and Paige with you," said the queen. Then she sliced another piece of chicken from her plate and placed it on Anastasia's plate. "You should eat well, my dear," she said with a smile that was laced with tenderness. 

Anastasia was surprised at her mother-in-law's actions, but she smiled and ate the chicken given by Adrianna. She looked across the table at Dmitri who was also smiling at her. 

"Mother, there's one other thing that I wanted to talk to you about," said Anastasia. 

"Tell me." 

"When are— when will—" Anastasia stopped, feeling shy. 

"When are we going to strike Vilinski?" Adrianna completed her sentence. 

Anastasia bit her lip and nodded. 

"When the time is right, Anastasia. And I will come to know about it. I have my spies everywhere." Then she looked at Ileus and said, "I had swept Circe's cell and there was absolutely nothing about when and how she started her necromancer magic or any clue about Iona. It was just like Lila's. However, I came across a memory when Iona was kidnapped." She crossed her arms over the table and leaned forward. "I want you to go back in time when she was kidnapped and find out everything."