The morning sun struggled to pierce the grey mist as Adel helped me dress. Unlike the "pristine white" of the feast, today I wore a simpler gown of heavy grey wool, trimmed with white fur. It was elegant but practical.
As Adel fastened clasps, I looked at her reflection in the mirror.
"Adel," I asked, breaking the silence. "I realised something. What actually happens in a Royal Hunt?"
Adel paused, a small and amused smile touching her lips. "It is quite simple, my lady. It is a play in three acts."
She moved to adjust my cuffs while her voice took on a lighter and explanatory tone.
"First, the Departure. The Master of the Hunt from the Royal Family will sound the horn. Everyone who participates in the hunt will gather around. As the king is absent, the Crown Prince acts as his representative and will give a speech; sometimes the speech is about glory or ancestors. Usually quite long."
"And then?"
"Then, the Hunt begins. The men and Lady Eliana, obviously, will ride into the forest to chase the game. The goal is the White Stag, as the rumours are spreading across the kingdom, it appears in this area. However, boars and regular deer are also acceptable prizes."
"What do we do while they are gone? Do we just… stand there?"
"Heavens no, my lady," Adel laughed softly. "That is the Second Act: The Sanctuary. The ladies retire to the viewing pavilion. There will be tea, warm wine, and some entertainment like music. While the men hunt beasts in the forest, the ladies hunt for secrecy, political influence, and social status. Somehow, it is arguably more dangerous than the forest."
"And the Third Act?"
"The Return," Adel said, finishing the final clasp. "The hunters return at sunset. The prizes are presented, the winner is crowned, and a feast is held to celebrate the catch."
"So," I said. "I just have to survive a long speech, drink tea with Duchesses or other nobles, and applaud when a deer is brought in?"
"Essentially, my lady," Adel said, stepping back. "It sounds relaxing, does it not?"
"Relaxing, huh?" I whispered, but I smiled. "Sure, it's relaxing after what we had witnessed and discussed last night."
My mother swept in, dressed in a sharp riding habit of pearl-grey silk.
"You look prepared, Aurelia," she said, her eyes scanning my attire. She reached out as her gloved hand rested briefly on my shoulder. "Practical. Sharp."
She withdrew her hand and turned toward the door.
"Come," she commanded softly. "Your brother is preparing to depart. You should see him off."
..
I walked out to the outside. Immediately, the noise was deafening, horses stamping, metal clashing, men shouting orders and hounds' voices.
I spotted Aurelio near the weapon wagons. He looked so grown up in his white leather armour. Felix was beside him, sharpening a dagger, and Alecia was laughing loudly while swinging her great axe as if it were a toy.
I took a deep breath and walked over to them. "Aurelio," I called out while trying to force warmth into my voice. "The forest is dense today. Keep your eyes sharp."
He didn't turn around.
"I know how to hunt, sister," he said, his voice cold and flat. "I do not need you to tell me about the forest…"
Before the silence could stretch too long, Alecia stepped in. She slapped Aurelio on the back.
"Don't worry!" Alecia laughed. "We'll bring back something bigger, yeah?"
Suddenly, Aurelio's cold expression evaporated instantly. He looked at Alecia and smiled genuinely and warmly. "Right…"
He mounted his horse and rode toward the centre without looking back at me once.
I stood there, frozen. It wasn't just that he was distant. It was that he had found warmth elsewhere, Felix and Alecia… What would happen if I didn't save them? Would Aurelio act the same or differently towards me? Was my action a bad or a good thing?
…
We moved to the edge of the clearing to watch the ceremony while my heart was still racing from the encounter and my own question.
We turned our attention to the gathering armies. It was a chaotic sea of movement, but amidst the horses and the participants, the packs of hounds caught my eye. Hundreds of them were gathered among the nobles, yet the four main houses stole the spotlight.
"Adel," I whispered. "I have never seen so many… varieties of hounds before. What are they?"
Adel followed my gaze. "They are reflections of their house, my lady." She pointed to the Royal first.
"The Royal Family uses Greyhounds and Alaunts. Built for speed and elegance. They hunt by sight and are designed for the spectacle."
I looked at the white dogs with their blue velvet collars. Beautiful, somehow, fragile.
"Mastiffs," suddenly, a voice behind me. I turned around, and it was Lady Octavi who walked towards me. "War dogs. They do not chase; they wrestle. House Aemilia uses them to pin down boars or maybe bears. They are blunt instruments of violence."
"And House Valerius?" I asked, looking at the silent black pack trailing the Duchess.
"Lymers," Adel said. "Scent hounds. They hunt in silence. Once a Lymer has your scent, you cannot hide. They are known as bloodhunt."
Then, I looked at our own pavilion. Beside the Aurelius horses, a pack of medium-sized dogs sat alert.
"And ours?" I asked.
"Raches," Lady Octavi said. "Balanced. Intelligent. They do not just chase or kill; they coordinate."
"Even these four house have their own speciality dogs that represent their house, they still need other dogs, my lady," Adel said.
"Other dogs?"
"Yes, if the house speciality is sighthound-like Greyhounds from the Royal Family and Mastiffs from House Aemilia, they still need scent hound-like Lymers from House Valerius or Raches from your family. The hunt hounds basically have two types of dogs: scent hounds to get the scent of the prey and sight hounds to chase and take down the prey." Adel explained. "In your family house, we have some sighthounds, but our scenthounds are more like the speciality. It happens to all the family; they have their own hound speciality, which are being trained for years and bred for specific purposes."
Lady Octavi interject, "Except Greyhounds… Greyhounds are special; the owner of these hounds must be the royal family. The Greyhounds are considered a symbol of nobility and prestige, reserved only for the royal family due to their grace and elegance. All the nobles are prohibited from owning Greyhounds."
The master of the hunt blew a massive horn, cutting off our conversation. In the centre of the clearing, atop a raised wooden dais draped in blue and gold, the Crown Prince stepped forward. He gave a speech about glory and ancestral tradition, his voice echoing over the silent crowd.
"May the forest yield its prizes to the worthy!" Fabian shouted.
The Master of the Hunt blew the horn. With a final roar, the earth shook as hundreds of horses and hounds thundered forward. Crown Prince Fabian, Lady Eliana, my father, and my brother Aurelio vanished into the treeline, chasing glory and prize.
As the dust settled, the clearing felt strangely empty.
Most of the ladies began drifting toward the tea pavilion as I saw my mother already walking towards it, but I stayed back, needing a moment to breathe.
I looked toward the edge of our encampment.
Near the weapon racks stood Cassius and Valerie. They stood out amid the deserted camp.
Cassius spotted me first. His posture instantly relaxed. A warm, genuine smile broke across his face, and he started jogging towards me.
"My lady!" he called out, raising a hand.
But before he could reach me, the atmosphere in the camp shifted.
There was no sound of marching boots. No clanking of an army's armour. Just the heavy, rhythmic thud of a single horse's hooves hitting the earth.
I turned.
Riding through the centre of the empty lane was Duchess Valerie Valerius.
She was alone.
She sat atop a massive black warhorse, her sharp, marble-pale face exposed. She had sent her men, her hounds, and her retainers into the forest. She alone had remained behind.
She was riding the perimeter, like inspecting the empty camps with a look of utter boredom.
However, as she passed our camp, her head suddenly snapped to the right, straight toward the weapon racks where Valerie was standing alone, sharpening her blades.
The Duchess yanked her reins. She steered her warhorse straight toward lone Valerie.
Cassius, who was running toward me, skidded to a halt. He looked at me, then back at the Duchess, focusing down on his partner. The warmth in his eyes suddenly vanished, replaced by a cold gaze. He turned on his heel and sprinted back the way he came, placing himself between the charging warhorse and Valerie.
He arrived just as the Duchess pulled her horse to a halt.
From where I stood, I couldn't hear a word. I could only watch them.
I saw Cassius plant his feet, his hand hovering over his great sword, his shoulders blocking the Duchess's path. He said something, likely a plea or a warning towards her.
Then, Valerie stepped out from behind Cassius. She shoved him, exposing herself to the Duchess's presence. She didn't bow. She crossed her arms over her chest.
For a moment, nothing happened. The Duchess looked down with cold.
Then, shocked to my core, the Duchess suddenly froze.
It was visible even from here. Her posture went rigid. Her hands tightened on the reins. She leaned down from her saddle, staring intently at Valerie's face.
I didn't know what she saw. To me, Valerie just looked like… Valerie. But the Duchess was looking at her as if she were seeing a ghost.
I saw the mercenary say something, one word, maybe two.
The Duchess stared for a long, agonising second. I barely hear a short, sharp bark of laughter from her.
She nodded once to Valerie. What was that?
The Duchess gathered her reins and turned her horse away from them. She didn't return to the main path. Instead, she rode slowly, deliberately, towards me.
I stood my ground as her warhorse loomed over me, blocking out the sun. The Duchess looked down, her face composed again into a mask of stone.
"You have a sharp eye, Little Aurelius," the Duchess called out.
She glanced back at the weapon racks, focused on Valerie.
"You…" The Duchess looked back at me, her gaze piercing. "You went out and found yourself a wolf lost from her pack…" Suddenly, her voice became so low. "What do you intend to do with her?"
What did she mean? I stood and froze, as I couldn't answer anything.
However, she suddenly just spurred her horse forward, alone, heading toward her own pavilion.
I was left standing while my heart was pounding against my ribs.
"Adel," I whispered. "What just happened?"
"I don't know, my lady," Adel replied, her voice low. "But whatever it was… the Duchess was shaken."
Lady Octavi added, "Maybe my lady needs to find out who is actually Valerie? Is she just an ordinary mercenary or not?"
The only thing I knew was that Valerie and Cassius were from the twelve figures. Bo was also one of the twelve figures. The twelve figures were the figures who kept the story going.