Dorothea had appeared before Volkhard seventeen years ago, draped in a gown fashioned of countless layers of sheer silk.
“Shall I sing for you, Your Majesty?”
It had been during a festival, when the kingdom was adorned in splendid decoration, and travelers from distant lands flooded its streets.
She was beautiful. Not merely in the symmetry of her face, but also the way her smooth, light brown hair tumbled into a series of soft waves. She stood tall, with a graceful bearing, porcelain skin, and a smile that seemed designed to charm.
Still, Volkhard had regarded the woman in the same way he did with anything that he found boring and frivolous. He assumed that she could not be much older than him, being nineteen at the time. He would later learn that she was, in fact, a year younger.
“I have no need of it,” he replied curtly.
“Oh, how disappointing. I’ve been singing since I was a child, and I daresay I’m rather good at it.”
“More importantly...” He pointed at Dorothea, sitting on the railing of the balcony outside his chambers, which were on the top floor of the royal castle’s highest tower. “By whose leave, and by what means, have you entered my private chambers?”
The woman laughed, delightfully yet delicately. The city sprawled behind her like a tapestry.
“I’m Dorothea. I’ve recently returned to this kingdom after some time away.”
“I did not ask for your name, nor do I remember granting you permission to speak so freely.”
Despite that, the way she spoke to him was the least troubling thing about her presence. Volkhard took in her appearance.
“You are concealing the true color of your eyes,” he stated calmly. “They are not as pale as you make them appear. You possess magic—strong magic. That alone is enough for me to deem you a threat to this kingdom.”
“My, my. You’re the first person to have noticed the alteration,” she said, pleased.
Volkhard couldn’t shake the feeling that they were having two completely different conversations. The way she showed her surprise on her face and spoke with an unguarded tone displayed an almost childlike lack of guile.
Volkhard sighed. Her openness made his posturing feel foolish.
“I already have enough musicians.” He paused a moment before continuing. “I also have enough consorts and mistresses.”
“Lies are unbecoming, Your Majesty.”
Despite his clear dismissal, she slipped from the railing, landing lightly upon the balcony floor.
“I know you need someone like me. Someone powerful, someone with overwhelming magical strength,” she said.
He watched silently as she approached him.
“Even if your kingdom is in a time of peace, you know that your kingdom is constantly under the threat of war. You’ve even placed your chief conjurer at the border as a deterrent, leaving the capital vulnerable. And your forces—they’re not what they once were, are they? I’m sure that you want to strengthen them,” she challenged, though she bore an innocent smile. “And if that strength could come from your own offspring, wouldn’t that be most convenient?”
There was no seduction in her words, no charm in the way she walked toward him. Despite her beauty, she was not trying to seduce him.
“If that were the case,” she continued, “then the peace of this beloved kingdom you’ve worked so hard to protect would be secure.”
He frowned at that.
There were moments when the unfathomable depths of the woman before him would suddenly surface, and in those fleeting instants, she appeared like an enchanting, otherworldly witch.
“You care more for this kingdom than you’d like to admit. Your retainers, your people... I understand that feeling quite well.” She tilted her head, her long hair draping over her shoulder. “I loved my own people as well, but my homeland lies in ruin now. I cherished them deeply.”
Something in her words didn’t quite sit right.
“Ah, but your coldness toward your wives and children is a bit of a shame, isn’t it?” she mused. “Still—your willingness to elevate a promising orphan to chief conjurer of your kingdom... I must say, you’ve a keen eye for talent.”
She had done her research, even on Karlheinz.
“What is it that you want?” he asked.
The woman laughed softly and then placed her hand on her stomach.
“I want to give birth to the reincarnation of Adelheid.”
The more he heard, the more bizarre it became; nothing she said made any sense.
“You speak of the witch who died five hundred years ago?”
She smiled. “I knew it! I just knew you’d understand right away!”
“I understand nothing, and I’ve no interest in continuing to indulge your nonsense.”
She carried on, completely ignoring his remarks. “The child I will bear will be a girl, and she will carry the soul of Adelheid reborn. It has already been decided.”
She blinked, and her eyes changed color from a pale gold to an iridescent opal, full of the potential to reflect every shade light might conjure.
“I will do anything necessary to bring this child into the world and let her grow up strong and healthy. For that to happen, I need to provide her with a cradle that will keep her safe.”
“I’ll warn you now,” Volkhard said. “My queen consort possesses a severe temperament. I cannot guarantee that your child, were she born within this palace, would be safe.”
“I know,” the woman replied softly. “But there are few places that can protect her from a threat far greater than a jealous queen.”
Hearing that, something clicked into place in Volkhard’s mind.
“Then there are those who will seek this ‘Adelheid reborn’?” he asked.
The corners of the woman’s lips curved upward.
“A terrifying and mighty nation. They will be drawn to her magic like a beacon.”
He contemplated this new information.
“As it stands now, you are the only king I have considered who I believe could act as her protector...and a king it must be. Were I to choose anyone of lesser status, no matter how strong their magic or how good of a father they might be, they would never be able to stand against an entire kingdom.”
It seemed, without his knowledge or consent, he’d been under some sort of evaluation. Not only that—he’d been judged suitable.
“That said, Your Majesty, if you should refuse, I shall just take this same proposal to another king elsewhere,” she said cheerfully.
“Is that meant to be some kind of threat? If I refuse, you’ll take this ‘Adelheid reborn’ to be born into another kingdom’s royal family?”
“Tee hee! And if that kingdom happens to be your enemy, imagine what a nuisance she might become.” Her smile reminded him of a cherub. All the while, she’d openly admitted that she was, indeed, threatening him.
In return, he asked her what he believed to be a perfectly reasonable question.
“Then tell me this: Why are you so certain that your daughter, not yet even conceived, will be the reincarnation of Adelheid?”
She answered his question clearly with an answer he never would have predicted.
“Well, that’s because I’m...”