35. Magdalena

“Get them,” Vex shouted at his officers to restrain Magda and Ravi.

As fast as lightning, he opened his palm and threw a white marble to the floor, which exploded in a burst of blue smoke. The choking cloud filled the entire space, causing Magda’s hand to fly to her mouth. In the chaos, she felt herself being wrenched out of Ravi’s arms, and her wrists being pinned behind her back. She wanted to scream, but her lungs were burning from the strange substance. All she could hear was Odie barking, mixed in with Vex’s chilling laugh.

When the mist cleared, one man each held both Ravi and Magda. Their grips were like iron clasps, digging deep into Magda’s forearms. When her vision fully came to, she noticed that the third henchman had placed another net over Odie and his new friend.

“Sit them down,” said Vex.

Magda screamed as she was yanked through the rows of barrels and over to the table. The man easily shoved her down onto a wooden chair and held her in place. She stole a glance at Ravi, who was seated directly opposite of her, equally held down.

“Let us go!” yelled Magda. “All I want is my dog back.”

“This goes far beyond your dog now,” said Vex with an angry growl. He leaned into Magda’s face, his stinky breath flushing against her lips. “You released my hound, and I just had to kill it before it bore any more havoc on my guests. Do you know how much money I will lose?”

Magda gulped. It would not have been easy to kill the hound. Vex was more powerful than she had realized. What would Dagmara do to get out of this?

“I promise I will pay you more than you earned this entire night,” said Magda strongly. “We can all leave here without any problems.”

Vex laughed before sitting in a chair between them. “These games aren’t about money. They’re about reputation. About who can be trusted, and who will win the best contracts.”

Magda stole a glance at Ravi sitting beside her, but he seemed equally as confused.

“What do you mean?” asked Magda.

Vex stood once again and clasped his hands behind his back. Then he began pacing as he spoke, “Together, the guilds are the most powerful corporation in history. We deliver goods around the kingdoms, and we’re the main economic trading power in the world. Our pockets run so deep and our men so vast that we could have our own army. But there’s one man who is more powerful, and he offers large contracts to any captain that not only brings goods back from uncharted waters, but full expedition logs.”

“King Claude,” Magda finished Vex’s sentence, remembering the letter in Ishani’s ship. “Why does he care about your logbooks?”

“Who cares,” Vex laughed. “He asks for strange notes, information, topography, animals, words…presence of magic.”

“He pays you greatly for this information I’m assuming. And you fight amongst each other to win the best information to bring back to Claude,” Magda asserted.

“Precisely.”

Ravi spoke up next. “We don’t have any contracts for you to take. So what do you want from us?”

Vex removed a vial from his pocket, setting it down on the table. “The truth,” he said. “I have a feeling that you have a secret King Claude will pay a lot of money for. For instance, why did the hound wake up when you approached?”

Magda recognized the truth serum. She knew that one gulp of it would reveal all of her secrets, jeopardizing not only her own life but Dagmara’s. If Vex asked just one wrong question, Magda would be dead in an instant.

“The hound was already awake,” Magda protested.

“No. It’s been asleep since I smuggled it here months ago. It doesn’t even eat or drink. One mysterious girl enters my basement, and suddenly it awakens? I’m sure this is one of the many secrets you hold, Dagmara.”

“I swear I don’t know anything—”

“Hold her,” said Vex. He began unscrewing the bottle.

“No! Don’t do this!” screamed Magda.

“Let her go!” yelled Ravi.

The third henchman pinned down the corner of the net before approaching Magda. Each one of them grabbed Magda’s arms, yanking her out of her chair, and pulling her up onto the table. They slammed Magda down onto her back, one man on either side, and she banged her head against the wood, causing it to spin in confusion.

“You’ll pay for this, Vex!” shouted Ravi.

Vex let out a laugh. “Ooooo I’m so scared…” he said sarcastically. “Don’t worry, I have no use for you, Ravi. You can go back to playing your violin.”

“If you let one drop of that touch her, I’ll kill you.”

Vex chuckled. “Don’t waste my time with empty threats.”

They held her down while Vex stood above her. Then Vex’s hand caressed Magda’s throat. He squeezed, tilting her chin back, and forcing her mouth open with his opposite hand. He shoved his fingers into her mouth, prying it open, while he attempted to pour the liquid down her throat.

Magda tried to fight back, but Vex’s voice drowned out Ravi’s, disorienting her even more. “You work in the Azuremi court, don’t you Dagmara?” taunted Vex. “Claude has been quite interested in Azurem. Let’s see what you can tell us now.”

Magda dug deep, hoping that somewhere she could channel any magic. She was a guardian, after all. She screamed as every fiber of her being reached for any source of power, but she only created a splintering headache pulling her in all directions.

“Vex, I swear, if she suffers—”

An acidic taste lit her mouth on fire, and the potion ignited inside her, flowing through her nerves all the way to her fingertips.

Vex released the grasp on her neck. He stepped back and said, “Now, tell me—”

Magda kicked her foot up, smacking Vex in the chin with the heel of her boot. He staggered backward, and the man holding Ravi mistakenly went to reach for Vex. In an instant, Ravi was on his feet and had grabbed the chair. He swung it forcefully, and the wood fractured as it smashed into the henchmen’s head, drawing blood before he collapsed.

The man on Magda’s right released her and went after Ravi, giving Magda her arm back. She reached for a wine bottle on the table, smashing it against the man on her left. He staggered backward, holding his face as glass and a dark-red liquid splattered in all directions.

Magda rolled off the table and smashed onto the stone, taking in her surroundings. Ravi was going after Vex, but there were two more henchmen left. One grabbed Ravi by the arm and yanked him toward the barrels, before giving him a shove. Ravi stumbled backward, slamming against the wood. But the man didn’t give Ravi an ounce of rest. He yanked on Ravi’s shirt, pulling him close, before punching him across the face. The other one approached, grinning, and gave Ravi another punch. One time. Two times.

Magda scampered across the floor, reaching the net and throwing it off the dogs. “Go help Ravi!” she yelled.

She breathed a sigh of relief as the dogs went after the henchman, snapping at their legs and feet as they let out horrifying screams.

For a second Magda thought it was all over, but someone grabbed onto Magda’s leg, dragging her back towards the table, and flipping her over onto her back.

Magda screamed but Vex was too quick. He slammed her head down into the stone, putting his arm up to her throat. Instantly, he was above her, straddling her body with his legs as he kept her pinned down.

“Now, where were we?” he asked Magda. He pressed his arm deep into Magda’s throat, making her vision spin. His other hand stroked her hair before caressing around the side of her cheek. “Right. I think I was about to ask you some serious questions.”

The fiery feeling ignited in Magda’s entire body, and she was certain that the truth serum had not worn off. She knew she had to fight it as long as possible.

“Now, tell me who you are—”

Suddenly Vex was yanked back. He was ripped off Magda’s body and pulled to his feet. Ravi grabbed Vex by the throat and slammed him into the table, before driving a broken glass bottle into Vex’s stomach.

Vex gasped, stuttering as blood gushed from the wound, but he couldn’t emit any words.

Ravi yanked Vex toward him by the collar of his shirt, whispering in his ear, “I told you I would kill you.” Then he let Vex drop to the side, and his limp body crumpled into a wilted pile on the stone floor.

Magda remained on the ground, her entire body shaking uncontrollably. Small bruises and cuts were already forming on her upper arms. All around her lay piles of glass and seeping pools of red wine. Four dead bodies surrounded her, having been slayed by Ravi or the dogs.

Ravi raced over to her, kneeling down. “Did he hurt you?” he asked, helping Magda to a sitting position.

“No,” Magda let out.

Ravi’s lips and nose were dripping with blood, and his eye was already bruised. Magda reached up to touch his face, attempting to wipe away some of the staining. “You’re hurt.”

“It’s fine,” said Ravi, grabbing Magda’s hand in his and removing it from his face. His hands shook as he held onto hers.

“Are you alright?” Magda asked.

“Yes…,” Ravi stammered, his hands still shaking. “It’s just, I’ve never killed anyone before.” His eyes trailed to Vex.

Magda reached up and embraced him around the neck, pulling him close. “You saved my life.”

Ravi let his arms encircle around Magda’s back, tightening the hug. “I don’t know what overcame me. It was instinct.”

Magda let a deep sigh release from her body, and for a moment in his arms, she felt safe.

Then Odie and the golden dog scampered over to the two, leaping directly between Ravi and Magda. Odie jumped onto Magda’s lap, almost knocking her over as he licked her face again. She gave Odie a tight squeeze as Ravi said:

“They’re both fine.”

“And that one?” asked Magda. “Does it have a name?”

“No, she doesn’t,” said Ravi, looking around the dog’s neck for a collar.

“What should we name it?”

“Poppy,” said Ravi with a smile.

Poppy gave a loud bark, before running out of the wine cellar, and darting out of sight, leaving all of them behind. Odie whimpered, but Magda stroked his fur whispering, “She has to go find her family too.”

Ravi turned to look at Vex, and a look of dread spread across his face at the sight of the dead guild leader. But instead of sharing what was on his mind, he moved over to the dead body, searching inside of Vex’s jacket.

“What are you doing?”

Ravi found what he was looking for, and held up a letter with Queen Sanyal’s seal in his hands. He ripped it open. “An invitation to the ball.”

Ravi passed the invitation to Magda. It was a turquoise and yellow gilded slip of paper, stamped with Queen Sanyal’s seal. Shining letters read:

An invitation to the palace of the Guardians of the Soul to Princess Kiran Dhara’s birthday ball. And one invited.

“Are you serious?” Magda beamed.

“Looks like you’re my date now,” Ravi grinned. “Let’s get out of here.”