Adeline Amouterus story continues in this last installment.
Enzo Valenciano sits on a gilded chair, his figure hunched over, his arms resting on his knees.
Waves of his dark hair fall over his face, and his jaw is clenched tight.
Credit: Lewis Jacobs/NBC
His eyes stay shut in pain, his cheeks moist with tears.
The smell of burned flesh and cloyingly sweet ointment fills the room.
His shirt hangs loose, slick with sweat.
Raffaele winds the bandages in a roll.
Underneath the bandages, Enzos arms are a mass of burns that never seem to heal.
Destroying almost all of Queen Maeves Beldish navy with fire has taken its toll.
A piece of skin tears away with the bandages.
Enzo utters a soft groan.
Raffaele flinches at the sight of the charred flesh.
Do you want to rest for a moment?
No, Enzo replies through clenched teeth.
Slowly, painstakingly, he removes the last of the bandages from Enzos right arm.
Both of the princes arms are now exposed.
Raffaele lets out a sigh, then reaches for the bowl of cool, clean water sitting beside him.
He places the bowl in Enzos lap.
Here, he says.
Enzo eases his arms into the cool water.
They sit in silence for a while, letting the minutes drag on.
Raffaele watches Enzo closely.
There is a new energy in the air that Raffaele cannot quite put his finger on.
You still feel her pull?
Raffaele asks at last.
He turns instinctively toward the window again, in the direction of the ocean.
Another long moment passes before he answers.
Some days, it is quiet, he says.
Raffaele wonders whom Enzo is thinking about.
It is not Adelina, but a girl long gone, from a happier time in his past.
Now the court is gone.
Queen Maeve has returned to Beldain to lick her wounds and restore her navy.
And the Daggers have come here, to Tamourawhat is left of Tamoura, at any rate.
Adelinas Inquisitors dot the hills in northern Tamoura, holding strong.
Any news of Adelina?
Enzo asks as Raffaele reaches for a fresh set of bandages.
Dumors capital has fallen to her army, Raffaele replies.
She rules all of the Sealands now.
I wouldnt be surprised if her ships show up next at our borders, Raffaele agrees.
Will the Golden Triad meet us tomorrow?
Raffaele glances up at the prince.
The Tamouran royals say their army is still weakened from Adelinas last siege.
They want to try negotiating with her again.
Enzo gingerly moves the fingers of his left hand, then winces.
And what do you think of it?
It will be a waste of time.
Raffaele shakes his head.
Adelina turned down their last attempt without a moments hesitation.
Theres nothing to barterwhat can the royals offer her that she cannot simply take by force?
Silence falls over them again, perhaps the only answer to Raffaeles question.
A pair of candles burning bright in the darkness.
A knock on the door.
It seemed as if the entire city had turned out for Raffaeles debut.
Other consorts moved amongst them, silent and graceful, serving drinks and dishes of iced grapes.
He remembers how his hands trembled, how hed pressed one against the other to steady them.
Now and then, the energy seemed to shift in the room.
Raffaele turned his head mechanically in its direction, unsure of what he was sensing.
Raffaeles eyes followed him, mesmerized by the power that seemed to travel in his wake.
The bidding started high and spiraled higher.
Other consorts whispered to one another in the audience.
At this rate, he could never live up to the winners payment.
Raffaeles calm expression wavered for the first time as murmurs rippled through the room.
The madam called again for an offer to top it, but none did.
Raffaele stood in the silence, willing himself to remain still as the manservant won the auction.
The minutes dragged on.
Moments later, there was a soft knock on the door.
It will be all right,Raffaele whispered, unsure of the truth of these words.
He got up and raised his voice.
Come in, kindly.
A maid pushed the door open.
Behind her, a masked young man walked into his chambers with the grace of a seasoned predator.
The door closed behind him, right as he reached up to remove the mask from his face.
Raffaeles eyes widened in surprise.
This was the same stranger hed noticed in the crowd.
He stood tall, and he did not smile.
The energy Raffaele had sensed during the bidding now enveloped the stranger in layers.Fire.
He knew he should be inviting the stranger to come closer, to sit on the bed.
But, in this moment, he couldnt think.
The young man stepped forward.
When he stopped before Raffaele, he folded his hands behind his back and nodded once.
The stranger spoke first.
You noticed me in the crowd, he said.
I saw your eyes following me around the room.
What is your name, sir?
The strangers voice was soft and deep, silk hiding steel.
Raffaeles eyes shot back up to him.Enzo Valenciano.Was that not the name of the disgraced prince of Kenettra?
The former crown prince.
Raffaele whispered, so startled that he didnt think to bow again.
The young man nodded.
And Im afraid I have no intention of fulfilling your debut night.
The scene evaporates as a knock sounds on the door.
a timid voice answers.
He folds his hands into his sleeves.
The door opens, and Violetta steps hesitantly inside.
Her eyes first meet Raffaeles, then dart to where Enzo sits with his elbows leaning against his knees.
Im sorry to interrupt, she says.
Raffaele, something strange is happening down by the shore.
I thought you might want to have a look.
Raffaele listens with a frown.
So, Violetta has sensed something ominous as well.
She had found the Daggers with her power almost a year ago, all on her own.
She was a good student.
She reminds him so much of Adelina.
Before she was beyond help.
The thought always saddened him.It is my fault, what Adelina has become.
My fault that it is too late.
Raffaele nods at Violetta.
Ill come in a moment.
Wait for me outside.
But every time they began to heal, they would worsen again.
take a stab at sleep, Raffaele tells him.
His face is drawn, pale from the pain.
He is both here and not.
How long ago was it that they had first lost him in the arena?
Instead, Raffaele walks to the door and quietly lets himself out.
Raffaele and Violetta walk in silence under the lanterns, passing through the light and the shadows.
At each door, he can sense the energy of every one of his Daggers staying inside the apartments.
Lucent, whose chamber has a ripple of disturbance in it.
She would remain with the Daggers and fight alongside them until her dying breath.
After a while, Maeve was forced to lead her soldiers home.
Raffaele knows it willneverhelp, for Lucents illness is due to something deep within her own energy.
Now the chamber sits empty.
Leo died a month earlier.
The doctor told Raffaele that it was because of a lingering lung infection.
But Raffaele wonders about another possible reasonbecause Leos body had turned on itself, poisoning him from within.
What weakness will soon manifest in him?
Violetta glances at him furtively.
How hard she tries.
He shakes his head.
ButI hear she is offering generous payments to the citizens of Dumor, Violetta replies.
Shes been more generous than she could be.
Perhaps if we could only find a way to
She is beyond help, Raffaele says softly.
An answer he has given many times.
We need to concentrate on defending Tamoura against Adelinas next move.
We must make a stand somewhere.
Violetta looks back toward the shoreline and nods.
Of course, she says, as if convincing herself.
She is not like the others.
Her ability to take away others powers makes him uneasy.
None of the three moons nor any stars are visible tonight; only clouds blanket the sky.
Raffaele offers Violetta his arm as they pick their way carefully down the stony path.
A hint of charge lingers in the warm winds, prickling his skin.
Now he senses what had troubled Violetta.
The waves spray him with flecks of salt water.
The night is so dark that they cannot make out any other details around them.
Large, looming masses of rock lie nearby, nothing more than black silhouettes.
Raffaele stares at them, feeling a sense of dread.
There is a pungent scent in the air.
There is death here, Violetta whispers, her hand quivering against Raffaeles arm.
Raffaele scans the horizon.
Yes, something is very wrong, an unnatural energy permeating the air.
There is so much of it, he cannot tell where it is coming from.
His eyes settle on a dark patch far in the distance.
He stares at it for a while.
A series of lightning streaks breaks through the sky, carving trails from the clouds to the sea.
Finally, after an eternity, a low rumble shakes the ground.
The lightning flashes again.
This time, the glow lights up the shore for a brief moment.
Raffaele steps backward, taking in the sight.
The black silhouettes are not rocks at all.
They are baliras, at least a dozen of them, beached and dead.
Violettas hands fly to her mouth.
For a moment, all Raffaele can do is stay where he is.
The occasional rib bone washed ashore, bleached white.
But never had he seen a dead balira in the flesh before.
Certainly not like this.
Dont come closer, Raffaele whispers to Violetta.
As he reaches the first balira, he extends a hand out toward it.
He hesitates, then places his fingers gently against its body.
The beast twitches once.
This one is just an infant, and it is not dead yet.
Raffaeles throat tightens, and tears fill his eyes.
Something terrible killed these creatures.
Raffaele, Violetta calls out.
This feels like Adelinas energy, Violetta finally says.
Raffaele takes a hesitant step toward the ocean, then another.
He walks forward until his slippers sink into wet sand.
He sucks his breath in sharply.
The water is cold in a way that he has never felt before, cold likedeath.
It sends his skin crawling in the same way a rotting fruit filled with maggots would.
The ocean is full of poison, deep and dark and vile.
He thinks of Enzos strange distraction tonight, the faraway look in his half-alive eyes.
The way he seemed drawn to the ocean.
Beside him, Violetta remains frozen in place as the water sways against her legs.
Raffaele takes a few more steps into the ocean, until the waves come up to his waist.
The cold water numbs him.
Indeed, this feels like Adelinas energy.
Something is poisoning the world.
