The Witch Kingdom existed according to its own logic, built less on geography and more on intention. Its borders didn’t entirely obey the common rules of distance, weather, or direction, and so visitors rarely entered without explicit permission. Trails shifted, forests blocked paths, towers rose where once there were empty fields, and lakes reflected different skies depending on the mood of the observer. It was a subtly living territory, intelligent enough to keep away the curious and hostile enough to punish invaders. Even so, there were people for whom these defenses were nothing more than administrative inconveniences.

A brief distortion appeared in the air of the main chamber of the central tower.

There was no explosion of light, no dramatic whirlwind of energy. The space simply yielded for an instant, like a page being turned invisibly. The next second, Kael and Exelia were already inside the Witch Queen’s private chamber, emerging from the center of the dark carpet with the naturalness of those passing through an ordinary door.

The problem was that the timing couldn’t have been more inconvenient.

Eleanor was getting dressed.

The Witch Queen stood with her back to the entrance, before a large mirror surrounded by a carved black silver frame, half of her formal robes still abandoned on a nearby chair. She wore only the lower part of a light dark silk dress, while adjusting the top, which she hadn’t yet fastened. Her long hair fell over her bare shoulders in shimmering black waves, partially concealing her fair skin marked by discreet magical symbols near her collarbone and the side of her neck. The entire room smelled of floral perfume mixed with burnt herbs, and the unmade bed in the background made it clear that she had just woken up a short time ago.

The dry sound of the spatial rupture made her freeze for less than a second.

Then she turned abruptly.

Eleanor’s violet eyes widened in genuine surprise, something rare enough to merit historical record. One hand reflexively rose to her chest, gripping the piece of clothing that wasn’t yet properly fastened, while the other instinctively began gathering defensive magic.

"By all hell—"

She cut herself off the instant she recognized Kael.

The offensive energy vanished as quickly as it had appeared, replaced by an offended expression that perfectly coexisted with the earlier shock.

"Have you gone mad?" she asked, now in a sharp tone of controlled indignation. "You barge into a queen’s chamber without knocking, without announcing yourself, without even giving me time to get dressed?"

Exelia immediately turned her face away.

The gesture was quick and ostentatiously respectful, as if she wanted to demonstrate absolute professionalism in the face of the situation. Her arms crossed, her posture remained firm, and she fixed her gaze on a random point on the wall with impeccable seriousness.

Then she cast a small, sideways glance.

Very brief.

Almost imperceptible.

His eyes drifted down for a moment to Eleanor’s waistline before returning to the wall as if nothing had happened.

Seconds later, another, even shorter glance.

Kael, for his part, showed no embarrassment.

He observed Eleanor with the same neutral expression he would use when analyzing a bookshelf or a window. There was no malice, surprise, or discomfort on his face. Just the objective realization that she was half-shielded in fabric and irritated.

"You’re alive, so the teleportation worked correctly," he said with complete serenity.

Eleanor blinked twice, incredulous.

"That’s your answer?"

"Yes."

She closed her eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath like someone refusing to waste energy casting an immediate curse.

Exelia cleared her throat discreetly without looking at anyone.

Kael then reached into his coat pocket and pulled out two small objects held by metal chains: dark pendants, both marked with extremely dense containment runes. Without ceremony, he tossed them toward the bed, where they bounced across the disheveled sheets and stopped close to each other.

Eleanor opened her eyes and stared at the objects.

Her irritation lessened a degree.

Her curiosity increased threefold.

"I brought exploration material for you," Kael said, as if delivering overdue documents.

The Witch Queen quickly pulled off a long robe and donned it as she approached the bed. Her movements were fluid, swift, and elegant even under evident irritation. As she leaned over the pendants, the atmosphere of the room subtly shifted. The air became more alert. The symbols carved into the walls reacted almost imperceptibly to the presence of the sealed contents.

She touched the first pendant without fully grasping it.

She felt it.

Her eyes narrowed.

"This here..." she murmured. "It’s a sentient seal."

"Vlad," Kael replied. "King of the vampires."

Eleanor shifted her gaze to the second.

"And this one?"

"The woman who manipulated him."

Now she slowly raised her face.

For a few seconds, she said nothing.

Then she looked again at the pendants, then at Kael, then back at the pendants, as if recalculating the scale of what she had just casually received on her sheets.

"You sealed the king of the vampires and the entity that controlled the entire kingdom..." she said slowly. "And decided to throw them both onto my bed while I was getting dressed."

"Correct."

Exelia bit the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing.

Eleanor pointed a finger at Kael.

"You’re unbearable."

"Also correct."

She took another deep breath, then carefully picked up the two pendants. As soon as she held them, additional runes appeared around her fingers like luminous serpents, analyzing the integrity of the seals.

Kael took a step closer.

"Please, read their minds. I want to know what happened."

The sentence was direct, without beating around the bush.

Eleanor raised an eyebrow.

"Please?" she repeated, almost amused. "Did you learn manners in some recent massacre?"

"I’m trying to optimize my time."

"How romantic."

She turned and walked to a circular table filled with books, extinguished candles, and arcane instruments of indecipherable shapes. She placed the pendants in the center, tracing symbols in the air above them as she thought aloud.

"Post-deep sealing mind reading... dual source... one of them likely fragmented by external corruption..." Her fingers moved quickly. "It will require preparation."

Kael nodded.

"Do it."

Eleonor froze for a moment, then slowly turned her face away.

"You don’t even give me a hug."

The tone was a perfect mix of genuine complaint and calculated provocation.

"How cold."

Exelia finally looked back, clearly interested in the answer.

Kael seemed to think about the matter for exactly two seconds.

"I brought high-value intellectual work."

"That doesn’t replace affection."

"I disagree."

Eleonor put her hand to her chest in feigned pain.

"To hear this from a grandson who disappears for weeks, invades my room unannounced and hands me two dimensional prisoners..." She shook her head dramatically. "I was raised to suffer."

Exelia let out a short laugh before regaining her composure.

"You’re having too much fun with this," she commented.

"Of course I am," Eleanor replied. "When you govern long enough, small family tragedies are entertainment."

She approached Kael and opened her arms.

"Come here."

Kael stood still.

"Is this necessary for mind reading?"

"No."

"Then no."

Eleanor narrowed her eyes.

Exelia looked away again, this time to hide her smile.

After a few seconds of impasse, Kael took a half-step forward. Eleanor immediately pulled him by the coat and hugged him with unexpected force. It wasn’t a delicate gesture. It was firm, possessive, and quick, like someone collecting overdue emotional interest.

"There," she said, letting go of him. "Now I can work without feeling neglected."

Kael adjusted his coat.

"You’re still strange." "And you remain lovely in your own flawed way."

She returned to the table and clapped once.

The entire room responded.

Curtains closed by themselves. Candles lit up in violet flames. Drawers opened and closed as specific instruments flew to the central table. A magic circle expanded beneath the furniture, covering almost the entire floor with thin lines of luminous silver.

Exelia observed everything with genuine attention.

"How long does this take?"

"If I’m lucky, an hour," Eleanor replied. "If the creature in the second pendant is truly what I suspect, perhaps three. If it tries to bite me psychically, five."

"You speak as if it were commonplace," said Exelia.

"It’s Tuesday for me."

Kael walked to the window and gazed at the outside landscape, where distant towers rose amidst purple mist and forests of impossibly tall trees.

"What do you suspect?" he asked without turning around.

Eleanor paused for a moment before answering.

"That the woman wasn’t just a political manipulator." Her voice grew more serious. "There’s an ancient scent on this seal. Too ancient for modern vampires. Something that uses people as clothing."

The room fell silent.

Exelia slowly uncrossed her arms.

Kael continued looking out the window, but his posture shifted almost imperceptibly.

"Can you confirm?"

"If I fully enter the memories, yes."

"And risk?"

Eleanor smiled slightly.

"For me or for the world?"

"Both."

"For me, moderately. For the world..." She shrugged. "Depends on what I discover."

Kael then turned.

"If anything escapes, I’ll destroy this room."

"How comforting to hear that."

"It’s sincere."

She chuckled and began the ritual for real.

The runes on the pendants rose like solid smoke. Broken images appeared above the table: stone corridors, red eyes, blood seeping through metallic channels, a throne shrouded in shadows, and a female silhouette smiling without moving her lips. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

Eleanor closed her eyes and placed both hands on the surface.

Her voice changed as she spoke again, deeper, more multifaceted.

"Don’t interrupt me from now on."

Exelia instinctively took a step back.

Kael remained motionless.

The glow in the room intensified until it filled every corner. The nonexistent wind began to move hair, fabrics, and pages of closed books. The walls responded with low echoes of ancient spells awakening to sustain the reading.

Before immersing herself completely, Eleanor still found time to murmur, without opening her eyes:

"Ah, your mother is here. Why don’t you visit her?" Kael didn’t even finish listening and closed the door.

"Damn... what a mean guy..." she murmured, "He must be upset that I gave him the title of King... oh well, whatever. He’ll sleep with me later anyway, it’s all good."