“The Queen was…” Dante tried to find a word to make it sound right. “A complicated person. She wasn’t really kind to others.” He eyed Violette. “I think there's no more prompts anymore. She gave us riddles before – consider this her gesture of goodwill. It will only get harder.”
“Such nonsense,” she burst out. “What are we supposed to do with a damn stone? How do we know what it means and what we should do next?”
“I don't think that's something she was worrying about,” he voiced simply, keeping his eyes on the stone in his hand. Violette did the same.
It was such a tosh! What should they do now? Where to go? How would the stone help them to take off Dante's mask? There should be, at least, something that could guide them in the right direction. A little clue.
A thought sparkled in Violette's head.
“Wait! What about that letter she left you? The one you threw away last time we were here. Maybe there's some kind of word play or something like that.”
“There was no important information for us,” he said and after a pause he added, “It was a personal message.”
“What? Something like ‘Ha! Ha! Gotcha!’?”
His face lightened up with an approving smile. “You are not far away from the truth.”
“Then she is incredibly pitiful,” she commented at last.
Dante didn't say anything else, except asking Violette to save the moonstone in her bag, which he gave her back before the trip. They were ready to leave the crypt, after all they had nothing else to find here. Wondering about their next move was good food for thought, since they were stuck at a dead end.
But just before the exit of the crypt Violette bumped into Dante’s hand as he stopped her.
“We have guests,” a rigor painted his voice. “Stay here.”
She looked behind his hand; her eyes found a woman sitting on one of the graves, as she could guess by Dante's warning, unlikely a human.
“Don't show yourself,” he ordered and as she nodded he left her alone.
Violette took a step back and hid behind the wall. She didn't want to meet another vampire so she'd finally decided to listen to Dante's words and wait for him where he told her, although her mind was curious as to who that woman was and what brought her here. The voices brushed her ear: one belonged undeniably to Dante, another was insinuating and supercilious, however she couldn't figure out what the conversation was about. She pressed her back to the stone wall, and stood closer to the entrance, trying to catch asingle word.
“Good evening, Dante. Good to see you after so many years,” the woman said through a wide smile and crossed her legs. Her voice carried an unmistakable note of gloating.
“Can't say the same,” Dante grumbled. “What are you doing here, Rela?”
“Just here to deliver a message,” she flipped her chestnut hair, “from Caidas. He wants to see you. Immediately.”
“Tell him I do not accept invitations at the moment. Maybe, in the future, around a few hundred years,” he said and threw his head back.
The face of the woman suddenly changed – a serious expression took its place. Her voice became much sharper and colder. “This is not an invitation. It's an order.”
Dante sulked. “Caidas can orderyou. Not me.”
This earned him a loud snort like she wasn't bothered with his answer.
“I said what I said. You know it's inevitable.” Rela stood up with ease and shook the snow from her burgundy skirt.
“Oh, and one more thing,” she added as she drew steps towards the forest. “Your human friend, who is hiding in the crypt, can come with you.” Violette pricked up her ears, but didn't stick her head out. “You're not going to come to Caidas without a gift, right?”
Dante'sfeatures sharpened but he remained silent as Rela disappeared in the darkness of the night.
Violette paced to him as soon as she didn't see any peril. His gaze still lingered in the direction where the woman disappeared.
“Is everything…alright?” She inched carefully.
He faced her with his back but she could feel the disgruntlement in the way his body tensed. The woman wasn't a welcome guest to him and even if Violette didn't know what exactly her words meant she could guess Dante didn't like it. In fact, she didn't remember him to be so sharp and gloomy, even more than during their conversation earlier this evening.
“Not exactly,” he sighed and then finally turned his face to her.
