Soleia stifled a yawn as she watched the Raxuvia’s troops practice their drills the very next morning. A hundred muscular men were in front of her, training in unison. If Soleia wasn’t so tired, she might have appreciated the sight of their chests glistening with sweat. But instead, she tried to look like she was concentrating on how her powers could possibly help benefit their training.
Truthfully, she couldn’t think of any ways unless they flung her straight at a blow of magic. But at least Rafael had cheerfully informed her about their patrol schedules when she ihad dly asked, allowing her to gain vital information.
"This is a waste of time," Rafael said, not liking how the men kept glancing at Soleia from the corner of their eyes. "You should have slept in more instead of coming here. I would have woken you up the moment they finished preparing the royal treasury for visitors. You need your rest."
"I need to pay attention to the troops," Soleia said. She deliberately raised her voice to add, "And I wouldn’t be so tired if you hadn’t kept me up late last night!"
Several of the troops stumbled upon hearing her words. However, Rafael seemed to straighten his shoulders at her words, wrapping an arm smugly around her shoulders.
"How could I possibly stay away from you?" Rafael cooed lovingly. Before he could lavish Soleia with more sweet nothings and cause the troops to die of jealousy and loneliness, Oliver arrived, clearing his throat.
"Your Highness, the royal treasury is now ready for the both of you to visit," Oliver reported.
"Let’s go then." Soleia immediately felt more awake. She guessed that the royal family would have kept some of their most priceless gems before letting her loose on the rest of them.
Oliver let them inside the palace, right inside the main wing. To Soleia’s surprise, he led them to a blank wall and knocked on it. After three sharp knocks and three long ones, the blank wall receded from view, revealing a long spiral staircase that led downwards.
Thankfully, there were lighted torches on the side of the walls, illuminating their path forward. Rafael reached out to hold her hand to escort her down. Soleia took it and gingerly walked down the steep stone steps.
"The royal treasury is situated below the castle. The torches usually aren’t lit up, which makes it difficult for any intruders to make their way down without breaking their necks," Rafael said casually. "Even Minister Goldstein has to be accompanied by two people whenever he comes down because he’s so old he can’t see straight."
"If there’s someone that wants to visit the vault, they’ll have to get permission from royalty, and the Royal Treasurer will send one of his underlings to light up the torches in advance. The last person who tried to visit without warning fell so badly they shattered their kneecaps, so promise me you won’t come here alone without someone you trust," Rafael said seriously.
"I understand," Soleia smiled wryly. Rafael probably didn’t know he had excluded himself with his own words. "Then what about the reversing wall?" she asked curiously. She had not sensed any magic coming from it.
"Oh, that’s just something my ancestors built in the past to fool their enemies," Rafael explained. "It was useful, so every king just kept it working as it was. This one is mostly common knowledge within the royal family."
Soleia nodded, filing away the information in her head. Finally, they descended to the foot of the stairs, where a wizened old man was waiting for them, his rheumy eyes squinting at their figures. Behind him were two servants.
And behind them was a door that was reeking of dried blood and old magic. Soleia felt her head spin the longer she stared in its direction.
"Minister Goldstein, it’s nice to see you alive and well," Rafael said cheerfully. "There’s no need to bow to me."
"Many thanks for your graciousness," Minister Goldstein said. His voice was drier than sandpaper, and his words sounded more sarcastic than sincere. Soleia wondered if he had heard how Rafael had described him earlier. He narrowed his eyes at Soleia. "And I presume you are Princess Soleia? The nullifier?"
"Yes," Soleia bowed politely, wondering if it was an open secret among Raxuvia’s noble court. "It’s a pleasure to meet your acquaintance."
"At least you have some manners," he grumbled, and then he toddled slowly to one side of the door. Rafael went to the other.
On the count of three, they easily slipped knives out from their sleeves and nicked their fingers, causing blood to flow. Soleia’s mouth widened as they pressed their bloody palms to the door frame, causing it to light up with elaborate spirals.
Slowly but surely, the door began to creak open, revealing heaps of gold that nearly blinded her eyes.
"After you, darling," Rafael smiled cheerfully, like a young boy on his birthday. Soleia instinctively walked forward, making sure not to touch the enchanted door. No wonder it carried the stench of blood.
At the end of the huge cavernous room were shelves of gems. Soleia was reminded of her time in the black market when she first entered the old woman’s store. Someone had helpfully arranged the gems in terms of colour, and there were little signs of their names inlaid with gold.
Soleia wet her lips. Everything her heart desired was right there in front of her.
"Amazing, isn’t it?" Rafael took a bag out of his pocket. "Here, you can use this to store as many crystals as you need. It’s not going to weigh any differently." He looked expectantly at Soleia, hoping to see a joyous expression of gratitude.
Instead, Soleia squawked in shock as she grabbed the bag and felt around inside it. "You’ve been hiding this from me?"
Her life could have been made so much easier if she knew something so useful existed from the very beginning.
Come to think of it, did Rafael already have this when they tried to smuggle gems from the old lady?