In the great underground palace at Yonoros, Casamir found it difficult to converse with the higher class. Not for a lack of trying, rather a lack of understanding, the upper echelon spoke in older tongues, mixing it with mocking words the peasantry would use. However, as said, he stuck by the side of the Lady Elenus of Riftmark. Whom spoke to countless lords and ladies, these were the moments where Casamir caught a glimpse of the conversation.
More often than not, it was nothing interesting, things like the tax rates, the amount of stored grain. These conversations were boring, and so Casamir began to wander, finding them ultimately fruitless. Eventually, the ceremony ended, and the people sat for the meal.
Plate after plate was brought out. Stacks of food found their way onto the tables, and the lords and ladies began to dine. Casamir found the food not lacking. As he would later write that the food was "beyond the tongues of many men's understanding". As the dinner came to a close, a young woman, dressed in the silky loose garments known in the queendom, walked down the stairs into the room.
Her hair was done up, two bone sticks intersected at the top. However, a few strands of black hair as dark as the night were falling upon her face. Her eyes were dark, her stare held no curiosity, but a well of animosity. All the lords in the chamber immediately lowered their heads. Casamir knew this to be Lady Rosus. He hadn't expected her to be so arrogant, so filled with disdain and condescension. Not just her face, but her height, taller than that of her father.
Behind her came a man in drab robes, and a crown on his head. That would be Caesar, the Queen of Yonora. A straight-backed man, his short hair slicked back and his eyes just like his daughters. Casamir, however, was not thrilled to see this, but he kept his mouth shut as the King spoke. Caesar was not a great player of politics; he was a man who worked best locked away in a study, combing over numbers and data. That's how he'd managed to keep what otherwise would've been a doomed place together.
When Caesar was done speaking, he asked if any man would like to wed his daughter. Cassius was not considering it after what he'd seen of her, but a slight nudge from the beautiful Lady Elenus convinced him. He stood raising his hand; he would solve her puzzle, but he would not marry her. Saying as much, the room went deathly silent. Caesar narrowed his eyes, coal black meeting Casamir's soul gazers. Neither pair flinched, and Caesar nodded, motioning for Casamir to follow Rosus.
Casamir did as he was bidden. He followed Rosus out of the room, but not up the stairs, through a side door they left. Casamir followed quietly, his hands resting on his collar of drab quality. He followed her through many winding hallways until they arrived at an ornate door. The door was the size of most rooms Casamir had seen back at the temple.
As the door opened, a sweet smell hit Casamir's nose. It was a good smell, one filled with promises of ecstasy. Casamir immediately backed up. He was a Young Dico, sworn to keep himself celibate until the day he accomplished his great mission. However, Rosus pulled him into the room, and there he saw it. Rosus' black eyes turned toward him, a sickenly sweet smile upon her face.
Strewn about were dead bodies. All of them were men in decent finery dotted with blood; they were the suitors that had been brought for her. Casamir was not scared, though; he reached for his blade and asked the princess what was occurring. She spoke nothing, instead aiming to attack him. Casamir was a good blade, but not while on the defensive.
Casamir slipped out of the range of the lady and moved to find an exit from the room. He found none but the door that the lady was now guarding. Rosus stood in front of it, a blade of steel in her hands. Casamir finally figured himself out. Dodging and parrying attack after attack. Soon, the lady was leading the fight, and Casamir could not let that be.
With fury, he deflected an attack and, in a smooth movement, pierced the lady Rosus in the shoulder. The room seemed to darken, and a scent of evil washed away the smell of sweetness. Rosus' black eyes turned, a mist exiting her very body and manifesting. Casamir looked upon the scene in awe. Then his face changed; now he looked upon it with horror.