Heir of the Shadow: The Battle for the Inheritance

POV: Quarinah

The day of the banquet had arrived.

Lionel, Miquel, Jerome, and I were in the car, arriving at the spacious parking lot in front of the castle.

As soon as Miquel parked, we got out and took the suitcases from the trunk.

The parking lot was already quite full of cars and several people who had also just arrived.

We had deliberately chosen to arrive at 6:00 PM, as the welcoming ceremony for all the guests was scheduled for around 8:00 PM.

My magical mask concealed my true appearance.

I now had long, curly blonde hair and green eyes. The only things that remained unchanged were the shape of my face and body.

As we followed the crowd toward the entrance, an uneasy feeling washed over me.

I didn't perceive any threat, but even Lamia was wide awake and bouncing tensely inside me.

A large, open, wooden entrance gate immediately caught my eye.

As soon as we passed through, I saw green lawns on either side, adorned with beautiful flowers and two fountains.

The fountains, each topped with a wolf figure, looked very old, yet incredibly beautiful.

The other guests also seemed pleasantly surprised by them.

We followed a straight, paved path to the castle, which looked as if it were over 500 years old.

Three large towers rose from the enormous brick castle.

Long tables were set up at the entrance, with staff members greeting the arriving guests.

Here and there, we attracted the glances of a few curious onlookers, probably because we were wearing masks.

A middle-aged woman with a tight ponytail and dressed in a maid's uniform approached us directly.

She curtsied and greeted us: "Welcome. I hope you had a pleasant journey."

We nodded, and she smiled and replied, "Please show me your invitations so I can register you and assign you your rooms."

I already sensed she was a witch.

Once she had checked our invitations, she raised her right hand, and multicolored patterns appeared on the backs of all our hands.

She explained, "These symbols are both your tickets and your mark of rank, as well as your keys to your apartments. I will now show you around; please follow me."

At the same time, she snapped her fingers: "Your luggage will be teleported to your rooms."

That was quite a surprise, as were our patterns.

My pattern was gold.

A circle, the same basic outline as the others.

Tangs in the center, and to the left and right of the circle, a kind of rune. A wing was attached directly to each of them.

The others only had fangs in the center.

Jerome's was red, Lionel's and Miquel's were half black and half gold.

The woman didn't explain what this meant.

Both the men and I were quite astonished, because inside the castle everything was white and ultramodern.

Every single wall was decorated with white and gray prints.

Some depicted battles, others portraits of people, and still others showed places.

Here and there they even looked like moving pictures, which was quite remarkable and kept distracting me.

The others seemed to be in the same boat.

Well, except for Jerome, because he'd already been to this castle.

We followed her up a spiral staircase to the third floor.

To the left and right were two corridors, each with a white door on either side.

We went to the right-hand corridor almost to the end.

She pointed out the right-hand door to Jerome.

The door, which was at the very end of the corridor and in the middle, pointed towards me and the other two, which made me suspicious.

She seemed to notice my surprise, because she promptly explained: “The patterns on the backs of your hands determine the room assignments. Magic recognizes who belongs together, so you three will be assigned one apartment. If you disagree with this, we can, of course, change it.”

Both the boys and I immediately declined.

To be honest, I much preferred not having separate rooms.

Then she explained: “As soon as you touch the door handle, the lock will open automatically. The same applies to closing the door. In your apartment, you will find everything you need, including a schedule of events, a rough outline of the building, and scheduled meetings for upcoming votes. Each apartment has a telephone. Should you have any questions or require anything, please dial 933. To protect your privacy, the windows are designed so that you can see out, but no one can see in.”

We nodded again, whereupon she bowed: “I wish you a pleasant stay.”

As soon as she was out of sight, Jerome joked, "Pretty extravagant."

I could only agree: "You're right, let's see where we're staying."

Once inside, we found ourselves in a large living room that had everything one could possibly want.

In the center was a huge white sofa, with a glass table on which lay a binder, and a television mounted on the opposite wall.

The binder probably contained the aforementioned events and appointments.

Large, old-fashioned windows with white, but elegant, curtains.

To the right was the bedroom with an oversized brown king-size bed. The long pine wardrobe was the same color. Our suitcases were already at the foot of the bed.

The nightstands were also the same color.

The bedroom, however, had no window.

To the right of the living room was the bathroom with a whirlpool tub, a fully stocked towel cabinet, a vanity unit, and a mirror above the sink.

Next to the toilet was a separate, empty cupboard.

Everything was white, which bothered me a little.

Miquel and Lionel made themselves comfortable on the sofa.

Lamia wanted to go outside, and I couldn't blame her; she wanted to look around too.

As soon as she was outside, she seemed to systematically check everything, which also piqued Mamoru's curiosity, prompting him to say, "I'll take a look around the castle and outside."

I nodded curtly and sat down on the sofa between the boys.

Miquel put his arm around my shoulder, while Lionel placed his hand on my right thigh and whispered, "I have a strange feeling in my gut."

I couldn't agree more.

Something was odd about this place, but I couldn't quite put my finger on what was bothering me.

After Lamia had thoroughly inspected the rooms, she hopped onto the windowsill and looked outside.

After a few minutes, her small body tensed.

Her ears were pricked, her tail held high, and her eyes were fixed on something, causing her to emit low growls that made me frown and stand up.

Something or someone seemed to be disturbing her.

I walked over to her and followed her fixed gaze across the expansive garden, which led to a path into an open forest.

A man about a thousand meters away aroused my alertness.

He was about 1.90 meters tall, also wore a mask, though this one concealed his entire face, and was broad-shouldered, almost fat. The black suit he wore only made him more sinister.

I only caught a glimpse of him from the side before he turned his back on us, the forest slowly swallowing him up.

Lamia was still growling softly, which worried me even more, but I still stroked her soothingly.

One thing was certain, though: I had to find out who this was.

The way Lamia had reacted to him, it couldn't be good.

"Is something wrong?" asked Miquel, who was standing behind me and had put his arms around my waist.

I explained to him and Lionel what I had seen and that I had a bad feeling about the man.

Lionel replied, "We definitely need to keep our eyes open. I have a bad feeling now, even more so."

He stepped in front of me, pulled me protectively into his arms, and kissed the top of my head, while Miquel leaned protectively against my back.

Between the two of them, I felt as if nothing and no one could stop us, and that was not only comforting but also empowering.

It was as if the two of them were my source of energy.

A knock at the door interrupted us, however.

Nevertheless, I wasn't angry, because I could immediately sense Jerom's presence.

Miquel went to the door and let him in.

He briefly smiled. But as soon as he saw Lionell and me, he frowned and asked, "Has something happened? You look so serious."

I sighed and explained briefly what was worrying us.

After a few seconds, he replied, equally tense, "I came here because I had a strange feeling. Ever since we entered this castle, I've sensed danger. I didn't mean to worry you. But since it wouldn't leave me alone, I came here."

I raised an eyebrow.

He senses danger?

Why don't the rest of us notice this?

But perhaps it's interpreted differently by us.

After all, the three of us have a bad feeling.

After a moment's thought, I made it clear: "We should only leave the rooms together. At least for now."

Everyone nodded in agreement, their faces etched with worry and the seriousness of the situation.

I probably looked the same at that moment.

When we received the invitations a few weeks ago, I never imagined our stay here would begin like this.

I knew we had to be careful, but I hadn't expected something like this to worry us so much right at the start.

Mamoru, who suddenly appeared beside us, spoke without hesitation: "The castle and everything surrounding it is very extensive. So far, 250 of the 300 guests have arrived. I've already sensed quite a few strong auras; you need to be careful."

I thanked him silently for the information and filled him in on what had just happened, which prompted him to look around again.

Since no one could see or hear Mamoru, no one noticed our brief conversation.

Meanwhile, Jerome and Miquel had started working on the folder and announced, "The official opening of the banquet is at 8:00 p.m. We have 30 minutes to get to the right hall."

"Good, then we should probably get changed and head out," I remarked, to which the others nodded in agreement.

To be honest, I could hardly wait. Perhaps I would run into the man there and get a better picture.

I've just started writing this book in German. Please be patient. I'll be posting the dates separately on my bulletin board. Feel free to check it out.