"I— I think that I am unwell. I would like to go back," Lila said in order to save her face and also to get away from Anastasia.
But Anastasia was on the roll. "I have proven that the gems were just a mirage," she added from the other side of the table. She leaned forward on the table and said, "What is my prize, Lila?"
Kaizan and Darla stifled their laughter, while others sitting around the table now looked at Anastasia with renewed interest. They couldn't understand what happened to Lila and why she played a game where she was surely going to lose. Little did they know that Lila would have never lost had she played with them.
Murtagh growled. "Can't you see that she is not feeling well? You can't stretch a joke like this!" He got up and helped Lila to get up too.
"A deal is a deal!" Pierre's voice boomed from the head of the table. Everyone became tense. "Don't go around jesting on this table to insult others. Take responsibility for what just happened!"
"Yes m'lord." Murtagh nodded stiffly and backed.
"Oh! I am so sorry Pierre," Lila's faint voice came laced with self pity." Here Anastasia, you may take this green purse."
Anastasia bowed lightly. Then she turned to Pierre and said, "Is it okay to come to the manor tomorrow to witness Lila's acumen in buying gifts? I would love to learn more."
"Of course!" Pierre said loudly before Lila could deny her.
With a fallen face and hurt ego, Lila went back to the manor. As soon as she went to the bedroom, she began frantically searching for her opium but it was nowhere to be found. She called her guards in and shouted at them. The whole manor was searched for her opium but none was found.
Lila loved opium the most. The deal she had made with Anastasia came into effect.
She ordered the guards to get it for her from her usual source. Her head ached, her muscles hurt and her throat became parched.
The guards returned with it and placed it on her table. As soon as they closed the door, she lunged at the table to eat it, but the drug fell on the floor. She scrambled on the ground to get it, but she couldn't get hold of it. As if it had grown legs, the drug crawled away from her. Was she hallucinating? Her vision became blurry and the muscles in her stomach twisted. She screamed and screamed but that night, she couldn't consume it.
—
Visibly shaken by Lila's behavior, Cora somehow managed to eat her food. The dinner started awkwardly but got over with a lot of jesting. By the end of it, they all liked Anastasia. She was sweet and smart to talk to, and very wise. Not even once did she insult others or tried to prove that she was better than the rest. When the dinner was over, she left the purse on the table and walked out. Pierre realized it and pointed it out.
"It is fine, m'lord. This is not Lila's most loved possession," she replied politely but with mystery in her voice.
Pierre jerked his head back. Did the girl mean that she didn't want the purse or was it something else? He watched her leave and walk with her friends and royal guards around her. They all laughed and joked all the way back.
"Did you do something to her?" Darla asked in a low voice.
"I might have," Anastasia replied vaguely. She wasn't aware of the magic she did, but all she wanted was to fight Lila's magic that she had created in the mirror and showed it to the people around her. The gems were conjured and she had created the illusion on her palms as well as in the mirror. Anastasia wanted to shatter that illusion by pulling her into the mirror and at the same time didn't want others to see what she was doing. She was unbeknownst about the mirror realm.
—
Next day Lila had called the jewelers at the manor. She was to boast to Cora about how good she was with the gems and that's why she had arranged a meeting with top five jewelers of Silver Vales. Without her daily dose of opium, she looked haggard. There were dark circles under her eyes. She had told the guards to bring something that was close to opium and they brought a large amount of dried leaves that they crushed and mixed in water for her to have. The aches settled a little. She woke up late and as soon as she woke up, once again she had the concoction made by the guards.
Lila fought the urge to shield her eyes from the bright sun as she walked on the cobblestone path that led to the manor. The rising sun that fell on the manor's granite walls reflected brilliantly hurting her irises. Normally, Lila never had her drug during the daytime because she would have to meet many people. She took it only when she was at the house near the prison or at night, but the headache was so strong and had troubled her the entire night. It hadn't gotten better in the morning either.
As she walked, the pathway seemed to expand. She ignored all the servants and concentrated on reaching the doors. A man approaching from the other side bowed to her. Why was he swaying so much? Were those shadows coming out of him? She narrowed her eyes to see whether it was Ileus, but he wasn't. She ignored him and swallowed saliva down her dry throat. With every step closer to the door, she felt as if her heart would leap out of her chest. The heart pounded so hard that she could hear it in her ears and amidst that noise she heard a rustle of wings. Someone passed by with large wings at his back. She was getting jittery and she was sure that was imagining things. When she reached the doors, she thought that the guards were leaking blood. They opened the door for her.
"Lila!" Cora called her. "You look… terrible, as if you've been trampled by elephants."
She said nothing and clenched her clammy palms. From where was the sound of wings flapping coming? She gazed dazedly at the people in front of her—the jewelers and… Anastasia. Her condition was awful and she was shaking on the inside, but she said, "What are you doing here?" Her voice was a frustrated whisper.
"Don't you remember?" Pierre's voice boomed from behind.
Lila whipped her head to see him. Pierre was holding a crystal in his hand, sipping fresh pineapple juice.
"Yesterday, I allowed her to witness how you choose the rubies."
Lila licked her dry lips and used every ounce of energy for self-control. "Oh I am sorry Pierre. I must have forgotten." She grabbed the sides of her pale pink gown. She turned back and walked slowly to sit on the couch next to Cora. "Show me the rubies," she said in a hoarse voice. From the corner of her eyes, she saw Anastasia sitting on the sofa opposite and watching her intently. She thought that Anastasia was waiting for her downfall but that was not going to happen. She was going to make the bitch suffer… soon… very soon…
