To Bewitch a Devil

185 The body afloat

His horse neighed, and when he looked at it, Freya had already mounted it, and she jerked her chin to him.

“Are you still coming or not?” She asked.

Zavian left his men to continue with the search, and with Freya taking control of his horse, even though the white stallion rebelled with constant neighs and grumbling whinnies, she rode it all the way to the castle.

The orange of the sky was blotted out by grey, and behind the darkened clouds, a rumble of thunder gave a low growl. The obscure face of the full moon readied itself for its full display in the night. Zavian was expecting Neera to hurry to the gate to welcome him, but she wasn’t there.

“Should we go over the map again, Brother?” Freya suggested as the stablemen came to take charge of the horses.

“No, I have other matters I need to attend to,” he said in a hurry as he turned towards the castle;

“Certain matters that involve your lover, you mean?”

“If you must know, yes, matters involving Neera. Do you have anything to say about that?”

A challenge, a dare putting her in her place. Freya might constantly forget she was younger, but if he needed measures to remind her, so be it.

.....

“No”, Freya finally said. “Go enjoy, Brother.”

Zavian walked off to the castle. He headed straight for Neera’s chambers, an apology hanging on his tongue. One knock and he was in.

He was met by the cold absence of her presence inside. The bed was untouched, no candles burned, and her smell was faint in the air. She hadn’t been in there for a while.

Maybe she was with Jasmine.

Zavian checked his own chambers next, empty. No sign of them both. He called his guards but was informed the last time Neera had been in her chambers was when she went down for lunch.

Zavian checked the dining room and the throne room. But her smell was faint, doused by the dinner being served by the maids. He hadn’t even seen the Queen. Where did they both go? They surely couldn’t be in the garden with the weather.

When he was about to turn a corner to the drawing room, he almost bumped into the Queen. A small gasp escaped her, and it was smothered by a smile.

“You are back,” she said.

“Where’s Neera? Is she with you?”

“No, I haven’t seen her all day. I was in bed with a headache, remember? I told you before you left.”

“Well then, where is she?”

“I don’t know, I really don’t,” Jasmine regarded him closely, and put a hand to his chest. “Zavian, are you thinking she left the castle again?”

Zavian froze. Neera was a bunch, and maybe she had had second thoughts, but she would have told him. Sneaking out of the castle and running away was an extreme case for something he didn’t force her to do.

“I don’t think so”, Zavian said. Neera had been thinking about their decision to turn her into a demon, but although she was skeptical, she had been happy and looking forward to it. So, she wouldn’t have done that.

Something was beginning to feel off. He could sense it, giving off a rancid odor like curdled milk.

“I haven’t searched the garden”, Zavian said, moving past the Queen.

“She would have come in,” Jasmine said after him. “It’s about to rain. Everyone’s inside.”

But Zavian was not listening. He pushed open the doors, and the wild gust of wind shot at him, a warning to seek shelter from its downpour. He scanned the vast space before him, watching the figures of maids and gardeners scamper away in a last-minute rush.

“Neera!” His voice thundered over the wind.

The distant calling of Jasmine behind him was ignored, and he moved, searching the length and the breadth and corners of the garden. He checked the stables, behind the haystacks, each of the horses’ stalls, and the feed room, and she was nowhere to be found.

“Neera!” He called stepped out of the stables, and the first drops of water landed on his face. He advanced back to the castle, he called all the guards he could find.

“You are to get everyone on these grounds to search for Neera, and no one is to stop until she is found,” he ordered. “And I need two of you to follow me.”

Zavian marched on fast. By now; the rain was pouring in buckets from the sky, filling their eyes and blurring the sights in front of them. But Zavian didn’t relent and pushed on, straining his ears to listen for a beat of a heart.

There was only one place Neera could be hurrying from, and Zavian was already walking down the concreted path, keeping his eyes open for her, hoping to see her hurrying down the path, and bumping into him before she realizes he was even there. She would apologize, and he would hug her, and tell her to never keep him worried like that ever again.

But there was no Neera hurrying down the path to him.

Zavian reached her favorite corner, their secluded spot, and there was still no sign of her.

“Neera!” He called again, and the rain responded with an even heavier downpour.

The guards had long been left behind, failing to keep up with his demon speed. Zavian looked up at the ancient tree as if she would be hiding in its many branches, but there was nothing.

He moved in further, and in the blur of the rain, he saw the hint of pale pink, and he wiped at the water running down his face. The lightning flashed as he moved closer, and there was, unmistakingly, something that looked like a body floating atop the water.

Zavian froze as his throat became tight. He did not want to think, but the lightning that struck again forced him to see the clear face of the body that floated.

“Neera!” Zavian ran toward her. His feet dipped into the water, the iciness shot up his body, but he could feel nothing.