The air in the back corridors of the palace was a sharp contrast to the stagnant dust of the library. Here, the draughts smelled of damp stone, rancid cooking fat from the distant kitchens, and the metallic tang of old iron. Constantine moved with a deliberate slowness, his shadow stretching across the uneven masonry as he navigated the narrow passage. The flickering torchlight from the main hall did not reach this far, leaving the prince in a world of oppressive greys and deep blacks. Every scratch of a rat behind the wainscoting sounded like a thunderclap in the heavy silence.
"Is he behind us, Seraphina?" Constantine asked, his voice a mere thread of sound that barely disturbed the air.
Seraphina drifted a few paces behind him, her eyes adjusted to the gloom. "He is, My Lord. He has been tailing us since we crossed the servant bridge. He thinks he is invisible in the dark."
"Arrogance is a common trait among those who serve the first concubine," Constantine remarked, a cold smile touching his lips. "They mistake their mistress's shadow for their own power. Does he keep a safe distance?"
"Twenty paces. He stops when we stop. He is currently hiding behind the stone buttress of the third archway," she whispered back.
"Good. Let him feel the thrill of the hunt for a few moments longer," Constantine said. "It is only fair, considering it will be the last thing he ever feels."
The prince turned a sharp corner, heading toward a dead-end corridor used primarily for storing broken furniture and discarded linens. The floor here was slick with moisture, and the temperature dropped noticeably. Constantine could feel the shallow thumping of his weak heart, a rhythm that annoyed him. He needed his Essence to compensate for this pathetic physical state. He reached inward, tapping into the remnants of the tyrant’s soul that lingered within the gaps of his current consciousness. The energy was cold, like liquid starlight, and it hummed with a quiet, lethal vibration.
"Wait here in the alcove, Seraphina," Constantine commanded as they reached the end of the hall. "I want him to see me alone. A cornered prince is a much more tempting target for a spy looking for a promotion."
"Are you sure, My Lord? Your body is still fragile," she cautioned, though she obeyed, melting into the shadows of a deep recess in the wall.
"My body is a shell, but my soul is an army," Constantine replied. "Do not interfere unless I am unable to walk afterward. I need to know if I can still manipulate the Essence in this era."
He walked to the very end of the corridor and stopped, facing the solid stone wall. He made a show of appearing winded, his shoulders hunched and his breath coming in ragged gasps. The silence of the corridor deepened, heavy with the anticipation of a predator closing in. Behind him, the faint scuff of a soft-soled shoe against grit betrayed the spy's arrival.
"You should not be wandering so far from your chambers at this hour, Prince Constantine," a male voice rang out, dripping with a false sense of concern that failed to hide a smug undertone.
Constantine did not turn around immediately. He allowed his hands to tremble slightly. "Who is there? I was told this path was clear."
A tall, lean servant stepped into the faint moonlight filtering through a high ventilation slit. He wore the standard livery of the palace, but his eyes were sharp and devoid of the typical servant's subservience. This was Thomas, a man who had spent months selling Constantine’s dignity to the highest bidder.
"The first concubine is very worried about your health," Thomas said, taking another step forward. "She would be quite distressed to know you were looking at maps of the empire. She might even think you were plotting something. And we both know how much the King hates a plot."
"And what do you think, Thomas?" Constantine asked, finally turning around. His face was half-hidden in shadow, but his eyes were unnaturally bright. "Do you think I am capable of plotting anything in this state?"
Thomas laughed, a short, barking sound that echoed off the damp walls. "I think you are a desperate boy playing at being a man. You have no allies, no strength, and now, you have no secrets. I will be sure to tell the Lady exactly what you found in the library."
"You speak of the future as if it is guaranteed to you," Constantine said, his voice dropping an octave. "Tell me, Thomas, does the concubine pay you in gold or in the promise of protection?"
"She pays me enough to see you for what you are," the spy spat, emboldened by the prince's apparent weakness. "A ghost in a crown that doesn't fit."
"A ghost," Constantine repeated, a dark chuckle vibrating in his chest. "Perhaps you are right. But ghosts are quite difficult to kill twice, whereas a man like you is remarkably easy to break."
Thomas sneered and reached for a small whistle tucked into his belt, likely intended to signal guards or other spies. "I've heard enough. You're coming back to your rooms, or I'll have to use force. No one will care if a sickly prince has a few more bruises."
"You will not be using that whistle," Constantine stated calmly. He closed his eyes for a fraction of a second, calling upon a specific Essence technique known as the Silent Constriction.
The energy surged from his core, bypassing his weak muscles and manifesting as a localized distortion in the air. To Thomas, it felt as though the oxygen had suddenly turned to lead. He tried to blow the whistle, but his lungs refused to expand. His hands flew to his throat, his eyes bulging as the invisible pressure tightened around his windpipe.
"What... what is..." Thomas wheezed, his face turning a sickly shade of purple in the dim light.
Constantine stepped closer, his movements now fluid and predatory. The weakness had vanished, replaced by the borrowed grace of the Essence. "This is the weight of the crown you said didn't fit, Thomas. Do you feel it now? It is heavy, is it not?"
The spy collapsed to his knees, his fingernails clawing at the skin of his own neck as if trying to tear away the unseen hands that were strangling him. He tried to speak, to beg, but only a wet, gurgling sound escaped his lips. The smell of cold sweat and terror filled the small space between them.
"You spent so much time watching me that you forgot to watch yourself," Constantine whispered, leaning down so his lips were inches from the spy's ear. "Tell your mistress that the Prince she knew is gone. Tell the ancestors you serve that Constantine has returned. Oh, wait. You won't be telling anyone anything ever again."
With a sharp flick of his wrist, Constantine concentrated the Essence into a single point at the base of the spy's skull. There was a faint, sickening crack, no louder than a dry twig breaking underfoot. Thomas’s body went limp instantly, his head lolling forward at an unnatural angle. The pressure in the air dissipated, leaving only the sound of Constantine’s own steady breathing and the drip of water from the ceiling.
Constantine stood up, the effort causing a wave of dizziness to wash over him. He leaned against the wall, the Essence receding and leaving his limbs feeling like lead once more. He wiped a bead of cold sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand.
"It is done, Seraphina," he called out, his voice thin but commanding.
The maid stepped out of the shadows, her expression unreadable as she looked down at the lifeless heap on the floor. She knelt beside the body, checking for a pulse she knew would not be there. "A clean break. No blood, no struggle. It looks like he simply fell and broke his neck in the dark."
"A fortunate accident for us, and an unfortunate one for him," Constantine said. "He was a fool. He thought he was the observer, but he was merely the specimen."
"What are your orders, My Lord?" Seraphina asked, rising to her feet and looking toward the entrance of the corridor.
"Dispose of the body," Constantine said, his eyes already turning toward the path back to the main palace. "I do not care where he goes, as long as he is never found. Use the old well in the outer courtyard or the furnace in the lower basements. Just make sure there is not a single trace of him left by dawn."
"And if the concubine asks where her favorite pet has gone?" Seraphina inquired.
"Let her wonder," Constantine replied. "Let her think he has deserted her or that he found a better master. Uncertainty is a far more effective poison than a confirmed death. It will make her paranoid. She will look at her other servants and wonder which one of them is next to disappear."
Seraphina nodded, grabbing the spy’s ankles to begin the grim task of dragging him away. "I will ensure he vanishes completely, My Lord. You should return to your chambers. You look as though you might collapse."
"The price of power is high when the vessel is poor," Constantine muttered, looking at his trembling hands. "But the first weed has been pulled. The garden is still overgrown, but at least I can see the soil now."
He turned and began the long walk back to his room, his boots once again clicking against the stone. The corridor felt less oppressive now, as if the death of the spy had cleared a bit of the gloom. He could smell the faint scent of rain beginning to fall outside, a fresh, clean smell that washed away the tang of the palace rot.
"Sleep well, Thomas," Constantine whispered into the darkness. "You were the first, but you certainly will not be the last."
As he reached the edge of the servant quarters, he paused to adjust his robes, ensuring no dust or signs of the struggle remained. He smoothed his hair and took a deep, steadying breath. When he stepped back into the light of the main hall, he was once again the sickly, unassuming prince of Astraia. But beneath the surface, the fire of the Valerion tyrant burned brighter than ever, fueled by the first soul he had claimed in this new life. The game had truly begun.
Aksara