Serendipity: Jovana And The Duke

"My Lord, the world isn't crumbling… but it's dangerously on the edge," Gerald said, his voice crackling with urgency.

Caspian sighed, then stood up. "Please excuse me for a second, Jovana." He went to the curtain and started speaking in hushed tones with the man.

'What does he mean that the world is on the edge?' Jovana thought to herself, and with a smile, she pretended to recognize someone in the crowd under the balcony and stood up to wave. She leaned over the railing of her box and made sure to shorten the distance between herself and the conversation.

Caspian glanced at Jovana, and when he noticed her close to them, he lowered the volume of the conversation even more. 'Damn it. This worked against me. I need to think of another solution, and quickly,' Jovana thought to herself, then she closed her eyes as she did her best to focus on their words, but it was too noisy there.

Jovana suddenly reached into her pocket, took out a vial from her secret pocket, and drank it quickly to enhance her hearing.

"Falcon Ridley asked for an audience with the King, My Lord," Gerald said.

"Why?" Caspian asked.

"I don't know, My Lord, but he told the King to put shackles on him or never again use one of his inventions on civilians," Gerald answered, while Jovana, who was listening to their conversation, felt her heart thumping in her chest as she thought, 'Of course! This is about what happened at Xena's birthday party. Falcon knew it wasn't Serendipity because he recognized the effects of one of his own creations.'

"How did the King take it?" Caspian asked with a frown.

"He was seething with rage, My Lord. He said the word death more times than I could count," Gerald answered, while Caspian ran his hands through his hair.

"Ridley asked for shackles, but he would get a noose around his neck," Caspian commented.

"I'm afraid you're right, My Lord."

Caspian shook his head and muttered under his breath, "Like we didn't have enough problems already. It's amazing how you can be one of the smartest people in the world and a complete idiot at the same time."

As Jovana listened to their conversation, all the pieces of what happened at Xena's birthday party came together in her head. 'So Caspian staged the whole thing. He tries to discredit Serendipity using a secret compound developed by Falcon for war purposes. That's how Falcon knew how to intervene. The Duke was counting on that to save the girl, but he didn't foresee Falcon's reaction toward the King.'

Jovana lowered her head with a deep sigh as she thought, 'If Falcon's idealism really led him to the gallows, it would be my fault as well.'

In the meantime, the Duke and Gerald kept talking. "There will be a secret hearing right now, in the theater. The King will decide Ridley's final fate," Gerald said, and Caspian nodded his head.

"I will make sure to be there."

'Will the Duke be on Falcon's side or against him? I'm not really sure that Caspian can be trusted with any scholar's life. I need to find a way to be there as well, and to ensure that everything will go in the right direction. That way, I could save Falcon, redeem myself, and maybe find out more about Caspian's next steps.'

As Jovana thought of a solution, her fingers ran through the pattern of each vial in her secret pocket, searching for the right one. She finally found something that could turn the situation in her favor.

'The Intuition Vial' was one of the most powerful effects ever registered. The first man who ever tried it found himself accidentally walking into a meeting organized to discuss his assassination. And again by accident, he had with him all his most loyal guards. That was Keith's favorite vial, and Jovana could still remember what he had said to her that day.

Keith had said, "This is beyond the realm of what's possible. By tinkering with science, you tap into real magic."

But it was not magic. The vial enhances the perception of the most subtle tones and behavior a hundredfold. It's like the world and all the people around are screaming their intentions. The mind isn't really suited to process all the information, but it ends up making a lot of subconsciously perfect decisions. She gripped the vial in her pocket. 'With a bit of luck, this will help me pass the guards and navigate my way through the hearing.'

While all the thoughts swirled in Jovana's head like autumn leaves, the Duke closed the curtain and returned to his seat next to her. He found her looking at the stage, completely unaware of his schemes or his conversation. "I'm terribly sorry, Jovana, but I'm afraid it's time for me to leave," Caspian said, while Jovana kept looking at the stage, apparently unaffected by his news.

"Don't feel sorry, Caspian. I'm starting to get used to your fickleness," Jovana said.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Caspian asked, frowning.

Jovana looked away from the stage and at him as she replied, "One moment I'm the center of the universe, the next moment something more important comes up. You appear out of nowhere and disappear just as quickly. Isn't that an accurate representation of our relationship, Caspian?"

Caspian's eyes flashed with an unreadable expression, and he hissed through his teeth. "Is that all you really think of me?"

'Well, well, so even the impenetrable Duke has a couple of soft spots and an edge toward which he can be pushed. If he's in a vulnerable position, I might find the right buttons to make him consider this Falcon thing from the right perspective,' Jovana mused, then looked at Caspian with deep, sad eyes and sighed. "Do you think I would be here if that were all I thought of you? You walk around like a living legend—brilliant, impossibly attractive, feared, admired. But no one knows who you are."

When the Duke raised his brows at her, Jovana continued. "No one sees the sacrifices you have to make. No one would guess that you would trade your life for any of your fallen friends. No one would ever imagine that life is so valuable to you that you dedicated your own to protecting everyone else's."

"Where is all of that coming from?"

"Don't you remember? The War Heroes dinner. I listened to you—to the things you said and to the things you didn't," Jovana answered.

"Aren't you assuming a little too much?" Caspian asked as he cocked his brows at her.

"I really hope not. No one sees you, Caspian, except me. And that's the only reason I don't run as far away from you as possible. But sometimes seeing things the way I do is quite a cross to bear," Jovana said as she closed her eyes, taking a deep breath, and she almost flinched, feeling the Duke's fingers stroking her cheek.

He knelt down to look her right in the eyes as she was sitting, and the deep discomposure in those steely irises spoke more than a thousand words. His lips met hers with the kind of light touch that a votary could reserve for the most sacred of relics. "I know. I walk under the same burden, missing you at every step."

His fingers stroked her cheek as he turned around and walked out of the box. As the Duke left, Jovana knew she didn't have time to waste. She drank the intuition vial and closed her eyes, waiting for its effect.

When Jovana opened her eyes, the world was the same and yet very different. She could tell in what direction people would go, where they were heading, and where they had been.

'I always forget how amazing this vial is,' Jovana mused as her brain could receive and process so many signals that it was like reading the plot that God wrote in reality. Jovana was out in no time. The Duke's trail was so fresh that she had no trouble finding the right corridor. But it was blocked by two guards watching the entrance. 'And how am I supposed to pass those two?' she mused.