After warning even man present in the courtroom, Raelynn went back to her seat. However, she continued standing. She was yet to put forth her points towards the Lord. "My Lord, it is best that we declare war on them soon. Our enemy kingdom is using underhand tactics to get to us and I am sure everybody here to knows about it too. So, why should we waste time in sending a treaty of peace to them when we are sure that they will not accept it?"
Minister Rowen could not sit still anymore after hearing this. "Young Lady, we are concerned about the lives of our soldiers as well as our people. We could try our attempt at the truce. If things do not go well, we can wage a war against them." Everybody accepted his words this time and they nodded at him.
"If everybody agrees to this solution, then I have no problems with it. But let me warn you beforehand that I will not take responsibility if things go wrong in the future. Also, I have something else to inform the Lord." Raelynn became silent and cast a glance across the courtroom. "We have noticed spies keeping a watch on our battalions. Though I am not sure how they managed to enter in, we have captured two of them in the East Batallion and they were from the enemy side."
This time, even Lord Eldrick was taken aback by her words. He wondered why nobody had informed him about it when this issue was more important and considerably dangerous. Sending spies to the enemy army was the worst kind of tactic anybody could use. This way, the enemy could find out their war strategies and weaknesses and they could train themselves accordingly.
"Why was I not informed about this?" The Lord seethed, his eyes glaring at the four commanders, including Raeylnn.
"My Lord, we caught the two men just in the early hours of dawn today and we are yet to interrogate them thoroughly," Laurier answered this time, breaking the killing the silence in the courtroom.
"Did the other battalions too face the same issue? Are there spies in your team too?" The Lord continued, ignoring Laurier's words.
"That," Although the men wanted to deny it to save themselves from the Lord's wrath, they could not ignore that this was an issue related to their kingdom. So, the North Battalion Commander stood up, bowed, and gave the answer. "Yes, my Lord. We have faced the same problem too and just like Commander Roosevelt, we too found out about them today."
"It seems that the spies have entered only recently. Otherwise, given your intelligence and shrewd eyes, they could not have survived this long. Make a list of all the people who have entered the army recently and do a thorough background check on them." Eldrick ordered and all the four commanders nodded at him, three of them sighing in relief.
"Now that the issue has escalated to this level with our enemies sending spies to keep an eye on us, we cannot help but prepare for war. However, it is the war etiquette to send a treaty of peace before the war begins. We will send a message to them and in the meanwhile, the army can prepare for war."
Eldrick had taken this decision after listening to everybody's suggestion. Although he preferred to go along with Raelynn and Cathal's method, he could not ignore the other members of his court and take sides with the two. He had to appease all the ministers. Hence, he had come up with such a method. However, he knew that sending someone to the rival kingdom of Hollis would only be a waste of time.
Eldrick's suggestion seemed to be fair and everybody accepted with any complaints. Even Raelynn was forced to accept it, though she knew the truth as to why the Lord had put for such a solution. Now, another issue popped up. Who was going to be the messenger? The person who would be sent as a messenger had to be highly smart and intelligent to grasp their enemy's wickedness and weakness. Also, he had to make sure that he would not lose to them in a verbal or a physical battle.
Although it was against the ethical norms to attack a messenger and was considered to be a great sin, Lord Eldrick did not want to take risks. So, they wanted someone who knew how to defend himself. Everybody started to put forth names they deemed to fit the role of a messenger.
Raelynn again put on a bored look as she waited for the session to end. She had done her job for now. However, her ears perked up when she heard somebody put forth her name to be a messenger and to her dismay, it was the man she had thought a lesson a few minutes back, Minister Erebus.
The man had not stopped provoking her even though she had given him a befitting reply. She could see the man's vicious gaze when he had turned to look at her and her eyes narrowed automatically. This time, Lord Eldrick took it upon himself to shut the man's mouth. He could see that the minister was targeting Raelynn and how could he allow something like that to happen?
"Minister Erebus, I think your memory power is declining over the years although you are still in your thirties. How can you forget that any Commander or a Knight Commander can never go as a messenger to another kingdom? It is against the rules of battle." Eldrick did not sugar coat his words and chided the man in front of everyone, making the man go red in shame. But he could not do anything as it was the Lord who had reprimanded him. He did not speak another word lest he should be insulted anymore.
After a lot of discussion, the court decided for Cathal Bringe to be the messenger. He was wise and sharp and he also knew to yield the sword quite well. Even Raeylnn did not have a problem with him being the messenger, although she was not sure why she had a bad inkling towards the man. The man just screamed danger to her even from where he was.
The session ended after a few minutes of discussing relevant issues and everybody left the room one by one after the Lord. Raelynn turned to look at Cathal only to find him already staring at her. He smiled at her politely and she returned the courtesy. Neither of them spoke to each other and Raelynn left the room first, with Laurier right behind her.
They had just stepped out of the room when Raelynn stopped in the feet and turned suddenly to face Laurier, startling him by her sudden move. "Could you wait for me here? I need to be somewhere. I will be back in a while." Before the man could even speak, Raelynn had already taken off like a thunderbolt and had disappeared across the corridor. Her actions only made his suspicions true and his brows narrowed further.
Meanwhile, Raelynn had no idea what was running in Laurier's mind. She was more interested in finding the person she had been missing for a long time. She knew where the man would be and Raelynn followed the path she was all too familiar with. Taking a deep breath, she knocked at the door, her eyes gleaming in anticipation.
The door and she saw the man she had come here looking for. Without wasting another second, she lunged forward and hugged him tightly. "I missed you, Brother Eldrick."
Raelynn hugged Eldrick and the man too reciprocated it with equal vigor and affection. How long had it been since the siblings met each other?"I missed you, Brother," Raelynn whispered as she pushed herself closer towards her brother. She always felt secure in his arms. After their parents' death, it had been Eldrick who had taken care of Raelynn. She had been only seven years when her father was killed by an assassin while her brother was thirteen. Their mother could not tolerate the heartbreak of losing her beloved husband and she fell into depression.Barely a year had passed since their father's death, their mother too left them. Since then, it had only been the two of them and they took care of each other dearly."I missed you too, Raelynn." The Lord replied back with a smile on his face. After his sister decided to join the army, he had been left alone in the palace and he missed her more than anything. He did not have any interest in anything and y
After conversing with her brother, Raelynn reluctantly took her leave from him. It was not every day that she got the opportunity to speak to him and now that she had found a chance, it had ended sooner than the siblings had expected. Eldrick too was not ready to see his sister depart. But he knew that she had her responsibilities and he could not stop her, even if he wanted.Lord Eldrick's chambers were in the far interiors of the palace and other than his trusted servants, nobody else was allowed to enter this part of the palace. So, Raelynn did not have to worry about getting caught wandering in the private quarters of the Lord. Everybody she came across knew who she was as well as her relationship with their Lord. So, they bowed to her and greeted her respectfully.However, the knights guarding the other locations did not know about it and as soon as Raelynn appeared from inside, they gave her one scrutinizing look before they averted their gazes. Raelynn too did n
"The man is planning something malicious. Send someone trustworthy to keep an eye on him." Raelynn ordered, her gaze cold and indifferent. Laurier could even sense her unhappiness from where he was and he looked at her wondering if she had found something."Did you get that vibe too?""Totally. He does not seem like a good man. There is something running in his mind and he approached us with some other intentions which I am unable to comprehend." Raeylnn answered, making sure to keep her voice as low as possible. The palace was not a secure place, especially when there were many who wanted to take over Eldrick's throne. So, she had to be careful about what she spoke even if it was something that meant no harm to anybody."He seems to be over-friendly at our first meeting and that is something not sitting well with me," Laurier added, his lips quirking up with a smile. 'As expected, Raelynn was not that easy to fool.'Raelynn's thoughts evaporated when she
"In that case, what if I say that I like you?" Raelynn shot her question, her eyes fixed on Laurier. She observed the changes in his expressions from confusion to shock and finally, it settled on surprise. He looked utterly flabbergasted and his jaws dropped seeing Raelynn's expecting gaze. Nobody said a word for a long time.While Laurier did not know what to say, Raelynn was waiting for him to speak something. Minutes passed and Raelynn could not take the silence any longer. "Say something." Her voice broke Laurier's stupor and he blinked twice to see if he was hallucinating. He wondered if it was just a dream, a beautiful dream that would end right after his sleep broke. Raelynn could sense his dilemma and giggled. "It's not a dream. I am real, we are real."Only then did Laurier speak, "How? Whe-When? Really?" His tone changed from shock to joy in a few seconds and Raelynn too could hear it."Yes. Laurier, I like you." Seeing Laurier's positive reactions, Ra
The new couple returned to their battalion after spending some more time with each other. Laurier could not believe that he had got the love of his life and that she too felt the same way towards him. Everything felt surreal to him. Moreover, what was highly shocking was that the Lord knew about them and he was happy for them. What more did he need?The knights at the arena saw their Commander and the Knight Commander return. They could feel something to be different about them with the way they were smiling and exchanging glances. But they could not point out what. Raelynn immediately went to her study as she had to prepare a strategy in case a war broke out between the two kingdoms. While Laurier stayed back to convey the information they had discussed during the meeting. The two people had decided to keep their relationship a secret for now until the issue was resolved, although Eldrick already knew about it.Meanwhile, at the palace.After all the commanders
Minister Oakley immediately got to action trying to sort the issue that had popped up out of nowhere. He first contacted the head of merchants who he was all too familiar with. The man was in his fifties and he had been trading and selling his goods in the Kingdom of Volar for quite some time now. The man was well known around the kingdom and all the merchants had unanimously voted him as their leader so that he could put forth their requests before the Lord when needed."Sir Fergus, how is the trade surplus this month? I wonder if there is any improvement or has it been stable like the last few months." Minister Oakley questioned as he took a sip of his tea. Oakley was with the head of merchants, Sir Fergus. The man seemed to have the built of a knight and just by his stance alone, anybody could make out how trained his body was. However, not many people knew that the man was actually a knight and had served Lord Eldrick's father once upon a time."Minister Oakley, there
Meanwhile, in the kingdom of Hollis.A courtroom session was in full progress and the ministers were in deep discussion. And, the king of the land, Dimitri Vegus looked at everybody with a bored expression. He had no idea why they were even trying to complicate things when he had the easiest solution. His wicked eyes ran around trying to read through the people's minds. After a long time, silence ensued in the hall and Dimitri raised his eyebrows wondering what his genius ministers had come up with."My King, after a lot of discussion and suggestions we have decided to attack the kingdom of Volar when they would have lowered their guards against us." One of the men with a small white beard stood up and started to put forth his words before the evil man.Dimitri smiled suddenly and it was one filled with mystery. Nobody knew what was running in his mind, not that they ever did. The man was the most enigmatic creature anybody had ever seen. His mind functioned in
"I hate it when people betray me," Dimitri bellowed and the next second, the man's head rolled to the floor. There were blotches of blood on Dimitri's face as well as his clothes. But the man did not care. He liked the smell of blood, especially when it belonged to someone who he did not like. It gave him a bestial ecstasy like no other and it made him feel all the more powerful.Dimitri did not even care to wipe the blood off the sword. He dragged his weapon with its tip scratching the floor while blood dripped from it, leaving a trail behind him. Although some of the older men could not tolerate the gruesome scene, they sat still lest they should anger their king. They did not want to be the next in line to get their heads chopped off.Dimitri's back was towards his audience. So, nobody could see him, especially the demonic form that had taken over him. He was nothing less than the devil reincarnated and the men in the hall hoped that he would calm down soon. But who