Chapter 9: Hot and Cold King

*There is a mix of good and bad in everyone. The dominant side becomes the personality of the person, but we all choose to be who we are and make that side dominate…By Loctovia*

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"Who are you?" Lendon asked again in a whisper but was loud enough for the three in the room to hear as it was deadly quiet.

Lendon looked at him in confusion. The man in front of her looked exactly like King Indicy but the aura that came from him was different. This was the main reason she was convinced that he was not the King.

She knew that she would not be able to explain this to anyone else because her reason was not based on the physical characteristics of the person.

She belatedly noticed that she had erred in her outburst as Alan, who stood behind the 'King' went to reach for his sword's hilt. In all this time, the shock had clouded her mind so much that she had forgotten that she was supposed to be talking to the highest authority in the land who could get her killed with just a word.

At most two seconds had passed since she made that utterance. The faces of the two who had just entered the room were slightly pale, but Lendon was not sure if it was from her utterance or because…

She cursed herself again when she noticed the blood trickling down from the corner of the lips of the 'King'. Despite her initial observations about the man, she sprang into action and moved to help King Indicy but stopped short when she felt the blade of the sword right at her neck.

In a split second, another sword countered Alan's and the 'clang' of the two metals could be heard in the room as Alan's sword was forced from her neck. Alan looked up in surprise and turned to attack the new person who had just entered the room and who had dared to stop him from executing the 'daring maid' but paused in his actions and took a step back. His sword remained unsheathed while his eyes were brimming with questions that he dared not utter.

Lendon with a sigh of release looked up to her saviour and …

Let's just say that 'surprise of the previous moment', was an understatement feeling from what she felt now.

She looked at 'King Indicy' who was now leaning against a wall in the room pale because of whatever had happened to him and another King Indicy who now stood in the doorway with a sword in his hand!

Standing in front of the two, she looked to the left and then the right with confusion written on her face. Her face visibly relaxed a bit when she felt the familiar aura of King Indicy from the one with the sword, but she wondered who the second one was as she has never heard of the King having a twin or any look-a-like.

There was a brief pause where no one did anything but stare at each other. This was broken when 'Pale-looking Indicy' fell with a thud. Lendon upon seeing this looked up and said,

"I… I can help", she moved and knelt before the collapsed King. Reaching into her garment, brought out a tiny bottle and reached to pour its contents into his mouth but stopped yet again when Alan's sword moved towards her once more.

Alan had every cause to be cautious about the girl in front of him but with a look from the other Indicy, he backed down for Lendon to administer the potion.

With a little reflex action, the potion slid down 'collapsed Indicy's' throat and almost instantaneously, his facial features relaxed… and so did Lendon.

A commotion at the door brought in the personal physician of the King. Lendon took one look at the man and thought to herself,

"He would have been dead already if I had not given him the potion."

She capped the small bottle and returned it to her pocket while some attendants moved the collapsed King onto the bed she had just vacated. After examining him, the Physician bowed to the other King Indicy who was still by the door and said,

"Your Majesty, it looks like he is just sleeping for now." With a slight frown on his face, he asked the closest attendant to him,

"Are you sure he was poisoned?" The attendant nodded but said no words.

Indicy, Lendon and Alan all heard the question, but none provided any explanations as to what had happened before the physician's arrival.

While all this was going on, Lendon who was now standing in one corner of the room observed that none of the individuals who had entered the room showed any surprise on seeing the two Kings who looked the same.

The sleeping Indicy was transferred out of the room into his chambers, but Lendon was left in the room in which all the commotion had occurred. Before the healthy Indicy had left, he looked at Lendon and said,

"Wait here for me".

*** *** ***

Alan did not look happy at all when he followed Indicy out of the room in the direction of the banquet hall.

He asked while they walked along the corridors which looked bright in the daytime,

"Your majesty, is it okay to leave her like that?"

"What if she talks about what she has seen?"

Indicy replied,

"She won't do that,"

Alan looked at the back of the King and thought to himself,

"What is going on?"

"Why is his Majesty willing to trust this maid?"

Unbeknownst to him, even though Indicy had given that directive, he was unsure why he was prepared to kill one maid and leave the other, even unguarded when the two had come to know of the same secret.

These thoughts run in Alan's head because he knew that this secret was of utmost importance to the Kingdom and anyone who came to know of it outside the specified group of people must and had always been killed instantaneously. For as long as he had lived, the maid was the second person who had survived but he deemed her the most dangerous because the first maid, Thalia had been locked in the royal dungeon and will never see the light of day again in her life nor speak to anyone else for even the opportunity to spill the beans.

That maid was just unlucky to have been in the library that day when both 'Kings' were there. Alan knew that it was her curiosity that got her in that predicament. As he thought of this, he wondered what had blinded the attendant who had sent her there as everyone who worked in the King's palace knew of these rules but only a very few selected knew of the existence of the two lookalikes.

This was the main reason that he was apprehensive over Lendon; she was free, had circumvented the maze (this meant that the maze could not be used to kill her) and could tell anyone what she had seen. Alan had always been someone who 'nicked the problem in the bud'. He never waited for the trouble to come later and always handled it before it even festered. He gazed at Indicy's back and before he could utter his next words, the banquet room came into view…

*** *** ***

Two armed men slowly opened the door for them to enter the hall and closed it behind them.

Queen May looked at her son and a small smile graced her face as she saw that he looked okay. Some 'wise' individuals in the room noticed the slight chilling aura as well as the pensive face of King Indicy and almost out of instinct, moved to the back of the crowd as everyone had been gathered at one part of the hall. Apprehensiveness could be felt as the taster had died. This, everyone knew was an attack meant for the King as his meals were usually separate from what everyone else ate.

The one question that was on everyone's mind was,

"Who wanted the King dead and why?"

A short round man embellished in the finest gold stood up angrily as Indicy walked in and shouted,

"You cannot keep us here just because a mere taster died! This is ridicu…"

Before he ended his statement, Alan drew his sword and his head separated from his body and flew onto the lap of the girl who was seated beside him… who unfortunately was his daughter. A shrill scream left the girl's mouth upon seeing this and she fainted.

The man had come into a recent fortune by inheritance and was very proud. He looked down on every person around him and was naturally detested as well. This was his first time in the palace because of his recently attained status. He however forgot the most crucial thing that even every child knew:

The King is supreme! No matter his wealth, he will never get to the point where he could address the King directly!

I guess, his pride cost him dearly but sadly, he would never live to learn the lesson! As the lesson came after his life was no more.

Indicy did not pause or even falter in his steps and walked right onto his previous seat.

The hall that had a little chatter previously was now dead silent because everyone knew that the cold personality of King Indicy had just surfaced! … The 'wise men' were also safe… at the back of the crowd!

Indicy sat down for a few moments and then the doors opened again. The kitchen staff were brought in at this time, and all were forced onto their knees. All this time, the body of the taster was at the exact place it originally fell.

When addressed, the head cook was sweating profusely and could utter no sensible sentences. All the others looked nervous too.

Indicy took his time studying each of them but said no words. This made everyone in the room including the honoured guests frightened because none knew what could happen next.

The goblet which was used last and most probably had the poison was taken and given to the royal physician who had entered the banquet hall not long after the royal entourage.

After examining it for a while, he said,

"May I approach, my King", while he bowed low.

With a nod from Indicy, he climbed the dais and spoke so low to Indicy that none heard what he said but they could feel Indicy's aura turning even colder.

After this, Indicy motioned for Alan and gave him some instructions as well. Even though people looked visibly curious, no one uttered a word.

Alan took the goblet and rinsed it out and filled it with water. He turned to the crowd of kneeling workers and handed it to one of them.

"Drink!" he ordered,

The girl who had been handed the water schooled her face but not before a panicky looked crossed it which was not missed by both Indicy and Alan.

She said,

"I dare not drink from the goblet of the King".

Her hands shook slightly when she bowed and tried to hand the goblet back to Alan. However, before anyone could react, her head rolled off the floor and the rest of the headless body fell with a bump.

Blood sprayed on the kneeling people in all directions, and they screamed. Some tried their best to muffle the sounds by clasping their hands over their mouths while a couple of them fainted on the spot.

Neither Indicy nor Alan gave any explanation but observed the reactions of everyone instead. A few brilliant ones among them could deduce what had happened.

The floor was now covered in bright red blood!

With a clear voice, King Indicy said,

"The banquet is over!" He got up to leave once more but paused by another maid who had a brief look of relief on her face but tried to hide it. His actions had been erratic and therefore did not surprise anyone else with what he did next.

He bent and when he was at eye-level with the maid, held her neck and snapped it. She also fell, dead. Indicy straighten up and left the hall with Alan and the royal physician, following close behind him.

The hall was a mess after he left, Queen May and Princess Mugda soon left after he did. The staff were in an emotional wreck as they did not know whether they will be next as King Indicy did not give any explanation as to why he had killed the two. The elite in the room was dumbfounded as even though they had heard of the 'volatile King', This was the first time they had witnessed it themselves.

No one looked at the fainted heiress and beheaded father as they filed out of the room, eager to leave the unusual birthday banquet.

Surprisingly, as they left, each was given about ten bars of gold at the entrance as they exited the hall. As people naturally had short-term memory, some had forgotten about the incident by the time they got to their carriage and were happier to have received the gold!

Two men out of this group walked closer to each other while whispering with apparent discontent on their faces. No one knew if they were unhappy with the events that had unfolded, the amount of gold received or some other issue.

*** *** ***

As Indicy walked along the same corridors back to his palace, Alan asked,

"My King, why only the maids?"

Indicy replied,

"I am sure the maids could not be brave enough to orchestrate this themselves, but this should serve as a lesson to the puppeteer".

"Sooner rather than later, they will come to light," he smiled coldly while he said this.

Indicy went directly to the room assigned to Lendon when he got to his palace, but no one was there when he arrived. The girl was nowhere to be found. She had defied a royal command by leaving King Indicy's palace!

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