Kapitel 29: Abduction
Around late noon, an injured soldier painted in blood could be seen riding a horse in a hurry towards the Royal Palace of Abetha, followed by several city patrols acting as escorts. The knights looking after the palace entrance recognized who the soldier was and allowed him to enter without hindrance.
The soldier soon reached the main palace, where King Armen was in the throne room presiding over a council meeting, one of the agenda being the Third Princess's tower incident.
The King was busy listening to the complaints of the royal court about the witch and what chaos she would bring to the kingdom after practicing black magic. All the ministers and nobles looked worried, thinking of the disaster awaiting them.
One of the royal guards silently entered the meeting and reported something to Lord Eudes, the King's trusted advisor. After listening to the guard, the scholarly older man approached King Armen with a worried look.
"Your Majesty, one of Crown Prince Cian's soldiers is here, and he seeks an audience," the advisor informed the King as he added, "He carries urgent news."
King Armen was surprised why a soldier from the northern border's army would come in person instead of a messenger. "Let him in."
The injured soldier entered the royal court and kneeled in front of the king as his greeting. Everyone in the royal court was shocked to see the soldier's condition and fell silent.
"Your Majesty, Hatha soldiers, attacked us in the middle of the night and captured Crown Prince Cian!" the soldier shouted, no longer bothering with the royal etiquette, his expression pained as he delivered the shocking news.
Even the normally calm King lost his cool as he stood up from the throne, anger filling his voice, "Hatha?"
"Yes, Your Majesty. Their army attacked the fortress at the northern border in the middle of the night. They have occupied the fortress and have blocked any form of communication with the capital."
"Didn't they sign the peace treaty with us?" the King asked, his voice cold as he interrogated the hurt soldier. "How could the northern fortress fall overnight?"
"Your Majesty, everything was a trap. They had spies inside that targeted the officers before their army marched in. Thevailes soldiers were with them too," the soldier informed angrily.
"Thevailes? They dared attack after their last defeat?" the King exclaimed as he slammed his fist on the throne.
"Your Majesty, calm down," Lord Eudes said beside him.
King Armen was already troubled with how all the ministers and nobles gathered to ask him to throw the witch out of the kingdom, and now this happened. It was one problem after another.
While the King's loyal subjects felt worried about the incoming war, those noble houses and officials under the Queen's faction found the news to be a golden opportunity for them to back up their demand.
"Your Majesty, it is as we feared! This must be the start of the misfortunes befalling our kingdom!" Lord Darus cried out, his statement motivating his allies to speak.
"Your Majesty, it's definitely due to the black magic performed by that witch! She must have planned to bring disaster to this kingdom," another minister added.
"Silence!"
King Armen, who was already angry with the sudden betrayal of both the Kingdoms of Hatha and Thevailes, glared at everyone in the royal court.
"Imbeciles! This has nothing to do with her! Instead of blaming an innocent girl, why don't you focus on the kingdoms that actually sent armies into our land?!" the King declared, his irritation stunning the royal court into dead silence.
King Armen returned his attention to the travel-worn soldier who looked on the verge of collapsing, his hands resting on the floor and head lowered.
Sir Berolt went to the soldier and asked, "Where have they taken the Prince?"
"Commander Fletcher, from what I overheard, they took him to Hatha and will be taking him later to Thevailes. That was two days ago. The Crown Prince might have reached Thevailes by now," the soldier sobbed as he recounted what else he knew, gathering every bit of energy left in him before collapsing the next moment.
The commander of the knights checked him, but the soldier was already unconscious. The royal guards came and took away the soldier to be treated.
"Berolt, gather your knights and meet me in my chamber," the King ordered before he turned to General Cavrois Losio, the middle-aged man representing the military in the council meeting. "Cavrois, bring your officers and come as well."
King Armen stormed away without dismissing the court. Lord Eudes, Sir Berolt, and General Cavrois and his men immediately followed after their King, leaving the ministers and nobles whispering with one another.
Gossips of the injured soldier's arrival had already spread far and wide as he entered the capital in an unrestrained manner. Soon, the capital heard the news of the Crown Prince's abduction, and as if people were fanning the news in the dark, in the end, the blame was put on the witch.
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Kapitel 30: Strategy To Rescue The Prince
Note- Due to chapter-length adjustment, some part of the previous chapter has been shifted down to this chapter.
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Drayce was in his room, accompanied by Arlan and his two knights, who were like friends to him.
The four men were standing in front of a wooden table, looking at the detailed map of the royal palace with interest. Drayce looked at Arlan, who was standing beside him, with a gaze close to admiration. "You are worthy of being my friend."
Arlan gave him an unpleasant look. The prince was already not happy about giving his friend something that he should not have, and his words just now felt like rubbing salt to his wound. "Thank you so much for thinking so highly of me, Your Majesty."
Drayce knew how upset his friend was but could only smile at his sulking behavior. Just as he was to tease him again, Drayce went silent as he heard something and signaled everyone to keep quiet.
Servants could be heard passing the corridor in front of the room and talking among themselves.
"It's definitely because of that witch."
"True, we all saw she did black magic."
"Poor Prince Cian."
"Didn't Prince Cian care for her and even asked His Majesty to take her out of the tower?"
"Yes, and because of her, Prince Cian was punished for leaving the palace."
"Ungrateful witch! Didn't spare her own brother!"
"His Majesty will realize the truth soon and banish her out of Abetha."
"Banish her, huh? Witches should be burned!"
"If I can, I will be the first one to burn her."
Hearing their words, Drayce clenched his fists as his red eyes turned fiery.
"What happened?" Arlan asked. Although he did hear people talking outside, he didn't catch the content of their conversation.
Drayce merely instructed, "You should go and visit King Armen."
"Why? What do you need now?" Arlan asked in suspicion.
"Not me, him. He will need something from us," Drayce answered as he moved away from the wooden table and went towards the window to stare outside.
Arlan knew his friend's temper. Drayce would never say anything without reason, and so, without nagging him for an explanation, Arlan did what he said. After all, if he talked to King Armen, his question would be answered.
After the prince left, one of the knights folded the palace's map while the other knight went to Drayce.
"Your Majesty, any instructions for me?"
"Get all our soldiers ready, except for the injured ones," Drayce ordered without a change in his expression.
The knight nodded. "May I ask where are we headed, Your Majesty?"
"Thevailes."
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Inside the King's study, the high-ranked officials among the Abethan knights and soldiers were all gathered around the much calmer King Armen, busy arguing among themselves.
They were looking at the map of the continent unrolled on top of a huge wooden table.
"Your Majesty, we might have to ask for Griven's help," Sir Berolt suggested after several more minutes of heated argument regarding how to breach the enemies' defenses.
The King nodded. "To enter Thevailes as fast as possible, our army alone might not be able to take down the enemies within a month. Hatha will surely set up ways to hinder us from crossing their kingdom. Several months is too long. If we have Griven adding more soldiers, we can bring them down faster."
Sir Berolt pointed his finger at the tiny kingdom separating Abetha and Thevailes. "We don't have time to deal with Hatha. Our army and the support from Griven will act as decoys, while we will send our elite knights in secret to save the Crown Prince. Once Prince Cian is back, we will deal with them once and for all."
"What do you think, General?" the King asked the robust middle-aged military man whose pitch-black eyes were still fixed on the map. General Cavrois wore a serious expression as he considered the question, his gloomy face not yet recovered from the scars earned from the previous war.
"Your Majesty, it will be better for our army if we take help from Megaris," the general suggested as he pointed towards a certain place on the map. "Megaris and Thevailes share a long border between their kingdoms, and it would be easier for Megaris to enter through this mountain range. If the King of Megaris is ready to help us with his army to put pressure on Thevailes, then things will turn easy for us."
"Last time, we managed to defeat them on our own," Sir Berolt interrupted.
"At that time, Hatha was working with us, but now it looks like things have changed," the general replied.
Sir Berolt shook his head. "Griven is our ally, therefore asking for their support is reasonable. But if we get help from Megaris as well, our national treasury might bleed. We are still recovering from the last war."
"The faster we save Prince Cian, the better." General Cavrois was firm in his stance. "We do not know what demands the King of Thevailes will make in exchange for his safety. Thevailes is known for their cruelty so to deal with them, we should seek help from someone even crueler."
Unable to convince each other, Sir Berolt and General Cavrois looked at King Armen for his decision.
Just then, a royal guard entered the study. "Your Majesty, the First Prince of Griven seeks an audience with you."
"Let him in," the King instructed.
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