Something With a Prince

Chapter Thirty-Three: What Kind of Torture is This?

Arlyn

Once the coronation was over, and everyone had left to avoid panic, we went into action. There were teams of men being sent into the forest facing every direction in the hunt for Dominic's mercenaries. Oveda's head was left by the tree, but the men had fled far and fast the moment I had noticed them. The moment they completed their mission.

Meanwhile, villages were being evacuated and I had every single person in my confidence sorted into various rooms, questioning them until we were both on the verge of tears. I hadn't forgotten the fact we had a possible spy within our walls, not counting the obvious with Cassida here, but Oveda's death proved information was leaking. Nobody had answers, or even an inkling to how the information slipped except a tip from a kitchen boy, who frequently saw Oveda slipping out the back entrances into the woods at night.

It was also the reason I couldn't find her these past couple of days and I pray she will forgive me for dismissing her absence. It was true that she was sent with a team to stake camps along the vantage points we'd agreed on, but if she was dead that meant Rughwen had our vantage points now. Then again, if Oveda was the spy, Dominic had my plans from the start and was making a pawn out of me to begin with. In summary, they were useless.

So, the checklist went as follows:

Bury Oveda

Find Dominic's men

Question said men...persuasively

Move to plan B vantage points and make camp

Go to war

Perhaps the top of that list was getting information out of Cassida, but I had to be careful around that edge of things given her unpredictability. If she was Dominic's inside, then she could have already gleaned more than I realize from people in the castle and the village alike.

After questioning most of the castle and shredding my mother's nerves to the point of no return, the next problem had to be faced. Niklaus and Elleanor.

Soon after the frenzy hit, Niklaus found his daughter with me and made a break for their chambers in the castle. Not that I blame him, but it didn't exactly set the best impression of his confidence in Tuisedor. My mother had been trying to coax him out for the past five hours with servants, meals, and conversations, but he wouldn't have any of it until we made sure the perimeter was secure. I swear I could hear Elleanor's eyes rolling from across the Castle. So, after I assured him that he and the Princess were safe, we found ourselves in the middle of his chamber, watching him pace a hole in the rug.

"I was under the impression that Dominic was merely threatening to enact war. Not that he was falling over the precipice and into a full-on attack as soon as he got the chance." Niklaus was still talking in that calm, even tone, but his feet gave him away entirely. There was no reasoning with him, even for my mother, who could reason with a rabid dog.

"We agreed to the marriage of Princess Elleanor and Arlyn, Niklaus, long before war started and long after it was a threat. You came here with the knowledge that it was a possibility." My mother sat perfectly still, back straight and restrained. "Surely, you would not back out on so little an attack?"

Niklaus paused his pacing and faced my mother, pursuing his lips the way Elleanor does when she is thinking. Then, "I demand a postponement."

My mother shot up, "You can't be serious!"

"I'm sorry Audessy, but I will not subject my daughter to this." His eyes fell pointedly to me, "You are a great soul, Arlyn, and I hope you have the chance to become a great man in your time, but Tuisedor is shaking under your feet... and I govern a peaceful people."