The Oreans

Chapter 67

Chapter 67

Avalco

Leinardei had feared Reihan would commit a blunder, but hearing him talk to the gathering of courtiers before him, seeing his self-possession, he realized he needed not to have. A crown might be perched on his forehead, but the fact that it was rather carelessly worn showed that it mattered much less to him than his friends and his people. When he gave a word, he would keep it. As he relayed the crisis at hand, the people around him listened raptly to his every word although some with undisguised confusion in their faces.

"Your Majesty, this accusation against Lord Melvil is unbelievable," a minister boldly argued.

"When I heard it from Wilmore, I could not believe it myself," Reihan admitted, "until I received that letter from Faunea. He went there even without anybody's orders to get Princess Roseana. If he was innocent and just took the initiative to fetch her, he would return any time soon. But then, wasn't it suspicious that he left right after Archduke Guilem's death? "

"He has defended the throne all the while, hasn't he? Why would he threaten to destroy it?"

"I don't think destroying it is his plan. He has claims for the throne after all as Princess Rebeicca's descendant."

"He is not Princess Rebeicca's son," the voice of the grandmaster rang from the doorway. He advanced towards the king and bowed before facing the others. "I just found out the truth tonight. Whom we know as Melvil is in fact Randus, Rainus's bastard son whose existence had been a subject of old court gossip."

At this, murmurs broke out in the room. The king raised his hand to which silence fell again.

"Is this true?" he asked.

"The Orean whom I thought was Princess Reishina was in fact Bruno's spy. I followed him all the way to Espina, and it was too late when I realized my mistake. But then, the man led me straight to Bruno."

"Bruno was in Espina?"

"You must have heard of the Raina Castle."

"I have." The king glanced at Leinardei. "What of it?"

"Well, Bruno fled there. I recaptured him, and it was from him I learned everything."

"If this is the case, then it means Lord Melvil is seeking revenge on the royal family for his father," the commander of the Bronzeans intoned.

"Where is Bruno?" the king demanded.

"I dropped him back to Santille. I thought going after Princess Reishina is now foremost in our list. I realized she must have used the secret passages to get out of the palace and is now headed for Faunea. We need to organize the troops to catch up with her."

"At this point," Leinardei began then glancing at Reihan and seeing his gesture continued, "the princess could already be there—far from here. You, Sire, and the grandmaster know her more than anyone here. It would be a futile move to send men after her."

"Prince Divan is right. Also, neither can our troops go to Faunea, or else they may take it as a threat," the king stated.

Lord Shemil's eyes wandered between them with a thoughtful look on but said nothing more.

"So what do we do?" the commander of the Argentines asked.

Reihan was ready with an answer. "I shall go there myself and seek the help of their king to come to our aid."

"But Your Majesty!" everyone cried out in surprise.

"That's dangerous!" somebody exclaimed in chorus.