Kira and Jared

✍Stay a bit longer

   Kira and Bianca waited in the old throne room as Jared had instructed. Although she had been feeling weak since morning, Kira still chose to show up for Jared's sake.

  A few minutes later, Hector entered the room. 
"Sorry for keeping you waiting, your highness".
Then his eyes shifted to Bianca. He was quite smitten by her beauty, the radiance she emitted mesmerized him.

Kira cleared her throat awkwardly. This brought him back to reality. Bianca was thankful to Kira for saving her from his burning gaze.

"Right! Follow me, your Highness, my lady".
He led them to an abandoned study room in the corner and turned a metal object on the bookshelf. This action birthed an opening of an apparent secret door behind the desk. Kira and Bianca were surprised at the numerous hidden rooms in the castle.

  They finally reached the secret meeting room, where Jared was busy discussing something with Victor. The moment he noticed their presence, he shot up from his seat and walked up to her.

Vena rolled her eyes at that.

"My Princess"
He kissed the back of her hand.

"What is this place?"

"This used to be an underground hiding place for old Kings, I have converted it to our secret meeting room".  "Bianca, you have met Hector, now let me introduce you to Victor, Derrick and Richard".
He pointed to the three men, who each greeted the women.

Then he pointed at Vethruk.
"This is Vethruk"

Kira knew she has heard that name somewhere... "Vethruk? The same Vethruk the terror?"

"Yes, that story King Grayson told you all at that party. Only a handful of my men know that I did not kill Vethruk. The whole story about them being rebels was made up, now that I think of it, by King Grayson himself. He just wanted me to annihilate their entire clan for his gain"..."Last but not least, this is Vena, Vethruk's daughter".

Kira felt insecure seeing Vena there but did not want to dwell on that.

Vena gave a fake smile.  "Welcome, your highness. How is your husband, Prince Edrin?"

The way she emphasized the word, 'husband', made it clear to Kira what her intentions were. 

"Come sit down, my princess".   Jared hated what Vena was trying to do. As it stands, Kira could be in more danger than him, what Bianca said the previous night replayed in his mind.

He pulled out the empty seat beside his own for her.  After the two women had taken their respective seats, he sat down as well.

"We called you here, my princess because we feel you might be in danger".

"Tell me something I don't know". She stared down at her hands placed on the table.

Jared looked slightly perplexed at her statement.  "What happened?"

"Grayson always threatens me in Edrin's absence".
She looked into his eyes.

"What does he say?"

"He says he will deal with me when the time is right".

Jared placed his hand on hers.   "Nothing will happen to you, I promise".

She nodded.   "Thank you".

He then turned his attention to the other people at the table, who had been watching the two of them. He cleared his throat and began to address the issue at hand;

"I spent the whole night going through the documents Lischan had sent me through Hector. The conclusion I have drawn is, Grayson has always been involved in illegal activities even before he became my father's chief advisor. A man like that knows how to cover his tracks well. Therefore, the best way to bring him down would be to gather as much evidence as we possibly can against him".