There are five thousand and one Grim Reapers responsible for collecting and escorting souls between the two known realms of existence: life and the afterlife.
Griffin knew his curiosity set him apart from all the other Grim Reapers, but he never und...
This is an ongoing story. If it's your first time reading the novel I suggest you start from Episode 1. If this episode is not where you last left off, then please check the Table of contents of all episodes released so far and find the last episode you read and continue from there.
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Kingdom of the Red Rose (Episode 46 of 62) Chapter Seventeen: Forced into War (Part 1 of 2)
A messenger rode to the mansion in the middle of the night, "Master Peter! Sir! Master Peter!" he kept screaming the name of the oldest of the four Hartley brothers as he rushed to the main door. He jumped off his horse and was about to bang on the door when Peter appeared, dressed in his pyjamas.
"What's wrong Lenard?" Peter prayed the messenger's next words would not be what he had expected.
"Sir, it's, King, Gerard, he's, dead," Lenard kept pausing between each word, taking deep breaths.
"Are you sure?" Peter's worst fear was becoming a reality; there were troubling times ahead.
"I personally rode across the border after seeing the King's dead body, sir. Prince Andrew will be crowned King within the week."
"Within the week? They are moving faster than we thought."
"I fear you were right, sir. General Edward has already started moving troops closer to the border."
"Peter, what's with all the shouting in the middle of the night? What's going on?" Richard, the youngest of the four brothers, had appeared at the door. Richard took one look at the messenger's face and then his brother's and knew what had happened. "Prince Andrew?"
Peter clenched his jaw, "King," and turned to walk back into the house.
Richard's eyes opened wide, "King?"
"The crowning ceremony is next week," the messenger replied.
"Hey, what's with all the commotion?" David, the second eldest brother, roared from the second floor and his voice echoed in the empty hallways of the mansion.
"King Gerard is dead. Wake John up and meet me in the library right now. Emergency family meeting," Peter ordered.
Nathaniel had heard the messenger as he rode into the mansion and was already up and getting dressed.
"Nathaniel, darling, what's going on?" Emma was still half asleep, "It feels cold, has the sun come up?"
"No love, it's still the middle of the night." Nathaniel sat next to Emma and gave her a kiss, "I'll go and see what's going on. You just go back to sleep."
"Don't stay up all night," Emma said and laid back down while Nathaniel covered her with the bed sheets.
Nathaniel closed the door as gently as he could and found David walking hastily past him. "News of the neighbouring country's King?" he asked.
