The Scarlet Scepter

Chapter Twelve (Revised)

To describe the morning as awkward was like describing how long the Great Wall of China is.

The first thing I saw was Celia's face, and she was tapping her foot impatiently.

"What do you think you're doing?" she said angrily.

"What?" I repeated sleepily, and then realized that Cyrus was beside me, still asleep. I immediately stood up, and my movement roused him.

"Celia?" he yawned. Celia glowered at him, and then at me. Cepheus sauntered toward us.

"Good morning, General, Princess," he said, and his tone was teasing. "Seems like you had a good night's sleep."

Cyrus ran his hand over his hair and stood up. "What's going on?"

Celia stamped off angrily, and Cepheus smiled. "What happened last night, General?"

"Huh?" he said. "This girl wouldn't go to sleep. She even..."

I knew we were thinking about the same thing. If I could only cover my face in embarrassment.

"She . . ." Cepheus prompted.

"Is such a nuisance. I better scout ahead." Cyrus brushed his pants and left.

I was getting uncomfortable when I noticed that Cepheus kept glancing at me, and then back at Cyrus. He had this smirk on his face, like he was enjoying an unfolding drama.

Cyrus, on the other hand, was getting grouchy enough for him to ignore Celia completely, who looked like she was going to burst. On a scale of one to ten, his coldness was a perfect ten. He had his usual glare, his mouth in a frown, and his jaw was clenched.

No one was talking. We had covered miles in silence. Awkward.

I had to do something. "Yesterday, I was going to ask you something, but someone interrupted," I said as I casually sidled up to Cepheus. "Could you tell me what exactly happened here in Eleos fifteen years ago?"

"Certainly." Cepheus thought for a minute and took a deep breath. "As you know, King Cleon was the last ruler of Eleos. According to what I heard from King Arioch himself, the Prime Minister of Eleos, Hanor, who was the King's cousin, had been scheming to take the throne for himself. That year, he set out his plan. He informed the king of a plan of rebellion against him, but he did not say who the usurper was. He advised the king to inspect the defenses of the borders. Because he trusted Hanor, King Cleon did what he was advised to, and discreetly left Hanor to rule the kingdom while he was away.

"While in control, Hanor did what he could to make the people loathe King Cleon. He ignored the people's concerns, withheld food from them, and ruthlessly killed innocent civilians in the king's name. When King Cleon returned, he realized his mistake too late. Hanor had convinced the Council to support him, and the people had rioted outside the palace. That night, Hanor had carried out the last part of his plan. He had disguised assassins to look like guards to kill King Cleon and his family."

He stopped and looked at me.

"That's it? You're a horrible storyteller."

He smiled. "But what I heard was somebody from the palace had escaped."

"You've said that before. So does that mean someone from the Royal Family survived?"

Cepheus shook his head. "No. They only said somebody from the palace, but it did not mean one of the royals. Before King Cleon died, he told his general Zephyr to search for members of his family that had survived. But if what I heard was true, then the general's search was in vain. He did not find anyone, as his own family was also massacred, and it was also said that one of his three sons survived."