A Queen Conflicted (Alys Book #3)

Chapter 32

Nothing was happening. Nothing productive was being done.
It had been weeks, weeks, since his wife had disappeared, and Dastrehan had found nothing that was helping him find her.

The groups of men, consisting of his own soldiers and volunteers who gladly stepped up to help find their queen, kept coming back with no new information. Nothing that would help find Endolynn.

Dastrehan would have been out there himself, had Sir Willem not been adamant that he remain in the safety of the keep at least until they had something solid to go on. Without knowing who had taken the queen, it was impossible to know if there was further danger to other royals.

The floorboards of Dastrehan's quest chambers already had wear showing the trail he often paced while trying to figure out what to do. And as he waited for news.
The waiting was the worst part. What was one supposed to do with oneself during such a crisis? All he could do was worry, give orders to the men going out that were the same every time, and sleep and eat. Anything else felt selfish and wasteful.
Zaiden had not replied, which left three options that Dastrehan could chose from.
The first, Zaiden had received the letter and right away started preparations to leave High Cloud Palace. Though Dastrehan would have thought this unlikely, he could not deny that Zaiden was absolutely the kind of man to drop everything to help find his sister.
The second option was that Zaiden had received the letter, and was so furious with Dastrehan for letting harm come to his sister that he declined to reply back out of sheer hatred. But even as Dastrehan thought about it, he knew that this would not be the case.

The third option was the most simple; the letter had never made it to Zaiden at all. Maybe the bird carrying the message had been swiped out of the sky by a hawk or eagle. Or, maybe someone had shot it down, not realizing it was a carrier for royal messages.
Dastrehan sighed as he ran his hand through his hair. Sitting at a desk, he leaned his weight on both elbows and held his throbbing head in his hands.
How had things come to this?

A rapping of knuckled against the closed door entering his chambers startled him from his churning thoughts. He grunted in reply to let whoever was on the other side of the door know to come in, unable to muster the energy to reply with words.
The door creaked open, but Dastrehan did not bother to lift his head from his hands.
Footsteps approached, but still the king did not move a muscle.
"I have a letter for you, Majesty."
The voice belonged to Lord Ivar, and his tone sounded nervous. Dastrehan waved for him to approach, slowly picking his head up and slumping back into his chair in a very un-kingly manner.
He cared not for useless things like manners and properness right then; all he cared about was finding his wife.

He was not sure if he hoped this was a reply from Prince Zaiden, finally, or something unrelated.

Maybe someone had spotted the queen somewhere.

Lord Ivar shuffled forward, depositing the letter on the desk in front of the king.
It only took Dastrehan's eyes a second to scan the letter and notice the royal seal pressed into the wax holding the letter closed.
But it was not the royal seal of Prince Zaiden, or any other Balearian symbol.
Dastrehan became more alert as the blood inside him seemed to rush, beating through his heart faster than was comfortable.
For the seal was King Barda's of Catesh.

Dastrehan straightened and reached for the letter, taking no time in ripping it open and devouring it with his eyes.
Was this finally a ransom for Alys's safe return? If it were, he would gladly pay whatever was being asked.

But as he read the words printed clearly on the parchment he held, his hope sank with his heart.

King Barda had learned of Dastrehan's men crossing the border into Cateshian lands. The letter was to remind Dastrehan that their stalemate and ceasefire was not an alliance, nor an invitation onto his lands.
The threat being made was loud and clear.
Dastrehan felt his blood boiling as he finished the letter. He immediately crumpled it up and tossed it into the empty fireplace to his left.
"Tell Sir Willem I need to speak with him immediately," the king said gravely, slumping back into his chair and staring off at nothing.