The Dreamer's Fall

Chapter 24 - Banishment

Despite the look of injustice plastered on Elyria's beautiful face, she kept her mouth shut, following Edward's command.

"Okay! I'll tell you!" Arthur threw his good arm up as if surrendering. "You see, one of my personal guards had been missing since the night before, and I was very worried about his wellbeing. So, while I got ready to leave, I asked another guard to meet me at a tavern where he was last seen."

Edward tapped his fingernail several times on the desk. "Get to the point, Arthur."

"Father, I promise this is important!" Arthur assured him. "When I arrived at the tavern, the guard I sent ahead was missing...

"I was alone and scared, so I entered the tavern to look for him when I was suddenly attacked by the men inside! They hauled me through a tunnel into a large underground room with an altar and over a hundred people locked in cages!"

"What is this!? He's clearly heard about the attacks in the capital and making up a story!" Elyria cried out.

"Nuh-uh." Arthur stuck his tongue out at her. "It's true, and I would've died had Mr. Fenric not stumbled onto the place in search of his own men who had gone missing the night before."

Edward raised his eyebrow once more. "Assuming you're speaking the truth, you haven't explained how that connects to Elyria's servant."

"Edward! You're not actually entertaining this nonsense, are you?!" Elyria screeched as her face turned red.

"That's simple!" Arthur turned towards Elyria with a smirk. "If she wasn't an Agelian spy, why would she instruct the stableboy to falsely accuse my guards of theft right before I went to a place full of Agelian cultists?"

Elyria's fury deflated the moment Arthur finished speaking. Of course, it wasn't a perfect excuse to kill Merin, as there were clearly some holes in the story he was spinning, but Arthur knew it didn't matter.

Since Merin was already dead and unable to refute the accusations, the stableboy would be the only source of information. Elyria sure wouldn't admit she had Merin harass his men, as that might implicate her in an Agelian plot. If she did, even her father wouldn't be able to save her.

"Do you have proof?" Edward asked, continuing to tap on the desk with his fingernail as if he were a metronome.

Arthur nodded and turned to shout toward the closed office door. "Foster! Bring him in!"

Shortly after Arthur's shout, Foster entered the office with the stableboy.

Edward glanced at the two newcomers. "They are?"

"This is Foster, the guard I went to the city to find, and this is the stableboy who accused my guard Harkon of theft under Merin's order."

"F-forgive me, lord. I didn't know..." The stableboy sobbed as he dropped to his knees and pleaded for mercy.

"Ah, before I forget! Foster, please hand my father the list of names Merin gave the stableboy."

Arthur rubbed his chin and looked at the silent Elyria while Edward received the list of names. "I wonder how that Agelian spy ended up with the names of my guards. Perhaps there are more Agelian spies within the manor as we speak... Father, you must be sure to root them all out before they have a chance to attack again!"

The stableboy's head popped up in a panic. "A-agelian spies? Lord, No! I don't know anything about any spies! I only did as Merin told me, I swear, lord!"

After glancing at the list of names, Edward dropped it onto his desk before closing his eyes and massaging the bridge of his nose.

When he opened them, he looked at the two guards who escorted Arthur inside. "Have the stable hand executed. Spy or not, a false accusation against a noble's agent is a false accusation against the noble he serves."