When Kingdom Goes

Act I - Chapter 12

Rose and Sera appear in a lively foyer, with maids and children walking through it towards the throne room. Among those present was Helen, who was talking to a few of the maids as they passed her. Once she sees them drop in, she rushes over to them.

"Take her to my bedroom, and I'll meet you there momentarily."
Rose does as she's told and waits in Helen's bedroom until she arrives.
"Who was that?" Sera asks.
"Her name's Helen. She is the head of the palace as far as the building and its people go. She's also a doctor with a healing ability. She probably went to get some stuff to clean you up with."
After a few more moments, Helen returns with a bucket of water, towels, and a fresh outfit for Sera.

"We can talk while I treat you, but for now, I need you to get undressed. Rose, can you give us a minute?"
"No problem, I need to go report to Hiro anyway." Rose says as she exits the room. After leaving, she finds Hiro in his study, scribbling away frantically.

"Mr. Hiro? I'm here to report back to you about my task from earlier." She says to him through the slightly opened door, with no response. She steps into the room and calls out to him again. "Mr. Hiro, are you alright?" This time, Hiro looks up quickly, as if he didn't notice she'd entered the room.

"Apologies, Rose. I didn't see you there."

"Are you okay? You seem a bit stressed out."

"Yes, it's just this upcoming meeting with the other kings is starting to get to me. Think nothing of it."
"If you say so. I just came to let you know that I delivered the letters and gave them the message, as you requested. However, on the way back, I saw a girl being assaulted by some men. I rescued her, Rex captured the men, and I brought her here, as she asked."

Hiro has a look of intrigue on his face as he asks this. "She asked you to bring her here? For what reason?"
"I have no idea. She said that she needed to talk to you and wouldn't let me know anymore until she did."
"Did she seem suspicious in any way? I'll go talk with her, but I need to know everything you know about her first."

Rose takes a brief pause while she gathers her thoughts. Then, she says, "The only thing I thought was weird was the urgency she placed on talking to you. That, and that she had a matching tortoise shoulder tattoo like the men who were attacking her."
Hiro takes a deep sigh.

"Sounds like she's part of a pirate crew. What's more is that Rahu hasn't had a relevant crew in decades. She likely isn't a citizen, so the more pressing questions are, where is she from, and how did she get here?"
Rose doesn't like this situation just as much as Hiro, but she, like Hiro, doesn't quite know how to handle it.

"Where is she right now?" Hiro asks as he stands up, fixing his coat.

"She's in Ms. Helen's room getting healed. She was beaten pretty badly."

"Go check on her. Once she's ready, escort her to the throne room. I'll talk to her there. However, before you do that, tell Elajuel and Velajul to meet me in the throne room immediately." Hiro says as he walks out of the room with an air of seriousness following him.

"Yes sir!" Rose says as she follows him out the door to begin her duties.
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"Yes My Lord?" Elajuel and Velajul say in unison as they teleport into the throne room.
"We have a shady individual in the palace. I need you two to listen in on our conversation, as well as prevent anyone else from doing the same."
"Yes My Lord. Would you allow me to stay in the throne room as I carry out this task? Of course, I'll make sure to be unseen and silent if you so choose."

Hiro pauses for a moment as he thinks about his proposal. "Yes, that's fine as long as it's only one of you. What will Elajuel be doing?"
"He'll be watching over the palace from the outside, teleporting periodically to cover any angles where an accomplice might be lurking."
"Sounds good. Get into position immediately. Also, make sure to set up your sound proof barrier after our guest is here."
"Yes My Lord. We will bid you 'farewell'."
Elajuel teleports away, while Velajul hides behind the throne itself. And with that, Hiro had made his preparations. All that was left to do was sit and wait for her to come. After a few minutes, a knock on the throne room door.
"Lord Azor, we've arrived. Alongside myself, I've brought Ms. Helen and our guest, Sera." Rose says through the closed door.
"You may enter." Hiro says.