Crowned Prince | hendery

30: Two Weeks Have Passed

Hendery has successfully taken back a few towns from the hold of Farox, this was with the help of the plan Taeha came up with. However, surprises are short lived, after their third attempt it was growing hard to reclaim towns and ensure that there was little to no civilian casualties, but with the growing number of soldiers being harmed and civilians being thrown into the mix, they were now gathered inside a tent with lights dim enough so they would not catch attention from afar and voices almost whispering to one another.

"We must tackle the weakest troupe first, your highness." Illia makes his point clear with his battle tactics.

"How are you sure that they are not simply posing such towns as weakly enforced and bite us back on the neck?" The general makes his counterargument with the count's strategy. "If we can play surprises, so can they."

"Then we send in a spy."

"And who shall that be?"

"Some of the men from Maha'ali, they would not suspect such action."

"How do we ensure that the Maha'ali soldier we pick would ensure his loyalty to us and not turn his back on us."

"They are the victims of this war. They want nothing more than to be liberated from Farox, their loyalty shall not lie with us but with–"

Hendery has his arms crossed over his chest as his eyes scan the map they had laid out in front of them with little stones in place for themselves and the enemy camps nearby. Though they were growing in a number of places that they had freed from the hands of the soldiers of Farox, they were still several days away from reaching the capital. Their numbers are dwindling down and the soldiers are losing their morale. If this goes on longer, they are going to lose this war.

"Your highness." Julian approaches him from the side and whispers to call his attention.

Hendery turns his head.

"I need a moment."

"Right now?" Hendery's eyes go across the number of people inside the tent as they discuss among themselves.

"It is– unfortunately– an urgent matter."

"If it such a pertinent matter would it not better for the people here to hear–"

"It is about the princess, princess Taeha."

For a moment, he feels his heart drop to the pit of his stomach. His eyes wander the room for a moment before turning to look at Julian.

"Your highness, you must calm down."

Was he that obvious?

"I apologize for the sudden disruption of your conversation, however, I shall leave the meeting to the second in command for the meantime. I have urgent matters that must be addressed." He turns towards Illia and nods towards him, giving him the signal to lead the ongoing chaos of a meeting.

The prince and Julian make their way towards the prince's own tent. He finally takes a seat, knowing full well that he might not be able to stand after hearing such urgent news about the princess.

"From the moment that you chose to excuse me in the middle of such an important meeting, I... as someone would describe– have a hunch about what you may talk about concerning Taeha."

Hendery watches as Julian gulps down and looks away momentarily from Hendery. "What is it that you think your wife has done?"

"Trouble."

Julian licks his lips before slowly nodding his head. "I intend not to be all too direct as not to have your wits be startled, as it is needed for the ongoing reclaiming of Maha'ali–"

"Julian, speak."

"I'm afraid that rather than telling of what has happened to the princess, you shall take some of your time to read it, your highness." With his head low, as if this was all his own fault, he hands over the letter he had received through a messenger this morning to the prince he serves.

Hendery, if he were being honest, did not want to find out. His resolve was a lot weaker than people think. One small hint of the danger that the princess might be in would make him drop all that there is here and run towards her.

He has a duty he must fulfill, but how can one balance out the duty to himself and the duty to his people?

"Your highness?" Julian interrupts his train of thought.

It was as if the secretary was calling him out on his lack of resolution that very moment. His eyes were looking at anything but at the folded letter in his hand– that was until Julian called his attention.

"Would you prefer that I–"

"I shall read it."

Hendery looks down at the paper at his hand once again. His hands may not be physically trembling, but it felt like it was as he opened the letter.

Greeting to his majesty the crowned prince of Hwei,

             This letter is sent out from the kingdom of Sui to report on the former princess' whereabouts.

            She was last spotted inside the castle walls being watched over by a number of the castle guards, however, after a ball that took place in a duke's city estate the princess was reported to have been missing. The guards have been searching for her the past few weeks and it is with a heavy heart that we must admit that she cannot be traced.

            Do not be startled, during her stay in Sui, it is but not a common occurrence for her to run away. We have dispatched guards to search for her in places she often ran to and we shall send a report once all of it has been turned over.

            Lastly, the royal family and I have our suspicions that she might be on her way to meet the prince. That is the intel shared to us by her long time friend and current general of Sui, who is making her way towards Maha'ali as well.

           P.S. Apologies for the way my sister is acting, she is but a stubborn child.

Moon Taeil

Crowned Prince of Sui

Maha'ali's northern towns have been cleared up of the military presence of Farox, however towns are still recovering from the misery that they have experienced. Yet there are reports of a small group of individuals speeding up the process of recovery.

Hendery thought they were nothing more but kind acts by foreigners towards the people of Maha'ali. He should have been more wary of the sudden charity movement.

"The princess..." This was the first time in nearly half an hour that the prince spoke, yet it brought shivers down Julian's back.

Hendery's eyes were glaring at an empty spot at his tent and it was as if he was fuming in anger– no, he was fuming in frustration. If Julian were to paint an image, the flames that surrounded his highness were not that of the color red, but icy blue.