The Wings of the Beautifully Fallen

Chapter 39: Reginald

Chapter 39: Reginald

"Father, what is it?" I demanded as I saw him scurry about his office, shuffling through the piles of papers on his desk. As he turned towards me I could see the dark rims beneath his eyes, the stress that shook his body and heart.

"I have had letters from three of the kingdom's claiming that they have all been attacked." He grunted to me, shoving papers into my hands and turning back towards the desk. "Assassins attempting on the royal families lives, bandits assaulting the soldiers and the messengers that came here. It all happened within three days and no one knows what to think about it."

"But why?" I demanded, turning my gaze to the fire that burned in the fire place on my right. It should not be that surprised after the few attacks from before, but to think that everyone was being targeted. Something was going on. "Who has been attacked?"

"Who do you think?" Father glared at me and I nodded once in irritation and glanced down at the crackling fire. King Landon never kept us updated with the occurrences in his kingdom as he was supposed to and we almost never heard about anything other than the bare necessities. Times had not changed, even with the assassins assaulting everyone.

Of course, there was another possibility, one that I was sure that my father was thinking about but to proud to admit.

"All I know is that we need to go and check on each of them, to make sure that things are being taken care of and every precaution is being made." Father stated, his shoulders rising and falling quickly as he breathed. "Reginald, we need to leave in an hour."

"So soon?" I demanded and he nodded. My thoughts shot to Illiana, wondering about how she would handle this news or the fact that I could be gone from anywhere to two to three months, cutting out a good chunk of the time that we still had together. That time that I needed to make her understand, completely, without the single bit of fear, that I was here for her. That I loved her. All that time would be lost because of these attacks.

"Yes!" He insisted, stepping up to the chair and pulling his sword to his body, strapping the black cord around his waist. "I know you are worried about your wife, but we have a duty to our people and that must come first." I nodded as he stepped forward, his hand falling on my arm. "Who knows, maybe what she needs is to know what it would be like without you there every day to make her realize what she really wants. Either way, go and get yourself ready. If we are lucky, nothing will happen."

I watched him disappear, the words ringing in the silence and I knew that it would not be that easy. Something was bound to happen. Whether it was here in this palace or over at another kingdom. Something was happening and we just needed to figure out what it was.

My gaze slid around the study, over the paperwork that littered the desk and the floor from my father's frantic search. I recognized the seals from three of the kingdoms, the North, East, and Western kingdoms. Before today, I had never thought much of King Landon's silence, other than it was something that had happened for years. However, learning about what he had done to his children, seeing the kingdom first hand, I realized that there was more to the story. Much more.

What if the reason that we never heard from him was not because he did not like writing letters or did not trust messengers? What if his reasons were something else? Something more sinister than what my father would willingly admit?

What if he was a traitor? One who was willing to kill us all?

*

"Illiana?" Her small frame stood in front of the wooden door to my room, the gentle blue of her dress standing out against the dark brown wood behind her.