The Kings Court - Chapters 1-13

Chapter six

Auna, Cynnrihtan – Colten.

For the past hour and a half I’d been forced to sit and listen to several of the Lords and Ladies of my Mother and Fathers Court council bickering over why Lord So-and-so had been given a smaller room than Lady Whoever and that one House had been given a less than adequate amount of servants to tend their needs and they wanted so many servants taken from another House to make up for it, when my Brother and Parents finally decided to turn up.

The room fell silent and everyone stood to bow or curtsey as the King, Queen and Crowned Prince sat in their seats at the top of the long table with me. Once they were seated the rest of the Lords and Ladies followed suit and after a moment of whispers the quiet demands and bickering started up again.

“I specifically requested a room facing south…”

“There is no need for one young man to need so many serv-“

“Quiet.” My brother, Aubrey, snapped and looked at each Lord and Lady, daring them to speak up, none of them did. “There has been another raid, this one at the Temple of the Muses.”

Gasps tore through the room, then the whispers started up again before the council erupted into barks of anger and shouts for retribution. I frowned and sat up in my seat, looking to my Mother and Father for confirmation. My Father nodded his head.

“Was anybody injured?” The council legal advisor asked and everyone fell silent for a second, only releasing their breaths when my father said there were minimal and unimportant casualties. To which Aubrey ground his teeth and shot our father a dark look.

“Did they take anything?” I asked my Father who was close enough to hear me over the council who had picked back up on their demands for retribution.

He shook his head but shrugged his shoulders.

“They haven’t found anything missing as of yet but the Priestesses are still sorting through the mess.”

I leaned back in my chair and listened to the council, arguing with each other again. What could anybody want from an old temple if not anything of value which would have been checked for first.

“Do you know what they were searching for?” I asked my Father again but he shook his head and glanced at my mother who had leaned across the table, her hands clasped on the table in front of her.

“The creatures of the Black Lands don’t need specific items to fulfil their desires. The only thing they want is for us to be on edge, wondering and waiting for their next attack.” My Mother hissed under her breath but I shook my head.

“And how do we know it’s them?” Aubrey asked snidely under his breath.

There had been raids recently, mostly in small towns and strongholds, this was the first temple to be raided, but we didn’t have any evidence as to who it was responsible for the attacks. Most people, including my Mother and I believed it was the work of the outcasts from the Black Lands but Aubrey and my Father didn’t see the logic or reasoning behind it, like they needed logic or reasoning, the Elfenna and most of their other neighbourly races in the Black Lands were savages, blood thirsty and conniving.

“Who else would do it? We have never had raids like these before, not until your Father gave them an estate on Auna soil and offered one of their wretched kin a place on our council. They are monsters. That is all the proof we need.”  She spoke quietly before Aubrey stood and quieted the council again.

“We have already sent aid to the temple, as well as extra guards to the other temples in the Kingdom. We will be adding more guards to the city watchtowers and a few will go to the larger towns in Auna. We need you to keep your eyes and ears open for any bit of possible information about these raids. Even if you think it is nonsense chatter, report anything you hear.” Aubrey said, probably already knowing how much paperwork this was going to cause him and Elaina, poor bastards.