A Crowned King (Complete)

Chapter 29

Drianna walked through the halls of the palace that had been her home her entire life. At one time, the halls and the Knights had made her feel safe. It was only when she got a little older that she realized that no one was perfect and dark times could fall on anyone. The Royal Order wasn't perfect and they could lose any of the family at any time. That had hit home for her all the harder when her father had died, murdered by some enemy that they couldn't quite put their finger on.

The Princess hated that her father was gone. She'd love him so very much as only a daughter could love a father. He'd always made her feel safe and loved with his caring hands. While he might have been stern with the boys, he'd always been warm and gentle with her. That was just how it was between some fathers and daughters.

She sniffed back a tear, hiding her emotions as well as any of her brothers. She was many things, but a weak woman wasn't one of them. If anything she was even stronger than her brothers because she'd been forced to be by her gender. Others always looked down on woman as the gentler sex, more prone to crying more prone to emotion. But not her. She always did her best to appear as a marble statue, hard and uncaring. It didn't always work, but most everyone knew her for that. They didn't know her as the kind, warm-hearted woman that she was and she was secretly glad for that.

Reaching Mako's office, she didn't bother to knock. She walked straight through the door like she owned the place and considering neither of her brother's were around, she was the ranking royal member in the palace at the time. Her eyes looked around the office and she saw the stand-in standing at the window, peering out it. There was a melancholic air about him and she had to wonder about that. She knew it couldn't be good news that was for sure.

In the other corner of the office was another being and not one she'd expected to see. Ronald Runner, Grandmaster of the Royal Order. He had a grave look on his face and his arms were crossed over his chest, his stance a stern one.

"What is this?" Drianna asked seriously. She knew something was happening, she just didn't know what it was and she wanted to know what was going on. She looked between the two men, but only the Knight was looking at her. The double of her brother made no move to look at her. That was concerning in of itself and disconcerting at The same time with how much he favored her brother. He even had his mannerisms. It was a bit creepy. "What's going on here exactly?"

"Tell her." Dane's voice was low and filled with worry and fear. Still he didn't look away from the window.

The Grandmaster stepped forward and uncrossed his arms from his chest. "We just had a visitor. One of the Mage's that was sent with General Pale from Magnus to Three Towers brought us a message." he began, his voice slow and concerned. "Apparently, the Lord General and his garrison were slaughtered and they were killed by the garrison of the Towers. Apparently they are all traitors."

The Princess stared in surprise. "What do they want? What is there endgame, their plan?" she asked with confusion, her mind running a mile a minute trying to figure this out.

It was then the Knight stepped away from the window and turned on her. His eyes were serious and sad. "We don't know, Drianna. We don't know anything. All we do know is that we have to enforce the garrison at Three Towers and prepare for the attack from Galtea." he told her with a shake of his head. "The Lords are already sending their Legions. They will be at the Towers shortly."

"Very well done. That's something that I would have urged you to do in the first place." Drianna told him with a smile. "Your catching on, Dane."

The stand-in smiled sadly. "Thank you, my Princess." the Knight replied with a bow of his head and a sharp salute. "You should be the one to sit on the throne and rule. You make damn good decisions."