A Betrayal of Faith ✔

TWENTY-FIVE: Anger

"Your Majesty, ravens have arrived for you." The servant stumbled through a bow and left in a rush when Harudan waved them away. The King sighed and ran his hand through his long hair. The days had been long and slow, and there was no end to them. He'd spent them all waiting. There was nothing else he could do.

But he was finally getting a response, multiple responses. The nobles had been slow. The only person he had gotten regular notes from was Jonin, whose updates weren't the most important, but still good to know. No sign of Nerin or the Princess, but they were heading west for whatever reason.

He had no idea what lay west. He'd expected them to either head south or east. The Princess would want to head back to Minisia. She knew he was planning war, he'd made it obvious with his attack on her. But apparently, she didn't want to support her family. Whatever lay west was more important.

As far as he knew, there wasn't anything except the mountains and the small villages beyond them. It could be that they were trying to get as far from Ishmar as possible, which was a smart idea if he hadn't gotten Jonin to get the dogs out. Princess Sharina's belongings were still in the palace, getting her scent was easy. Wherever she was, Nerin was. He doubted she would leave him behind, not when he could be so valuable.

And he would be. If the Princess decided to take him back to Minisia with her, Harudan had no idea what he would do. It was his little brother, the last of his family, so small and innocent. If it came down to it, could he stop a war, one he needed to go through with for the good of the realm, for Nerin?

The Princess would use him as a bargaining piece to stop the war before it really began and Harudan wasn't sure if he could resist it. He needed his little brother back with him. Jonin understood that. He'd stop at nothing to get him back.

With a sigh, Harudan stood from his bed. He'd been lying there since breakfast, not in the mood to do anything. The waiting had weighed on him. He'd gotten the chance to talk to his other advisors about battle formations, but there wasn't much they could without knowing which armies they were using.

But now he would finally know, all he had to do was head down to the raven tower. His clothing was rumpled and creased, but there wasn't much point in getting a maid in to fix it for him. He smoothed down his coat and ran a hand through his hair. The ravens were waiting for him. He needed to know what the nobles had said.

A thin layer of snow had settled on the garden. It wouldn't be long before it covered everything in a thick coat of glistening white. He'd always found the snow strangely beautiful. The silence of winter was comforting in comparison to the hustle and bustle that constantly surrounded him. But he was King, he couldn't exactly run away from it. He had a duty to fulfil.

The raven keeper smiled at him as he walked in the tower, but it was wary as if she were ready for him to snap any second. If the ravens didn't stop cawing, there was a chance he would. "Good to see you, your Majesty. I have your scrolls right here," she said and pointed to a small pile of bounded scrolls. Good to see she hadn't touched them.

The first few were from the Lords and Ladies of the border towns. All of them had agreed to join him, as he had expected. They had already been at war with Minisia for years. There was no way they would stop the instant real war was declared.

One of the ones in the middle was from Jonin. Part of him itched to toss it aside and read it later. The nobles had finally gotten back to him and so far it had been all good news. He didn't want to ruin it with Jonin's news that he still hadn't been able to catch up to Nerin. The Princess was far too elusive for her own good. Harudan should have killed her the instant she arrived at the palace.

It was too late to dwell on it now. All he could do was try to fix it. He almost put Jonin's note back down on the ink-stained table but something in his gut screamed for him to open it. With shaking fingers, he untied to string around it and unfurled it. His eyes scanned the words and the further he got, the paler he became.