Whisked Away

62. King Erlian

Shifra's POV
We entered the throne room to find a very stressed Erlian and a very smug Lord Ali. At the sight of us, Erlian demanded, "What is the meaning of this I hear?"

"I beseech your mercy, King Erlian, for I know not of that which you speak of," Levi replied, tensing visibly.

Erlian's eyes held fire within them as he glared the the two Archlandians as hissed, "You know not that of which I speak? You are a cunning snake of a king, I'll give you that."

"Erlian!" I shouted, noting the now set jaw of my eldest godson. Striding forward, I hissed, "Think of who you're talking to. He may be young, but he is still a king and husband of my adopted daughter, so watch your tongue."

Shoving passed me, he stood face to face with Levi, shouting, "I hold a long-standing relationship with your country, allow you stay numerous times, and this is how you repay me? By consorting with my enemies the Calormens!"

"You think that Levi is consorting with the Calormens?" Levian asked, disbelief creeping into his tone. I glared at the smug face of Lord Ali as he watched the chaos unfold before him. "You've got to be joking. T-They killed our parents, why would we form an alliance with them?"

"You wouldn't," I replied, "Erlian, you've got to be joking. Think of who you're talking to!"

He glared at me at my words and mused, "So you're apart of it too. You are consorting against me too; even after all these years of trust, you betray me."

Queen Zofia entered at this moment looking frantic. "Erlian! I-I..." Then she fell to her knees.

Looking concerned, he ordered, "Put them all in irons! Lock them in the dungeons!" Then he went after his wife. The guards began to cautiously approach us.

"Godmother," Levi whispered, sounding unnerved and unsure, "We'll follow you. What should we do?" I took in a shaky breath, thinking carefully.

"Erlian would not risk war with Archenland like this. Something is wrong with him," I whispered back as more and more guards surrounded us, most focusing on me.

"But what do we do?" Levian hissed anxiously. "We're kind of running out of thinking time."

"I can get us out at a moment's notice if we need, so surrender," I whispered. Slowly, I raised my hands above my head. The others seemed to have followed, fo in a moment's notice the guards were chaining our wrists. I held my head high as Lord Ali smirked at us., not giving him the satisfaction of seeing me scared or weak. As we passed him, I found my way into his mind.

I got rushes of joy, a feeling of fulfillment, and an underlying anger. His thoughts were rather hectic, but a few I picked out were...

'Finally the brats where they belong'

'Now Archenland will have no choice"

'The Tisroc, may he live forever, will be well pleased with me'

We were shoved into a dungeon cell together, our hands left bound and our weapons taken from us. Levi was more than a little unhappy with his sword gone, but he put a brave face on it. Soon we were left alone in the cell and I allowed my head to fall back against the wall. "He's done something to Erlian. He would never do something like this to you, or to me," I whisper, "You both must have noticed by now that Erlian is acting very out of character here."

"We do not blame him," Levi muttered, "My main worry is if they find out back home about this. They will go to war for their king and prince back, and if they find out he has you locked up they will fight for you too." Hours seemed to pass, but I went to a less painful place: my memories.