Noblesse oblige

Part 26

Chapter 26

Throk knocked on the thick wooden door leading to Lars's study. There was a brief shout of 'Enter' and the knight pushed the door open. It creaked slightly and as he saw Lars sitting behind his desk he was beckoned over. The man was reading a parchment while a red Terrible Terror slept soundly on a perch.

"Is that from our spy?" Throk asked with a frown.

"Yes, the Golden Eagle. Quite a remarkable fellow," the prince commented. "He's one of ours yet even I don't know his name or face. Still he gets the job done."

"Is that his latest report?" Throk asked with a frown. Lars merely handed it over as he watched the knight.

"The King is dead and the Princess has been arrested," Throk let out a breath of surprise. He then looked up at Larse who was leisurely leaning back in his chair. "What are you going to do about this?"

"Do about what?" Lars smirked.

"This," Throk said as he hit the parchment with the back of his gloved hand. "Surely we cannot leave the Princess to rot in jail."

"We aren't. I already sent a reply back to Eagle to take care of the situation." He stated as his eyes narrowed.

"Take care of the....." Throk exclaimed as he knew what it meant. "Surely you didn't! Lars for Thor's sake tell me you didn't!"

"So what if I did?" Lars harrumphed. "The only reason I am telling you my plans is because you are my childhood friend. You are one of the people I trust implicitly." The man stood up and laid a hand on Throk's shoulder.

"And what of the Princess?! You trusted her with your plans! She believed in you!"

"That naive fool," Lars laughed. "She was just a means to an end. I got rid of her the same way as I did Hans and my 10th brother."

"She didn't even want to rule!" Throk exclaimed as he tried to reason with Lars. "Surely there is no need to order her death!"

"Of course there is!" Lars stopped and turned sharply, grabbing Throk's collar and pulling him close. "She is a child of THAT woman! You know how I feel about that... that abomination! Any child of hers will suffer at my hands!"

"Lars..... When will you let it go?" Throk asked as he stared at his friend sadly.

"I could ask the same of you, you poor naive fool," Lars hissed as he let go of the knight's collar. "You were sweet on Margarette and objected to her arranged marriage but if only you knew the schemes going on in her pretty little head you'd be thanking me." He patted Throk's left cheek. "She was just like her filthy whore of a mother."

Throk didn't know what to say in response as his childhood friend turned on his heels and walked out of the study, beckoning him to follow. They walked in silence down the dimly lit stairs and they finally stopped when they reached the dungeons. Lars took the heavy ring of keys from the warden on duty and let himself and Throk inside the castle prisons. The cells were dark and drafty and prisoners moaned to either let them die or set them free. It was a depressing place. The torches only provided so much light as they neared the back of the prison.

"Lars...." Throk said in a short whisper as he looked at the disheveled and beaten up woman in one of the cells chained to the wall. She was in rags, her once luscious hair was chopped short and she was sporting strangulation marks around her neck. Her eyes had lost any luster it possessed and her lips were chapped. Still Throk would recognize the Queen anywhere.