22 Plant the seed

"There isn't any severe injury, just a minor blow to the ribs and spine." The doctor was informing the commanders as they walked through the corridors of the Castle. "Make sure he rests properly and takes the vitamins I have advised."

"Sure," The commander gestured to a guard who led the doctor out. 

While he was about to turn back towards the chamber where Alec laid, a maid came to him and said, "Greetings commander, the Queen wants to see you."

"Right now?" He asked and the maid nodded. 

He glanced towards the chambers and then left with the maid who led him towards a secluded room instead of the meeting room where the King and the Queen usually saw him. It nagged him a little however he didn't question it. 

"Your Highness," He bowed as he entered the room. 

The Queen who was previously standing in front of the window, turned around and walked over to a chair. She gestured for the maid to leave as she sat down, taming her long gown aside. 

"Sarius," She addressed him, "We have heard quite a lot about your bravery and loyalty." 

"It's an honour, your Highness." He replied with a smile. The Queen's compliment was a pleasant surprise for him. "I don't find myself worthy of the praise."

"You are one brave young man, Sarius. How you dealt with the rebellious crowd and sent them away was a very remarkable deed." 

Where Sarius was bubbling with joy, on the other hand he didn't quite understand why the Queen had called him and was saying all that. 

"But I must say, your extraordinary abilities are always masked behind Alec Preston's name." She finished observing the young man with narrowed eyes who stood before her with his head and eyes facing the ground. 

Sarius wanted to object to what she said but he wasn't standing in front of someone ordinary but the Queen hence he refrained. 

He was second in command after the general, Alec Preston and had always seen him as an ideal. There wasn't much age difference between the two but he had learned much from his senior who was a man of his word, brave and above everything, loyal to his duty and the King. 

He had never taken credit for someone else's work, especially Sarius's. He never needed to, his own were enough. He always dreamed of being in his place one day but not how the Queen offered him in the next few moments. 

"I shall come straight to the point." She stood up from the chair and walked up to him. "Alec Preston is a fine man but the only thing that doesn't let him prosper is his stubbornness which in other words they may call, loyalty."

"Pardon your Highness but I can't understand where this is coming from." His brows creased a little as he said that. 

"You know Sarius, blind loyalty is the biggest enemy of the truth. Once you set yourself free of its blindfold, you see things differently and that's what I expect from you." She glanced in his direction while slowly walking past him and standing before a wall that showed a huge painting of the King and the Queen. 

"I will always be loyal to you and our King." He said assuming that it was what she was expecting from him after pondering upon what she said. 

"I shall be looking forward to your loyalty towards me when I will need it. Who knows it may promote you to the rank you really deserve. You may leave now." She had planted the seed before time and all she had to do was to wait until it germinated within. 

Sarius nodded and left immediately. One thing remained stuck to his head and that was when she said 'when I will need it' instead of 'when we will need it'. And what did she mean by promoting the rank? He thought to himself as he made his way towards Alec's chamber now that he was free. 

As soon as the door closed again, the Queen lifted her hand and ran it over the King's painted face. She pulled her hand back, grabbed a dagger form her waist belt and stabbed it right over the King's heart. The glass protection broke with a loud noise and the dagger's tip penetrated right through the lifeless paper beneath it. 

The Queen's handmaid who stood outside the door, came running in upon the noise but to her astonishment nothing had happened. The only thing she saw was the Queen standing before a perfectly fine painting. 

"Move this to our room." She ordered calmly. 

She could still see the hole above the King's chest…