It was them....

"Ramses...Stand!"Tyran ordered after placing him on the marble floor.

Ramses ignored him and continued his bitting on Tyran's crown, raising his head every few seconds to steal a glance at his father.

"Ramses!"Tyran called out but the child concentrated only bitting and fondling with it while drooling.

He snatched the crown from his hand Ramses let out a loud cry,it's intensity increasing progressively at intervals.

Tyran frowned and turned to Carolene,his brows furrowed.

"You made me come all the way out here just to waste my time?Do you know how many countless duties I have on me?...you even dare decieve me!"

"I swear with my life I did not decieve your majesty...you must believe me". Carolene pleaded.

"An infant...an infant walk?an infant hush you?how dare you lie against the imperial prince!"Tyran barked.

Carolene got on her knees and lowered her head.

"You must believe me great Emperor...I would never lie against the imperial prince.. your imperial majesty you must believe me!"Carolene cried out trying to to hold back the tears fighting to roll out her eyes.

Tyran pulled out his sword.

"Hmmphh...too bad I swore to kill you if I was decieved".

Carolene's eyes drifted to the sword and the tears finally escaped her eyes.

She looked up at the emperor.

"Forgive me your majesty..."she pleaded"pleeeaase...Show mercy".

Tyran scoffed.

"I am called a ruthless ruler for a reason...I have never shown mercy to anyone".

A frightened Carolene turned to Ramses,her eyes now red stared into the crying toddler's.

"Your majesty...I beg of you I have never done you any wrong...not once if I have ever wronged you then please show no mercy and let the emperor take my life but if I have never...Your majesty please listen to your father,please...don't let me die like this"Carolene sobbed but Ramses didn't stop crying.

Tyran shook his head and sent his sword flying downwards but with precision.

A hand that pulled on Tyran's garment made him stop the sword in mid air.

He looked down to see Ramses standing beside him,with his tiny hand streched out, motioning for him to stop.The child had now stopped crying.

Tyran's jaw dropped,a moment ago he was sitting in front of him,how did he get to his side and he was_Tyran blinked twice.

He was standing!

The child walked over to Carolene's face, Tyran's eyes following him.

He bent over,placing both arms on his knee as stared at Carolene whose eyes was closed, already waiting for the end.

He used both hands to open both her eyes then clenched his tiny hands in a fist and used them to clean off her tears, giggling as he did.

Carolene's eyes met the infant and she just watched him.

Then he jumped over to his father still giggling.

Tyran stared in awe his mind debating whether to stay or flee.Children of both demons and humans alike began walking at approximately a year old he knew but here in front of him was a walking one month old baby.

"Can you talk?"Tyran asked and Ramses shook his head and pulled a side of his lower lip,exposing a growing lower pair of teeth.

"What are you?" A suprised Tyran asked,still not believing what he was seeing.

Ramses raised both hands and pulled on his pointy tiny ears,the only different feature demons had from humans in their stable form.

A movement Tyran interpreted as;

'Well yea am a demon like you'

No you're not.Tyran wanted to say but instead swallowed his words.

The baby prince walked towards his father and reached for the crown he held.

Tyran handed it over and Ramses sat,his chew on the crown recommencing.

Ramses raised the crown to his head but his short hands couldn't place it properly that it fell off.

Tyran picked it and put the crown on his head.

Ramses turned to Carolene who still knelt at a few paces from him,closely watching him.

"Are you that hungry for my throne".Tyran asked and Ramses shook his head.

He titled his head so that the crown fell off then he picked it up and hugged it.

Tyran couldnt help but laugh then he suddenly stopped laughing as he watched Ramses motion for Carolene to stand.

Carolene stood up and Ramses raised a smiling face at her.

Tyran abruptly turned the other way and walked towards the door still startled by what he had just seen.

"I need to clear my head"he muttered.

*****************************

When Athena left,Gerald stared at the body for a while then approached it.He stopped and placed his thumb on its wrist to check for a pulse but found none.

Disappointed,he got back to his feet,his gaze still fixed on the body.Something was off,he felt it.

Gerald didn't know why he crouched low again and eyed the area of the chest that the sword had gone through.

He glanced over at the sword next to her some inches from her hand then he turned the body over.

It turned out the sword she was cut with had ran through her and emerged from her back.

He picked up Luamisa's sword, observed the level of blood stain on it then he lifted the body and supporting it with one hand ran the sword through the same cut on her chest.

When it reached the level where the blood stain on the sword stopped and looked behind her.It didn't emerge from her back.He slightly pushed it an inch futher,the same result.

Gerald dropped the body and raised his left hand to his chin.

It wasn't a solid evidence but it was possible she wasn't stabbed with the same sword.

Why would Luamisa stab herself another sword if she had hers and why would her own sword be stained with blood If she didn't?

She wouldn't have killed herself with another sword and the sword had punctured her heart.

She had probably dropped dead immediately.

Gerald rose to his feet and searched the area for some other sword but he found none.

Had Athena also stabbed her again after she killed herself?

That wasn't likely, according to her she didn't want her dead,not yet.

He was going to question her and he prayed he got the answer he desired to hear.

He went over to the body and peered at it,the body now slightly shifted from it's former position.

Gerald thought he saw a slightly faded writing in the sand.

He narrowed his eyes and looked closely.

He wasn't imagining things, something was there.

Gerald bent over and read out loud

"It was_"the last words had already been stamped upon by him probably while he attempted lifting her body but luckily he could still make it out.

Them

His eyes widened.

"It was them"he muttered to himself"Who is them?"

The squire probably wrote this before she was stabbed,she knew someone was coming and her death wasn't suicide, Athena had killed her,she had probably seen or heard something she shouldn't and her knight killed her.

Whoever she meant by them,Athena and Dark was surely among these people.

Gerald felt they were connected to the emperess death and they wanted the prince dead as well.

He was going to get to the bottom of this,to find who these people were but he didn't know who he could trust with this information.

He couldn't tell the emperor, nothing was certain yet and he felt it wasn't the right time.

Gerald decided to investigate on his own rather than drag innocent people to their deaths nor could he trust anyone at a time like this.

After summoning some imperial palace knights to return Luamisa's body to her family, Gerald set out to the one person whose answers to his question could provide a solid base to his investigation and finally confirm the first phase of his suspicions.

The emperor's knight wings protruded from his back and they lifted him above the ground.

He landed at the closest street to the imperial palace and decided to walk all the way.

Having flown all day he decided to walk all the way to the imperial palace because the atmosphere above was way cooler than normal and the cold even seeped in through the spaces armor he wore sending chills through his entire body and he had no intention of wasting his spirit energy to warm himself up with his flames.

When he landed he noticed so many people walking,only a few flew,they probably had noticed it too.

Around him everyone stared and he wondered why,their stares made him uncomfortable.He looked downwards and realized the reason.He was on full armor.

The emperor's knight stopped by a cloth store and began selecting some clothes from the one displayed outside.

From under his lashes he caught sight of two girls who whispered to themselves as they watched him.

Gerald strained to hear them and he did.

"Isn't that the emperor's knight"he heard one of them say.

"Are you certain Lisa?"

"Dummy...don't you know the emblem of his imperial majesty?dont you know the most handsome young man in Urah?and guess what,I have an Intel from the palace it says...he is still single"the girl sighed and placed a hand on her chest."oh if only he would just look at me"

"No he would look at me before turning to you because...am more prettier"the other girl said.

Gerald shot a glance their way and Lisa fell off her feet,collapsing into the other girls hands.

She swiftly moved away making Lisa land on her butt.

"Ouch!"she cried out.

Gerald couldn't help but smile,he collected the clothes, dropped a few bronze coins and went into the building to change.

"Oh my goodness!he just smiled at me"the girl exclaimed eye widened as she covered her lips with both hands.

Gerald came out of the building and caught sight of the two girls,still standing on the same spot,still staring.

"Oh Lisa...just look at him in those clothes he looks so unreal"one of the girls said dreamily, clasping both hands close to her chest.

Not these two again.

He mumbled and walked away.The two girls followed him.Gerald looked back and caught sight of them,still chattering and pointing his way then he hastened up his pace.

As he walked further more women threw glances at him, some girls winking at him and others pulling their hair and gracefully swinging their hips and spinning around to tighten their clothes to show their body curves.

A hand pulled him and his face landed in a soft surface with a familiar texture he recognized.

He opened his eyes and raised his head to see he had landed in the exposed part of the breasts of an older fat woman.Her breast was so huge it had buried his entire face.

The knight's eyes met the woman's who smiled widely at him with a face filled with a monstrous makeover.

"Don't you like what you see?"she said gleefully.

Gerald screamed and drew away staggering backwards till he tripped over a little girl's bucket on the floor.He turned to see multiple ladies around rushing in his direction to help him.

The knight quickly rose to his feet,spread his wings and took off before they got to him.

He realized the problem wasn't his armor but him.He would rather let the cold cling to him than strange women.