18 Death?

The name that was mentioned by the knight rang a bell in the mind of Duke Wauter. He had his reservations and ought to have held on to them, but instead he chose the most logical approach.

"Maxim, you said... is that correct?" asked the Duke.

Maxim didn't waste any second to reply in the affirmative.

"Yes, milord. I am Maxim indeed!"

Wauter sighed, then he focused his gaze on his nephew instead.

"My prince... Is it that I have grown weary of reason or this knight is indeed supposed to be a sworn aide by the king's side?" asked Wauter.

Aldrich hesitated for a minute, because he feared an indirect scolding from his uncle if he should present the wrong answer to his question.

Over an hour ago, as soon as Aldrich had stormed out of his mother— the Queen's side prior to the ominous blackout, he had quickly but secretly arranged for a knight of sworn loyalty to the newly appointed king to be lured over to his side.

This, he had so easily done by making use of his wits, hence Maxim was quick to fall for the trap after a fair deal of promises had been made to him by the prince.

However, Aldrich had taken into account careful study of Maxim's character much earlier than this...

During those times when Queen Athena had ruled over the nation of Aegremonth for the first thirty days that succeeded her husband's fall into a deep slumber, Aldrich had taken care to study some knights according to their charisma and character.

This, he had done from a distance but still, he could easily guess how easy Maxim could be cajoled to benefit them if things went south. Maxim was a knight of weak character, though physically strong, he held no hidden morals.

To Aldrich, Maxim was a loud sounding barrel talking when he should not, and not having a clear thinking mind of his own.

However, despite Maxim's loud mouthedness, something about Aldrich's gut revealed that under the right conditions, Maxim could keep a secret and be handy in getting them enough information on matters of importance that went on in his absence.

Now things had indeed gone south, and Briceus had been declared king and Aldrich had vowed to take back his rightful place. Only now did he require this knight's services whose name he had not figured the importance of knowing at first.

——

"Uncle, it is true indeed that this knight ought to be solely on the king's side," revealed Aldrich.

"If so, then why is he here? And to reveal what? If he is your secret informant within the king's private echelon, how can I be sure that he won't betray us and rat us out as well?" Wauter ended his speech by casting a scornful gaze at Maxim in a bid to question his integrity by peering into his soul.

Even though Wauter appreciated his nephew's effort, he would have preferred if they had sneaked in their own man into the King's private echelon than have one of the king's sworn aide do the dirty work of reporting to them occasionally.

'A man that can be won over on lame bets and promises can have many masters indeed while he chooses to accord the highest rank of respect and loyalty to the highest bidder. The question remains, is prince Aldrich the highest bidder or the newly appointed king, Lord Briceus?' pondered Wauter as the thoughts rampaged his mind like the harsh water currents of a free flowing waterfall.

"Uncle... you may need to trust me blindly on this because I trust him," informed Prince Aldrich while he heightened his mission of caressing the queen's tender hands once he noticed that she did panic due to the revelation.

"Okay then," said the Duke to the prince. Then, he turned to look at Maxim and requested of him to speak.

"Tell us what you have to say, Maxim," said Wauter.

Maxim who had given in to fretting for a second, once his loyalty was being deliberated upon regained composure swiftly to speak.

"Thank you, milord. In truth after the king informed us of the journey we were soon to make to the Shadow hollow, we were-"

"Wait a minute," interrupted the queen, "Did Briceus confirm that himself? That he would be going to the hollowed woods?" asked Athena craftily.

"Yes, your highness. It was after a revelation by some young esquires that they had seen a mythical entity of eerie form take off into the woods. This, they had acquainted his majesty with, hence the decision to journey to the depressed woods, your majesty," revealed Maxim.

Meanwhile, this information gladdened Athena who anticipated in her heart that Briceus should not return from the quest.

'It will be a good thing if we rid him off for good how much more if he walks himself to his own doom. He does not deserve to be called a prince much less a king. He is an abomination to the earth and not seeing him return would be gleeful indeed,' reasoned Queen Athena in her heart.

Thereafter Wauter turned to Maxim, and spoke to him.

"You may proceed with your revelation," insisted Wauter who was growing impatient.

"Thank you, kind Duke... Now, afterwards we walked in the direction of the king's former bedroom and saw a maiden, she was dressed as the others which were by the hall of Termarth before the darkness crept in, but his majesty insisted she was a demon in the guise of a human and demanded that she be sent to the Dordragon pit. It appeared she had just come out of his majesty's room," reported Maxim.

The revelation was getting interesting to the Queen whose ears had become itchy to hear more.

"And so? Did she get transported to the Dordragon prison?" asked Athena.

"Yes, her majesty! I was given the charge to do so along with another knight, but she kept chanting that she had merely lost her jewellery and needed to find it. It was a tough call getting her safely to her destination. She was a bit too rascal for a maiden," informed Maxim.

"Oh, poor girl! How lonely she must feel," said Athena in pretence as though she genuinely cared for the girl.

"Thank you, Maxim. You may go!" charged Wauter.

Thus, Maxim bowed slightly and turned his back to leave.

Once he had shut the door with him on the other side, Athena was the first to speak.

"And now, brother we have an argument to present," affirmed Athena to Wauter.

Aldrich was at a loss at first, so he spoke.

"Mother enlighten me of your plans. What argument do we have?" asked Aldrich.

However, Athena smiled warmly and said nothing in a hurry, allowing for time to pass while Aldrich figured it out. Afterall if he were the king, he ought to think up strategies on his own accord and quickly too.

"Oh, mother, you are very wise. You want us to find the jewellery first and put it away while we let her starve to death and prepare the argument before the parliament of the king's atrocities," said Aldrich and he smiled shrewdly.

"Death? That is too harsh, don't you think?" reprimanded the queen.

Then Wauter spoke...

"Your mother wants us to be the first to find the missing piece of jewellery and present a case before the parliament of the king's tyranny. Now if the girl be dead already, who would be our witness?" asked Wauter.

"Oh that was mother's meaning? Well, I doubt we would come across the jewellery since the interiors of the entire castle is swept and kept in shape more than three times in a day, mother," said Aldrich as he communicated his concerns to the Queen.

"Well, even without the jewellery we can still make a case. Given how busy the king would be in trying to figure out the root cause of the darkness, he would easily be distracted from remembering he kept a girl in the Dordragon for so long a time. So therefore, we wait...

In three days, at least, she should be malnourished then we offer her freedom in exchange for her compliance," concluded the queen smartly.

"However, she could actually be a visitor from the yonder realm disguised as a maiden and before three days, she should have escaped back to her world by chanelling her true form through a portal. So I suggest we wait," interjected Wauter.

"Brother, must you always bring up counter instances?" questioned the Queen.

However, Wauter remained silent, but Aldrich harboured his own thoughts.

'Why will Briceus send a girl off to the Dordragon for merely entering his room? Hm... Is the king hiding something that only this girl knows? And, hence he wants to kill her off? I must get to the absolute bottom of this," vowed Aldrich.