Assignment

We stayed in the holding room until Sir Walter came and gave us notice that the castle and city had been swept. No sign of any threats were uncovered, but clearly there was more to report than should be general knowledge.

"Excuse us, ladies. Come gentlemen, the council will convene." The king bellowed.

Abrin, not wanting to be grouped with "ladies", stood and was soon on the king's heels.

"Ab.." my mother was cut off by my uncle.

"Master Abrin, will you do me a favor by taking on a special assignment?" Uncle John coyly offered.

Abrin turned on his heel, curious as to what he could do. "What is it?"

"These ladies need protecting." Uncle John motioned to the throng sitting around the fireplace.

"Do I get a sword?" Abrin's eyes grew greedily.

"No. You are going to protect them from something else. The utter despair of not having all of us together" my uncle was losing my brother's enthusiasm. "I picked you specially for this assignment because the cure is laughter. Can you make these ladies laugh?"

My mother joined in the charade. "Oh, I am in the depths of despair!" She dramatically threw the back of her palm to her forehead, pantomiming that she might swoon.

"Oh no! Abrin might be our only hope!" The queen joined in the game.

Abrin beamed as he ran toward what would be his center stage. "No need to fret, Mama!" Abrin turned his back to his audience and bent at the middle. He started making goofy faces between his legs. The ladies giggled at their new court jester.

"I see you have your assignment well in hand. Keep up the good work, Abrin." My father smiled before opening the door for my uncle and me to follow the king to the council chambers. Slight envy pricked at my heart. I wish I were being entertained by my brother instead of whisked away to a meeting, however duty calls.

We entered the same room where we had housed the gnomes. Lord Bleddyn, Lord Garrison, Captain Marcus and Captain Gunnar were all already in the room. They rose from their seats out of respect for the king. King Caderyn took his place at the head of the table before motioning for the rest of us to join him. I sat in between my father and uncle, hoping I didn't steal anyone's seat.

"My Liege, please excuse my impertinence. I just wanted to inform you before we begin that I have instructed one of my servants to inform me when my son is out of surgery. I hope this does not cause any disruption." Lord Garrison was straight forward. I appreciated his concern for Gavin and was glad to think that Balor was an exception rather than the standard for how the men of Falcon behaved.

"Of course. We understand." The king then turned to the business at hand, "Captains, please give your reports."

Captain Marcus, who I think was from the clan of wolves, started his report. " The castle and grounds were swept and nothing was found to be amiss." He cleared his throat. His brown eyes seemed to give away his nerves. I wondered how often he had to give reports here.

"The castle walls have doubled the watch and will do scheduled sweeps of the palace until told otherwise. We have no intelligence that makes us think that the attacker made it past the city and on to royal grounds." Captain Marcus finished his review before straightening back his deep brown hair.

"Thank you for your report. Are there any questions from the council?" The king posed to the group.

I had so many questions, but they hardly seemed appropriate. How did they sweep the castle? Was every room and passageway checked? I did not want to question the captain's authority. I was simply curious. Having played hide and seek in the rooms outside of the petitioner's court as a child, I could only imagine how many nooks someone could hide in if they had the whole castle to choose from. I suppose I should trust these men to do their job.

"Hearing none, is there anything else you have to say Captain Marcus before we hear Captain Gunnar's report?" The king added.

"One last thing, I propose that the royal family consider keeping extra personal guards until more intelligence is gathered about this threat." Captain Marcus added.

"It shall be done." The king announced.

"As you wish" Lord Garrison nodded. He was still in charge of those men.

"Captain Gunnar, please share your findings." The king commanded.

Gunnar was one of my distant relatives. I could not tell you exactly how our family tree connected, but I knew he was a clansman. He straightened his back to his full height and breathed deeply.

"My men swept the city and investigated the area of the attack. They did not find the archer that shot at the royal family during the parade. The citizens that saw the man all have roughly the same description. Including an invaluable close up description from Lady Calista. The archer apparently has a scar behind his left ear. Wanted posters have already been posted around the city. " Gunnar paused to collect his thoughts.

"The next pieces of the investigation have not been fully solved. Please, Good Swordsmen, I welcome any insight". His hand ran through his red hair before Gunnar continued.

"The archer by all accounts disappeared into a puff of smoke, but it was not without a trace. He stood on cobblestone that is now scorched with burn marks. We do not know what this means." Gunnar's face surveyed the room.

What could that mean? How was that possible? Before anyone tried to answer that mystery, he continued.

"Also, we are not sure that the first arrow did not miss its mark." There was a surplus of confused expressions in the room. The first arrow only caught Balor's hat.

"This was attached to the arrow shaft." Gunnar unfurled a scroll. Across the page it read "Are you sure you are safe?" Above an inscription that was not in any language I had seen before.

A chill ran down my spine. Someone wanted the people to panic. They certainly had my attention