Rudyard reports to the royal family

Rudyard opened the window at the very end of the library, slowly, making sure not to make a sound. He stealthy climbed out the window and was greeted by the chilled midnight air. The night was peaceful with only the sounds of the grass swaying and the leaves rustling in the wind, and far off the sound of the ocean and the breeze coming off of the waves.

As silent and as careful as an owl he traveled the distance to the royal palace using the wind magic cape that allowed him to glide soundlessly through the night sky.

The leather cape allowed him to propel himself upward and glide above the forest floor for minutes at a time. The only time he made a sound was when his feet touched the shrub and the soil in order to propel himself back up again.

When he reached the north gate of the palace, that was just as menacingly golden and imposing as the south entrance, one of the guards opened the small side gate for him as usual and allowed him passage through the underground tunnels that lead to the throne room, where he met the Royal family waiting for him.

Even for Rudyard who had experienced the scariest and most frightening of creatures, from demonized beasts to deadly assassins and and the cruelest of generals, the Royal family was the most intimidating.

It was their eyes. Although they glowed a brilliant gold in any light and were praise and envy of all the nobles, even the nobles from the other kingdoms. Rudyard, however, saw past the beauty of their eyes, he knew the terrifying Mysterious power they held.

And it wasn't only their eyes. The Royal family ran the kingdom with an iron fist, they crushed opposition ruthlessly and when it came to power they were dictators. Proof of this was that they were ordering Rudyard to monitor Lady Riley. For the first time in Rudyard's years of service to the Royal family, had he seen them take this much precaution. It did make sense to him though, in less than a season Lady Delton had managed to win the Mage tournament, become a noble, and create a revolutionary potion that Girannon has been able to trade with other kingdoms. And that was only what the public knew...

Rudyard got down on one knee and placed his hand over his heart and bowed his body to the Royal family.

"Greetings Your Majesties." He proclaimed. "Greetings your highnesses." He greeted all three princes.

"Rudyard..." Began the King, perhaps the most menacing of them all. He was a proud king but also a wise man. "... Your meeting is long overdue. I hope you have information of value for us."

King Leofrick had been born during the Great War and as soon as he turned sixteen he was sent onto the battlefield to fight by his father, the King of Girannon before him. Leofrick's father was a foolish man who had sentenced his people to decades of war with the other kingdoms, he even forced his own son to fight in battle instigated going himself. Leofrick entered the war a young idealistic boy, but had re-emerged from the war a man, completely disillusioned about life. The battling had almost killed, him many times, but he used his power and his gifts to thrive even though he was so young. By the time he was 21 he had taken control of the Girannonian armies from his father and lead Girannon to victory. To the people, he was the hero of the world. A great symbol of the power and might of Girannon.

King Leofrick was an impenetrable force, who had been blessed by the gods with might and strength. It was his golden eyes and demeanor that Rudyard found the most terrifying.

"Forgive me my king. I did not want to waste your precious time with information that wasn't worth listening to." The king did not reply to him he only stared down at the spy kneeling on the ground.

"Tell me what you have discovered." His voice was clear yet rough.

"My lord, I have investigated thoroughly and it is impossible that she is a spy from the other nations. I believe her story about waking up in the forest it true. However I suspect that she might have some memories about her past that she is unwilling to tell anyone about, but overall she is not a threat to Girannon."

Prince Geoffrey was seated in the golden throne next to his father, his Royal blue evening robes draped perfectly over his chair and his golden head resting casually on his long fingers.

"Tell us everything." It was a simple yet subtly layered command.

Rudyard noted that prince Geoffrey's eyes radiated a similar light to the King's. In him Rudyard saw the future of Girannon, good or bad, he wasn't sure yet. But he knew the prince carried the same charisma and strength that his father had.

"Your Highness. Lady Riley has not contacted any suspicious sources. I intercepted all of her letters, and I found nothing suspicious in them." Rudyard explained, still kneeling on the floor, he knew better than to stand up before them when he was not asked.

"Anything of note?" Prince Kristopher stood behind his brother's throne, his long golden hair loose about his shoulders. Rudyard felt that the younger prince still had the feeling of youth about him, he had something of naivety about him that the King and the first prince had long since abandoned.

"Lady Delton and the Marcellus's are very well acquainted, especially with Lady Alice and Lord Cornelius, she will in fact be attending Lord Tyrion Marcellus's seventh birthday next week." Replied Rudyard.

"What else? What are her plans? What events is she involving herself in?" Asked Prince Geoffrey who seemed irritated. He wasn't in the mood to hear about her close friendship with Lord Cornelius.

"Lady Delton has also opened what she calls a "café" or dessert shop on the harbor side, that is becoming increasingly popular."

"A cake shop, How unusual ..." commented the queen. Unlike her husband she wasn't suspicious of Lady Riley. Queen Mirabelle's intuition was telling her that Lady Delton was a good young Lady and not a threat to the kingdom. However she did agree that it was always best it be sure, so she had no objections to Rudyard's surveillance of Lady Delton.

"Lady Delton is also very charitable. She plans to become the benefactor of a children's home and is currently organizing a safe house for women." Said Rudyard, recalling the letters that he had read yesterday.

The king was pleased to hear this. "Charity... heh..." After what he had seen of Lady Delton at the Mage competition, and at the Von Esterheim soirée, he was quite impressed with her. Now she was even involving herself in charity, something that very few nobles did. He was quite impressed. However, he wanted to stay neutral and find out more about the mysterious lady before he grew fond of her.

"At the moment she is also creating a weapon." The Royal family sharpened their eyes and ears at Rudyard, this was the news that they had been expecting. "She is making it for the Mage exam at the end of the flowering season."

"What kind of weapon?" Geoffrey's eyes were sharp golden slits and at the moment they were filled with precaution and desire.

"I do not know the exact function of the weapon, but I do know that she is planning on making it out of Crystalline and that it was amplify magic to some affect." Rudyard's head was bowed but he could still see the peaked interest of the Royals.

"We will discover what kind of weapons she is capable of making at the examination then." Commented the King. "Rudyard, is there anything else that we should know?"

"Yes, your majesty. The device that she carries with her. I have discovered some more of its capabilities..." Rudyard started. "Besides acting as a torch and an instant painting maker, it is able to perform mathematical calculations and I believed it also house the information of many cooking books."

"What an amazing artifact." Sighed prince Kristopher who recalled the instant paintings of the first day.

"Perhaps we should confiscate it from her for a day or two so that we can uncover its secrets." Suggested the Queen.

"That's not possible mother, the artifact is cast so that only she can use it." Replied Kristopher.

"Alright then Rudyard. Head back to her mansion and keep on reporting back to us about suspicious activity." Commanded the King. With that Rudyard got up from the floor and headed out of the room through the tunnel and made his way back to the front gate and then into the forest.

The Royal family soon retreated to their rooms, but not before the queen declared that she would have her servants go and buy some cakes from Lady Delton's cake shop when it opened again.