41: Plot reveal. Long live king Kizen (trial part 5)

(Cecilia POV)

The plan was mine but he was conducting it and that was the only thing worrying me. He was the key player and he had to give the orders to the guards to make it believable. Even the enemy knew him to be a useless nincompoop. So, him giving orders to his guards to leave him alone was the best gamble we could have played. Just to increase the chances of our victory I thought that I, myself would stay with him in some disguise. Rena was an expert at doing that. I don't know what I would have ever done without her or how she had all the skills that she had but one thing was for sure, she was hell good at what she did. Now back to the ongoing matter. I was to stay near Kizen at all times. Then some noise rose in a direction. My eyes moved for a split second and when they returned, Kizen was gone. Cursing myself I started to look around.

(How the hell can he disappear so quickly?)

I was about to call the guards when I saw him returning with a kid.

(What the hell. This idiot is going to jeopardize our whole operation. Why is there a kid with him?)

I thought about it a bit but then left it as it was. It was just a kid. Soon I saw that the kid was acting all friendly with Kizen. They both were acting like two long lost friends. Then Kizen got up and the kid with him and they both started to walk away

(What now?)

I tried to follow him but then I saw his hand. He was signaling to something.

(What is he saying?)

I followed the direction of his finger. It traced back to where he was standing moments ago. There was a small parchment there. I reached for it.

<No follow. Found spy. Wait signal>

(That is the most awful grammar and hand writing I have ever seen in my life)

"Rena" I called her and once again impressing me she materialized out of nowhere.

"Yes princess" She bowed

"What do you make of this" I gave her the note. Studying it carefully she answered.

"Seem like he is trying to tell you that he knows who the spy is and that you should wait for his signal here." She said

"Yeah! Felt like that to me. So let's just believe in my brother, shall we."

The time after that passed like a sloth. I do not even know for how long I waited. But it was probably the longest wait I had ever done. About the time when my patience was at its limit, we saw it. Tiny sparks rose into the sky and blasted like fireworks.

"That's the signal. Rena what is that place." I got up and started to run.

"The sparks feel like they are over the slums and the refugee camp." She replied.

"Thanks. All the royal knights follow me." I ordered and we ran towards our supposed signal.

It took us only a few minutes to reach the destination and as we reached the place, we were at least sure of one thing.

(We have definitely reached the right place. How the hell did the matters escalate this much in such a short time?)

A crowed was surrounding two people. One was Kizen and the other I did not recognized but thought to be the foreign spy. He was holding a crossbow to Kizen's face who was on the ground with one of his knees touching the floor. All the people standing were tense. Kizen and the man were probably talking about something, I could not hear them. Kizen's lips moved and I saw the man get clearly pissed. He said something to Kizen and then, even from all the distance, I saw his fingers move on the trigger.

"NOOOOO" I shouted but

The arrow was fired.

---------------------------------

(Nathan POV)

As I had said before, patience was not one of my very strong suites. And another thing I was not good at was acting. It always irritated me to act in a way that I was not accustomed to. That was the reason I never cared about any one's feelings of remarks when presenting myself. But in order for this plan to work, I had to act as a good king. Loving and caring. Even Now I had not discovered what this trial was all about but I knew one thing for sure. It was that I could not fail this trial no matter what. Time was a luxury and one that I could not afford. So I needed to be ready. The trial was only the beginning. So, in order to achieve that, I had to put all my irritations aside and focus on the work at hand. That was making the people and all my ministers believe that I could be trusted. The only way I saw it possible was that if I acted like as I was supposed to. As a king. Giving orders that would lead to our victory in the war to gain the trust of my ministers and soldiers. Secondly, as a caring ruler. To gain the trust of my subjects.

This was what had brought me to the condition I was in right now. A big man holding a crossbow in his hand aimed at my face. Make no mistakes, I did feel sorry for Aashok and I did want to save Lien but if I had no need to care for my position and image, I would have done things differently and would not be falling to my death by the hands of a spy. Even though he was going to kill me I could not help but want to irritate him a bit.

(If my plan works then)

"You sure are an Idiot you know that" He said to me

"No I did not know that. That's NEWS to me. So, are you going to shoot or should I send an invitation." I let no chance of mocking him escape my grasp. A tick mark appeared on his head.

"No, there is no need for an invitation." He said

*SWISH*

An arrow was fired and a scream followed. Blood covered my vision. I simply got up and used my sleeve to clean the blood splatter on my face.

"YOU SURE DID TAKE YOUR PRECIOUS TIME TO GET HERE" I shouted. In a distance my sister was running towards me with her maid and the royal knights.

"But you did not take any time to stir up trouble that might have gotten you killed." She was panting due to all the running.

The man was on the ground and an arrow pierced his hand that was, mere moments ago, holding the crossbow.

"If it weren't for Rena's quick thinking, you would have a hole in your face right now" Cecilia said.

"But I do not. All's well that ends well" I said simply and Cecilia sighed.

"Surround that man knights" I ordered and they all did as were told.

"When did you call the guards?" He still could not believe what had transpired.

"HUH?"

"I am asking, when did you call the guards?" He shouted.

*BAM*

"UGH" A knight hit him in the stomach

"Shut your mouth you vermin"

"It's okay let him speak." I said. I walked and sat near him.

"What's your name" I asked him

"That is none of your bussin...….."

*BAM*

Another punch landed in his stomach.

"I told you to talk with respect." The knight shouted. I signaled him to move a little further.

"Suit yourself. You want to know when I called the guards. Well, the signals were those small marbles that bursted into fireworks." I said.

"How did they get here so quickly? It was not that long ago." He still could not understand how I scammed him.

"Because I told them to be ready in case of my signal." I answered

"How did you tell them in advance...…Wait, you KNEW THAT YOU WILL MEET ME. HOW?"

"As I said, your punch was the thing that gave you away"

"No,no,no. That is not what I am asking. If you knew that I was the spy, why not just order your knights to capture me."

"Because WE knew that there was a spy. But we were never told if there were more of you guys. So it was a ploy to make you guys show yourselves."

"that still does not explains how you knew that Aashok was working for me."

"He's a kid. His expressions gave him out. He was no actor. Depression, caution, desperation, and a bit of hesitation. All these were the emotions that gave him away."

"You mean to say that all that has come to pass was your doing."

"Yes" I said proudly. "Well except for this" I pointed at the wound on my leg. "I had never planned to get hurt but not everything goes as planned" I faked a sigh. "Now if you are done then" I gestured the knights "Take him away"

"Wow brother ...… that was some show of brain power. I never thought you could also think this way." Cecilia patted my shoulders.

"It was nothing. Now, we have to get back to the castle. There is an attack we have to defend against." I said

"Ummmm ...….. Sire" I heard a small voice.

"What is it" I turned, irritated

"Th-th-th-thank you for saving me." It was Lien, the little girl. She was barely seven. She was scared and was standing in front of me holding a flower.

"No need for that. Now run along" I did not have time for thank yous.

"WILL YOU PLEASE ACCEPT THAT" She said as loudly as she could. I turned and saw her holding the flower to me.

(...…)

I took the flower. The moment the flower left her hand, she darted like a bullet back to her mother. The mother caught her. Then both her parents looked at me and they bowed deeply. Following their lead all the people near us started to bow.

(What is going on here?)

"LONG LIVE THE KING" Someone shouted and then all the public around us became frantic.

"LONG LIVE KING KIZEN"

"LONG LIVE THE KING"

"LONG LIVE KING KIZEN"

"LONG LIVE THE KING"

I was simply shocked to hear that.

"Looks like someone has made an impression" Cecilia smiled at me.

"HUH. Move quickly. We have work to do in the castle." I said and turned around. My face was serious as ever but my mind was not

(Finally the first part accomplished. I got the trust of the refugees)