Deception

Finley's sudden action left everyone stunned, and they gaped at him in terror. There was a streak of blood crossing his face, adding more to his already daunting expression. Even King Jorah stood perplexed at the man's unforeseen action.

The man whose head had been chopped off dropped to the floor, his blood staining the area around him. Jorah stared at his minister, who had been by his side even before he had taken over the throne, and then at the Commander, who had been his pride unable to comprehend what was happening.

"Commander Finley," He cleared his throat, his confusion evident on his face. "Care to explain the reason behind your actions."

"Milord," Finley bowed before him, lowering his blood-stained sword. "Minister Vincent was the reason why this battle even happened in the first place."

"What do you mean, Commander? Please elaborate." Jorah frowned, still unable to understand the situation.

"Milord, it was he who sent letters covertly to Nethilor, giving away our secrets to our enemy. It was because of him that King Rhysand knows our weakness, and he planned to attack us when you were struggling to resolve the crisis regarding the internal revolt in the kingdom." Finley listed out the old man's misdeeds one by one, glaring at the man's now dead body.

"How can you be certain about it? Minister Vincent had been by my side even before I took over the throne. What if there is some misunderstanding and you are wrong?" Jorah tried to reason, unable to believe that the man he trusted the most had deceived him.

"Milord, I have evidence to prove my words." He extracted a parchment from his trouser pocket and handed it to Jorah. "Please take a look at this, Milord. You will get your answers in this letter."

Jorah stared at the letter for a few moments before receiving it and opening it. At first, his face was blank. There was no expression of any sort. As he continued reading, his eyes widened in disbelief, and by the time he was done, he was infuriated, and his eyes were blazing in anger. "He dares to go against me!!" He bellowed, his incensed voice echoing through the area.

The soldiers and the guards shivered in fear and prayed for their lives. An angry Jorah was the last thing they wanted to see. Jorah tended to release his wrath on his soldiers whenever he was angry, and now that he was enraged, they could not help but fear for their lives. However, to their astonishment, he did nothing like they had expected him to.

Seconds passed, and Jorah stood staring at the sky, calming his rage. The man whom he had trusted with life had deceived him, and the one thing Jorah hated the most was a betrayal. If not for the fact that he recognized Vincent's unique handwriting, he would have assumed Finley to be playing tricks with him. Vincent had unique handwriting that was difficult to mimic, and Jorah had seen him write before.

"Commander Finley, is he alone in this, or are there more people with him?"

"I am not certain about it, Milord. But there must be others in the kingdom supporting him. Otherwise, it is impossible to send and receive messages without anybody noticing it." Finley voiced his opinion, and Jorah nodded, agreeing with him.

"Commander Finley, I will now assign you will a new task. You must find out everyone involved in this deception and end their lives for me. Until then, the celebration will be on hold. Also, do make sure to leave a warning to others," Jorah ran his eyes at his men, who had their heads bowed. "I will never allow anyone to get away after betraying me."

"Yes, Milord. I will do as you say." Finley bowed and waited for the king to return to his yurt before he commanded his men to take care of the two bodies. He then sat on the wooden armchair beside the king's throne and beckoned a soldier to get him a wet cloth. However, instead of wiping his blood-smeared face, he started to clean his sword, which he cherished more than his life.

Finely plopped his leg on the legrest in front of him, dipping the cloth in water, coloring it a deep shade of red before he continued to clean it. The soldiers eyed him, wondering if he was the same man who had kneeled before the group of strangers. Their Commander, right now, looked completely different than the one they had seen on the battleground as he knelt on the ground obediently.

Finley sensed the curious eyes on him, and he lifted his head, his hand still wiping his sword. His sudden attention on them petrified the soldiers, and they averted their gazes, escaping from his presence at once. However, there was one person who stood still, his back facing the Commander.

"Knight Commander Morgan," Finley called him, and the man almost dropped his quiver of arrows hearing his deep voice. However, he calmed his heart and approached the man, who still looked as forbidding as ever.

"Yes, Commander."

Finley observed him, his fierce gaze making Morgan uncomfortable. "Do you have something to tell me?" He queried, raising an eyebrow.

"I..I.." Morgan stuttered, not knowing what the Commander wanted him to speak about.

"Why were the other soldiers looking at me strangely?" Finley queried, his question clearing the man's confusion.

Morgan knew now he had no way out. "Commander, they were worried about you."

"Worried? Why?" Finley frowned, finding his Knight Commander's words hilarious.

"Commander, did something happen at the battleground before you got surrounded by Commander Blair's men?"

"Why do you ask?" Finley's frown deepened, and he recalled the time when Blair had held him captive.

"Commander, before Commander Blair got to you, you were dealing with a group of strange people. One moment, you were pointing your arrow at them, and the next moment, you were kneeling in front of them."

Finley burst out laughing hearing Morgan's words. "Kneel and me? I have never knelt in front of anyone other than the royal family. Knight Commander, you must be hallucinating."

"I am not, Commander. You can ask the other soldiers to clarify it. They too witnessed you kneeling before the group."

"What happened next?" Finley asked, intrigued by the man's words.

"The group then evacuated from the place, and our soldiers tried to find out what had happened to you. But before that, Blair's men surrounded us."

Finley narrowed his eyes and tried to recall everything that had happened in the battleground before he killed Blair. And his lips parted when the events flashed before his eyes. However, all he could remember was that he was genuflecting when Blair got to him. But as to how and why he was in that position, Finley could not remember even if he tried many times.