A Deal With the Enemy

Chapter 20

A line of a hundred horsemen travelled along the path at a steady trot, their horses arranged two abreast. They were charged with the safety of the new king of Blue, who rode in the middle of the line. Next to the king rode his cousin and second in line to the throne, Evand. In the distance, a lone rider approached from the direction they were headed. Evand stirred his horse to the front of the line to intercept the man.

Grey watched as one of the bandit scouts approached Evand to give his report before heading back out. Evand returned to Grey's side, updating him on the situation. "Our scouts have reported that the castle is up ahead, but it is uninhabited. From the looks of it, they left months ago." Grey felt a twinge of disappointment. He half expected this to happen but he had still hoped to catch the elusive prince of that damn family.

They continued on the path for a while before the castle came into view. The typically expressionless Grey could not hide his surprise. "Is that it? It seems rather small for the abode of a prince."

"Our spies have reported that this is the only abode and official residence of Prince Rylee, the youngest prince," Evand replied.

Grey winced at the name. "Did you find out how common the name Rylee is in Aura?"

Evand had indeed inquired about it, although he wasn't sure why his cousin had asked such a pointless question. The youngest prince of Aura would not be silly enough to use his real name when in hiding, so why find out about the popularity of the name? even so, Evand had done as asked and humoured his cousin. "It is neither common nor unusual, although the feminine form, Rylea is quite popular among the younger generations."

"What else is known about the prince?"

"Almost nothing," Evand answered, a little perplexed himself. "Our people found no portrait paintings of the prince among the hundreds of paintings in Argent Castle, although reports indicate he was present at the ball on the night the castle was attacked. He and his guard were among the first to flee the city." 'He is concomitantly the biggest coward and a very smart man', Evand wryly thought to himself.

"He rarely makes an appearance in the capital, and many have said he was greatly disfavoured by the king although the reasons why are as yet unclear. His falling out with his father led to him moving permanently away from the capital. In terms of his appearance, he is described as fair haired and brown eyed."

Grey frowned, "That pretty much describes half of those living in and around the capital."

"I'm afraid that's all we have so far on the prince. Perhaps some clues remain within those walls." As he spoke, Evand gave his cousin a sidelong look, unable to hide his worried expression. After the fall of Argent City, Grey, with the help of Elerion, successfully beat back the small number of remaining troops within Argent City and its surroundings, overpowering them without a hassle.

On his end, Evand was tasked with coordinating the recruitment and training of villagers and farmers as new paramilitary troops. When the time came, they rose up to fight, and retook control of their villages and towns, forcing the enemy to flee. With their king dead, and with nowhere to go, the ill-prepared and leaderless army of Aura admitted defeat, surrendering without much fight to Evand's troops.

With the enemy subdued, Grey then began his hunt for the two elusive princes. The crown prince was tracked to his mighty castle, where Grey ordered a relentless siege. After a mere two months, the castle ultimately fell. Evand watched as Grey finally inflicted his revenge, executing the man who desecrated his parents' bodies. Even the betrayer, General Calen, had been captured within the castle's walls, and executed for his crime of colluding with the enemy.

Instead of finding peace after avenging his family, Grey seemed to lose purpose in his life. It was almost as if the last burst of fire in his heart had died, leaving nothing but blackness in its aftermath. He became withdrawn, hardly bothering about the affairs of either nation, requesting either Elerion or Evand to deal with any issues that cropped up. The only decree he made was to order all Healers from Aura to be treated with respect, which made perfect sense to Evand.