I love this feeling
This feeling of calm
"I'm sorry, I mean Lord Reuel"
Reuel chuckled low and sedate, "It's Ok Cyane, I would rather prefer it if you called me by my name"
"But I.." She was adamant to go along with his offer, it was already obvious, he was a Royal and she was a low class. Her presence in the castle had only being requested just for her medical services and nothing else, "I don't think it is right to..."
"It is to me" He eyed her up and stretched his hand out towards her, "I can see you were going back to meet my Uncle, mind if I join you?"
She shook her head then took his outstretched hand, it felt warm and gentle to her touch, "Thank you Lor.. I mean Reuel"
He gave her a warm smile, "Shall we?"
~*~
The walk back to the King's chambers was silent, Cyane was nervous as hell, she didn't know how to start a conversation or if it was even right to start one in the first place. She ran her hands nervously on her dress, straightening it. She did so quietly trying to not let Reuel know that she was a bit uneasy
"You don't have to be afraid of me, I won't hurt you"
"I'm not afraid of you" she denied, fiddling with her fingers in the process, Reuel's gaze flickered from her conjoined fingers pressed in front of her dress and back to her face that hadn't looked in his direction since they left her room and a smile formed on his lips.
When they got to the room, Leondre was seated at his Father's side, he saw them enter but pretended not to have seen it. His eyes didn't leave his Father's face for one second but his senses were well aware of the two that had just entered and most importantly the light giggle that had escaped Cyane's lips. His head turned towards the direction of where the sound had come from, and there she stood beside Reuel trying so hard not to break into laughter.
Leondre looked away before their eyes could meet, he was sure that Reuel hadn't told her about Allie yet. He wondered what Cyane would do when she got to know about Allie seeing as his brother's charms were already working on her slowly.
Cyane lowered her head in respect to him and Leondre pretended not to have seen her action since acknowledging it would only upset him.
"Your grace.." Cyane had opened her mouth to speak but Reuel beat her to it.
"Forgive me brother for not having visited anytime sooner, I hope that It isn't too late" he bowed his head, "And I bumped into Cyane on the way here"
Cyane didn't miss the fact that Reuel had lied about meeting her on the way and she felt hurt at his words, the look on her face gave it all away which Leondre didn't fail to miss. Reuel drew Cyane closer to him, bent down to her ear level and whispered which Leondre heard clearly, "Could you leave us for a while?"
She nodded and bowed towards them and in no time was she already at the other side.
Reuel walked to his Uncle's bed and lowered his face in sadness, "Let me guess, Cyane's here because of him"
"She is" Leondre got up from the chair he was sitting on and walked towards the window, the fire hearth in the room had died off hours ago and needed to be restocked, "Is it about the tournament?"
"About that, I was thinking that we should cancel it"
"No, it's best we don't, the people don't need to know about my Father's situation, it could stir up a panic among them and we wouldn't want that happening besides my Father would want for the tournament to go on"
"So you are saying that we should go ahead with the plans?"
Leondre nodded
"But I also need to let you know that you need to loosen the house arrest you placed on the Lords before the Royals start loosing allies"
"I know"
"It needs to happen soon,Leondre, they think they are under suspicion and if they start to rebel we could loose their help"
"I know"
Reuel sighed in frustration, he hated the two word sentences that Leondre was giving him, "Leondre, this is going to be a big problem"
"I know"
"Leondre, I understand you do want to find who did this and I'm willing to go all the way to fins that person and bring him to justice but we wouldn't want to loose half of the provinces' trust, this could cause a rebellion"
"I'm well aware, that's why we are going to do it my way"
"You know who it is?"
"I have my suspicions but I need to be sure, in the meantime, I lay down the house arrests because like you said we wouldn't a rebellion"
~*~
The warrior staggered back as his sword came in contact with the man's own. The same man who had taken Alair's life not minding that he was young and had almost killed Caine if not that Caine had turned into his wild to save his own skin.
The warrior got his footing and turned to attack the same man again and was met with an expression, cold and void of even a flicker of sentiment.
It was blood for the man called Hange, the one who struck fear into the hearts of his opponents.
Hange had never lost a fight and his opponents either died or were badly injured.
They had chosen to die with honor rather than shift into their wild.
Hange struck back with force and a pure determination to get the match over with. He knew from the start that he was going to win and all he wanted at the moment was to get it over with.
He thought his opponents to be weak, he smirked at the fact that the King had them around to protect him when they could barely protect themselves.
He spat at that thought.
A moment of grace was all he gave his opponents before he went full on. He wanted to give them the hope that they were winning before he took it right under their eyes. They could only smell it but they wouldn't touch it. He had done that to Alair and had almost done thesame thing to Caine but Caine was a coward, he had forsaken the path of death with honor.
Everyone watched the tournament silently, while the people murmured amongst themselves concerning the fact that they had thought something was wrong since the tournament had been delayed for a day, the nobles watched in silence up ahead.
The nobles had gotten irked when Leondre had put them on house arrest, they felt it was insulting since the news of the king's situation had spread round the castle.
While they understood Leondre's decision, they couldn't help but also care for their reputation.
Some Lords had held a private meeting once the house arrest was lifted prior to attending the tournament.
Once the tournament was over the next day, they would leave and if Leondre objected to it then they would have no choice but to withdraw their alliance with the royal family which would cause a rebellion.
Going to war against the royal family was like asking for a death wish but it was worse than tarnishing their good name.
A rebellion was arising, Leondre was feeling it, it was expected since the house arrest. They knew that he was suspecting them and he knew the outcome of what he had done. He wanted to see the houses that stood against him.
Leondre's thoughts got disrupted by the clashing of metals against each other, sharp edged swords going for the throat,"I should ban this thing"
Levi heard him clearly since they were seated together. He was happy that someone finally agreed with him, "I second that"
They broke into a laugh which got the attention of some of the nobles who snickered and murmured among themselves but Leondre wasn't oblivious to it. He could guess what went through their minds the same way he knew that if they tried anything stupid it would only prove that they had a hand in the King's poisoning.
It was like setting fire in front of a rabbit's hole daring it to come out of its hole to be preyed on.
Leondre brought his gaze back to the arena and was shocked to see that Hange had cornered his opponent, he had the warrior at sword's end.
Leondre waited, he could guess what was coming next and just like he predicted, the warrior went down and crimson fluid dripped from Hange's sword.
Leondre smirked, Hange still kept up to his reputation.
Once the tournament was over, he went back to his room. The room he visited only in the mornings for his bath.
He took off his shirt and kept it on a chair, there were ink markings on his body, they trailed from his spine up to the nape of his neck then the markings went opposite ways before stopping at his wrist.
Leondre swiftly changed changed his shirt and made his way back to his Father's room. Cyane was asleep on the bed once he entered the room, her hands rested on her lap as her head lay on the table. It was hard and very uncomfortable for her to sleep in.
He watched her for a minute, he could see that she was clearly exhausted and he felt bad about it. Taking care of his Father was doing it to her. He quietly walked over to the other side of the bed before clearing his throat.
Cyane jerked up immediately at the noise only for her to realize that she had fallen asleep and Leondre was in the room "Leo? I mean your grace, I'm sorry, I didn't.."
"You are dismissed"
"Your grace, I.."
"Leave" He didn't say anything else to her as his attention was now on his Father, she lowered her head in respect but she was hurt. Hurt that probably Leondre felt that she was incompetent to have found her sleeping instead of working. She walked to the door only to stop at the sound of his voice "And Tell Lerman that his presence is requested"
Cyane felt bad, she was worried that he had dismissed her because he had found her asleep, "Yes, your grace"
She bowed to him then walked to the door and quietly closed it once she was out.
She found the royal physician and passed the message across to him then she opted to take a walk round the castle while silently grateful for Carac's absence.
Cyane had barely walked far when she came in contact with a girl not much older than her. She ess tall and had blonde hair. Her face was new to her since they obviously hadn't met before. But surprisingly, she was given a smile which Cyane couldn't help but return.
"You must be Cyane" the girl spoke as she drank in her appearance.
Cyane was surprised since Levi had told her that her presence in the castle was a secret but there she currently stood with someone who she hadn't met before and who already knew her name,"I have heard quite a little about you, from Reuel though"
Cyane's eyes widened at the mention of Reuel,"He hasn't mentioned you"
"I know, I was going back to my quarters and I don't know but I would like to get to know you, forgive my manners, I'm Allie" Allie gave her another smile but Cyane didn't return it this time.
She was yet to know who Allie was and how she got to know about her. Was her presence in the castle already known? If that was so then was she still safe?
"We are having a little feast at my quarters right now to celebrate the end of the tournament tomorrow and I would love for you to be present"
"We?" That was the only thing that Cyane picked from her speech.
"Yes, it's just women"
Cyane was doubtful about the offer since she barely knew Allie, she wasn't sure if Allie could really be trusted. The feast was definitely going to be for the nobles and that was out of her place. She didn't want to attach herself to a class that she didn't belong to.
Cyane shook her head, "I'm sorry Lady Allie but..."
"Please call me Allie"
Cyane's heart melted at Allie's words since it was rare to meet a noble most importantly a female who wanted to be referred to by her name without it being preceded by a title.
"I'm sorry Allie, I don't think my presence there would be appreciated, I'm not a noble.."
"That's nonsense" Allie knew where she was heading to and she didn't want Cyane to feel like that, "Please Cyane, don't say no"
~*~
Allie's place were finely decorated but not as breathtaking as the King's side of the castle but fit for a noble like her. She stayed in the Audets quarters since she was Reuel's lover and everyone knew about them.
The room they entered was filled with foods of all kinds, assorted and scrumptious. The wine too was fresh and had been brewed by one of the best winemakers in Ixar.
Cyane walked into the room behind Allie who guided her as she was new to this side of the castle.
There were three other women besides Cyane and Allie in the room.
Allie proceeded to pull out a seat for Cyane to take. Her gesture only warmed Cyane's heart the more towards her.
"I had invited Lady Irene but it seems that she couldn't make it but either way the feast would go on even without her" Allie began. Cyane had taken her seat and had begun fiddling with her fingers under the table. She could feel the women's piercing gazes on her and it made her feel uneasy.
They could tell that she wasn't a noble from one look and she didn't know how to feel towards that. Maybe it was a wrong idea after all for her to have agreed to come to the feast.
"Cyane, this is Lady Ysmay and Lady Sybbyl"
Cyane's gaze shyly rose to their faces to find them already staring at her then she lowered her eyes before slowly nodding.
She could feel the women's gazes lift from her except one and that one sent a weird feeling down her spine, positive or negative she couldn't tell which it was.
"And" Allie continued, Cyane's eyes lifted and she locked gazes with the last person. She recognized her immediately as the girl that she had seen on the day the tournament had started and it was as though she could also feel thseame emotions coming from the girl because the girl stared back with a warm and familiar smile, "Lady Adeline"
H
er sister