The entire throne room was completely silent as the so called 'chancellor' left.
Regis wasn't sure if it was because of his angry out burst or because of what he had said that had caused the tense silence.
However, he was very certain on what he would have to change next, Titus Drautos the man who had killed him would be exposed.
"Your Majesty," came the voice of Lord Scientia. Regis was silent to his council, they all had their attention to him. "Was it your intention to mention a spy, or do you truly know of..." Ignis's uncle trailed off.
Regis knew they could tell by his expression, he didn't even try to hide the look of hatred and betrayal. After everything he and his son had been through he had finally had enough. One change would come after another. Regis would not allow Insomnia to fall, not again.
"There is indeed a spy among us," Regis's voice was loud enough for everyone in the room to hear. The entire royal council began to argue among themselves, all but Clarus. Clarus as the shield and friend of the king knew full well that there was something strange happening to his old friend. He could see something in the kings eyes that he had only seen a few times before ,Betrayal and Anger.
"Silence!" Regis yelled, "I will have the matter addressed, but as of now we must discuss the empires actions."
After hours the meeting came to an end, with some of the council members disappointed in the kings choice. They had all argued why they should or should not accept Niflheims offer of peace.
Some had agreed with the king while others believed it was a bad decision to decline an offer that would come only once. They all wanted nothing more then to put an end to the war, but none of them knew what the future held for each of them. All except for the king, and The Mystic.
Regis was accompanied by Clarus to his office. As the king he had business and other matters that needed organized, approved, or that just needed some attention. Once they had arrived at the office Regis became cold and serious.
"Clarus, there is a very urgent matter concerning the spy," Regis sat at his desk while Clarus observed him carefully.
"Forgive me for asking Regis, but how have you come to terms that there is a spy amongst us? I as the shield am in charge of all security, if there truly is a spy I would have noticed." Clarus asked.
Clearly there was something Regis knew that Clarus didn't, he didn't like that one bit. If Regis himself had to notice the spy and Clarus who had the soul purpose of protecting him didn't have a clue of the matter, there was for sure something missing. But Clarus felt that if it were true he would feel as if he had failed as the kings shield
Regis just observed his shield for moment thinking of what to say, "My reasons are difficult to explain I can only say the Lucii have given me a warning," both a lie and the truth. "That warning has to deal with Titus Drautos as General Glauca and some of the glaives working under him for the empire." Regis couldn't help but say the last part in cold hatred and anger.
"What! I knew Niflheims sudden retreat was strange, but if it truly involves Titus working as Niflheims General and the glaives for that matter not only is the Citadels security breached both yours and the princes safety could be at risk." Clarus suddenly realized one of the reasons why Regis was upset, Noctis Regis's only son could be in danger.
"I want a full investigation into Titus Drautos and the Kingsglaive at once," Regis demanded. Clarus recognised Regis's tone, it was not the tone of a king. It was the tone of a friend asking, almost begging him to do a favor.
"I will see to it at once," Clarus nodded and left the room temporarily, he got his communicator which he used for security measures.
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"Marshal, I need you and crownsguard soldiers at the Kingsglaive Headquarters as soon as possible," Clarus spoke getting into an elevator.
"Whats going on?" Cor asked with a cold suspicion over the Communicator ear piece.
"That would be better said in person the king wants a full investigation theres a high possibility of a spy," Clarus replied back. The silence on the other line was all Clarus needed to know that Cor understood.
As the elevator opened up to the bottom floor, Clarus caught sight of his son Gladiolus and the Prince. He needed to ensure Regis of Noctis's safety, so he approached them. "Gladiolus," that was all he needed to say to catch both the young men's attention.
"Clarus? Where's dad?" Noctis noticed the kings absence next to the shield.
"He's in his office taking care of important matters, but there is something I need to speak of with Gladiolus for a moment." The Prince looked at Gladio as if he had done something wrong.
"Uh, sure," Gladio replied not sure if he was in trouble.
They went off not to far away, into an office room that was completely empty, Noctis remained in the hall. "Dad what's going on?" Gladio asked sensing something wasn't right.
Clarus sighed, things were not looking good today, "There's a possibility of multiple spies among the Kingsglaive," Clarus said. Gladio went completely silent holding his breath for a brief moment. "I need you to keep a close eye on the Prince until this matter is dealt with, the king is concerned about his son's safety."
Gladio was clearly shocked, and there was a hint of serious concern in his eyes, it was a moment or two before he said something, "What should I tell Noctis?" Clarus was extremely unsure for a brief second, clearly Noctis couldn't be told that his father's most trusted soldiers could possibly be traitors.
There was the concern that he could somehow try to interfere and get himself into trouble. Then the other worry was the fact that Regis could be in danger as well, and do to the kings recent behavior the Prince would be very concerned. The Prince was of course the next king, but he was still very young and reckless, he would clearly cause more trouble than good.
"Should the Prince find out about the threat I'm afraid he might put both his and the kings safety more at risk. It would be best if this was silent, just until I'm certain it is a major problem. Should that come to be true I would want to see to it that both the Prince and king are safe." Clarus explained.
Gladio was silent not sure what to say, then a call from Cor was Clarus's signal to hurry, "See to it that the Prince is safe and make sure no one knows of this," Clarus concluded his orders, he hurried past his son and to the Kingsglaive head quarter's.
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Cor was becoming impatient.
All of the glaives were in perfect order like how real soldiers should be, they were in position as soon as Cor walked in with a dozen or so Crownsguard soldiers. They were silent as he paced back and forth waiting for Clarus, so that he could get an explanation on what was going on.
"Marshal," Clarus allowed his presence to be known, Cor could see how the glaives went tense. One caught his eye, one particular Glaive was reacting in a certain way that wasn't like the other glaives. "It would be best to have the situation explained in private," Clarus had his voice low. Cor just nodded and gave the glaives one last glance before heading into one of the office's.
"Well? What's the situation with this potential spy?" Cor asked serious as always.
Clarus sighed, "Regis hasn't been well as of late, the ring had caused him pain one moment and now it's as if he is a different man. He claims to have had a warning from the lucii a warning that states that Titus Drautos is the current general for Niflheim with glaives at his side." Clarus explained what was happening.
"I'm going to assume with Niflheims sudden retreat you believe it," Cor was putting the pieces together. Though he was quite concerned about what Clarus just said about the king.
Clarus noded, "Yes, but earlier this evening an envoy had come from Niflheim claiming they were offering peace. I believe they wouldn't have been so confident if they didn't have someone inside the wall."
Cor knew now, it had all suddenly fit together there was no doubt that there wasn't at least one spy. "Given Drautos position there's reason to see why it is him, but if it's true I'm going to have to look deep into it he would have been blinding even me," Cor admits.
"Thats another thing that concerns me, should he be exposed I believe they have been plotting something major." Clarus looked towards the door where the kingsglaive soldiers were awaiting on the other side. "I should be returning to Regis's side now, should you find anything I want to be notified at once." Clarus spoke with the tone of the shield.
Cor just nodded, both the Shield and the Marshal left the room. Before leaving Clarus took one good look at the glaives almost daring them to do something. Cor however, crossed his arms and watched as the special trained technicians carefully went through every computer and monitor in the building.
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Nyx carefully observed the Marshal and the crownsguard soldiers.
He felt very uneasy as something was clearly wrong, not only had the legendary Immortal come with a small army, the kings Shield had arrived as well. Nyx had watched carefully as the shield glanced at each one of his fellow glaives with a cold glare, then he just left.
The Marshal had decided to personally go through each of the glaives files that was in his commanding officers office. What was very strange to him was the fact that the Marshal was calling in each glaive to speak with them one at a time. The reasoning was do to a 'major security error' as the Marshal had said, but Nyx was smart enough to know it was a lie.
There was something going on that they weren't being told, Nyx knew that much and he had two theories. One it was either very dangerous to say something, or two they were all suspects of something. The second would explain why they were each being interrogated, but the first would explain how serious the crownsguard was being.
Nyx tensed as as his name was called, it wasn't everyday he was being interrogated by the legendary Marshal.
"Nyx Ulric," the Marshal called he held his posture straight as he walked I to the office with the Marshal behind him. Cor took a seat at the desk, in front of him was Nyx's file. Everything that Lucis knew about him including his achievements in battle was laying in a simple file. "Earned your self quite the name among the glaives I've heard you were called hero." Cor some what smirked.
"Yes, sir" Nyx spoke like a soldier he was very familiar with Cor's reputation as being stern and strict.
"Everything seems fine in your file, however just answer this were you trained by Titus Drautos?" Cor asked coldly. Nyx could tell with the Marshals tone he had found something he was looking for that he didn't want to find.
"Yes, sir" Nyx said carefully he was observing the way Cor almost glared at him with suspicion. Theory two was correct, they were being accused of something serious.
"Your excused," Cor simply said. Nyx didn't miss the sigh the Marshal did as he turned to get the next file, it was such of disappointment. Surly he wasn't being accused of something like an assassination, after everything he had done for sure his loyalty was proven to belong to Lucis.
Nyx left the room, he suddenly got a cold chill as if something was very off. But he shook it off and lined up in place, he caught Crowe and Libertus giving him strange looks. They both turned away with a look of sadness and anger. What was going on?
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Gladio kept a close eye on Noctis all day.
The moment his father had told him that the soldiers who were entrusted with the kings magic could've been spys he called Ignis.
"Ignis, we've got a problem," He didn't care hide the serious concern behind his voice.
"What's happened? Has something happened to Noct?" Ignis alarmed voice sounded over the phone.
"No, not yet at least dad and I just talked he wants me to keep a close eye on Noctis there's a possibility of a spy on the kingsglaive." Silence fell on the other end of the line.
"Has it been confirmed?" Ignis asked carefully.
"No, I just found out about it, dad wants to make sure that it stays quiet even told me not tell Noctis," Gladio explained.
"I see," there was a brief pause, "I shall assist you in keeping a close eye on Noctis. If we receive word there is a spy I would think his majesty would have it taken care of but even so do not take your eyes off of Noctis."
"Yeah, let me know if you hear anything," Gladio hung up the phone not wanting to keep Noctis alone for much longer.
"What the he'll was all that about?" Noctis asked as Gladio stepped out of the office.
"Just stuff, and don't think that little conversation got you out of training," Gladio warned the prince. Noctis just rolled his eyes at th reminder it wasn't something he wanted to be reminded of he didn't like training with Gladio or Vegetables.
"Fine," Noctis grumbled. While the Prince was completely clueless about the situation he was not completely oblivious to the change in his magic. One of the reasons why he had bothered to get up early was because of a sudden change of feel in his power. He had figured his dad would known something about it, either that or something was wrong.
It was hours later that Gladio found himself watching as Noct paused to breathe for about the hundredth time. "How many times have I told you to practice," Gladio said frustrated. The Prince was yet again lacking in his training he had clearly been told dozens of times yet he is still wasn't keeping up.
"I have been practicing!" Noctis argued out of breath, Gladio rolled his eyes but didn't take his attention away from the prince. "Something's just off thats all," Noctis said it like it was no big deal he clearly didn't need anyone worried or angry.
"What do you mean by off?" Gladio asked in a warning tone. There was concern for a spy the last thing Gladio would want to do was tell his dad that the Prince wasn't well. That would definitely cause concern, Gladio wouldn't take the matter lightly.
"I don't know I've just been distracted," Noctis lied and shrugged he was still out of breath. He was sure something was wrong with his magic, he shouldn't have been getting tired this fast.
Gladio gave the Prince a warning look, after what his dad had told him Gladio wouldn't take any chances. But he still couldn't let Noctis know about what was going on, not unless it was necessary.
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Regis was in his office most of the day, Clarus of course was by his side.
Regis however having some of his old instincts came back, he could tell when Clarus was worried about him. He was going to attend the matter, but Cor had walked in, not before he gave Regis a strange look that wasn't missed. The Marshal just sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose in anger.
"You were right, your majesty," Regis remained composed his shield though was almost visibly paler.
" How many?" Clarus asked knowing Cor knew what he was asking.
"Five, Titus as Glauca and four of the glaives but it's hard to confirm the fourth." Cor said bitterly, "The offer for peace was hoax, I found their plans they were going to steal the Crystal and destroy the city." There was silence, and after that moment of silence he snapped. He pounded his fists into a nearby table. "Damn it! How could we have been so blind!" he yelled. He wasn't the only one who was angered.
"Even I was blind to their plans Cor, but as it seems the Lucii have been keeping a close eye," another lie but the truth. "But before we begin action I must know who is the fourth traitor?" Regis asked. He had no idea who the true traitors in the glaives were. He could only vouch for Crowe Altius who had been killed before the attack even happened, and Nyx Ulric who was loyal to Lucis till the very end.
Cor took a moment to cool himself down, "Luche Lazarus or Nyx Ulric, their both in charge while the traitor is out. I already have two trusted glaives on Urlic, but I believe it's Luche thats helping Titus first hand. " What Cor said offended Regis, Nyx Ulric was more then loyal to Lucis he had have his life for it.
"I do believe it is Luche that is working under him," Regis confirmed and stood up. "Where is my son, I want him no where near the glaives until this is sorted out. " Regis was ready to finally face his son, his son who would be free of the painful burden of losing his home and his father.
"Don't jump to conclusions Regis, I already spoke with Gladiolus he knows of the situation I had given him specific orders to keep a close eye on the Prince." Clarus ensured the king to put him at ease. "Very well, but I want the crownsguard on high alert as soon as... Wait a moment where is Titus?" There king asked with sudden shock, if Titus were to get his armor it would be difficult to stop him.
"I had ordered him to personally see to it that our envoy was escorted out of the city, and to see to it that there were certain measures were taken care of to ensure he remained busy." Clarus answered, Regis was almost surprised he had truly forgotten how well prepared Clarus was.
"When he returns I want everyone one the spys presented to me I should remove my power from them," Regis instructed Cor. "Clarus, take me to see Noctis I fear something must be discussed between us." Regis knew by now Noctis would start feeling the change in his magic. The Lucii have some how manage to use their power to heal what injury that w as holding him back fro. his full potential.
Regis didn't just want to face his son he needed to face his son, he had have prepared should something fail.
But speaking of his son, Noctis had barged into Regis's office with Gladio hurrying behind him.