The ballroom fell silent. Men and women turned their heads, their eyes wide in alarm, seeking the source of the scream. Adeleina's throat constricted in fear. Panic fluttered in her chest as she abruptly stood and whisked towards her father, leaving a stunned Damien where he sat.
There, at the castle doors, a man flanked by two guards was dragged towards King Corandell. Adeleina immediately understood why someone had screamed. His face was nearly unidentifiable as a man's face, so covered was it in dark blood. His clothes, too were spattered in the crimson liquid. Caked mud from his boots crumbled and smeared onto the immaculately polished marble floor, leaving a dragging trail of dirt and bright red droplets in his wake. Adeleina's heart froze in fear and disgust; her throat caught in her breath. What terrible things had been done to this man, for him to arrive so disfigured, so horrifying?
The man was dragged forward by his armpits, the guards' own hands being bloodied in their efforts to keep the man from crumpling to the ground like a rag doll.
"Sire," one of them panted, managing to deliver a short bow to the King. King Corandell stood at the head of the crowd of craning heads, his expression mirroring that of many in the room. "This man arrived at the South entrance on a horse, alive, though barely conscious. He informed us that his village in the fief of Gervan was attacked tonight--"
Panicked shouts and more shrill screams flooded the room, duchesses and princes alike roaring and shrieking. Their words tumbled over one another, creating a tumult of chaos.
"A raid? On the night we all reside in Corandell? This cannot be a coincidence!"
"Our lives are at stake--"
"--demand to leave immdiately!"
"Could it possibly--"
"Silence."
The single word had been uttered with such authority and demand, even the drunkest of kings cowered under it. The ballroom fell silent once more. King Corandell stepped forward until he was mere feet away from the guards and the bloodied man, his face grave and troubled. Adeleina herself was on the verge of panic. Corandell has kept it's borders intact for nearly five decades now; it had been many years since another kingdom made an advance towards Corandell's terriroty. What had changed? Had a neighboring king set it's eyes on the bucolic hillsides of Adeleina's kingdom?
"Which village?" King Corandell demanded, a tinge of terror touching his tone. His hands trembled slightly, the fingers curled into tight fists. "Attacked by whom?" Adeleina stared at him. Of course a king should be concerned for the welfare of his people, but generally not in such a familiar manner. Her father was acting as if one of his own family members had been attacked, for heavens' sake. Surely this was not a typical reaction?
The guard who had not yet spoken now responded.
"The village of Ersaw, Sire," The king's shoulders released their tension and his fist unclenched as the wild look fled from his eyes. Adeleina's curiosity about her father's peculiar reaction heightened, despite the gravity of the larger situation. "The man fell unconscious immediately after delivering this information, Your Honor. He didn't say who had attacked. I don't think he's in a right state to answer any more questions," The guard added as an afterthought, sparing a glance at the ragged figure in his hands.
King Corandell agreed, his eyes resting on the sagging figure.
"Take him to the infirmary. Summon Sir Isaac, Sir Ackerley, and Sir Paige. We ride for Ersaw immediately." A whispy-whiskered courtier dashed off, presumably to alert the aforementioned knights. King Corandell turned to Adeleina, his face darkened with solemn foreboding. "Adeleina, my dear, I'm so sorry this had to happen on your special night," Adeleina, however much she detested the betrothal ball, nodded in agreement. Never in her father's reign had Corandell been attacked by another kingdom, and it worried her. The quiet years had lulled the kingdom into a sense of security. They wer utterly unprepared for a siege in one of their fiefs, much less a full-blown war.
"My liege," A solid, robust man squeezed through the crowd of anxious nobility that had thronged into a whispering mass. Seconds later, two more men emerged from the mess of jostling elbows and waving hands. "The village of Ersaw has been attacked?"
"Sir Ackerley, Sir Paige, Sir Isaac," The king acknowledged them. "Yes. You will accompany me to Ersaw tonight. Someone should be readying our mounts as we speak."
"You trust the word of a stranger?" One of the knights asked, his inquiry laced with skepticism. The king nodded, a grim look in his eye.
"I trust the word of my people, Sir Paige."
"Do you not fear an ambush? A trick, a guise to lure you to danger?"
The king's face hardened, not out of anger at the outspoken knight, but with stolid determination.
"You did not see the state of the man. The lives of an entire fiefdom are more important than any single man's life--even the king. Should this be an attack on our borders, we must be prepared to defend our kingdom at once." Sir Paige, evidently not satisfied, opened his mouth to protest again. He was silenced by King Corandell's interrupting words. "I am not a newborn babe, Sir Paige. I know how to take care of myself." His eyes, despite the worry that lingered, twinkled with humor. Sir Paige stopped protesting.
Adeleina's heart swelled until it ached with pride for her father. Regardless of his terrible taste in suitors, in Adeleina's eyes, he was the best king Corandell had ever been gifted with. This was what a ruler should be like. Kind and caring, risking his own life for his subjects. In that moment, Adeleina made it her resolve to be every bit like her father when she became queen.
A young squire popped his head out from the ballroom doors.
"Your Highness, Sirs, your horses are ready," He announced, delivering a short bow.
The king and the three knights nodded in acknowledgment. The lad bowed again, and scurried out of sight.
"Sir Estwick," King Corandell beckoned to a tall and imposing man with cropped obsidian hair and pitch black eyes to match. Adeleina shrank back a little, slightly daunted by his haughty and formal demeanor. He was the council's chief advisor, and, despite his stiff-lipped appearance, was one of the king's most trusted men.
"I leave you the task of assisting our guests to their chambers. I and my men will return in two days time. Till then, keep the castle running as usual." King Corandell lowered his voice slightly, as if telling a secret. "I would thank you, Sir Estwick, to discourage the spread of unnecessary rumors about the attack. Do your best, though as we both know, court gossip never stays silent for long,"
The two men exchanged grave looks. Adeleina immediately understood the layer of meaning behind her father's words. Other kingdoms might interpret the sudden raid as a sign of weakness, and make their own advances on Corandell's territory. Politics was a sly business, full of subterfuge and sycophants. No man, king or peasant, was completely trustworthy when it came to the topic of land. If a king saw an opportunity to expand his own fortunes, he would snatch it up faster than an eagle snatching prey. It was bad luck indeed that this terrible event had happened tonight, of all nights, when kings and dukes from all over the land were gathered here.
Now, Adeleina's father turned to her.
"Adeleina, you will stay in this castle. Do not leave it under any circumstances." Adeleina felt the blush creeping back into her cheeks as she thought of her meeting with Alecsander, though her father couldn't have known about it. Adeleina nodded in consent, anxiety fluttering in her insides.
"Of course. I wish you gods-speed, Father. Ride safely," She patted his arm before he turned to leave with his knights. She so desperately wanted to go with them, though she knew how pointless and costly that could be. The castle needed her now.
That didn't stop the worry from gnawing at her intestines. A king riding across the kingdom with naught but three knights was at a great risk of ambush or assasination attempt. It wasn't as though the people of Corandell were untrustworthy, but if there had been an attack on a village, it was well possible there were invaders. Invaders who wanted to kill her father and seize the castle, no doubt.
Someone stepped up next to Adeleina as she watched the king and his men depart, startling her slightly. She jumped to the side, unnerved, before realizing it was Damien of Dale. A weak smile fluttered over her face.
"I wish I could ride with them," she told him, still staring at the now-closed doors of the ballroom.
"I know, but your castle needs you now," He pointed out gently, relfecting her own thoughts back at her.
"Adeleina!" A familiar voice shouted at her from behind. She turned to see Darcy, her hair, as always, a wild mess and her apron stained with all sorts of concoctions.
"Hello, Darcy," Adeleina greeted her, managing a grin at her disheveled appearance.
"Adeleina, what on earth is going on? Why are all the guests leaving? I was in the kitchens when I heard this most awful scream. Did someone get murdered? Who's this?" Darcy peered at Damien, who looked a bit taken aback at her rampage of questions.
"A terribly injured man arrived at our gates tonight and told us the village of Ersaw has been attacked," Adeleina told her, the heavy cloud of worry returning. "Darcy, may I introduce Damien of Dale?"
Darcy ignored the introduction and gaped at Adeleina, horrified.
"An attack? Adeleina! This is terrible! There hasn't been an attempt to change Corandell's borders since...since--" She struggled to remember, throwing her hands up in despair.
"Since fourty-seven years ago, I know," Adeleina finished for her. Darcy's worry mirrored that of that of her own as the two friends contemplated the thought. Fourty-seven years. Adeleina's own father had not even existed fourty-seven years ago! The kingdom was certainly not prepared for an attack.
"I have to help Sir Estwick round up the guests," Adeleina told Darcy and Damien, an apologetic look on her face.
"I can help you," Darcy offered. "Those fools in the kitchen can clean up by themselves, I think,"
Adeleina laughed then at Darcy's disdainful manner.
"I'm afraid I must ask you to return to your own chambers, Your HIghness," She told Damien. He nodded in agreement, his eyes already searching the crowd for his father.
"I'm afraid I must, my lady. My father is most likely drunk as a lord, and he won't be a pretty sight. It was a pleasure meeting you, Princess Adeleina," He bowed to her, a small smile on his face, then turned to disapear into the crowd.
Darcy glanced shrewdly at Adeleina, a sly smile on her lips.
"He talks as if you two were thick as thieves," She commented, grinning wildly.
"Hmm," Adeleina replied carelessly, watching Damien struggle to tug his father away from the wine table. "Hush, and help me and Sir Estwick clean this place up, Darcy. I'm in a hurry to get out of this terribly tight corset."