Meenu was fairly confident that her father was still with the mayor, discussing the recent events and what they were going to do next. If handled incorrectly, the entire future of Amberdyse could be a disaster.
On top of all of this, the Mayor probably knew well of Master Red’s plan to overthrow Dukaryn. And now he knew that Avaryn was in the picture.
Part of Meenu felt bad for the middle-aged man since there was just so much for him to do now. But another part of her didn’t worry too much. He was a good mayor.
When she arrived at his office, she realized her assumptions were right when she saw her father working closely with the mayor on something that Meenu would probably not understand.
“Papa?” She called, since he was so deep in his work that he didn’t notice her enter.
Both Lord Kyrus and the Mayor looked up. “Meenu,” her father smiled at her. “How are you?”
She walked over to the desk they were standing at. “Well, I guess. But I have to talk to you about something.”
He looked at the mayor, who nodded his head. “What is it?” He asked when he looked back at her.
“All the people in Amberdyse that Avaryn killed… who were they exactly?”
Lord Kyrus hesitated. “Meenu…”
She realized that her father probably thought that she was still upset about finding out the truth about Avaryn. “Don’t worry, papa. I’m fine. I spoke with him and we figured things out.”
The Mayors eyes widened. “You spoke with him?”
She nodded.
“Did he tell you anything about the night?”
Meenu smiled sadly. “Nothing we didn’t already know,” she lied. “So tell me, papa, who were the people killed?”
“The Knights of Amberdyse.” Her father said, but only after a hesitation. “We had heard the news of Avaryn’s attack and assembled to fend Amberdyse.”
“Only knights?”
Another hesitation. “Yes.”
“Were all the knights that attacked killed?”
“No.” Lord Kyrus said.
“In fact, our town suffered the least amount of casualties. Most of the knights that were killed here were just in the village for personal reasons,” they Mayor added. “Only about twelve of our own knights were killed, to be precise. The rest were from other parts of Raffyre.”
“Do you remember the twelve Amberdysian knights that were killed?”
“Why are you asking this, Meenu?” Her father asked.
“I’m just trying to figure things out.”
The Mayor looked at her. “They were all persecuted by King Kyryn.”
Lord Kyrus looked shocked by that. “Were they?”
Meenu looked back at the Mayor.
“I’ve had this theory,” he started. “And from the questions you are asking… I seem to believe that you know this theory, or Avaryn did tell you the truth.”
The girl hesitated.
She knew the Mayor was smart.
Lord Kyrus looked from Meenu, to the Mayor. “Pardon me but I don’t seem to be on the same page as the two of you.”
The Mayor looked at the knight. “After that night, all the deaths were recorded. I reviewed them over and over again to try and figure out why Avaryn would do this and the only common factor between all the deaths of this village… and the other knights that were just in the village… was that they were persecuted knights.”
“All of them?” Lord Kyrus asked.
“Yes. You wouldn’t know because many knights kept their persecution a secret, not wanting to lose their dignity.”
Lord Kyrus looked shocked. “So you think there really is a reason for why Avaryn did this? You don’t think he went mad?”
“That’s right,” the mayor continued, “I think that his reasons had something to do with the persecuted knights. What the reason was though, I couldn’t figure out.”
Meenu hesitated when the mayor looked at her.
“And I assume you know it?” Her father asked.
She shook her head.
But everyone in the room knew she was lying.
The two men, however, knew that there was probably a reason for why they couldn’t know, so they didn’t push Meenu any further.
They’d just have to figure it out themselves.
Meenu left the office feeling satisfied.
She knew now that, even if it was only a little, the two men were starting to really believe that Avaryn had his reasons for doing what he did.
That meant that those two were two more people who would eventually support Avaryn.
And with the Mayor on Avaryn’s side, it would be a lot easier to get the rest of the village onto his side.
She walked home with a smile on her face, Knight following behind her. But as they approached their home, Knight started to growl.
Meenu hesitated. She turned to her wolf and knelt down next to him. “What is it?”
His growl became louder as he kept his eyes on the home and it didn’t take too long for her to realize that something was wrong.
She panicked a little, realizing that she had none of her weapons with her. She would just have to trust Knight until she got into the house and retrieved her bow and sword.
Meenu waited as Knight stopped growling and quietly made his way into the home. But just as he did, Meenu heard him start to whine.
Her eyes widened as she ran after him into the house, worried that he was hurt. But when she made it through the door, she noticed multiple maids staring at her with their hands over their mouths.
'Go away,' some mouthed to her.
But in the confusion, Meenu turned and saw Knight standing there, staring sadly at Meenu's mother.
The woman was in tears as she stood there with a knife at her neck.
One of the Kings Knights holding it.
"Mama!" Meenu yelled when it all processed. She was about to run to her but the knight pressed the knife closer to her mothers neck.
"Meenu Kyrus,” he started, “we have been given orders to bring you to the capital, alive. If you refuse, we will kill your mother."
"Yes!" Meenu gasped without hesitation. "I'll come! Leave my mother alone!"
"No! Meenu!" Her mother cried. "Leave me and run!"
Meenu ignored her. "Let her go!"
"Meenu! I beg you, love!" She said, trying to escape the knight’s grip. "Leave! Find Avaryn! He will protect you!"
The knights flinched when Lady Kyrus said the name.
Suddenly, Knight started growling again.
When Meenu turned to look at him, she saw him struggling under a large net being held by a knight she hadn’t noticed earlier.
And before she could react, she felt a sharp blow on the back of her head.
"Disgusting witch." She heard Lord Din's voice say from behind her.
And then she blacked out.
Lord Kyrus watched as the mayor flipped through one of his books. "Yes. Yes," he said, "they were all persecuted."
"So there's more to all of this after all." Lord Kyrus said as he crossed his arms and sighed.
In relief.
He always hated to think that the boy had gone mad and turned evil. He loved him after all. Plus, Lord Kyrus always felt sorry for his old friend, Kyryn. If Avaryn had truly turned evil, Kyryn would have been so disappointed in him.
But as Lord Kyrus thought about his friend, he realized something.
"Kyryn."
The Mayor looked up at the Lord.
"What if all of this has something to do with Kyryn?"
The Mayor nodded. "Yes... After all... All of this happened the night that King Kyryn died."
"We all assumed Kyryn death drove Avaryn mad because of the sorrow," the Lord started to pace, "but that's not the case anymore."
"So why would Avaryn kill the people that his father had already punished?" The Mayor scratched his head. "Maybe he wasn't satisfied with his fathers punishments?"
"Avaryn would never go against his father's will," Lord Kyrus said confidently, "the boy respected every word that cane out of his fathers mouth. Besides, Avaryn was always kind hearted. He would have done the same to the men if he were King. Actually, Avaryn may have even been softer on them."
"You're right... But... Other than that all I can think of is revenge. He did it out of revenge. Maybe he didn't like how they treated his father..." The mayors voice trailed off when he noticed Lord Kyrus' stare. "What?"
"What if... Kyryn was killed?"
The Mayors eyes widened. "Impossible. The man was sick."
"Did you ever not wonder how strange it was that he got sick so suddenly? He is a Lumynos. There are only two things that can kill a Lumynos, old age and an enemy. Not sickness."
"But the King had no wounds!"
The Mayor was right so Lord Kyrus went back to pacing.
"Besides... If someone killed him, why would Avaryn target the persecuted knights? Those men could never have killed the King."
Lord Kyrus froze again. "The True Knights."
"What?"
"That's what it must have been..." Lord Kyrus said to himself. "An alliance of all the persecuted knights... Charles told me about it."
"Charles?"
"Lord Charles Davoon. He was one of the men killed by Avaryn." Lord Kyrus said. "He tried to convince me that I was next on Kyryn’s list of knights to persecute. He told me that I would be a valuable member in the True Knights... But I didn't take it seriously."
"Darien. I have no idea what you're saying."
And just as Lord Kyrus opened his mouth to explain, the two men heard a loud commotion from outside the office.
Lord Kyrus turned around, startled. The village had been very silent and rather empty since the battle with Dukaryn, and he had expected it to stay that way for a while. But when he heard people call his wife's name, he ran to the door and saw his wife pull her horse to a stop.
She jumped off and stumbled into Lord Kyrus' arms so quickly that the horse was startled and galloped away, forcing one of the Amberdysian knights to run after it.
Her hair a mess, her dress was torn and many of their homes maids were running towards them, crying and shouting god knows what.
And many people had stepped out of their homes, for the first time since the battle with the capitals army, to find out what was happening.
"What is it, Laila?" Lord Kyrus asked, his voice deep with concern.
She sobbed. "They took Meenu!" She yelled.
"What?"
"They took her!" She yelled again, falling down onto her knees. "They told her they'd kill me if she didn't go with them!"
Lord Kyrus kneeled down in front of his sobbing wife, hugging her tightly.
"He's going to kill her!" Laila cried. "I couldn't save her!"
"No." Lord Kyrus said. "That won't happen. We raised a strong girl."
"What's going on?" They suddenly heard.
Master Red was standing in the middle of the mayor’s office where none of the outside onlookers could see him.
The wide eyed Avaryn stood next to him.
When Lady Kyrus saw Avaryn, she stood up and ran to him. "Avaryn!" Though she tried to yell it, it came out as a whisper.
Avaryn didn’t need to ask what was wrong. “Meenu…”
"You have to save her!" Lady Kyrus cried as her hands met his. "They're going to kill her!”
"Was it Dukaryn?"
"Yes! The knights came on his behalf! They used me to get her!" Her sobbing became louder.
Avaryn let go of her hands, ready to leave.
But Master Red stopped him, firmly grasping his arm. "Wait."
"Meenu is in danger!" Avaryn hissed.
"We need a plan," Master Red responded. "You can't just barge into there. Besides, they're not going to kill her. They're going to use her to get to you."
Avaryn narrowed his eyes.
"Dukaryn is probably going to make you sacrifice your life to save hers."
Lady Kyrus gasped, tears still running down her face and ehr husband stood behind her, staring in shock.
"You cannot sacrifice your life, Avaryn." Master Red said. "I know you want to but you can't. You have to find another way to save her and kill Dukaryn."
"I'll kill him. I'll find a way. Just let me go. Now."
Master Red gave Avaryn a fierce look. "I'll gather all of the Hidden. They will help you enter the castle. While I'm doing that, you figure out your plan to kill Dukaryn."
Avaryn stared at the man. Never in his life has he been so annoyed with him.
But he knew he had to listen. Because if he didn't, there could be a chance that he and Meenu would die.
So he turned to her parents, giving them a look of confidence. “You have nothing to fear.” He said. “Meenu will be safe, whatever the consequence.”
And her parents were relieved.
But at the same time, devastated.
Because the two of them knew very well that Avaryn would keep his word, even if it meant killing himself.