Chapter Fourteen - The Secrets Unfold

*** Granate ***

“Don’t worry,” I reassured my fellow Illuminated.

“How can I not worry?” Bjorn asked, worry etched on his face. The worried expression was not something you’d expect on an elderly gentleman with the physique of a bear and the likeness of a beggar. Compared to him, my much younger and slimmer frame, the expression would go much more naturally on mine than his. “I have been summoned by the king, I am in chains, and you, a court mage, is leading me to the central hall for my audience with the king!”

“It was the prince who came to you,” I said revealing a secret I had held in for quite a time. “Our most esteemed enlightened master is the second prince.”

Bjorn creased his brows and shut tightly his mouth in deep thought. After a moment his facial features slacked and understanding came over him.

“It…it does make sense,” Bjorn nodded.

“You will tell him that the prince came to you and bore his royal seal before you,” I instructed. “You had no choice.”

“Yes…I had no choice,” he wasn’t reassuring himself, it was a statement.

After a moment he turned to me.

“How did you find out?” he asked.

“He’s been something of a mentor to me,” I replied. For a moment there was an obvious flash of jealousy, I don’t blame him, though I have known for some time that he too has had visits from the prince. The most obvious piece of evidence is the ocean goers he’s designed, I happened to visit his workshop once and noted that he had several model ships of potential ocean goers. None of them had been remotely close to his commissioned design. “As a court mage I have been close to the royal family once or twice and seen family portraits with him in them. I am the only one among us that knows who he really is, well aside for you as well, now. Keep it a secret from the rest, if he hasn’t revealed himself just yet, then there must be a reason.”

“I see,” he nodded again. “Yes, that’s understandable. I won’t say a word.”

“Well, on the bright side of things, even if things go bad there are members who are ready to break you out of prison before you get your head chopped off,” I said with a mischievous grin enjoying the lighter shade the man’s skin was taking. “Can’t have a valuable member of the illuminated die on us.”

*** Edwards Cazador ***

“I want a full account of what exactly occurred,” I said looking at the man responsible for the loss of a secret vessel. As if it wasn’t bad enough to receive a letter by a guard from my own grandson that he was leaving the country for an unknown amount of time I now had to deal with the loss of our first military naval vessel, and the biggest one at that.

“Your grandson,” the man began surprising me with his first words. “Prince Leo Cazador, came to me requesting a vessel and a crew. He…”

“Wait,” I lifted a hand to stop him. “Did he tell you where he was going?”

“I’m afraid not,” I replied. “He appeared agitated and said very little.”

“Was there anything particularly strange about him?” I asked. To think that it was my own grandson that had taken the vessel, but why? What’s going on?

“Yes,” he replied. “He wore a strange mask and his eyes were glowing bright red.”

“Bright red you say?” I wanted to confirm.

“Yes,” the man nodded eagerly.

Leo’s eyes only ever became red when he was using far too much power than normal, but if they were constantly active then it meant that he was emotionally unstable. There was something bothering him to the degree that he couldn’t control his emotions, what could possibly do that to my grandson? The few times his emotions got the better of him they dwindled back into control rather quickly.

“I see,” I rubbed my chin while trying to piece the puzzle together. The problem was that I was simply missing far too many of the more important pieces.

“My lord,” the court mage in the room said disturbing my thinking.

“Yes?” I acknowledged him.

“What of his sentence?” he asked.

“Hmm…release him,” I said after a short moment. “If he was ordered by my grandson then he can’t be faulted. The loss of one vessel is unfortunate, but it is in the hands of my grandson, if he is to travel beyond our borders its best he do so on the best possible ship.”

I sighed. How troublesome, never would I have guessed that he would do something like this, it just seems so against his nature.

“Needless to say this matter is…” I left the words handing.

“Not a word shall escape my mouth my king,” the burly older man bowed humbly.

“I heard nothing my lord,” the court mage bowed as well.

“Good good,” I said sinking back into my throne. “You are both dismissed. And I want work to begin on another of your…‘battleship class’ was it? Make another.”

“By your will my king,” both men said simultaneously as they once more bowed and turned to leave.

*** Maid Servant Anna ***

“We will be doing a full round cleanup today,” head butler Gerald announced to all the gathered staff, the near three dozen individuals in charge of maintaining the castle in pristine condition. “Top to bottom, in and out, you know your posts and duties. Do them all. We must have the castle ready for tomorrow’s farewell party.”

As always Gerald carried himself with precise cordial dignity, he comes from a long line of butlers that have served the royal family for generations. They have as long and as full a history as that of the country, the forever loyal servants of the kings, always present never seen. Gerald’s family line, the Butler bloodline, has earned the nickname the “phantom servants” as their presence in the daily lives of those they serve go usually unnoticed.

“Unless I have previously spoken to you to remain with me so that I may further explain your duties leave now,” he said, with that I was dismissed.

I am fairly new, my parents were poor but I was gifted with beauty, or so my parents said. I don’t particularly think I am very beautiful, though with what charm I do have I managed to get employed in the castle. There seems to be an unspoken requirement for all servants no matter the field in which one serves, there are no ugly people. There are some plain faces, but none are without some level of physical charm.

This year I turned nineteen and have made decent progress in the ranks of my place of employment, I lead a group of three other maids. My work hasn’t taken a toll on my body yet, my skin is lightly brown and still very smooth and almost completely unmarked except for one or two childhood scars from cuts and scrapes. I have been told that my most redeeming feature are my crisp jade green eyes that strongly contrast against my raven black hair.

My duties lie in the more solitary northeast wing.

It took a few minutes to reach my destination due to both the distance and because of the weight of all my necessary cleaning tools, most of which were carried in a specialized bucket halfway filled with water. The rooms were dusty, they are usually unused and tend to collect dust on just about everything as well as cobwebs and strangely enough even leaves.

A little after midday, and after having had my brief lunch period, my group and I were halfway through the second floor. During this time I was starting to switch rooms having advanced further than my group and noticed a door to a room I don’t quite remember ever seeing before. It was strange looking at it, I would almost immediately turn away and forget about it, but as it was in the direction I was headed I would turn back to that door and remember having forgotten about it as well as remembering I could not remember ever seeing it before.

I called over the other three, they were much younger girls, fifteen at the oldest, and they too experienced the same thing.

After fighting a strange urge not to head towards the room we reached the door as if it was a team struggle and opened it. It should have been like any other room, plain, with plain everything, instead the room was colorful and decorated. There were signs that the room was in constant use. Upon one wall over the bed was the portrait of an elven child and the prince.

“What is this place?” Sherry asked. She was the youngest at fourteen and two months.

“I…I don’t know,” I replied staring at the portrait. The girl was obviously a desert elf but I had never seen one within the castle walls. Who could she be? Was she perhaps…a lovechild? Gerald…Gerald would know what to do. “Stay here girls, don’t touch anything, I’ll be back with master Gerald.”