Chapter 4: Out of the shadows
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"En garde, miscreant!"
In a remote part of the flowery gardens of Kaedon's castle and under the warm light of the summer's sun, Elisa was holding a wooden stick in front of her as if it was a mighty sword, threateningly pointing it at a young girl with brown hair tied in a ponytail who was holding her own makeshift weapon.
Elisa took a step forward and playfully thrust her branch against her friend's. As the wood clashed, the young Princess let out a giggling laugh. After a few pokes, Elisa managed to knock the branch out of her opponent's hands.
Elisa picked the stick from the ground and handed it back to her friend. "Your turn to be the knight, Loretta."
Loretta acquiesced with a timid nod and waited until Elisa was ready. Despite their young age, Loretta was already almost a head taller than the Princess. As such, the mousy brunette was quite careful as she played with Elisa.
When the Princess had been ready to defend herself, Loretta lunged forward with a springy step. Her clumsy attack missed Elisa's stick and instead hit the Princess' arm, tearing a large gash in her pink dress' sleeve and scratching the skin underneath enough to make a drop of blood bead.
"Oh no!" Loretta let out, dropping her weapon. "I'm so sorry!"
Clutching her arm, Elisa smiled goofily. "It's fine. I have plenty of other dresses."
Elisa grabbed Loretta's hand and gently pulled her friend with her as she walked toward a large oak. Under its shade, Elisa sat on the grass, not caring in the slightest about her dress. Loretta swiftly sat next to the Princess.
"When I grow up, I want to be a knight. A real one. I'll go on adventures and I'll fight bad guys!" Elisa stated as she laid down on her back, further dirtying her dress.
"You can't be a knight, you are already a Princess."
"Can't I be both a Princess and a knight?"
Loretta furrowed her brows, intensely considering the question. "I don't think so."
Elisa pouted, her dreams of heroic deeds already dashed. Until an obvious solution suddenly dawned on her. "Then I'll stop being a Princess. There's already my sister. I don't think that she wants to be a knight."
The Princess straightened and stared at her friend's face. "But what about you, Loretta? You're not a Princess, and you're so tall! I'm sure you would be a great knight!"
"I don't know. I think I'll just help my father." Loretta answered with a wan smile.
All of a sudden, Elisa poked Loretta's cheek with her finger. The flabbergasted look on Loretta's face sent Elisa into an irrepressible fit of laughter. The brunette soon joined her regal friend in her laughter.
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On a balcony overviewing the castle's gardens, the King was standing with two knights on his sides. With an unreadable, severe face he observed one of his daughters and another young girl play, chat and laugh under the shade of the trees.
"How did she enter the castle grounds?" The King asked calmly.
"We... We don't know exactly." One of the knights said, fidgeting on his feet. "Her father is one of the castle's gardeners. She may know of a place where the outer wall is climbable, but... we're merely guessing for now, your Majesty."
"I suggest you find out, Sir Wilhem. This is a severe security breach. Can you imagine what would have happened if it was someone ill-intentioned instead of a little girl?"
"Yes, your Majesty. I'll send a couple men to apprehend the girl."
"You will do no such thing." The King leaned forward against the ornate guardrail of the balcony. With his back turned to his knights, he allowed himself to smile faintly.
"Excuse me, your Majesty?"
"You heard me. Send someone to watch over them discreetly. But this girl is not to be scared off. You'll let her come in and out as she pleases. Is that clear, Sir Wilhem?"
"Yes, your Majesty." Sir Wilhem was visibly confused, but he dared not dispute the King's orders.
"Very well. We have wasted enough time watching two little girls play."
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Sofia should have been jubilating, but she was not. Sitting sideways on her late Father's throne with her legs on the armrest and her arm crossed, she was reflecting on her current situation with her eyes closed.
Her Father had kicked the bucket right on schedule, Elisa's knightess had been dealt with and thanks to Commander Wilhelm and his guards not even murmur of unrest had swept over the castle. She had won, and would be Queen regnant soon.
But Elisa was still alive, and by extension so was Urilesh. Sofia's attempt to preemptively get rid of them had spectacularly failed and now Urilesh was a looming threat on the would-be Queen's schemes and life. Of course, you don't deal with such a powerful creature and expect to live through it without an ace up your sleeve. Unfortunately, Sofia's ace was running late.
"Where is Zahira?" Sofia asked the co-conspirators gathered in the throne room.
Facing the throne and the new Queen, Commander Wilhelm answered. "The messenger has been sent, Queen Sofia. She should be there soon."
A nervous spasm lifted the corner of Sofia's upper lip. Her eyes snapped open and she sat correctly on her golden chair. "Hopefully soon is soon enough."
"Are we expecting more troubles?" Anton asked, the magician discretely standing a few steps behind the throne. "My arts are yours, and so are the guards. You have nothing to be worried about."
Sofia chuckled softly. The kind of trouble the Queen was expecting would make Anton very useful, and yet so unreliable. She hated magic because of the power it gave its wielder and she hated having to deal with magic users because they knew how powerful they were.
"I'm not worried, just thorough." Sofia lied to Anton, and to herself. Despite the numerous guards in the throne room itself and spread around in the castle, they would be of little use against Urilesh if she had managed to recover even if only a fraction of her powers.
Suddenly, the large doors of the throne room swung open from outside. Sir Reinhold entered the room, wearing an ornate, gorgeous yet clearly battle-hardened plate armor. Countless scratches and dents covered every piece of his armor and some parts were even blackened, as if having been exposed to the heat of flames. Two knights of the Moon tailed him two steps behind.
The two knights stopped right after having entered the throne room, but Sir Reinhold strode forward until he was in the dead center of the room. There, he removed his helmet and put it under his arm. Reinhold's steel gaze swept the room back and forth, then he looked Sofia in the eyes.
Sir Reinhold was probably old enough to be Sofia's grandfather, and yet something about him made him look ageless. The charisma that radiated from the leader of the Order of the Moon as he simply stood there was enough to make Sofia feel like he was the regal one and she was nothing but a little girl. She thoroughly hated the veteran knight.
"How long has the king been dead? An hour maybe? And you're already sitting on his throne. Aren't you ashamed of yourself, Sofia?"
Sofia took a deep breath. If Reinhold was there to verbally joust, he would find an opponent willing to play. "The show must go on, Sir Reinhold. Don't you agree? Without a ruler, what would become of our country?"
"You're right. There must be a ruler. But this throne, you have no right to monopolize it."
Sofia jumped to her feet and went down the set of four steps in front of the throne. "No right? I am the RIGHTFUL heir to this throne!"
"One of them."
Three words were enough to enrage Sofia. She turned her back to Sir Reinhold to hide the frown warping her face.
"Furthermore, as it was obvious that neither of his daughters would be ready to rule upon his demise, the King wished for his wife, the Queen Consort Mireya, to rule in the meantime. With me by her side as an advisor."
Sofia let out a mean cackle before facing Reinhold again, a wide smirk on her face. "But that's not how it works. I'm a Princess. The King's daughter. A direct heir. The throne is mine!"
"Such is the will of our late King." No emotion was showing on Reinhold's face. His body was still as a statue.
"I don't care about the old man's will!" Making a show of looking around the room, Sofia continued. "Does anyone here care about what he wanted?"
Sir Reinhold's upper lip twitched. "This is treason." The two knights of the Moon took another step forward and drew their swords.
"Treason?" Sofia laughed heartily before shaking her head. "Says the one barging in the throne room clamoring that he is to rule instead of the King's own family."
"I truly wished you would come to your senses, Sofia. Shedding blood on the day of the King's death truly is a saddening thing."
Sir Reinhold slowly drew his sword, and as soon as his hand reached the hilt of his blade guards swarmed the illegitimate Queen, surrounding her and protecting her from all sides. Unfazed, Sir Reinhold assumed a battle stance, the blade of his sword glowing light blue.
"I think basic odds are beyond your ancient brain, Reinhold! You're outnumbered, what, ten to one? Twelve to one?" Sofia was gloating, almost hidden behind her beefy armored guards.
"I've seen worse."
Sir Reinhold's confidence was grating Sofia's nerve, but she had plenty of cards to play. "Anton! Smite this fool!"
The magician jumped. Sofia knew that he probably barely had listened to the whole exchange, but he never balked at using his powers.
Anton raised his right arm up in the air and a large ball of purple flames appeared right under the ceiling of the throne room, its heat almost unbearable even to Sofia. Then, with a motion of his arm, Anton sent the fireball crashing down on the three knights of the Moon.
Dust and smoke filled the room, blinding Sofia. The Queen couldn't hear anything over the ringing in her ears. When the smoke thinned out, the knights were still standing right where they had been. A large bubble of pale blue energy was flickering around them.
"We serve the Holy Moon, the Mother of All! Your unholy arts won't be of any help to you! Now, face retribution for your treachery!" Reinhold roared, raising his sword in the air and his two knights rushed forward.
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"I'm sorry Princess... The prisoner has already been executed."
