The Lonely Warrior Queen

{Chapter 64}

Xander's POV:

My study had never been so quiet.

Even if there were two people, three, counting myself, no one made a noise. I glanced at the two before me who did not react when I told them what I heard from the man in the dungeons.

I put my face in my palms, feeling exasperated, and mentally exhausted. This castle was looming in silence and despair once more. To this point, I knew how this feeling felt to the gut.

"If one of you does not speak, I might flip this table upside down," I said, having enough of this icy silence.

Daraa and Nathaniel looked at me and then at each other with blank eyes. It was the stern woman who decided to speak first.

"You have chosen to spare the maid and the man who sold herbs, Your Majesty," she said, with a hint of disapproval.

"You want me to put two innocent people to death?" I questioned, studying her warily.

"Even if they were tricked, they had a part in orchestrating this tragedy,"

She had a point. But would it make me any different if I simply went with executing them? They were simply pawns, used by cruel men. When I talked with both of them, I knew how much they regretted it.

"The herbs seller was threatened to do as he was told. It was either that or watching his entire family murdered," I enunciated, tapping my fingers soundlessly against the desk. "I thought I had sorted out with unknown people entering the city. I suppose I was still very much careless regarding it,"

"This was not your fault, Your Majesty," Nathaniel spoke up, his voice displaying disuse.

He had not spoken much ever since he heard what happened. Last night, he spoke to me, apologizing and blaming himself for what happened.

"None of this would have happened if I was here," he said.

"That is why I wanted you here," was my reply.

Yet, I did not blame him. He blames himself enough, I thought. He only could have stopped one of the two schemes that were happening simultaneously.

"If what Darwin Esther said was true, we might have to make a move,"

I looked up at Daraa, who, even at these times, looked calm and collected. She did not trifle with insignificant issues and always thought of the greater good.

"What do you two suggest?" I asked, my voice dead and cold. "If Sealore is holding against the enemy's enticement, it only shows that they are resolved in keeping the peace,"

"Sealore had only recovered its former glory a few decades back," Daraa announced calmly. "There might be a chance that the current King would want vengeance for the battles his predecessor had lost,"

"They were the ones who declared war first back then," I reminded her. It was a fact I could never forget. Not after it was permanently etched into my head.

"I am aware, Your Majesty," the woman spoke with extreme politeness. "But there is a possibility that they might turn against us,"

"Or not," Nathaniel suggested. "We will never know unless we discuss it directly with them,"

I looked at him. I found that idea to be brilliant. Instead of just assuming the worse, there is still time to do what could be the right thing.

"We do not need Sealore on our side," I concluded, getting onto my feet. "I want them to remain neutral and stay out of this war,"

Both of them seem to have agreed with me. But they remained silent again. I looked down, at the papers in front of me. I spend most of yesterday, issuing the well-being of the families of those men who had their lives taken from them cruelly.