Each year the Kingdom of Khearia throws a festival in remembrance of one of their most beloved kings who had tragically perished along with his wife and second son. His first son, Prince Fabian, was the only one to survive. Witnesses claimed his cro...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"I'm in." James lied.
ㅤHe stood to the satisfaction of the duke, the king, and his advisor, all huddled in the king's spare office. At this time of night, only the flicker of lamps illuminated the faces that stared up at him, revealing a mix of suspicion and optimism.
ㅤ"Life with commoners made me forget who I was." James told them, "I don't fit in down there, never have. I've always craved to get revenge, nothing would be sweeter than taking the thing he wants most away from him."
ㅤTalking with Alex had made him realise he'd been behaving too much like a noble and needed to be dirtier. He would help them coup his brother under the pretence of becoming king and then flee before the time ever came, disappearing like smoke.
ㅤTruthfully, James felt nothing regarding Fabian. It was strange since he was not a forgiving person, but he supposed that if he had allowed himself to feel even the slightest resentment it would have been so consuming that it would have killed him. Running away was always easier than allowing the agonising desperation for revenge to devour him. His survival instincts were too strong to allow that.
ㅤWhich was probably why he didn't feel much of anything in general.
ㅤ"I'm pleased to hear that." the king told him with a breezy smile. "We've already begun discussing how to approach this with your assistance. It won't be easy."
ㅤ"I do have one concern, sire." James advanced.
ㅤ"Yes?"
ㅤ"I'm still concerned about the timeline of events and the people at play." he admitted. "Fabian was only twelve at the time, even if we believe he was involved, how would a child have been able to orchestrate such a thing? I plead that you consider and investigate this."
ㅤThe duke was nodding along as if it was something he had already considered. "This is something that has baffled me, also." the duke agreed. "It's likely Fabian was influenced into this by others as a child. We need to figure out who the players were and why they wanted your dad, Leo— King Leonardo— gone."
ㅤNo one called out the duke's slip of the tongue. James knew they had been somewhat close— close enough for the duke to share his precious relic collection with the late Ankaid king, which was how Eris ended up in James' hands in the first place.
ㅤJames planned to get Eris soon, but it would be suspicious to bring it up right after agreeing to join their conspiracy.
ㅤ"The use of arson is also suspicious." Harrison piped in.
ㅤThe duke agreed once again. "It would have been completely unnecessary and would have only cost Fabian thousands of pieces out of the treasury. It definitely suggests they were attempting to hide something."
ㅤThe king jotted down notes as they came, his old trembling hand scratching firm and strong letters.
ㅤThe reality of the situation began to sink in for James. He looked down at his palms.
