The Kingdom of Dawn

Chapter 17: Old Enemies, New Friends

"How can he just leave me like this?" Edmund was pacing back and forth in his office, muttering to himself. "I am not just interested in power and more land like Reuben claims. How dare my son say such things about me? Someone will pay for this!!!" Suddenly a blind rage came over Reuben. His senses settled into a scarlet haze, and he drew his sword and burst through the door, swinging the weapon is at everyone who dared to remain around him. "My Lord," the voice belonged to Sir Gerald, a great warrior in Edmund's service and the general of his armies. "What has troubled you today?" Reuben didn't hear a word of what he said. The blood rushing in his ears drowned out every other noise.

"OPEN THE GATES!!!!!!"

"But your most sovereign lordship, are you sure ab--"

The general was cut short by a sword swinging at his head. His quick reflexes saved his life as they had done many other times, and he ducked out of the way just in time. "Did you not hear what Edmund just said? Open the gate at once!" The guards scrambled to open the gate, and not a moment too soon, for just as the gates were opened, a ball of fire flew across the room from Edmund's fingers. Had the guards delayed any longer, there would have been no more gate to open.

Edmund charged through the gate and vaulted onto his horse, spurring it on through the capitol. As Edmund rode raging through the city, the villagers scattered in every direction, running for their lives from the wrath of their angry emperor.

"How long do you think it will take him to calm down?"

"Definitely at least an hour or two Gertrude. He seemed very mad this time"

"Do you even know what happened?"

"I should surely hope so Penelope. I am his daughter after all."

"And so am I, but I still haven't heard anything."

"Oh look, he's back. Should we go down and greet him?"

"Definitely."

"Father, what was going on?"

"Gertrude, Penelope, how good to see you. I was just getting a progress update from Reuben."

"And?" The voices of the two princesses mingled as one in this chorus for more information.

"Well, to put it simply... Reuben will no longer be visiting the castle anymore."

"So he has finally found someone else to hang out with. Good for him"

"Gertrude, you shouldn't say such things. So father, who did Reuben marry?"

"What in the world gives you that idea? I will have to explain more later. I have business to see to."

"We eagerly await your explanation father."

As the two sisters turned to go back upstairs, Gertrude turned to Penelope and said, "I wonder what Reuben is doing right now."

At that very moment, Reuben sat at a table across from Estrella. "I thank you very much for accepting my request for a meeting."

"You said you wished to be enemies no longer. I hope for the same. Now what is it that you wanted to discuss?"

"My father has become a very dangerous man. Last night, I may have barged in on a private meeting of his, but I made a discovery which alerted me that he must be stopped."

"What great discovery has occurred to change your mind?"

"Something bad, very bad. My father Edmund is working with Malthazar. I invited you here to tell you this, and to offer my assistance in stopping him."

"Malthazar?!?! Why in the world would anyone want to work with that devil? Your father is not just a traitor to Dawn, he is a traitor to the whole human race. He must be stopped, and I will gladly accept your help to do it."

"Aren't we jumping ahead of ourselves Estrella?" Lord Marten's voice filled the great hall. "The Lord Reuben has made a very powerful claim, which if true, significantly strengthens the power of our enemy. He does not however offer any proof of said claim, and thus the claims validity can not be proven. Let the queen to be also remember that the enemy has several times used lies and deceit to achieve his purposes. If the Lord Reuben cannot provide any proof of his claim, then I am highly afraid that this is only a ruse of the enemy seeking to entrap us into lifting Reuben's banishment and making our plans known to him. Likely as not, if we trust him now, Reuben will disappear back to his father on the morrow, taking all of our plans with him."

"So basically, that is a long and convoluted way to say that you can't trust me."

"A very good deduction Reuben, and one that I very likely would have made myself in the same situation." Even as Lord Marten said this, one could hear a slight chuckle in his voice. "Now, since we really cannot trust your words without evidence, what do you suppose to offer us to prove the validity of your words?"

Reuben leaned forward across the table, taking a scroll out of his pocket as he did so. "I lifted this off my father's desk during our discussion. Although I can not read it, I did recognize the script as that of the shadow lands, and both my father's seal and the seal of Malthazar are on it. Is that proof enough for you?"

Picking up the scroll, Marten examined it carefully, his eagle eyes scrutinizing every detail. "Never before in my life have I seen such a thing," he finally said, setting down the scroll. "I am convinced that it is completely genuine. If my opinion of this scroll is to be trusted, then our new friend Lord Reuben is telling the truth. Welcome to the council of Dawn, young friend."

"Thank you for allowing me to help you Estrella and Lord Marten. I express my heartfelt apologies to both of you for any trouble my former actions may have caused."

"Your apologies have been accepted. Oh, and I almost forgot" Lord Marten pulled a scroll out of his pocket and quickly scribbled down something on it. Then he and Estrella both affixed their seals to it. "Show this to any guard who tries to keep you from entering the kingdom. The official pardon should be arriving from the council on the morrow" Reuben took the proffered scroll and read the first line

The Lord Reuben, formerly considered a magician and traitor to Dawn is hearby declared innocent of all crimes which he has committed.

"I will never be able to thank you enough. Now I must go and make myself right with someone else."

As Reuben rode off into the distance and back into Dawn, a lone dragon rider soared off into the setting sun.