Bride To His Darkness

Back in the royal Palace, Tobias and Alistair had just arrived from an undercover mission when their mother, Lady Agathe, told them about what had happened in the orb room during their absence. Although they were both disappointed at the fact that she hid her identity from them, taking her to the town square and publicly whipping her for the crowds to see was an extreme course of action to take, even to them...and Lady Agathe had to agree with her sons on that note.

"I do not understand why she deserves to be punished so severely." Lady Agathe said to her sons who followed her past the hallway, her expression scrunched into concern. "The least they could do was send her out of the kingdom if she posed that much threat to them, and I think it is unfair to punish her because of her Father’s mistake as she did no harm to the family. I have not had any interaction with Ivan’s chosen bride before, but I can tell that she is harmless. Her blood on the pedestal though is still the only puzzle I’m seriously trying to solve."

"None of what we’re saying will matter if we can’t stop what’s happening from happening." Alistair uttered in slight irritation as he glanced at his brother who hadn’t changed his demeanor. "We don’t currently hold that much power to go against the decrees of the four Lords, and I’m half sure Carina talked them into it with that sly daughter of hers. Considering Eamon just arrived a few days ago, he’s being a mummy’s puppet, nothing else."

"You are right about that." Lady Agathe nodded her head in agreement before heaving her chest and exhaling tiredly through her lips. "Situations like this are the type that make me wish the Queen Mother was still alive. If she was still here, the circumstances wouldn’t have escalated to the heap, and now I’m wondering how your cousin will react when he returns with your Father and finds his woman at the brink of death."

Lady Agathe’s worried expression warped into panic, and she turned to look at her sons. "What will happen then?"

"I am still wondering how Eamon got his hands on those scrolls." The silent Tobias butted in with a contemplative gaze, "the last time King Muzan paid a visit to Vesunard, it was only a week after his return that he got assassinated, and the mystic Orb was mysteriously gone from the pedestal too. Where did he get the time to draft a new decree when his return from Vesunard at that time was a hasty one? And even during those weeks after his return, I was with Ivan when his Father tried to talk him into following the judgements and ruling in his place. To put it simply, why would he do that if he already made a decree in favor of Eamon?"

"Even if the decree is fake, which I suspect it is, there’s no proving it." Alistair massaged the back of his neck as they felt strained. "It has the royal seal stamp and signature, that is enough proof that the court needs. According to the rules once a new King gains the throne, a new seal is made, and the old one is destroyed. We were all there when King Muzan’s royal seal got burnt so we can avoid unnecessary complications like this one."

"Destroying the seal doesn’t mean it can’t be replaced with the exact same thing, but there should be a distinction between the two." Tobias’ eyes moved to his Mother who was also understanding the point her son was trying to make, and she asked.

"When are you going to tell Ivan? It’s important for him to know about this."