Chapter 5: The Lost Princess.
Prophesy The Fifth: Her Parents Shall Mourn Her Death.
" It was among the sunflowers behind the kitchen garden. "
" It makes no difference where they are found or who finds them. " Knight Robi comments.
" You can take your leave. " The king dismisses the messenger.
" Yes, my Lord. "
" What does the letter say? " Professor Abu asks as soon as the messenger leaves the room.
" She sends her greetings. " The king smiles putting the letter into the inner pocket of his robe.
" My Lord you cannot be selfish with these letters. You must let us know what they are about. " Professor Abu says.
" I think the king knows what he is doing. I am sure the contents of the letter will cause an uproar in the country and... "
" Scholar Toks you are speaking nonsense. What uproar? Nobody will know about the contents or are you suggesting that we are loose mouths here? " Trust Professor Abu to pick a fight.
" Prof, I was only trying to... "
" Nonsense, nonsense! You are talking absolute nonsense. "
" Professor, you need to calm down. We are all trying to... "
" To do what? Stop an unstoppable force? Our efforts are useless anyway. Our saviour is gone, she's gone. Thanks to Knight Robi and his... "
" You should have protected the princess yourself then. " Knight Robi says and the room goes quiet.
" Passing blames is not going to bring the princess back. This room right now contains the most intelligent and wisest people in this Kingdom and perhaps in the whole world. Yet we are fighting amongst ourselves like little children. " The king looks around the room and then rests his gaze on professor Abu who avoids looking at him.
" Professor Abu you were discussing how we could increase our production to avoid famine. " The king changes the direction of the conversation.
" Yes. We have to increase the tax, I know you hate to do this but if we don't do this now we will be forced to open our storehouses to feed the people and as we are expecting a war, we... "
" What war? " Scholar Toks interrupts the professor.
" Don't be foolish. Do you think Shiar's greetings are asking how we are doing? " Professor Abu raises his voice. And yes, this is the only kingdom where you can mention Shiar's name.
" Gentlemen, please. Yes, we know we are expecting a war, it has been prophesied. " The king intervenes.
....
" How did it go with the council today? " Queen Jemmy asks her husband as he enters their room.
" The usual, I wonder why I put up with those men. " The king lets out a frustrated sigh.
" They're great men, although very childish. " Jemmy chuckles.
" I don't know how their counsel is going to lead us out of this war. " The king takes off his robe.
" Do you want the maid to come undress you? " The queen asks as she sees her husband taking off his clothes without any assistance.
" You know Jemmy when I was in the army before I took the throne I did everything myself. I don't need a maid to undress me. " He says kissing his wife on the forehead.
" You're a king, you should behave like one. " Jemmy says admiring his perfectly toned chest, his time in the army did pay off.
" Ha, you insult me. Do you want me to show you how much of a king I am? " He goes on to remove his trousers.
" Stop teasing. " Jemmy blushes.
" Shiar sent another letter. " The king tells his wife.
" What does this one say? " Jemmy asks, her voice laced with worry.
" I haven't read it yet. "
" Dear Northern king, put your mind to ease, the war will come but not now, not soon. Yours in ruling, The Queen. " The king reads the letter.
" I wonder why she never signs her name, Shiar, what does the name mean? " Queen Jemmy remarks.
" Who knows? It must have some dark meaning. " The king throws the letter into the fire.
" Do you have any suspicions? Someone in this palace must be giving her information. "
" My dear, I don't know who would be that stupid but it does seem the case. "
" Perhaps she promised the person money he couldn't resist? "
" Money? In exchange for freedom? Shiar has no subjects. They are all her slaves. "
" Do you think she's holding our baby hostage? "
" It's likely but she seems like the type that will boast about that kind of thing. If she had our baby she would have blackmailed us into giving her the kingdom. "
" Maybe she's preparing to do something even bigger? "
" I pray not, I cannot imagine our baby with her. "
" Then who else will be holding our baby? "
" I don't know Jemmy. " Just then, a knock interrupts their conversation.
" What is it? " The king opens the door.
" My Lord, Knight Robi. "
" Ah, yes! Tell him to wait in my drawing room. "
Knight Robi and the king go way back. They had both matured in the palace together and were best of friends, his father had been the previous king's most trusted Knight and now their sons had the same relationship. They had trained together severally and had fought side by side in many battles.
" My Lord. " Knight Robi bows slightly as the king enters the drawing room.
" My Knight. " The king responds and they both laugh.
" How is the investigation going with the events of Zi's naming ceremony? " The king enquires.
I think I need to give a little background story here.
Not too long ago in this province, a princess was born into the royal family. Her birth had been prophesied for a long time and it was said that she will save the world from the hands of a great witch.
When she had been born, the then priest had immediately notified the king that something was odd. The atmosphere had become very different and she might just be the rumoured child who will save their kingdom and the world.
The priest had told them to keep things to themselves and they had, nobody knew about the fate of this princess. In fact, Jemmy and the king, Remy had been surprised that the rumoured warrior lord will be a princess. They were delighted but also scared, it meant their little girl will have to undergo a lot of training and might even have to risk her life several times.
On the day of her consecration to the gods of their land, the baby had gone missing that very morning just before she was to be presented to the world. Her fate too had just been revealed, the priest had been right; she was the rumoured battle lord.
Immediately their baby who they had named Ozilia had become missing they had sent out search parties secretly in search of the baby but it had proven unsuccessful.
After about three months, the monarchs had no choice but to declare to the world that their baby had gone missing and whoever found her will be compensated bountifully. Unfortunately, all attempts to find the princess proved abortive.
" I'm sure there has been a leak of information somewhere. " Knight Robi replies.
" A leak? In the palace? That's impossible! The only persons who knew about the prophecy were me and Jemmy. You didn't know yourself until later. " The king sounds frustrated and his frustration is understood.
" It is possible the wrong person eavesdropped. " Knight Robi says.
" Okay, okay. If there was a leak of information, how does that leak affect this investigation? " The king asks.
" The leak might be here with us right now. The leak, I suspect is hindering this investigation. "
" How so? There's no one here with us. " The king looks around the room.
" The walls are here. They have ears. "
" Robi you're not making sense. "
" What does not make sense is how the kidnapper managed to infiltrate the security of this palace. We both know that is unattainable only that it is because the princess was kidnapped. "
" Alright, let's assume there was a leak or there is one, what do we do about it? " The king asks.
" Nothing, let's stop the investigation. Let us stop asking questions, let us not have this conversation again. " Knight Robi suggests.
" That's impossible Robi. Forget that damned prophecy, I am a father that just wants to hold his little girl. I listen to Jemmy cry herself to sleep at night sometimes. Imagine, her breasts had been swollen with milk for our baby and she had never got around to breastfeeding her. I will do anything including sacrificing my life to see my baby just one more time. "
" I understand but... "
" No! No Robi you do not understand, you have never been a father. You cannot understand the pain I have been living in. "
" I know, I know but we must think of the way forward. "
" Your suggestion is no way forward. You want us to stop investigating. That is no solution! " The king is furious.
" You have to understand that someone is downplaying our intelligence. Someone is making a mockery of this investigation by distorting the facts in a most believable way. If I had not been there myself that day I would not be able to tell the lies apart. "
" I just want to hold my baby. Okay, how will stopping the investigation help? " The king asks.
" We're going to stop looking for the princess and start looking for the spy. My guess is that if we find the leak we will be able to find the princess. Even as we speak the leak must know this already and that's a good thing. I'm sure he's going to make a mistake, he might have made one already. " Knight Robi says purposefully as if addressing the leak.
" Okay. I am trusting you on this. Please find this leak. " The king asks.
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