Chapter 14: Friend or Foe?
THEY gave up on visiting the market and returned to the castle, whereupon they were ushered into the main residence’s reception hall. King Klinack and Vrba raced into the room with harrowed faces shortly after.
After Turek finished reporting what happened, Vrba remorsefully confessed, “Child kidnappings have been on the rise within my territory as of late too. We’ve been having a hard time stopping the problem because we still don’t know whether they’re orchestrated by a group or if each crime is unrelated to the other. I never thought it would happen in the royal capital as well.”
Klinack’s solemn expression was heavy with grief. “I have neither excuse nor explanation for the incident,” he said slowly.
Vrba quickly came to his rescue. “It’s not your fault. Bad people are everywhere in the world.” He turned to assure Unen and Irena, “It was an unfortunate turn of events, but you’ll be safe here. His Majesty will protect you.”
“Do you want to improve my image or trample it? Decide,” Klinack sighed.
Vrba stared back at him perplexed. “Your image has nothing to do with it. What happened in the city isn’t your responsibility, Klinack.”
Maintaining the security and safety of Yezero had long been the job of the Vigilante Corps, which was originally established by the townspeople. While the royal capital was of far grander scale than a rural town, the idea of self-protection had originated here.
Klinack sighed loudly for the second time. “Well, you have one thing right: as long as my guests are inside this castle, there is nothing for them to fear. I hope you can relax to your heart’s content within these walls.” Regret tinged his voice.
✦ ✦ ✦
JUST as Sissel entered to inform them lunch was ready, Klinack left the room with Turek in tow. Unen expected to return to the annex tower, and was subsequently surprised when Sissel showed them to the main residence’s grand dining hall.
“I was ordered to have you wait in the main residence after lunch until Lord Harabal returns to the castle, Lady Unen.”
Sissel brought Unen to the second chair from the door at a long wooden table that could seat twenty. He directed Irena to the chair across from her, and placed Ori at the corner chair beside Unen.
Unen cocked her head inquisitively at the empty chair opposite of Ori. She hadn’t seen Mouru once since they had returned from the city. Life was easier without him leading them by the nose with all his ill-natured insinuations, but the longer he was away, the more Unen felt needless worries pop up in her. He could be plotting something evil, unpleasant, and/or dastardly in the shadows somewhere.
Unen stifled a sigh and voiced her worries by asking Sissel, “Excuse me, is Mouru not dining with us?”
“Ah, yes…Master Mouru said he was feeling under the weather soon after you went out. He has been resting in his room.”
“He is? Is he all right?” Irena asked, concerned. Then she leaned across the table to whisper to Unen, “And here I thought, with a personality as rotten as his, he wouldn’t die even if you killed him.”
“What a heartless fellow the Master Mage is to make a lady worry over him.”
The group looked in surprise at the door. There they discovered Vrba grinning devilishly, obviously pleased with his dramatic line that sounded as if it’d come straight out of Act 1 in some play.
“How’s his condition? Would you like to borrow my personal doctor?” Vrba offered.
Who would expect anything less of a lord who oversaw an entire province? He apparently brought his personal doctor on his trips to the royal capital. Despite his complaints of being inconvenienced by the shortage of servants, he brought far more vassals with him than Unen had assumed.
“Lord Vrba’s doctor served as the instructor of our castle’s live-in doctor,” Sissel explained with a big smile. “As for Master Mouru’s condition,” he said to Vrba, “he took some medicine earlier and was sound asleep when I went to call him on him for lunch. May I approach you later about your offer once he has awakened, Lord Vrba?”
Vrba gracefully brought his hand to his chest in mock modesty. “I don’t mind. I’d be delighted to be of any assistance.” He had a strange way of making theatrical gestures appear natural.
“By the way, why might you be here, Lord Vrba…?” Sissel dubiously prompted.
The question caught Vrba off guard. “Ah, err, I thought it’d be fun to join in the merrymaking.”
“Shall I request a server to bring a meal here for just you, Lord Vrba? Or will Sir Jalt be joining us as well?”
“No need. I just came to take a peek at how you were all getting along. With that said, I should be taking my leave now. I hope you all enjoy your meal.” Vrba exited the room, leaving only the lingering image of his incandescent smile.
“Is Jalt his doctor?” Unen hadn’t heard the name before.
“No,” Sissel responded in good humor. “His doctor’s name is Dzui. Sir Jalt is Lord Vrba’s chamberlain. He was the gentleman you saw standing behind Lord Vrba in the guest room this morning. His Majesty wants to introduce you to everyone of note at the banquet tonight, so you will likely have the opportunity to meet Doctor Dzui then.”
“Ban...quet...” Irena muttered, blue in the face. “How do we handle this, Unen? I didn’t bring any clothes fit for a banquet. I don’t OWN any, for that matter.”
Sissel rushed to assure her, “Oh! Please do not fret…! This will be a private banquet, so…umm…I will also be attending in the clothes I’m wearing, if that helps!”
“Me too,” Unen said, "these are my best clothes. How about you, Ori?”
“My clothes aren’t that dirty yet, so I don’t plan to change.”
Irena looked unconvinced. “Really? But is it really all right? Will these clothes actually be fine?”
Sissel firmly nodded. “It is perfectly all right. Her Majesty the Queen and Her Royal Highness the Princess were full of praise for how dashing and stylish you looked while you were training with the sword last night, Lady Irena. If I may be so bold, I believe they will be ecstatic if you came in your normal attire.”
“They saw me?!” Red dyed Irena’s face.
Unen couldn’t suppress the urge to grin at her normally confident friend’s cute reaction.