Of Thieves & Kings

Manipulation

Gaius:

The secret passageway swallowed both Cassian and the evidence along with it the minute the secret door closed off, not even making a slight noise to raise alarm to both the prisoners and the warden. I could only stare at it gobsmacked, mentally punching myself that I have always clung to Mother's side rather than rebelliously going about exploring the palace during my lessons when I was a child. As prince, I never had friends like Cassian. I was never as outgoing or spontaneous as him. Mother and Yasemin always told me that, for the sake of my reputation, I need not mingle with any of the nobles, or even the other potential children Father had sired with the women of his harem.

I subconsciously brushed my elbow over the spot where Cassian's blow landed, wincing slightly. It was true that he had trained with hardened warriors. It would not come as a shock if his blow left a bruise.

I took a final glance at the hidden door and turned on my heel, walking towards the end of the dungeons. It was claustrophobic, dark, and putrid. Who in their right mind would have wanted to be locked up in here?

"Everything all right, Your Majesty?"

My eyes met those of the warden. He was a short man with bulky muscles and his face was unshaven and unkempt. He hid his balding head underneath a grimy headscarf and wore armour which needed a polish. To think that, according to Cassian, my mother would sully her pretty slippers with dirt from the dungeons to conspire with the warden was enough to make me wonder whether it was true. Why on earth would she speak to someone so far beneath her station? Why conspire with this brute of a man? Why would she want to have Cassian executed publicly without consulting me first?

"Yes, thank you," came my reply, barely a whisper.

"Has the prisoner caused you problems, Your Majesty?"

"No, I'm fine," I reassured the warden. "However, I am curious about one thing, Sir. May I ask you to give me a truthful answer?"

"If it is Your majesty's wish…"

I exhaled deeply. "Sir Cassian has made some accusations. Information which has yet to been brought under my attention." I watched the man not batting an eye. "Is it true that he is to be sentenced to death tomorrow morning?"

"Her Majesty, the queen, has personally signed his death warrant, Your Majesty."

"And, Sir, do you believe that my mother has the right to make such decisions, should your king not be informed about who is to be executed or not?" I crossed my arms. "Whatever my mother has signed, it was not a death warrant, Sir."

The man was slightly startled. "Forgive me, my king, for I must have misunderstood. Her Majesty, Queen Sophia, has sent me a warrant of death for a prisoner bearing the king's insignia. I assumed that it carried Your Majesty's approval."

I narrowed my eyes. "You just made assumptions that I would want to have my brother, my own flesh and blood, executed? For whatever reason, Sir? What crimes has he committed other than not being of legitimacy?"

"But the queen…"

"Do you consider Queen Sophia to be of higher authority, Sir? Higher than the king who was crowned in public by the Great Sage during the late king's funeral?" I grabbed hold of his bulky arm. It would have been easy for him just to swat my hand away, yet he did not dare, for it was his sovereign laying hands on him. "To pass justice over a member of the dynasty without either the king's explicit approval or evidence on reported crimes is treason, Sir! It is you who I ought to lock up for even considering that my mother has the higher authority!"

The man knelt to the ground in a plea. "Forgive me, Your Majesty. I have made assumptions based upon seeing the king's insignia on the warrant. I have no idea that you did not know about Sir Cassian's sentence." He sighed dignified. "By your will, Sir Cassian will be released from his cell. Just give the command and it shall be so."

I pulled back, feeling my heart jump within my chest. Not only did I manage to chastise my dungeon's warden, but I also managed to have Cassian be released from the dungeons. However, the problem was that Cassian was no longer in his cell! I cannot allow for the warden to find out just a few moments after Cassian had ventured into the passageways that he had escaped! Or worse, he'll raise alarm and then Mother would have every guard alert for my brother and have him killed on the spot!

"It can be done in the morning," I spoke up. "I am needed elsewhere." I turned to look over to him. "But I will need you to destroy the death warrant before my eyes before I am to leave for my next appointment."

I instructed the warden to retrieve the warrant so I can lay my eyes upon the parchment and see how Mother would dare to conspire behind my back. As my eyes scanned the writing, I could recognise her script, for it was too neat and too legible to have been written by my hand. However, etched into the red wax was the King of Emberland's insignia – a desert viper curled around a sword which signifies the empire's strength and durability for the rough, desert terrain.

"Burn it," I commanded the warden as I handed the parchment back in his hands. "I need to see my mother's warrant burn to ash." I handed the warden the torch. The man brought the parchment towards the flickering flame, and it lit instantly. Like tiny little embers, the ash fell to the dungeon's ground. The warden's sandals scoured over the ground's surface to erase the existence of the queen's conspiracy permanently.

"I'll expect to have an audience with you in the morning," I told the warden. "You have betrayed your king's trust once. There isn't a certainty that you won't do it a second time."

Whirling around without sparing the dungeon's warden another glance, I made way towards the palace once again. Sir Dante patiently waited to escort me as my personal guard.

"Has it been done?" I asked him.

"It has, Your Majesty, just like the Great Sage has commanded in his letter."

"With what certainty is it that my brother has found his way behind the falls?"

I just recently understood why Uncle Haris has sent a message to myself. He probably heard the rumours stating that Mother had him imprisoned along with Advisor Lucien. He must have eyes and ears within the palace walls, though it must be persons so discreet that nobody would think of them as the Great Sage's informants. Although it is only speculation, I am uncomfortable with the idea that Uncle can be informed about all of my movements and decisions. Why has he crowned me instead of Cassian, then? What other purposes must he fulfil?

"Sir Cassian will find the way," the guard assured. "He has always."

"Good," I stated whilst hurrying down the maze of corridors. "Hopefully, I can escape the palace walls to meet with Uncle before Mother finds out I am missing."

"No need to worry, Your Majesty," Sir Dante said. "Whether or not you seek to head into the city, be it day or night, the Queen Mother has no authority to keep you locked inside. You are the king, after all."

"I wish I wasn't."

We turned around the corner heading for the Golden Pathway leading to the king's chambers, my chambers, before Mother's fair features made an appearance.

"Gaius, my love!" she exclaimed. "Oh, how you had me worried about you!" She stepped forward to embrace me but I reversed in my steps. Her hands fell down her sides, as did her charming smile ass her dark eyes landed on Sir Dante. "What kind of guard are you to coerce your king to the dungeons, Sir? Have you no sense of safety?"

I held up my hand in Sir Dante's defence. "I asked to have him escort me to the dungeons, Mother. I wished to see how my brother was faring."

"Why would you want to visit that traitor? Have you forgotten how he humiliated you in front of all your subjects, Gaius?"

I motioned for Sir Dante to enter the antechamber before I followed. Mother was hot on my heels.

"And you let your servant in the room before you? What kind of respect do you expect to gain by letting a mere guard step into your chambers before you?"

I sighed, irked.

"What kind of respect do you display towards me by issuing warrants in my name, yet I know nothing about it?" I snapped.

Queen Sophia's eyes widened slightly before putting her nose in the air. "I know not what you are talking about."

"And you dare deny it." I rubbed a hand over my chin, slightly scratching at my beard. "You decreed for Cassian to be executed by first light, Mother! The warden and Cassian confirmed it. What gives you the right to use the King's insignia for your own gain?"

"I did it for you!" she exclaimed, not minding Sir Dante's astonished looks. "Can you not see how much I value your position as king that I intend to eliminate everything and everyone which could pose a threat to you?"

"Yet, it was not something that did not carry my approval, Mother!" I was frustrated with her meddling. "Can you not see how making decisions for me has placed me in a difficult position? Or would you rather bear the crown yourself since most of the people bow to your every whim? Cassian is my brother!"

"He is your enemy! He killed your father!"

"People die on the battlefield! Father knew the risks, hell, even Cassian knew of it."

"You wouldn't know."

"Of course, I wouldn't!" I shouted. "Because you never let me leave the safety of the palace to go along! You never let me train!"

"Of course I have," Queen Sophia stubbornly insisted. "Sir Dante has trained you to utilise a weapon."

"But I have never been of a battlefield. Just like you said, I wouldn't know what it looks like. What risks are associated with it." I grabbed a hood Sir Dante gave me and put it on and headed for the door.

"And where do you think you are going?"

"To the city," I dryly replied. "I no longer wish to have a part in this conversation. It's tiring."

"You can't go to the city! It's nighttime!"

"Who says I can't? You?" I scoffed and pushed past her. "With all due respect, Mother, you can neither tell me what to do nor make decisions on my behalf. I am king, just like you wanted. Cassian's no threat to me. He loves me too much to put my life in danger."

"I refuse to let you go alone. I forbid it!"

I c****d an eyebrow at her. "Sir Dante will escort me. Besides, one does not make the Great Sage wait unless he has a death wish."

Mother made a clicking sound with her tongue. "I knew Haris had a hand in this sudden rebellious attitude of yours. It is no wonder you begin to question your mother's love and affection for you."

Her angry tears plucked at my heart strings, yet I knew it shouldn't. Queen Sophia always thought her tears could make her arguments valid, even Father had been moved to see his dearly beloved wife cry. When Father fancied a pretty young girl from the harem, it was Mother's tears that kept him from bedding her, though nobody knew what happened to the fair maiden the following day.

I know she shouldn't be able to manipulate me this easily. But I can't stand the sight of her crying.

I moved to give her a one-armed hug. "It will be all right, Mother," I consoled her. "I promise you I will be back before the new day begins."

"You will?" she asked, wiping her eyes with a silk handkerchief. "You promise your uncle will not fill your head with unnecessary thoughts like banishing your mother to the old palace?"

I sighed. "Yes, I do." Reluctantly, I spoke the words but purposefully left out the word of 'promise'. I know nothing of Uncle's plans nor of Father's, but I can at least come home before the sun rises in the east.

Sir Dante cleared his throat.

"I must be off," I said while releasing her. "Tell Yasemin I love her."

Before anything further can be said, I left the antechamber and Mother behind, following Sir Dante from the palace to the city.