"I will murder you."

The guard blinked repeatedly as if he had just retracted himself out of a hallucination and widened his eyes.

"Your majesty, I-"

"If I find out that you've been leading this investigation without any seriousness because of your low opinions on my suspicions, you won't live to report back to me."

Something that I always had control of in all my years of training, was knowingly slithering out of my hands.

"Leave. See to it that the inspection I required in the Hall of Thrones is being arranged without flaw."

The guard that had resembled the epitome of confidence and sturdiness seconds before, failed to replicate even a similar stance, staggering backwards while he shakily nodded and left the room.

It just couldn't be. We still hadn't obtained a single piece of evidence, connecting the escape of the female prisoner to one of the women living in the west wing of the lands.

We had thoroughly probed nearly all seven villages under our surveillance, some of which that weren't even part of the west side of the lands, and the last stage of the inquiry was to commence soon. The riskiest part of it.

Gathering all the women in one hall for a long face-to-face interrogation.

I put on my blazer, that covered my white shirt, an attire that was simple enough but still made the dark colour of it, a shining plain black, speak for the gravity of the situation.

My pointy shoes squeaked along the sparkling floors, as I approached the tall closed doors of the Hall of Thrones.

Then, I nearly squeaked.

Because, once I opened the doors, it was chaos.

There were chattering women everywhere, the high pitch of the feminine conversations bouncing across every corner of the walls, the mixture of the words being shared attacking my earbuds all at once.

Women of all ages were present, and the majority of them consisted of females falling into the young category.

As I walked towards Aaliyah who was surveying the hall with a clipboard in her hand and a facial expression even more rigid than the material she was holding, I overheard a couple of peculiar sentences.

"Why do you think we have been called in? They didn't tell me anything before ordering me to drop my frolicking in the markets! Mind them, I was extremely busy fooling around with the fishmonger."

"My husband is probably screaming his head off in the backyard, they forced us to exit our bedroom right before the buffoon exited the toilet. That constipation issue of his is becoming unbearable!"

"The prince, my goodness, he looks like an almond dripping with milk chocolate, though I think he would look much better inside my mouth."

The last one disturbed me beyond explanation.

"You owe me both of your black horses in the stables. I will not stand here another second if I hear a refusal." Aaliyah looked like she was restraining herself from hunting a couple of lionesses in a row, and currently, she was staring at the women in the room like they were her soon-to-be meal.

"Consider it a deal made, little sister. Now, shall we begin the inquiry?"

She sighed heavily and turned around, facing all the ladies that had ceased their verbal exchanges, looking straight at us in what seemed like awe.

"Greetings to all the ladies present, we have summoned you in without any previous warnings, and for that we firstly apologize, as I'm sure we took you from what I assume would have been a very usefully spent evening."

I blocked the urge to roll my eyes because it would have been a scandalous occurrence that spread like a palace on a fire.

"We would just like to ask all of you a few questions that may not be too comfortable to answer for some of you, but unfortunately, you will have to make some exceptions today. With that being said, can everyone please form a neat queue facing us?"

The women started lining up next to each other, letting a heavy air of excitement and befuddlement mix into the atmosphere.

The palace guards closed the doors and stood near it, officially announcing the inspection as an event not to be interrupted.

I started off from the ladies standing to my right while my sister approached the left side.

"Your name, ma'am?" It wasn't required for me, as a product of royalty, to address the village women with a significant label of respect, but I was fortunately, my mother's son.

"Seanna Mary Jermaine, your highness." The lady answered while she had her gaze sincerely fixed on the floor.

"What do your activites entail in the morning, may I ask?" I tried to maintain my voice with a welcoming tone, but it failed to derive the lady from her staring competition with whatever that was so intriguing beneath her.

"I wake up before the rooster crows in the morning, to collect the eggs nearby and prepare breakfast for my children. I then, wash my b-body clear of any dirt from the previous day before cleaning the porch. After, I use a bowl of colored powder to fill that area-"

That was when she finally had my whole unwavering attention. But, as I moved on to the following females, every one of them had similar answers, plus or minus the presence of children.

We had asked them many other questions, such as where they had bought the powder, the last time they had visited the palace excluding the current situation, the possible associations they had with dancing and dancers, particularly royal ones and their interests in them, their knowledge and opinions on the dungeons plus how well they think they are being protected by the kingdom.

We had to ask the last couple of questions very carefully for we knew if we hadn't, we would be subjected to our father's fury in no time.

Spotting nothing significant enough to inspect further, I finally came to the last female.

"The name is Marianne Macy Mckenzie, your grace. I refrain from doing the same things my neighborhood females do on a daily basis, as I strongly believe it makes me represent boredom. I actually,"- she proudly blushed, looking down, then looked up again, "wake up after the rooster crows and I don't waste my efforts on making breakfast. Why sweat when the maid is at your hand? After all, a queen wouldn't do so either. Am I right, your majesty?"

Aaliyah's mouth seemed to be having an extremely difficult time to control its twitching, and it wasn't humouring to see her apologetically covering her mouth to conceal her embarrassing laughter.

The girl, Marianne, continued to stare at me, in what I couldn't even fathom, hope and mind-blowingly palpable desire.

The female had decided this event was an unofficial gathering to secretly select the kingdom's future queen, in other words, my bride-to-be.

I felt as though I urgently needed the services of a sink and some water.

"Pardon me for interrupting, but I would just like to say that I do indeed prepare my own breakfast every morning."

The Queen of Yandestine.

"Good afternoon, Mother." Aaliyah rejoiced at our mother's entry while most of the women in the hall faltered backwards, practically huddling together and bowing their heads down in respect.

She was after all, an inspiring sight to see.

The half of her face and fingers drizzled with a medium concentration of blood, only some parts dried up, my mother confidently strided further into the hall, towards the centre, her black leathery uniform clinging onto every inch of her military look.

The only person in the area that still seemed oblivious to her entrance was Marianne, who was continuing to blush like her moment had never stopped, probably thinking my mother's response was a sign of approval.

I was disgusted. I couldn't blatantly show her that so I straightened up, and nodded at my mother and Aaliyah, signifying the termination of the inquiry.

"Thank you for your time, ladies. You may leave."

"But your highness, you didn't answer my question." I looked at Marianne, and took a deep breath, as this was a time where the few remaining seeds of my self-control was being tested.

"I thought I said you may leave? Isn't that considered as an equivalent of a response to your brain, Larianne?"

"I-it's Marianne."

"Isn't that what I said?" I narrowed my eyes at her, daring her to speak more words.

"I think its time you leave darling, your family is probably already worried sick about your whereabouts." My mother's words may have been filled with a sense of affection, but I hoped Marianne sensed the lining of a threat lying at its surface.

She did. As in the next few minutes, the whole room only contained the three of us, with the guards leaving to escort the females to their abodes or the men responsible for them.

"I applaud the audacity. To come right up to the prince and suggest marriage, requires courage, and if I were you brother-"

"Would you have accepted the proposal?"

"Not at all, I would have sent her to the healer's quarters where the mentally ill patients reside immediately. Nevertheless, I applaud the confidence."

I shook my head at my sister playfully as my mother smiled and took the clipboard from her. She started to go through the register and today's reports on the palace visits when the doors opened once again.

My father entered, by himself, fully dressed in the formal royal attire, a long maroon cloak, attached from his neck, gliding along the floor, only slightly covering the extravagant suit behind it.

Aaliyah waved enthusiastically while my mother offered him a nod and a mock salute before returning to her scrutiny of the recent documents.

"How did the inspection turn out Elijah? I hope you have more of a strong idea than you did before?"

"I already did have a strong idea Father, all I need is one speck of an evidence to confirm my suspicions that would eventually allow me to close the case." I muttered and sighed at the same time, incredibly disappointed with the outcomes of today.

"There's only so much we can do, son. Even if you did obtain a speck of an evidence, the trail surely wouldn't end there. What would we do? Give a woman a death sentence just because she, for who-knows-what reason, helped a prisoner escape and in the midst of it, let some powder escape her pockets? I can't even imagine the damage our kingdom's reputation would have to take." My father disapprovingly shook his head, clearly not thinking about how, not only me, but the same 'kingdom' he speaks of might be in grave danger.

"Why do you fail to understand my words? I am trying to prevent war from occurring, Father. Trying to make the peace you've always cherished, remain. Just because I was attacked, please don't, for even a second, think that I'm carrying these investigations all over our villages, because I fear for my life. But what does it matter, as it seems you do not care for your own son's safety either, as you wouldn't look so disgustingly and carelessly composed otherwise."

It was brewing inside me for too long. The anger, the disappointment, the denial. It was as if the elements of a solution, of a tangible possibilty, an answer to the exploding questions about everything that had recently taken place, weren't even trying to turn their heads in my direction.

My patience had started to completely crumble.

"Are you speaking back to me, Elijah? Accusing me of not fulfilling my responsibilities as a father, and dare I say, a king?" My father walked right up to me, his requirement for respect overpowering his calmness.

Aaliyah widened and stepped forward towards me, but got physically stopped by our mother, who took her hand, and swiftly led her out of the room.

"It is you, who has been falling short of your duties, Elijah. You seem to have completely forgotten my orders, and the fact that your coronation is to arrive in less than a month, doesn't seem to cause distraught in you either. I promise you, do not even dream, that I will let you simply sit on my throne without spilling a single sweat. I'd rather have a commoner be the king than a son that contemplates too much about wasteful matters entailing a woman that had a mere mood swing and coincidentally had help to escape from another female to probably take care of her poor family. Start focusing on what is actually important or else you know me, Elijah."

Silence.

Complete and utter silence.

I thought I did Father, I thought I did.

I didn't say so because I knew better than to pour more fuel into a raging fire. Hence I knew what I really needed to do. I slowly looked down, and started to walk towards the exit.

Then I stopped and only turned my head towards my father who was rubbing his forehead with tension.

"Remember Father, just because I might be ready to fall, doesn't mean I will ever let you push me off."

~~~

Can you actually believe I had more planned for this chapter? I was like, oh my god, I'm doing it again with the terribly long chapters and then had to plan a different ending. Someone teach me how to write short chapters, seriously!

Anyways, I love you if you're reading this! Thank you!

OceanaCamerons 🌹🌹🌹