Following Jeanne up the stairs and down the corridor, they came to the entrance hall, which was filled with people.

Seeing the situation, Emerthelil stopped in her tracks.

“Didn’t you say the great hall?” She asked Jeanne, not looking at him but instead of all the unfamiliar people in maid and butler outfits, knowing that even if she hadn’t met them much, these people were her servants.

“Well, tomatoes, tomaatoos … isn't the entrance hall a great hall …” Jeanne said with a smirk, vanishing from his spot.

“Damn shade …” Emerthelil muttered, searching for her husband. Finding him she made her way over, to the top of the stairs, standing regally next to him as he was discussing something with Warthon.

Noticing her presence, Mesanth turned to her and gave her a small kiss on the cheek, shocking her so much that she just froze until her husband's voice bought her out of it.

“I would like to have all of your attention.” His voice boomed through the room, silencing it effectively and making every servant turn towards them.

“It seems like there was a bit of a misunderstanding about the reason why I have asked you all to get together. I would like to announce that my daughter, your princess, has successfully survived a vicious assassination attempt, made from the midst of our community. It saddens me to not be able to confirm all predators being caught.

However we could round up the majority of them,” he said, making a long pause in which the entrance door was opened and nine people in shackles were brought in by soldiers under Samuels command.

“I demand all of you to the witness their punishment, for it to serve as a warning to never think about harming my family again.” Mesanth suddenly said with a vicious undertone, glaring at the crowd that started to shake in fear under his red reptilian eyes.

A buzz started to fill the room at his words, as the servants couldn’t hold their silence anymore.

Everyone knew what was going to happen and why they were here.

It was going to be the only punishment that could soothe the royals … death.

And it was going to be made an example.

Some started to cry, others to shake in fear and the ones that recognized a friend or family member had to be supported or held back in fear of them behaving discriminating.

It had been the rumor that their king was an unfeeling block of ice that despised his wife and child, but seeing him now, furious about the attempt on his child and holding his wife's hand, displaying his affection, it was clear that they had to overthink the rumors.

“Guards!” Mesanth shouted bringing the people out of their pondering.

The guards trained under Samuel stood at attention, revealing their excellent discipline.

“Bring each person to their position. Start reading their name, indiscretions, and punishment. When all is revealed deliver the punishment,” he said imposing, with a wave of his hand a broad armchair appeared behind him. With a tuck of his hand he sat down and Emerthelil fell next to him.

Emerthelil finally snapped out of her shock. Understanding the situation, she gave him a blinding smile and before the eyes of everyone she cuddled against him, her arms snaking around his waist and giving him a tight hug before losing her embrace and kissing his cheek.

Settling back down in his arms, she could feel warmth filling her as his arms hugged her tightly to his side.

The first person that was pulled forward and had his mistakes read in front of all, was an earth-draconian indicated by his brown scales on his face and arms. Mesanth even suspected that he had a quite strong bloodline the dark brown color of his hair and eyes almost black, being a sign for a strong earth affinity that was almost only found in the great families.

“Being presented is Olin Honerath.” The voice of the guard boomed through the room, confirming the suspicion of Mesanth that he was at least a member from the branch family of the grand Honeth clan.

“He has been accused of poisoning three guards posted near the royal chambers, making it possible for the assassins to infiltrate the premises and entering the princess’s room,” he spat out the last few words. Each guard let out a low growl. They had been there when Samuel had taken Spera to the training and had seen her overcome her illness time and time again. The cute princess had found her way into their hearts even if their training made it almost impossible for them to show it. However, the feelings were there.

“He is sentenced to be beheaded,” he continued, awfully cheerful for saying something so vicious.

The man’s expression did not change at his words but his brown slit eyes showed resignation and no regret for his actions.

“Do you have anything to say for yourself,” Mesanth said, not expecting an answer and the man didn’t disappoint. Lowering his head he effectively blocked out his surroundings and stayed mute, one of the guards couldn’t resist kicking him in the side, his behavior seen as an insult to their master, but even then the man stayed quiet.

Seeing that Mesanth leaned back, nuzzling Emerthelil’s neck for a moment to center himself and then without an emotion on his face he waved his hand, indicating that the next prisoner should be announced.

Immediately, a young woman was lead forward, the fluffy ears on top of her head, giving way to her descendants as a rabbit-beastman.

Interested, Mesanth leaned forward. He could understand why the draconian would want his daughter dead, but he had no knowledge of a grudge between him and the beast-folk if anything he treated them quite well.

A scuffle broke out in the crowd and an older woman, also a rabbit-beastman with the same shade of brown and black but with a few gray spots in her fur broke through the ring of servants and had to be quickly held back before she could reach the prisoner.

He could see the desperation in her eyes, as she looked up to him. Without another word she fell to her knees, bowing low to the ground.

“Your Majesty, I beg you to spare my daughter. She was forced to do this as to save me. I hope you have mercy,” she started, but Mesanth soon turned her out, looking at the guard he motioned him to continue.

“Presenting Elisa, servant of his majesty. Proven to have poisoned five guards on the lower levels, endangering not only the royal family but all servants as well as the injured guards in the infirmary,” the guard said, his voice almost dripping with venom when he talked about the possible deaths of his comrades.

The mother had frozen in her action as soon as he spoke, and now lifting her head she could see the freezing gaze Mesanth directed at her.

“I will not pardon such behavior,” he spoke slowly, crushing the fleeting hope in the mother's chest. Another servant came forwards, awkwardly helping her up and supporting her through the crowd of people, vanishing in a room to the side.

Raising his voice Mesanth gave his verdict, “I will punish her the same as the man before. As they have committed the same crime their punishment should also be identical. Before my law everyone is equal!” He boomed, both terrifying people but also giving them a kind of reassurance that quieted the underlying tension to an extent.

After his words, he focuses for the first time on the woman that had been judged. Same as the man, he could see the resignation in her gaze, but there was also a hint of sadness when she glanced in the direction her mother had been brought. At least she feels something … Mesanth thought a bit uneasy that it seemed like he had another group of people he had to worry about. With a small sign to Jeanne, he ordered him to find out the reason for her betrayal. Even if it wouldn’t save the woman or make her actions undone, it could at least prevent something like that from happening again.

After the woman had left the center of the room, two women were lead forward, both struggling immensely even if they seemed very exhausted.

Mesanth looked at them in interest, one being a wolf-beastwoman and the other being an elf. Both races had no hatred against his family. This was very disconcerting, making Mesanth feel vulnerable as his potential enemies seemed to grow before his inner eye.

“Presenting Aranjana,” the guard said, the elven woman being pushed a step forward falling hard on her knees, “and Yolena.” Which caused the wolf to be manhandled to the ground, making her growl viciously at the guard.

“Both are guilty of helping the infiltrating by seducing the guards on duty. The guards have already been disciplined and demoted for not being able to resist their advances,” he said, looking ashamed of the behavior of his colleagues.

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“Given that they are not showing remorse at their actions and their consequences, they are sentenced to 25 whiplashes and banishment from Praesto,” he stated, causing the women to struggle even further but one punishing hit from their respective guard in their guts made them still their movements and hang their heads in resignation, making it clear that they had given up.

For the next judgment, two people were brought before him at the same time, one being a deer-beastwoman and a wolf-beastman. He could clearly see their regret, and even bound tightly by the guards they couldn’t stop fidgeting, indicating their strong desire to flee the situation.

What surprised Mesanth was the woman. Deer-Beastfolk were said to be too timid and too gentle to even think about betraying somebody, and given that the woman looked like she wanted the ground to swallow her and was near tears, he could see that something drastic had to have forced her to her current state. However overall her outward appearance was identical to the reports he had received about the species, eyes the colour of the forest, her hair even if cut short looked soft and had a wide range of brown hues as well as a few white strands in between telling him that the woman was very young for her species.

Suddenly a loud growl reverted around the room, as Mesanths stare intensified on the woman.

Everyone’s eyes focused on the wolf-beastman that knelt next to the woman, his eyes staring at Mesanth with fury and it looked like he wanted to attack him if given the chance, which made Mesanth chuckle seeing as he was held down by two guards and bundled up like a present.

“What are you growling at …cub,” Mesanth said amused, the man looking at closer inspection more like a boy having just reached the threshold of being an adult.

The wolf was stunned in anger but before he could utter something else, the deer found a sliver of courage and snapped at him “Shut up!” which stunned him into silence. Looking bewildered between the woman and the king, Mesanth had an inkling at just how inexperienced he really was.

Seeing as silence had returned to the hall, Mesanth motioned for the guard that had read the punishments before to continue his duty.

“Presenting Elain and Faron, found guilty of disclosing information about the royal family and as such betraying the trust of our king to third parties. Given that they have confessed and helped in the capture of three other traitors their original punishment of 20 whiplashes and being banned from Praesto was put to a halt. Final judgment will be given to his majesty separately to today’s events,” he said, receiving a nod from Mesanth as a sign that he had made the right decision to halt their judgment. Given their behavior they still had use and could even be converted to be loyal to the royal family.

“Thank you. I will get back that after everything is solved. Please lead them out, and make them arrive at my office tomorrow morning,” Mesanth said, looking forward to the future of the pair. This could be fun … In stunned silence, Elaine and Faron were lead from the hall, Elaine not being able to hold back her tears any longer started crying just as they exited the room while Faron had a blank expression on his face, not daring to hope but couldn’t help himself to want to.

The next prisoner that was lead forward looked surprisingly human, if not for his bright red hair.

“Prisoner Nr. 3, was not willing to state his name. He was found through following leads and as such it is confirmed that he colluded with our enemy. Given that he was uncooperative in our investigation he will be escorted to level 5 after given a punishment of 10 whiplashes,” the guard continued. Gasps could be heard when he read the sentence out loud, most of the people that could imagine what he will be put through looked at him with pity in their eyes, but the man remained unresponsive. His head held high and his orange colored eyes looking dull towards Mesanth and Emerthelil.

Emertheli, not being able to stand his gaze shuddered involuntarily and snuggled closer into Mesanths arms, making him tighten his hug around her. These eyes were eerier and he motioned for the man to be removed. He made a mental note that he would visit the man later and study him some more but right now his wife was more important.

The next pair that was presented were two draconians, a man and a woman. Mesanth was relieved that Warthon had gone to his daughter’s room before he could see them, the man being of the water tribe. This would have hurt his friend, even if he himself wasn’t responsible for the behavior of his people. But Mesanth couldn’t say that he was surprised that another fire-draconian had tried to harm his family. It was common knowledge that the fire tribes and his family had a very strained relationship only duty holding them back from outright fighting each other.

Both draconians had the common color scheme of their tribe once but much lighter than the prisoner of the earth branch family.

As the guard read their names, Mesanth knew why. They were not even members of a branch family disallowing them from carrying a last name. However, their crime almost had him jump out of his seat and kill them then and there, preferably by slowly choking them to death.

Only knowing that he couldn’t openly take his revenge, which would undermine the image they wanted to portrait, kept him in his seat.

“Presenting Corana and Liord, found to be …” Suddenly the guard stopped and gulped, his body freezing and a rage seemed to momentarily show in his expression before he could control it, once again a blank mask slipping onto his face as he continued, “… responsible for poisoning the medicine of our princess with a multitude of level 2 ingredients. Only the luck of our princess let her keep her life.”

The hall fell into silence, even the breath of the prisoners could be heard before a low whisper started to hum in the air. Most of the guards couldn’t conceal their disgust for the deed, looking at the two as if they wanted to kill them.

Emerthelil started silently crying, in her eyes intense emotions warred but one thing was clear, her eyes asked the “WHY?”.

“Sentence: death by beheading,” the guard shouted over the buzz, his voice clipped as he spoke.

However, Emerthelil couldn’t hold back her question anymore, standing up even when Mesanth tried to pull her down again and asked in a loud voice “Why did you do it? What has a three-year-old child ever done to you?”

Their answer was a sneer that had Emerthelil almost run down the stairs and give them a good beating but Mesanths grip on her arm tightened and her pulled her once again to himself but she wouldn’t budge, making him stand up with a sigh and gathering her to him, feeling her body vibrating with suppressed rage and other strong emotions.

Just as they were lead out of the hall, the woman turned around, staring at Emerthelil with hatred in her eyes and shouted at the top of her lungs, “If you really want the answer why don’t you ask your husband?” Making Emerthelil turn to Mesanth, doubt clear in her eyes.

“We will talk later,” he assured her. Now that the imminent threats had been resolved he could finally open up to her.

“I better hope you will, dear ~” She said, giving him a sweet smile while jamming a bent finger between his ribs, making him gasp in pain as he looked at her in reproach. Seeing her smile he could feel a shiver run down his spine and kept quiet, placing a hand over his rip and rubbing it lightly, pouting a bit.

Gathering his composure, he looked back towards the crowd noticing some smiling at the couple even if they were distressed by the events.

“I hope this will be a lesson to all of you,” Mesanth said to the crowd, seeing some in tears other not even trying to show their fear and anger, as well as the sorrow of losing a friend and some even a family member. Many women fainted after they had ended the proclamation even before the punishment was carried out.

“Let’s go get our treasure …” Mesanth turned to Emerthelil, pulling her with him.

Emerthelil could only nod, to numb because of the events that happened in just one day. She had woken up in fear of her daughter's death, and now finally they could relax in their own home.

Looking up at him, she could see him smile down at her, his affection clear in his eyes. She couldn’t help herself and blushed under his gaze, making her lower her head, berating herself that she was too old for that and even had a child …

Still blushing she looked up once again, giving him a small smile she grabbed his hand and they both walked towards their daughter’s room, hand in hand.

They came to the room, finding Spera, Mesana, and Warthon sitting on the bed talking to each other gently with smiles on their faces. Seeing his sister and daughter so happy, a warm feeling started to fill Mesanth’s chest.

Walking to them and kissing Mesana’s cheek as well as Spera’s forehead, after his mana-reaction to her made it clear that no Hishmak remained in her body, a smile spread on his face too, feeling a bit stiff since he hadn’t done that in a while.

He could feel his wife slipping her small warm hand in his, giving him a squeeze and looking at him with affection and understanding, even if she was still angry that he kept secrets from her.

“Mesana, Warthon, thank you for taking care of Spera,” he said, making it clear that he wanted a bit of personal time with his family. Seeing how impatient he was, Mesana couldn’t be angry with his behavior, standing up she gave him a kiss on the cheek, took the hand of a stunned Warthon and dragged him out of the room.

“Daddy, is everything alright?”

“Yes, my treasure, everything is just perfect,” Mesanth replied, gathering Spera in his arms and hugging her tightly to his chest. Smelling her scent and feeling like everything will finally be ok, he couldn’t help his smile widening and looking over his daughter’s shoulder, he gazed at his wife that stood before him with a light sheen of tears in her eyes, also smiling at him beautifully.

They stood there for a moment just basking in that revelation, Spera looking slightly confused but seeing that her parents looked relieved and happy she also snuggled into her father's arms with a smile on her face.

“Close your eyes sweety…” Emerthelil suddenly said with a smile moving towards the door, waiting until Spera complied before she opened the door and let Mesanth carry her through.

Walking down the halls and stairs they came to a beautifully carved wooden door, picturing flowers and other floral designs.

“You can open your eyes, sweetheart,” Emerthelil told her gently when they came to stand before the door.

Opening her eyes, Spera looked curiously around marveling at the small details that made the door look almost alive.

Mesanth sat her down in front of it and motioned her towards the door, taking small steps towards the door, she looked back at her parents that stood behind her, smiling at her.

Turning back to the door, she hesitantly placed her hands on the door and just before she pushed she noticed a shadow falling on her, but the door swinging open and revealing a beautiful garden that made her mind blank, made her forget it.

She could hear her mother's giggle behind her, and a grunt from her father but was too entranced by the garden to give them her attention.

Slowly she took a step on the grey marmor tiles that lay between the wildflower gardens.

Then another, and another. Before she could think about it, Spera found herself walking, then jogging and then running through the garden, the flowers never seeming to end.

The air was clear and after running a bit she found herself exhausted, coming to a standstill she took a deep breath, pushing her chest out while straining her arms backwards.

Finally, she looked back to her parents and couldn’t help showing them a bright smile, seeing them standing only a few steps away from her, hugging each other and smiling at her antics.