Chapter 29 - Royal Letter

A few minutes later, some guards had arrived and put chains on Victor before bringing his personal guards to the dungeons for imprisonment.

Now the three of them, Lilly, Adelia, and Victor, were sitting on the two couches while Claude was standing behind Adelia.

Adelia looked pale, even though little had been revealed yet. She would have understood what this action from Lilly meant but not what had triggered it.

“Lilly, can you explain everything now? I… Was this necessary?” she asked, glancing nervously at Victor’s chains.

Lilly nodded, but not with a whole lot of confidence. “I think so. I’m not sure what the truth is right now, but I’ve told him we know about the king’s betrayal.”

“There is no betrayal! Lia, do you honestly believe your father would do something like that?” Victor exclaimed, hoping Adelia would see his side of things.

Adelia shrunk back at his words, looking down at the table instead of back at him. “Uncle, I’ve obviously made sure! I couldn’t believe it at first, but the evidence convinced me. And General Dahn pretty much confirmed it once I confronted him.”

Victor glanced over at Lilly with an expression of frustration before turning back to Adelia. “Yes, the husband of Eolande told you your father sacrificed his citizens. Let me tell you why he’s not a reliable source of information.”

Lilly interrupted him, trying to paint the right picture in Adelia’s mind. “He’s saying Elly has been concocting this long scheme for the sake of attacking your father for some unknown reason. That she approached me to get closer to me and to use me in the attack.”

“... And he’s saying the general convinced me to get me on your side?” Adelia looked back at Claude.

Claude understood what she was asking. “During my investigation, I found several hints pointing to some secret plot to infiltrate Dortfell. Once I knew where the assassins used in the attack on Thundrel came from, I pieced together the rest. Then we confronted the general, who, without stating it outright, confirmed our thoughts. I doubt we could have been fooled unless someone planted clues for me to find.”

Adelia looked back at Victor, now with a hint of defiance in her eyes. “Uncle, do you have an explanation for our initial investigation giving the same results?”

Victor simply shook his head honestly. “I don’t. But you should know what forces might have tried to fool you. At that time, Eolanathel was still in the Castle in his disguise. Fooling the two of you wouldn’t have been a big challenge If he was part of this.”

Adelia seemed to find that explanation reasonable, and even Lilly had to admit it made sense.

“Lilly, is there any possibility that Eolande has been fooling you from the start?” Adelia asked, looking sorry for even asking the question.

Lilly sighed, still not feeling confident one way or the other. “Like I said, I’m not sure what the truth is. There are a lot of coincidences around Elly and her connections to everything that has happened. But I refuse to change my stance without making sure.”

Adelia nodded in understanding. “Then I can guess what happened so far. Uncle will be used as a bargaining chip in case Eolande is caught in a trap, and this finally marks the start of our open hostilities against the crown…”

“Lia, you’re staying on their side?!” Victor yelled, disbelief clear on his face.

Adelia shrunk back. She was clearly struggling with opposing her uncle openly. “I find this all to be a bit too convenient, Uncle. Unlike Lilly, I want your story to be true. But I still choose to remain on Lilly’s side, at least until we know the truth.”

Lilly felt relieved and gave a grateful smile to Adelia. “Thanks, Adelia. Finding the truth is my priority as well, but I am risking a lot less than you are.”

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Victor clenched his jaws, seemingly giving up on convincing anyone. “Let’s hope the elf has some reason to return here, then. Some contact with the capital will be needed to prevent others from coming here, triggering an attack. Do you want me to write something?”

Lilly considered his words, understanding that her actions would force the crown to respond unless given good reason not to. “You may help write it, but only with suggestions. I don’t want any secret message to be sent.”

Victor scoffed. “It worries me that the flame has gone to someone so easily tricked. I still respect your actions in the attack, but this stupidity is hard to excuse.”

Adelia stood up from the couch in anger. “Uncle! Lilly has done nothing but fight for Thundrel and its citizens, no matter what the truth might be! And if you’re telling the truth, her situation is one deserving pity, not scorn!”

Her words seemed to get through to Victor, who looked down with a scowl. “We can’t all be so considerate towards our captors. But fine, I’ll hold my tongue.”

Lilly was struggling to hold back a tear after hearing Adelia’s words. She felt so understood, so justified, by her outburst. She moved as if some dust had gotten into her eyes, but Adelia seemed to notice and smiled at her.

“Claude, could you get us some parchment and ink?” Adelia asked, sitting back down and folding her sleeve, preparing to write.

Claude still seemed a bit shaken by the current events, but he went to a drawer and found everything that was needed to write a letter.

All of it was put in front of Adelia, who expertly prepared the quill to start writing. “Should I start with ‘Dear Father?’ Or is that a bit too personal?”

“Uhm, that might not be the best opening… We should… Hmm…” Lilly was unsure what they should even divulge in the letter, wondering if honesty would be the best approach.

Claude cleared his throat lightly before making a suggestion. “Perhaps we should just state the facts they need to know? We are keeping Prince Victor here as a bargaining chip and will return him if the elf Eolande is handed over to us. Any official or military personnel sent here will be dealt with by force.”

Adelia started at the parchment thoughtfully. “That certainly is straight to the point. I doubt they will accept it without any explanation, though. With a prince and princess stuck here, it might force an attack regardless of warnings.”

“Well, we can tell them that you’re here by your own will. And that everything will be fine if Prince Victor has been telling the truth. The force should be stopped by having Lady Li– I mean, Lilly, sign the letter.” Claude gave a brief bow to Lilly as he corrected himself, forgoing her title as she told him.

Adelia and Lilly both nodded, finding no issues with Claude’s suggestion. Lilly looked at Victor, who seemed bored to be there now. “Victor, what do you think?”

“It sounds fine, but you might need to give them a course of action in the unlikely case that I’m telling the truth. Handing over Eolande will be challenging if they have no idea who she is.”

Lilly ignored the sarcasm in his voice but still found his words to be reasonable. “They could send General Dahn here if they want to clear things up quicker, but we won’t be sending you back if they do. I won’t be convinced unless I talk directly to Elly.”

Adelia seemed to understand her plan to use the amulet to find Eolande, but she luckily kept quiet about it. “That’s a good idea! I’ll start writing, then.”

She elegantly started writing on the parchment, showing off her royal handwriting. the movements were elegant, but the letters weren’t quite as readable as Lilly expected. She turned her head with furrowed brows trying to understand it, having to study each word carefully to understand the meaning.

A glance at Claude made it clear he was pained by her writing. He looked like a teacher at the end of his rope, sending a pitiful look at Lilly.

“Do you think they will recognize your handwriting, Adelia?” Lilly asked, glad she managed to avoid using ‘understand’ in her sentence.

“Oh, definitely! Father has read every letter I’ve written during my practice sessions, so he will know it’s me. He says I’ve gotten better, although… well, it’s been a while since… Uhm…”

The pen stopped, and a tear fell on the parchment.

“Adelia?” Lilly asked carefully, hoping she hadn’t triggered any painful memories.

A moment passed before Adelia responded with an unsteady voice. “I’m sorry, Lilly! I… I can’t help but hope Uncle is telling the truth! That this is all a plot, and that everything will go back to how it used to be…”

Lilly wasn’t sure how to respond, but she still reached an arm around Adelia’s shoulders and pulled her close. “I understand how you feel, Adelia. I can’t say I agree, but I know that I’ll be by your side no matter what the truth is! Both of us will!”

Claude put a hand on Adelia’s other shoulder to show his support. “We will get through it together, Princess.”

Adelia nodded lightly, wiping her tears. With a deep breath, she resumed writing the letter with a steady hand.