Chapter 33 - Royal Audience

The king was not alone in the room– he had two older looking people there as well that Lilly assumed were advisors. One man and one woman, both a decade or two older than the king.

Lilly stood still, wondering if she should start speaking about the letter or if she should wait. She didn’t have to wonder long, luckily.

“So you have a letter for us from Thundrel? Please present it,” the king commanded with a grumpy voice.

Lilly reached into her jacket and withdrew the letter, showing it to the king. A wave of his hand was all the reaction she got, which Lilly assumed was for one of the advisors.

The woman standing to the king’s right walked forward and accepted the letter, studying it intently for a short moment. “This is indeed the seal of Thundrel, Your Majesty. Shall I read it for you?”

“If you would be so kind…”

She opened it gently, keeping the wax mostly intact, and retrieved the letter from the envelope. Her face contorted a bit, followed by a light smile. “It seems to be written by the princess, Your Majesty. Perhaps you would like to read it yourself?”

The king lightened his grave expression briefly and held his arm out to receive the letter. Once it was in his hands, Lilly thought she could even see a glimpse of a smile.

“Indeed, Lia wrote this. Hmm…” His eyes darted across the page, and his expression turned darker with each word. “... Dealt with by force? Lia, what…”

After reading a bit more, he turned his grave expression toward Lilly. “What in the hells is this? Open rebellion? We’re in the midst of a war, I don’t have time for this kind of nonsense!” The king rose from his throne in anger, still keeping his eyes on Lilly.

Lilly presented a meek front, cowering at his outburst. “I’m sorry, Your Majesty, I’m only here to deliver the letter! I don’t know anything about a rebellion!”

“General Dahn has been sent to the frontlines; does that little fire-girl want us to just give up on the war?! And how the hell should I know anything about this elf?!”

She didn’t know how to respond, and averted her eyes. An urge to argue was building in her chest, but she kept it under wraps to prevent her disguise from unraveling.

King Holtar suddenly looked tired and sat back down with a sigh. “I’ll have to think for a moment.”

His hand went up to his neatly trimmed beard and started stroking it as his now tired eyes looked around the room. Another sigh showed everyone that his thoughts were heavy.

The man next to him bowed over and whispered something, but the king seemed unfazed by the advice. The female advisor looked nervous, glancing between the king and Lilly.

Lilly’s thoughts were racing while she was trying to stay in character. ‘If Dahn really is on the frontlines, it would make sense that he was in danger. But the king could also say that as a believable excuse for the amulet sending such a signal. Damn, he’s not giving me any reason to think he’s lying, even if I’m just a messenger.’

‘Calm down, Lilly. He’s clearly not a stupid man. His brother and daughter are both clever people; it stands to reason that he has thought things through,’ Myndia replied, trying to help Lilly think through things logically.

The king looked at Lilly again, seemingly finished thinking. “At least they have shown great disrespect to the crown. What is your name, girl?”

Lilly had prepared her identity in case she would be questioned, using the name of one of her female guards. “Camilla Redwood, Your Majesty. I’m one of Lady Lilly’s personal guards.”

“I see. And what do you think of your Lady Protector?” the king asked lightly, forcing Lilly to make a choice.

“I… uhm, I respect her a lot, Your Majesty,” she replied, trying to appear scared of the consequences of speaking well of a traitor.

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“Why?”

“Oh, well… She saved our city, and…”

‘She’s very strong, both as a fighter and as a person,’ Myndia suggested.

“she’s very strong, both as a fighter and as a person. And she’s a great enchantress!” Lilly replied, silently thanking Myndia for the help.

The king nodded. “You won’t be of much help, then. Royal Guards, seize her.”

Lilly barely had time to register his words before she heard the sounds of heavy metal armor on the stone floor behind her. The flame activated in a split second, making her impervious to most forms of damage, but she was still nervous.

But even though she was ready, nothing happened. The room was simply silent. Lilly turned around to see what had happened.

“... Elly?”

The two Royal Guards were lying on the floor, unconscious, and Eolande stood in front of them, looking furious. She walked next to Lilly and gave her a short nod before turning back to King Holtar.

Lilly could barely breathe, unable to make sense of this. She feared that whatever plot Eolande might have concocted was about to reach its finale. Because of her.

“Where is Dahn?!” Eolande yelled, pointing her blade toward the king.

King Holtar was smiling for some reason now as he replied. “Hah, don’t worry, he’s sa–”

His crown suddenly started glowing, and with it, a barrier formed around the center of the room, trapping both Lilly and Eolande within. The king had been stalling, waiting to activate it during a distraction to prevent Eolande from escaping.

The barrier seemed both thick and solid, reminding Lilly of the barrier surrounding Thundrel during the attack. This one was likely many times stronger, though, with such a small area to protect.

Eolande looked around, but she didn’t seem worried. Her dagger was still drawn, held ready to attack. “You think this can trap me? I’ll give you one more chance! Where is he?!”

The king shook his head, smiling. “Ahh, this barrier isn’t some flimsy spell that can be broken by the likes of you. Many have tried in the past.”

The ring on Eolande’s hand glowed briefly before a golden plate appeared in her hand. Lilly recognized it instantly, but she was too confused to alert the king. Memories of everything Victor told her rushed through her mind, and memories of herself trying to find flaws in them.

“Elly…” Lilly said softly, trying to stop time.

But she was either too late or too quiet. A second later, Eolande stood by the king, holding her dagger against his throat.

“I don’t have to break it, Your Majesty. Now–”

“ELLY!!!”

The scream pierced through the room, turning into something like a bird’s screech at the end. All movement stopped, except the flames flowing out of Lilly, shattering the barrier in mere moments.

It was a desperate scream, one of intense emotion and fear. Eolande and the king both looked at Lilly in shock, for widely different reasons.

The flowing red hair now revealed by the incinerated hat told everyone who she was, if the flames weren’t enough of a hint.

“Ah, it was you all along…” the king mumbled, looking down in defeat. A different protective barrier seemed to stop the heat from reaching the throne, shielding him from the worst of it.

Eolande looked at Lilly in confusion. She had never heard Lilly scream like that, and especially not to her. “Lilly, what… what is it?”

Lilly only cared about one thing right now, and that was figuring out the truth. She stopped the flames from flaring around her with great effort and pointed to her feet. “Come… here.”

Eolande swallowed nervously, but she appeared next to Lilly a moment later, still with a look of deep nervousness and worry.

“Let me feel your emotions,” Lilly commanded, not caring about Eolande’s heartbroken expression.

Eolande seemed more confused by the second, with tears appearing in her eyes. “Wh… well, okay…”

She reached her hand forward for Lilly to hold, biting her lips together. Lilly grabbed it with both hands and immediately sent a wisp of flame through them.

Eolande focused for a moment, closing her eyes. Then the flame entered.

Lilly fell to her knees, unable to handle the emotions rushing into her mind in addition to her own. Love, deep love, and care. Those were at the front. But they were followed closely by pain, by fear, by sadness, and by complex emotions of confusion.

Eolande had never even thought about using her. But the pain she felt from being distrusted so intensely by Lilly made her feel so guilty it was unbearable. The fear of losing her, the confusion about the cause, it all made Lilly cry out in guilt.

“I’m sorry, Elly! I’m so sorry!” she sobbed, holding around Elly’s waist after she bent down to comfort her.

Eolande kept silent while stroking Lilly’s hair, but Lilly could feel she was shaking. A large blanket appeared out of nowhere, covering her body. Of course, Eolande had thought about Lilly and brought a blanket in her limited storage ring. It only served to intensify the guilt.

Lilly’s guilt slowly turned to rage as she remembered who had tricked her into doubting Eolande in the first place, but her first priority was making sure Eolande was okay. It tore at her heart still, recalling the face Eolande made after her scream.