"Ivan!" Shouted Andrew as his friend returned back to the castle, "do not ever run off like that again. Huh what is wrong?"

Ivan's front hair flowed left and right in the wind soundly as if the souls of the dead brushed past him on their way to the afterlife. His face was blank and he stared at the ground for a solid few seconds, not responding before finally looking up to face Andrew and Markett standing behind him.

"Nothing is wrong. It is just a shame, all the commoners are dead. It may work against me but if I follow what Ha..." Ivan stopped mid sentence before mentioning the name of his brother. Could he tell Andrew the truth about the murderers? Perhaps in private.

"Did you just say the co... the villagers are all dead?" Andrew's face had turned dark quickly.

"Yes."

"How could this have happened? This is...this is unprecedented."

"I would not say unprecedented but certainly rare. Anyway, the murderers escaped, there was 2 of them."

"Did you see who they were?"

"No. They were wearing hoods to cover their faces."

"What were they wearing?"

"Woah Andrew why are you so riled up?"

"How could I not be, people were innocently slaughtered mercilessly."

"They were wearing white robes."

"One day the hand of justice will capture these foul humans and make them atone for their transgressions."

Ivan had never seen Andrew so worked up about something, although he had to admit that that village had affected him in the short time he had stayed here.

"Leave it be Andrew, send word to the guard captains of the local area and have them investigate it. If they find the perpetrators then all is well, you must not let these things get to you, soon they will be caught and as you said, they will atone for their transgressions."

"You are right, my apologies for getting so angered in front of you."

"No worries. Now let us head inside."

"Wait, I want to see the damage."

"There is no time," said Ivan grabbing Andrew by the arm.

"What do you mean?"

"It does not matter, you would not like the sight of it anyway," Ivan began tugging.

"So you do not wish me to expose my eyes to those who are supposed to be under my care. My father placed me in charge and I have failed him, the least I can do is offer my respect to the dead," Andrew removed Ivan's arm.

"It is a scene from hell, you would find it most unappealing."

"I do not care."

"Come in now, there is something I wish to discuss, it is urgent."

"What? What is so important that it takes precedence over the people who just died."

"It is a matter to be discussed in the castle," Ivan's face had now turned aggressive.

"Whatever it is, it can be said here."

"It cannot." 

Markett was standing there in silence, he decided to walk a few steps away.

"Is it Laila? Did she perish along with the others? What about Ella?"

"Yes, they are both dead but it is not them that I am concerned about."

"Then what is it? You are acting strangely."

"Those men killed Walter, they killed an entire village, so I have reason to suspect they were the ones who killed my father."

Andrew had no words for a minute, "I...I am sorry. I was not thinking clearly."

Ivan suspected that Andrew thought that he grieved over his father's death but instead he couldn't care less about him. No rather it was the fact that Ivan wanted Andrew to investigate Hadrian and his friend and maybe find out if they were part of a larger organisation. Finding the people who killed the king was a main objective and would make a lot of the nobles support him. It would be almost a guarantee to achieve kinghood.

"Please come inside," ordered Ivan softly.

"Ok, I will."

They made their way to Andrew's bedroom, a place of complete privacy. It wasn't that much different from Ivan's own back at the palace. A bed with red covers and intricate carvings on it took up the most space. Chests and other wooden furniture were spread around the room, surrounding a square carpet, that was the same colour as the bed sheets, in the centre.

Andrew took a seat on the bed whilst Ivan stood up, arms crossed.

"So you actually think they killed your father?"

"It seems reasonable to think so. I am sure you already know the benefit it will give me if I catch them."

"Of course. I am assuming you want me to help you with this?"

"Yes, but I am not demanding anything of you," said Ivan waving his hand, "It is just that having someone like you who I can trust to look into this will allow me to get on with other business."

"Ha I understand."

"Doing this may put you in great danger, in fact it is almost a certainty. I do not want you to get killed so I want you to move with the utmost caution."

This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

"Good grief, it sounds like you do not want me to help you."

"No I do, it is just that..."

Andrew rose and placed his hand on Ivan's left shoulder, giving him a big smile, "I understand completely, I will help you, we will avenge your father and the villagers."

Ivan smiled back but then reverted back to its grim state, "There is one more thing I have to tell you."

"What is it?"

Ivan whole body froze, the pounding of his heart came clear to him, and the one question running throughout his mind was. How would Andrew react? The very thought of the information he was about to disclose scared him. He wished it not to be true but fate, no, he had decreed otherwise. It was his fault and he had to pay the price.

"I lied earlier, I did see one of the murderers. In fact I spoke to him. I knew him."

"What? Who was it?"

"You may not believe me but, it was Hadrian."

The room fell silent, nothing could be heard. Andrew's eyes widened as much as they were physically able to.

"You are joking right?"

"I am not. My own brother did this."

It was like Andrew's mind had broken.

"..."

"Andrew?"

"How can this be? This cannot be. Hadrian."

"I have no clue as to why he would do this but I am going to catch him and receive answers."

Andrew still sat there in silence, completely dumbstruck. Eventually he spoke, "Do you remember, back in the old days, when we all shared the same bread under this castle roof?"

"I do, I partially remember back then."

"I remember where it all started, in the flowery clearing behind the castle. You and I were exploring when we came upon a strange boy. Tired and starving, we took him in and nursed him back to good health."

"I also recall the day. We had no clue who this boy was until he eventually told us his name. Hadrian Mord, a noble. At the time I had no idea of his importance."

"My father realised though and immediately contacted your father. I still can see his grim face as he entered through the castle door."

"And so we found out that Hadrian was actually my cousin, the son of my father's sister. They had all been killed in the event known as the Mord massacre and only Hadrian escaped. Soon after he was brought into the Ikhaust family and became my adopted brother."

"I enjoy reminiscing about the past," Andrew had started to cheer up a bit.

"Likewise."

Lowering his head, Andrew said "but now you have to leave."

"I do, I am sorry."

"No you have nothing to apologise for. I wish you well on your journey and hopefully at some point you can collect your birthday presents."

Ivan smiled, stating, "I am not leaving just yet. I cannot until this crisis is resolved."

The best friends headed for Markett's office where upon entering Andrew asked how the village incident was doing. The steward replied with a nod saying that the fire had almost been extinguished and a handful of survivors had fled into the forest. Andrew was relieved a little by the news.

Ivan also had business with Markett. He asked if there was a carriage driver that could drive him northwards. It turned out there was. 

"I suppose the meeting of the northern nobles will be held in Taldera city," he asked.

"Yes, good intuition."

"I would like to travel there as soon as tomorrow. If that is alright with you Andrew?"

"Of course, you do not even need to ask."

Heading back to his room to sort out his belongings for the trip. Ivan grabbed the box from under the bed and held it in his hand. The thumping of a heart remained and Ivan, knowing this was his lifeline, took it to the carriage he had travelled here in and placed it on the seat.

"Good grief I treat this thing as if it were my child."

The incident became known as the burning of Lille. Almost all of the population had been killed and those that had survived wee traumatised forever and felt like they could never return to the lives they once had. Despite this, with the charity of Andrew, the village was swiftly rebuilt but where there was once a large number of houses had instead been replaced by a graveyard with many tombstones. Just like the flames, the news spread like wildfire across the country. It was now apparent to the people that there was an organisation who was trying to destroy the royal family, of course they knew nothing of Hadrian and his disappearance was deemed as the work of this organisation. They instead applauded Ivan for his resiliance, not only for surviving his assassination attempt but also, as the rumours went, fending off the perpetrators of the massacre. Soon the day came when it was time for Ivan to finally make his departure.

"I will miss you my friend," said Andrew slightly saddened.

"As will I. You will investigate for me will you not?"

"By my honour I swear it."

Ivan hugged his best friend goodbye and with both exchanging determined glances, the prince began stepping into the carriage to begin the next part of his journey. At least he would have if he wasn't interrupted.

"Wait! Wait Prince Ivan!" came a voice.

It was Adolphus, wobbling along whilst maintaining a decent pace for someone who looked like they had never run before in their life. He ws carrying a sack over his shoulder.

"Prince Ivan...wait...please don't leave...just yet," said the old man trying to catch his breath back.

"I am literally not moving, what do you want?"

*Snore*

"He fell asleep!"

"Wait what? Oh right! Prince Ivan, I would be most humbled if you would let me join you on your journey."

"Pardon?"

"You see, for a while now, I've been cooped up in my little shack, running experiments and the sort. It all started..."

"Get to the point," grumbled Ivan.

"Well, I've always had a dream and once upon a time I was close to achieving that dream but I failed and my dream was taken by someone else. I started to beat myself up about it then I became a recluse. I want to throw that away and try again."

"Oh and what is your dream?"

"To become the court wizard. The one who is recognised as the strongest wizard in the kingdom."

"That is quite a high aim, you said you once almost obtained the title? So I assume you are quite the powerful mage."

"I like to think so. Seeing you try to become the king of this land reminded me of how I tried to become the court wizard once upon a time. Also the way you rushed in to save the villagers has made me make a decision. I believe you should be king Prince Ivan and I wish to become part of your council, for my benefit and for yours. If I join you and if you become ruler of this land then I want you to promise me that you will appoint me as your court wizard."

"So the reason you want to join me is so that when I become king, you will be court wizard and I will have someone reliable by my side to serve and protect me. It is a two way agreement but ultimately we work together to achieve our goals," deduced Ivan.

"I know it may sound selfish of me but please," Adolphus kneeled and bowed his head to show his respect.

Ivan thought about it long and hard before saying, "I give you permission to join me but only with the approval of Andrew," looking over to his best friend.

Andrew nodded and walked over to the kneeling mage, "Adolphus, you have served me well for many years, it will be sad without you around but I will not hold you here. If you want to leave then you may leave, go out into the world and make you dreams come true, I believe in you."

One could almost think Adolphus started tearing up but he raised his head and smiled giving his master a thank you.

"Right then Adolphus let us be off and make sure to take a bath when we get to our destination."

And so they set off as a pair this time to their attain their aims. Which they would do in a minute as they were interrupted again.

"Wait! Wait! Prince Ivan wait!"

"For crying out loud, who is it now?" said Ivan annoyed.

Gorvenal came running over at an incredible speed, most likely due to his lanky legs. He too was carrying a sack.

"What do you want?"

"Prince Ivan, please allow me to join ya on ya journey aswell."

"What benefit would having you around do for me?"

"Ah well, I can, make tea."

"I meant as an apothecary."

"Well, in the case ya should have another assassination attempt on ya life, I can help you."

"No thank you, I am fine on my own, also I believe it was Adolphus' healing potion which helped me more than you."

"Oh I see," Gorvenal began to look disheartened,not that Ivan really card.

"The exact same event could happen to Andrew so I want you to look after him for me and make sure he drinks no poisons. If he dies and you were not there, I would never forgive you."

Gorvenal bowed his head and apologised for his rudeness.

"Speaking of which, Andrew, although one may be hard to come by, find a magic user who can heal you in case of the worst."

The others seemed a bit confused but Andrew understood completely.

"Now then, does anyone else wish to join me on my journey?

Silence.

"Good, then let us be off."

 Ivan and Adolphus entered the carriage and the driver shut the door behind them. The horses came alive as the whips hit them and they began trotting off towards the castle walls' exit.

 "Make sure you receive my present at some point!" Yelled Andrew.

Ivan rested his cheek on his shoulder and smiled. To the North!