Sheer walked down the hallway, deep in thought. He had been away from the palace and the king's side for too long that he had almost lost control of the events happening within the walls.

Without his spies informing him of the arrival of the knight who now resided in the palace, he would not have known what was happening. He headed straight to the king's chamber and knocked respectfully on the door.

The king grunted from within the room before he gave his approval. Sheer swept in with a flourish and performed a bow before he looked directly into the eyes of the king.

The king was sitting at the head of his table, doing what he had taken to in the past few weeks. An empty jug lay by the side while another one, filled with wine, was beside the king. The king looked away from him and poured the content of his goblet down his throat.

"Your grace," he said.

"You have been away for too long," Harodin said.

"I beg your forgiveness, my grace."

"What have you been up to?"

"The sword, your grace. I am trying to secure the services of thieves who can steal this sword within the blink of an eye."

"Did you find any?"

"I found a few, my lord. The police chief will have them delivered to the palace today."

"I have about the legend of this sword. Do you think anyone else would try to take it for themselves?"

"Even if they did, they would not be able to wield it. It is only the king that can do that."

Harodin smiled where he sat. "That means no one else except me can handle the sword."

"Yes, your grace." As long as you are the king.

"Good. My worries are gone."

The king turned back to his drink.

"Your grave, I am concerned with the presence of the strange knight in the palace. He could be anyone, anything."

"He is called Sir Greg."

"From a house, no one has ever heard of."

"We don't know the names of all the houses in the kingdom of Kora."

"But someone must have heard something."

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"I am thinking!" Harodin barked. "I would appreciate it if you left me alone."

"The knight would not leave your sister alone."

"What?"

Sheer's last utterance got the king's full attention.

"Maybe I should just go. He is a knight and it would not…"

"Speak! Right now!"

Sheer cleared his throat and looked around the room as if he was finding a way to water down the heaviness of what he wanted to say. Then his eyes settled back on the king.

"By the river, in the garden, the knight and the princess sat while the knight made advances at her."

"Was she resisting?" Harodin asked.

"No, it appears the knight has some sort of spell on your daughter."

"Spell? I don't think this is a matter I have to delve into."

"You are the king."

"It is her life."

"What about alliances with other kingdoms? Are we going to throw that away on the altar of love?"

"Alliances," the king said as if he was just hearing the word for the first time.

"She should leave him be. It will not end well," Sheer whispered.

"How did you know this? How did you see my sister and the knight?"

"The birds you asked me to send out. They move around."

"You can leave. I will talk to my sister."

The advisor bowed again and turned to walk out. The young king could not help but see some sort of contempt in his conduct, but he dismissed it. The advisor probably thought he was not strong enough to handle his sister. He would show him that he knew exactly what to do with his sister.

Outside, Meredith was about to knock on the door of the king's chamber when Sheer pulled the door open and came outside. They paused for a while and stared at each other. In the exchange, there was no love lost.

The princess stared at the advisor like he was the scum of the earth while the advisor looked at the girl with a lurking menace behind his eyes as if he was trying to send her a message: he would take over the crown and there was nothing she could do about it.

The exchange of gazes lasted only seconds, but for Meredith, it felt like hours. The advisor bowed a little.

"Princess," he said and walked away.

Meredith looked after him, wondering what poison he had injected into her brother's heart this time. As he turned into the next turn, Meredith pushed the door open. Her brother was still at the head of the table, gulping more wine.

"I was about to send for you," Harodin said.

"Well, I am here," Meredith replied. She settled into one of the seats and stared at her brother with concern. "Has your advisor ever told you that you are drinking too much?"

"I am the king. I can do what I want."

"That is the wine speaking. Anyone who has to say I am the king is no true king."

"What did you say to me, sister?" Harodin asked as he struggled to get to his feet. He almost fell to the ground and had to hold the table as he settled back into his seat. "I know what you are doing with that boy knight."

"Boy knight?" Meredith exclaimed, gasping. "That is not appropriate."

"Neither is kissing him in the garden."

Meredith now realized what the snake had told the king. She had forgotten that the king's advisor had his spies all over the palace and the kingdom. She frowned defiantly. If she ever got one of those spies, she would beat him or her into giving up the other spies, then she would make them work for her.

"Of what business is that to you, brother?" she asked.

"You are the princess!" Harodin screamed. "You cannot just go about kissing the lips of every strange knight you see. You will get married for the good of the kingdom. It is the sacrifice that you have to make for our kingdom to have allies."

"You sound just like Sheer and father. Are you not supposed to be different?"

"You will not understand. But I need you to do what u ask you to."

"I came here to talk to my brother…"

"…and you met your king instead. Let the boy knight be. You are more than he would ever be."

"I cannot believe this is coming from you, Harodin."

"Your grace!" Harodin shouted, slamming his fist down on the table. "I am your grace!"