Every messenger and crow had been dispatched from Crow Castle before an hour of sunlight had been lost. It was Darvos who had broken down the door and forced his way into Vaya’s room. He had seen Aurela enter a few hours prior but after a long bout of silence he had decided to enter in. He found the room empty, racing down the twisting stairs of the tall tower and barging into the throne room. Queen Lenora was still seated there with her daughter at the high dais as well.

“Gone! The girls. Vaya and Aurela, both are gone!” Darvos had barked loudly. He was so quiet many thought him mute. But in that moment his eyes grew larger than his head and his mouth nearly broke the glass murals along the wall. The sound of his loud yelling and Queen Lenora’s squealing had caused a multitude of guards to burst into the throne room with spears and halberds pointed.

The Queen called an emergency council meeting, demanding it be held in the throne room rather than at the Broken Table.

“I will not suffer more bloody scrapes on my arms. And I most certainly will not be relocating from this throne chair to leave it vacant any longer. My husband is being a child and I must take the role of ruler. Our child is missing!” The queen shouted but made no mention of Vaya. That was when the king had scrambled his way into the room with two guards nipping at his heels, partly sworn to protect him and the other part of them worried he might attack his wife, the queen. He had a wild look in his eyes.

“The girl, Vaya! She has a connection to the Silver Tree! King Tuuka wants her, and Lord Maykeep has got her. They are in league with each other, I tell you. The Silver Tree…it is all true and we have been foolish enough—”

“—quiet!” The queen interrupted him.

Lord Mared, who was somehow still at Crow Castle after a lengthy visit, came running in. Ser Sledda had emerged from behind the throne where the secret entrance to the dungeons lay. Four dungeon guards trailed him with the Crow’s Quarters emblems brooched on their cloaks, leftover from when Ser Jaqon had been there.

“Where is my emergency meeting? This is not a meeting. Guards, assemble the noblemen. Assemble my children. It is time!” The queen rose from her seat, slamming her new scepter (no one knew where she had gotten it) into the floor. The jewel atop the scepter glinted brilliantly against the shining rays of the sun that poured into the throne room like rich honey. The murals of battles past were illuminated by a sudden burst of sunlight, which was odd given the stormy weather.

“It is the tree speaking to us. Let us listen to its signs,” said King Aydar.

“Oh, shut up, Aydar. You’ve gone mad reading all of those books,” replied Queen Lenora. “You’re more worried about the tramp and the tree than our own daughter.”

Alon the Cup Bearer arrived and took his seat besides Queen Lenora. Illena and Alon worked together to calm the queen, placing hands on each of her arms and rubbing them soothingly. Waryon Orvan ushered the king to a seat at the high dais away from the queen so that they were not facing each other anymore. A crowd had assembled now, including noblemen and beneficiaries to the crown. The throne room doors were slammed shut and barred by guards wearing royal blue.

But the doors were soon opened again when there came a mighty knock and the sound of loud shouting. The doors were slowly opened by the guards and Prince Rohinar shoved his way past, with Galor (son of legendary Ser Ganator) nipping at his heels.

The Queen’s lips formed into a reluctant smile. She could not help but feel comforted by the sight of her son.

“The princess has stayed at Baronview?” asked Queen Lenora.

“She must,” said Rohinar. “It is her duty to be with the people there.”

The meeting began. It lacked for any formal procession, for the queen had no patience for one and the king sat with a wild stare. Any glimpse of sunlight that caught his eye brought on a resemblance to a cat that wanted to play with a pattern of light on a wall. Illena kept her head down, embarrassed. And the queen just harumphed and pursed her lips.

The final guest arrived later on. It was lord Kyn Malarin.

“My queen,” he began. A small household guard of four men trailed him as he entered the throne room. “Your messenger arrived. My allegiance is yours, full-heartedly. I am sorry for the capture of your daughter.”

“And the girl—the brown eyed girl,” added the king, finger raised.

“Erm, yes…her too,” agreed lord Malarin, appearing rather uncomfortable.

The Queen raised her voice, choosing to ignore King Aydar.

“King Tuuka’s forces invade, slaughtering Lord Tchoreg’s men and the constituents of his lands. Lord Maykeep’s men unjustly attack at Cobbleton and then take my daughter as hostage. Something is afoot there. I have been advised of a possible alliance between the two.”

“Let us not forget of your son’s retaliation at lord Maykeep’s men. The men at Cobbleton, that is,” interjected one of the noblemen.

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“Speak to this, Rohinar,” said Queen Lenora. Rohinar stepped forward, clearing his throat. He suddenly looked like a boy again. Fear in his eyes and posture small.

“I saw—” he cleared his throat, looking to Galor, “—I mean, we saw a slaughtering of innocents. I wouldn’t let that slide. Princess Elswitta had sent me and Galor to check on Cobbleton, and we couldn’t stand by and watch the innocents be put to the sword.”

“So, you just attacked, just the two of you?” asked Lenora.

“Yes mother.”

“How foolish,” said the queen. “So that is the reason Aurela was taken. You are the reason. Lord Maykeep wished to hit back at us.”

“That is not the sole reason, if I may speak, lady queen.” Galor spoke, face soft and humble. The queen smiled, appreciating his humility. Galor breathed a sigh of relief, for the queen’s emotions were quite unpredictable.

“Well,” began Galor. “Rohinar charged, feeling an unquenchable taste for justice. But we pulled back, realizing the size of Maykeep’s men. We didn’t really pull off much of an attack. But we were alarmed of our presence.”

Waryon stepped up. “Sounds like an excuse to kidnap Aurela, if you ask me.”

“No one is asking you,” said Illena, trying to be like her mother. Queen Lenora shushed her, placing an arm over Illena’s chest as if she was falling forward.

“And what say you, lord Mared?” The queen stared at lord Mared longingly, a wide smile over her face.

“Thank you, my lovely queen. I think Waryon is right. Maykeep is trying to bait us. He knows we’ll come for the girls.”

Rohinar and Galor furrowed their brows, confused. What of that exchange? Rohinar’s face seemed to say. Galor just shrugged.

Lord Mared ignored Rohinar’s insinuating stares. “But the question must be asked...how did the girls get taken? Lord Maykeep didn’t show up here to take them. Our sentries would have seen Maykeep’s men if he breached our walls.”

“Does anybody have an answer to that?” asked the queen.

After a long pause there was an answer. All eyes turned to Barl the Burly, who had snuck in late after his duties along the ramparts had finished for the afternoon.

“I’ll admit it…I saw them.”

Gasps filled the room.

“You what?” exclaimed Illena. Queen Lenora echoed her daughter.

“I saw them escape. But it was late in my shift, and I thought my eyes deceived me. Besides, Aurela is not one to run away. I never assumed she was escaping with that girl…Vaya? Is that her name?”

“Yes,” interjected the king. “She is the chosen savior of the people, the bonded servant of the tree…the Silver-Blood. Vaya is her name…and if Pret and Lun’s reports are correct, she was likely seeking that man there.” The king pointed at Prince Rohinar. More gasps.

“Pret and Lun aren’t the only ones who witnessed it,” continued the king in a raspy, dried voice. “Rohinar had a thing for the girl. Surprised he let the political lure of Princess Elswitta get in the way of his infatuation with the Silver-Blood girl. But now he’s stuck in a marriage with a Tuuka!”

Angry voices mixed with excited chattering to cause a crescendo of noise to overtake the hall. Lenora gave Jal the squire a look and he blasted on his trumpet, bringing order to the throne room of the king’s hall.

“Why would Vaya be looking for Prince Rohinar? And why would Aurela go with him?” asked Illena.

“Because Aurela was headed to the same place. To Baronview. Aurela wanted to see Ser Jaqon. As I’ve heard from him,” the king pointed his gaze toward Ser Sledda, whose face was concealed by cloth except for his eyes. “Aurela and Jaqon visited one another quite often. It is quite the secret.”

“I won’t believe it,” replied the queen. Jal had to blast on his trumpet again. The courtroom was threatening to erupt into chaos.

“Let us circle back to the point of this emergency council,” began the queen. “We have lord Swordrin and lord Mared here, who have pledged to assist Dalrin in any way necessary. And we have little choice but to go after Aurela and…Vaya…there, I said her name,” spat the queen.

“Get over it, we’re going to need her if we’re to—” the king had cut off Lenora again.

“—quiet, Aydar,” snapped Queen Lenora. “Despite it being what Maykeep wants, we will approach his walls with a show of force. He won’t be expecting the armies of lord Mared and lord Kyn Malarin as well.”

“Aye,” began Waryon. “And what good will sitting outside his mighty walls do us? We still won’t siege his walls. That would be suicide. And besides, King Tuuka’s army is sitting somewhere to the north of Bulkjor awaiting to see what we do about Aurela. We’ve already acknowledged that there is an alliance there between Tuuka and Maykeep.”

“Well, what is it that Maykeep wants, anyways?” asked Illena.

The court fell silent.

“Perhaps he only wanted Vaya,” said Rohinar bravely. All eyes fell on him again. “Aurela may have only been added collateral when he knew Vaya was on the run and in the open. If he is in league with Tuuka then he now has a valuable asset that Tuuka will want. He’ll want Vaya, if the true power of the Silver Tree is to be believed.”

King Aydar was smiling, his head bobbing up and down.

“Then that means he’ll give up Aurela quite easy then, right?” asked Waryon.

“No,” said King Aydar. “From now on, he’s under orders from King Tuuka. We must assume that. And King Tuuka knows that he has us in a tricky spot. If we commit all of our forces to The Maykeep stronghold, then Dalrin is left vulnerable.”

“So, what do we do?” asked Waryon. The queen was growing frustrating, feeling her influence lessening. She was on the throne seat. She should be the one making the big calls. Not Aydar. What had he done the past months, besides sit in his stacks and his books?

“Never mind that,” said Queen Lenora. “I want Aurela back. We’ll send half our forces—two thousand men. Lord Malarin and lord Mared can bring as many men as they can muster. King Tuuka won’t be worried about them at all. Aurela comes home by week’s end. I don’t care the cost.”

King Aydar’s jaw dropped. Rohinar felt his breath catch in his throat. The noblemen tried to protest, but the queen’s guards pointed the tips of the spears. The queen rose from the throne.

“King Tuuka will not have his way. His force that wiped out Tchoreg will need rest and they cannot travel at the speed of light. The best they could do would be to get to Crow Castle within a fortnight. Realistically, two months. This is our land. Dalrin is ours, and so is everything Maykeep owns.” The queen scanned the throne room. It was hers now, not Aydar’s. She saw fear in the eyes of some of the men. She liked it.

“We march on the ‘morrow. I don’t need Aurela and Vaya at the hands of that grubby, disgusting lord longer than necessary.” Before anyone had time to move, the queen had Jal blast his trumpet. “One last thing,” the queen’s eyes met lord Mared’s. “If we get a visual on lord Maykeep, take him down with a longbow. I want him dead…and all of his concubines.”