We finally managed to enter the archive room in the palace. The room was smaller than I had expected, but it was filled with documented letters. So many letters that the walls were barely visible. The atmosphere was stale and the air was thick with dust from the old letters. Some of them seemed to have been there for years.

I followed Rose closely, careful not to touch anything and attract attention. We made our way towards a toll booth-style area, still searching for the lieutenant. I scanned the room for any clues related to our case but found nothing. The room was eerily quiet until Rose called out to the lieutenant.

"Lieutenant Roger, are you here?" she shouted.

"Coming through," a voice replied.

Footsteps echoed up the stairs from the other side of the toll booth. A man appeared at the top of the stairs, slightly out of breath but still able to speak. When he saw Rose, his tense expression softened into a smile.

"Rose, what a surprise," he said.

"Good to see you too, Roger," Rose replied.

"To what do I owe this surprise? Don't tell me you're hunting monsters again."

"No, this time I'm here for something different," Rose said.

"Well, now you have my interest. What is it that you seek?"

"Recently our king has received letters from other kings and I need to find out what's in them."

"Does the king know about this?" Roger asked.

"I'd like to keep it a secret for now," Rose replied.

"Rose, I can't do this without the king's permission. It's treason and treason is punishable by death."

"Please, Roger. This is a matter of utmost importance. I must read those letters for the king's safety."

Although Roger was hesitant to show us the letters, I could tell that he had a great deal of respect for Rose. His eyes conveyed trust and despite the fact that we were the only ones in the room, he quickly scanned the area before leaning in closer to Rose.

"Okay," he whispered. "But you'll have to be quick."

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"Thanks, Roger. You're great," Rose said with a smile.

"That's what they always say," Roger replied with a chuckle.

As Lieutenant Roger went off to retrieve the letters, I wandered around the room, hoping to find something of interest. Rose waited patiently for the letters to arrive. That's when I spotted an open letter on the other side of the counter. It was far from me, but I could still make out the writing. It was a letter from an agent to the king.

The letter revealed that the agent had been ordered by the third king to spy on the fifth kingdom. It stated that the fifth king moved very little for a human and that his elite soldiers seemed to take orders directly from him. An elite soldier was seen in the palace almost every hour of the day and they were always on high alert.

The letter didn't reveal much more, but it provided me with some valuable information for the future. As I pondered its contents, Roger called out to us and placed three letters on the counter.

"Here are all the recent letters," he said. "Two from the second kingdom and one from the first."

Rose took the letters and began to read them one by one. When she finished, she looked up at me and relayed their contents.

"These letters say that wanted individuals attacked the first and second kings, causing a great disturbance in society and inciting rebellion among the people," she said.

It's hard to believe that the kings would write this about us after everything we've done.

"It also says that they kidnapped Prince Arthur, the king's own son," Rose added.

I knew I shouldn't speak, but I couldn't stay silent any longer. I had to ask the question that was on my mind or risk incriminating myself. Without looking up, I addressed the lieutenant.

"Did these letters come directly from the palace or did they have a stopover?" I asked.

"Who are you?" Lieutenant demanded.

Rose quickly intervened to protect my identity. "I've called a friend from another kingdom for information," she said. "Let's go before he wastes his time."

As we turned to leave, the lieutenant called out to us. "Wait," he said. "You may be onto something. Before the letters arrived, I spoke with the messenger. He said that they had to change their route due to a delay and that he would deliver the letters late. The king wasn't suspicious, but I think something strange is going on. It seems like the letters were checked somewhere before they arrived."

We had our answer. I was now certain that the letters had been tampered with. I turned slightly towards the lieutenant, keeping my back to him.

"Lieutenant Roger," I said. "Thank you for your help. But if you don't mind, I have one last question before we go."

"Go ahead," he replied.

"We have information that the third king sent an agent to the fifth kingdom," I said. "Have you heard anything from him?"

My question seemed to cause Roger great pain. After a moment of silence, he spoke in a shaky voice.

"It's been a while since I heard from the agent in the fifth kingdom," he said. "I don't know what happened to him now, but in my heart, he will always be a good warrior and a good son."

"I didn't know he was your son," I said softly. "I'm sorry."

"It's alright," Roger replied. "He was just doing his duty."

I didn't get much information, but I was saddened by what I heard.

"Your son will succeed, I'm sure of it, have a good day."

We headed for the door to leave the archive room without adding to the lieutenant's pain.

Now that I had a better understanding of what was going on, I needed to put it all together in my head so we could prove to Rose and everyone in the kingdom that we were innocent.