The Crown's Entrapment

With two days left before the wedding, Darius was hard at work making sure that everything would be up to par with royal standards. It wouldn’t do for a man of his stature to botch the one thing he didn’t want going wrong, and he’d do everything in his power to make it so that the ceremony was as perfect as possible for her dearly beloved mate. There was no room for error. And if even the slightest margin of failure ever showed itself, he’d be sure to stamp it down and correct it before it caused any damage that Xen might not like.

“My King, a message for your eyes only.”

Darius blinked as he was taken out of his preparations. Looking at the messenger, he simply nodded before taking the piece of paper off the man’s hands.

“Thank you,” Darius coolly hummed. “You can go.”

With the messenger promptly leaving, Darius took one look at the message before deciding that it was better for him to read it in the privacy of his own study. Leaving the servants on their own for a while, the king promptly made his way to his room before quickly entering his study. After making sure that he was alone, he unfurled the message, his brows quirking up as he slowly read its contents.

“Huh…” Darius grunted in light curiosity. “This is both great and troublesome…”

It would seem that Calypso had finally found someone gifted with the power of clairvoyance. If he recalled correctly, the man had left in search of such a power for reasons unknown, only that it was for the betterment of the kingdom and all of its citizens. With his loyalty unquestioning, Darius let him go ahead on his quest, assisting him wherever he could while also acquiring a bit of information on the enemy.

Based on Calypso’s report, the prospected clairvoyant was the missing princess of Zion, Princess Katalina. She had apparently escaped captivity alone, and her whereabouts had been a mystery ever since.

At the very least, the enemy wouldn’t be able to use her for their own gains. Likewise, they themselves wouldn’t be able to avail of her powers unless they found her first.

Understandably, Calypso wanted to pursue this lead further, possibly even making contact if he was ever lucky in his search.

“Intriguing,” Darius hummed, reading the message further. “And Nasser’s planning on making a few moves himself, it seems…”

The news of Bulun lurking around Helion territory was a bit of news that he both expected and, frankly, was quite disappointed to hear. It was as clear as day that the Elder had been antagonizing him ever since he sat on the throne, but for him to consort with what was already proven to be an unforgiving and evil enemy?

Seriously… The lows that the man was going to just to get one over him were starting to get ridiculous.

“I suppose I’ll have to launch an investigation on this,” Darius sighed, more in disappointment than anything. “At least Calypso already has the initiative on this…”

Still, his cousin was starting to get in deep within enemy territory. While he was confident in his skills in espionage and keeping himself out of harm’s way, the lingering worry within him still made him cautious about what he had to do next.

Having read the message in full, Darius folded the piece of parchment, sitting down on his desk before pulling out his own quill and parchment to write up a reply. While a part of him as the king wanted Calypso to keep at it on his adventures, he simply, in good conscience, allow him to just let him go as he pleased.

“Come back to us,” he whispered out, his words being put into the paper as he wrote. “It’s far too dangerous for you to continue like this. You got what you came for… We’ll take it from here…”

Adding a few more instructions and correspondence that might help his wayward cousin, Darius gave his letter one last read through before folding it into a small envelope. Sealing it shut with wax, he would have to get a messenger to deliver it for him as soon as possible, especially since each second that passed would mean more danger for Calypso to possibly face.

“I’ll have to discuss this with Gideon and Bartos…”

Darius breathed out, stashing the letter in his person before leaving his study. With his priorities shifted, he made his way towards the training grounds, and sure enough, his two men were hard at work in training their soldiers.

“Gideon, Bartos, a word,” Darius called out.

Hearing his voice, the two promptly followed. Once they were a ways away from the men, the king began to relay the new pieces of information to the two.

“I see,” Gideon nodded in confirmation. “You want us to send out feelers for this missing princess then.”

“Indeed,” Darius hummed in agreement. “Above all else, it should be discreet and away from the general perception of both friend or foe. This is a clairvoyant, and a missing princess at that. The political and military significance of securing her is paramount to this endeavor.”

“Understandable,” Bartos grunted. “So only send out a few trusted men, forego all the pomp, and make sure that they’re quiet.”

“That is the ideal group, yes,” the king nodded. “And I also want Bulun discreetly tailed as of this moment. He’s been reported to be colluding with Helion regarding matters unknown, and we wouldn’t want to get blindsided by whatever information he’s possibly sharing.”

“Got it,” Gideon quickly nodded. “Shall we try and feed him false information while we’re at it? Maybe leak a few fake positions and logistical routes?”

“Not yet,” Darius shook his head. “We still don’t know what information, or if he’s even sharing such in the first place. For now, we’ll observe his every movement and possible contacts. Trace them all down, see how far it leads.”

Gideon and Bartos nodded, and Darius dismissed the two shortly after. Letting out a sigh, he could only hope that Cordon wasn’t already a leaking sieve of information to the enemy. He could patch what holes he could find, but it was all up to his men to get the details right.

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