2026-06-08 23:23:52CHAPTER EIGHT
“How did you find out about this, Elder Enzo?” General Hector asked calmly, getting rid of the silence that had lingered between them for a while.
“Lady Vella got really sick several days ago, and there was no one who knew about it except Lord Ivan who informed me about it, pleading with me to find a cure for the strange illness that attacked her. When I came, I discovered that the sickness was almost incurable, but Lord Ivan was willing to do anything just to save her. He didn’t know when he told me that Seraphina was his daughter.”
“Oh…” General Hector mumbled in a whisper, looking at Elder Enzo who still didn’t want to maintain eye contact with him.
“I see. That was why he was against us being together.” General Hector whispered at once, but he didn’t know that the other men heard what he said.
Lucian in particular was curious to know more as he folded his arms, forgetting that he had some other intentions in mind.
General Hector was filled with so many thoughts that made him feel uneasy, but considering the fact that there was something more important to be worried about, he took in a deep breath which he let out slowly before he spoke with a low tone.
“Who else, Elder Enzo? Who else is involved?” General Hector asked with a feeble tone, trying so hard not to show weakness as the cringe that crept into him made him very weak.
Elder Enzo waited for the General to get a grip on himself before he gave him the response he requested.
“None that I know of, General Hector. I am not aware of any other person who could be involved with them. I was only able to know about the ones I am aware of because our paths crossed.”
“And you are sure about this?” Lucian asked at once, looking at Elder Enzo who nodded in response with a look of sincerity written all over his face.
“I see,” Lucian said with a whisper, and when he looked at the General, he saw that he was still struggling with the emotions that crept into his mind.
Lucian decided that he was going to go ahead without involving the General who was not his usual self.
“I heard Lord Ivan telling you that he intends to attack the General tonight. When is this supposed to happen?”
General Hector turned instantly as soon as he heard the words that caught his attention. He kept his eyes on Elder Enzo, looking at him while he waited to hear what he was going to say.
“Tonight…” Elder Enzo said with a low tone, looking at Lucian whose countenance showed that he was afraid of what was going to happen to him if the councilman heard that he had exposed their supposed secret.
“I already know about that, Elder Enzo. What I am interested to knowing about is how he intends to do it. I want to know how Elder Enzo. Is he planning to do it alone, or with the help of another?”
“I don’t know anything about that. I am only aware that he intends to attack him tonight.” Elder Enzo said with a low tone, struggling to maintain eye contact with Lucian who was staring at him with keen attention.
“Then he should get ready to fall by my sword!” General Hector growled, clutching his fists tightly while he glared at Elder Enzo as though he was the reason behind the situation that faced them.
“Lady Vella?” General Hector whispered as soon as the thought of his love interest hit him, and he released his clenched fists, realizing that he was going to have to make a very difficult decision.
“Is everything alright, General?” Lucian asked almost immediately, seeing that the countenance of the General had changed almost as soon as he swore to deal with Lord Ivan who was a major obstacle to him.
“I have told you everything you want to know, General. Please, let me go back to my family. My wife and child must be really worried.” The old man pleaded with a faint tone, looking at the General who smiled almost immediately without saying a word.
Elder Enzo stared at the General for a while, and when he realized that he wasn’t going to give him any response, he decided to turn to look at Lucian who had made him a promise earlier.
“You promised that you were going to take me out of this place if I told you everything that you needed to know. You have to let me go! I beg you!”
Lucian ignored the old man and turned to look at General Hector who understood what the look on his face meant.
“Say something! You are not saying anything! Why are you looking at him?”
“Because he is to decide your fate, Elder Enzo! I have no authority over this!” Lucian retorted to the shock of Elder Enzo who gasped instantly, unable to understand what was going on.
He turned his face to look at General Hector at once, but he didn’t know what to say to him.
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173
Pavel Ors had left the barracks before noon.The King had ordered two soldiers to accompany him back to the eastern district, where he would help identify the office in which he had worked. He had also been instructed not to discuss his visit with anyone until the inquiry was complete.Hector watched the party leave through the courtyard.“He was careful with his answers,” Lucian said from the bench near the window.“He was a clerk,” Hector replied. “Careful answers are part of the profession.”Lucian shifted against the cushion. His strength was returning, but slowly. He had spent the morning reviewing the dispatch records with the King and had needed to stop twice to rest his eyes. The King had noticed both occasions and had made no effort to hide his displeasure.“He remembered Venn,” Lucian said. “But he could not remember whether Doss's credential appeared on the list.”“He also said he never saw the tokens.”“Which means he cannot confirm that the list was accurate.”Hector turn
172
The handwriting examination produced its first result the following morning.Hector was with the King when the archive clerk arrived, carrying the original notice ending Marek Doss's employment and three pages of comparison entries. The clerk placed them on the table and waited until the King had finished reading the report.“The acknowledgment beside Doss's name does not match the handwriting of the administrator who approved his departure,” the clerk said. “It also differs from the hand used for most of the other returned-token entries in that register.”“Does that establish that it was forged?” the King asked.“No, Your Majesty. The entries were made by several clerks over the years. We cannot identify the writer from the samples available. We can only say that it was not written by the administrator whose name appears on the notice.”Hector examined the acknowledgment.“Was the person who received the token supposed to sign?”“Yes. The procedure required the receiving clerk to rec
171
The first reply concerning Marek Doss came from the western district.It was brief and unhelpful. Doss had been employed as a temporary document courier by the royal household, but his service had ended several years earlier. The district office held no record of his arrival, and no subsequent appointment had been entered against his name.The second reply came from the city watch.A man matching Doss's description had once rented a room near the southern gate, but the lodging-house keeper had closed his establishment before the date could be confirmed. No forwarding address had been left.Hector read both reports in the King's presence.“We know he received the token,” he said. “We don't know whether he returned it, lost it, or gave it to someone else.”The King tapped the dispatch book with one finger.“And we don't know whether the token found near the northern gate was the original.”“The locksmith believes it was made to the same pattern as the household tokens. The number matche
170
The royal archive sent its reply shortly after the morning bell.Hector was reviewing the previous day's reports when a clerk arrived carrying a narrow wooden case. Inside lay three registers, a bundle of loose slips, and a sealed statement from the chief archivist.“The records concerning numbered tokens were kept separately from the ordinary guard inventories,” the clerk explained. “The archivist found these in a cabinet used by the former royal household administration.”“Why were they kept separately?” Hector asked.“The tokens were not issued to ordinary guards. Some were used by messengers and officials who needed to collect sealed documents from restricted offices. The register was maintained by the household administration, not the captain of the guard.”Hector opened the case.“Who had access to it?”“The chief administrator and two clerks. The archivist could not establish whether the register was complete. Several pages have been removed.”Hector looked up.“Removed recentl
169
The search for the boy began before sunrise.Hector divided the city watch into small teams and sent them to the messenger stations, market stalls, and lodging houses along the northern road. The description was limited: a boy of fourteen or fifteen, with a scar near his ear, who had carried a folded message to a man in a grey coat.It was not much to work with. Boys carried messages throughout the capital, and a scar was hardly unusual. Still, the lodging-house keeper had remembered the boy clearly enough to distinguish him from the other children who visited the courtyard.Hector instructed his men to ask questions without making accusations. If the boy had been paid to deliver a message, he might have done nothing more than earn a few coins. Frightening him into silence would serve no purpose.By midmorning, the first team returned with a name.The boy was called Niko. He lived with his aunt in a narrow street behind the old cloth market and sometimes carried parcels for merchants
168
Hector returned to the eastern market before the afternoon crowds had begun to thin.He took Sergeant Pell and two guards with him, leaving the rest of the barracks to continue the inquiries into Silas Merrow and the missing records. The report from Nessa had given them a place to begin, but he knew how quickly a witness's memory could become unreliable when several people questioned them about the same event.The market watch commander met them beside the gate.“We have checked the men assigned to investigations in this district,” he said. “No one admits to questioning the fruit seller, and none of the descriptions match an officer we can identify.”“Did anyone show her a warrant or an official seal?”“No. She says he displayed a paper, but she could not read it.”“Then the paper proves nothing.”The commander lowered his voice. “There is another matter. Two merchants remember a man in a grey coat asking questions about strangers near the northern road. One says the man asked whether
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