"Wait... " Lady Lorelei got up from the bed.
"Yes My Lady?"
"Go to the kitchens and have his meal sent to him. Send for my maid Navi, to take care of him while I'm gone" she ordered.
"As you wish My Lady. Is there anything else you would like My Lady?"
"No, you may leave now" the maid bowed and left the chambers.
"This is because of my failure on the mission, that's why he is asking for you" Cullen tried to sit up and groaned in the process.
"And who told you to you could get up young man?"
"I–I j-just... " he stammered.
"You just what! You're in no condition to move, lie back down and wait for Navi to come tend to you" her eyes trailed off from him to the floor.
"How did that get... " that's when she recalled she had dropped the bowl of water and clean cloth on the floor earlier on.
"Escwet clesza dreya" she said some spells and the water dried up, she flicked her wrist, then the bowl and cloth returned to their rightful place.
"Take care and my greetings to the King, I would have loved to pay my respects but... "
"Keep quiet and remain in bed, have her dress your wound" she turned, made way towards the door and she left her chambers.
----------------
She arrived outside the throne room and the guards opened the doors for her to walk in, while the familiar voice, announced her entrance.
"Your Majesty, Lady Lorelei is here" after which he kept quiet.
"Greetings Your Majesty, Crown Prince Owen" Lorelei greeted with a bow.
"Rise" King Bayard said while Owen nodded.
"You sent for me Your Majesty" she said as looked at his countenance trying to decipher his thoughts.
"Its been days Lorelei, no report, none whatsoever about what had happened. This is a matter of utmost urgency and importance, yet you stay silent for days" he yelled at her.
"I had matters to attend to" those were the words that came out from her mouth and Prince Owen hissed.
"Matters you say, you seem to have forgotten who rules here. Is there any matter more serious than this and our almost exposal to the Elves? We might have as well been preparing for a war right now" Prince Owen said angrily.
"But we aren't, are we?" She directed her gaze at the Prince.
"That's just sheer luck Lady Lorelei" he fired back at her.
"Your majesty, we are not at war because I took care of everything and cleaned the mess" she said ignoring the prince.
"Wouldn't King Regin suspect? After all that explosion came from his forest" King Bayard furrowed his brows, he didn't like where all these were going.
"Anyone could have entered that forest, we are not the only Kingdom around, we do not have magic, so all suspicion wouldn't go to us" Prince Owen chipped in.
"Are you listening to yourself? The kingdom of Fortland alongside the Mages have disappeared without a trace, leaving just our kingdom and the Merfolk. True we may not have magic, but when on land, the mer-people are powerless. Do you think King Regin is stupid enough not to know that the mer-people wouldn't risk their life like that?"
"True your majesty, but the prince is also right" Lady Lorelei spoke up.
Prince Owen who was already feeling bad had his eyes spark with happiness when Lady Lorelei sided with him.
"Yes, the mer-people wouldn't risk their lives but the hybrid isn't a human, and she wandered into his forest, I'm sure the whole realm is aware of her being alive. So he knows it was her. What he doesn't know was what made her attack like that."
"So your point is?" King Bayard asked.
"I made four wild beasts pass out and transferred them to the scene of the fight, where I killed them using magic. That way, King Regin would think she was attacked by beasts from his forest and it would give us time and throw him off our backs."
"Yes, I support Lady Lorelei" Prince Owen chipped in.
"Besides, he doesn't have enough proof to make an attack on us. His main focus now would be to capture the hybrid. I would say let's withdraw a little and attack another time" she explained.
"Alright, if it is as you say, but I would like to know how you managed to do so much in so little time before he obviously sent his army there. Also the blood from the men that went, the Elves have a keen sense of smell and sight."
"True but against magic, they are powerless. I put sleeping potion on the arrows of four soldiers I took along with me and they shot the beasts. It took effect immediately and they collapsed. I opened a portal and sent them to the place of the incident and killed them there using magic."
She paused as she seemed lost in thoughts recalling all that had happened.
"Then, we took away the men though another portal and I stayed to erase it all, masked the smell of human blood, cleared the prints, destroyed the vines with human blood, used some vines to pierce the animals before masking my presence and disappeared."
Neither King Bayard and his son uttered a word after her explanation.
"Your Majesty, Grand Advisor Gerald is here" the voice announced again.