Marjorana, a few days later…
Briar was currently inside his study perusing papers related to the cases he was investigating. His brows were creased as most reports led to dead end.
A knock on the door jolted him out of his thoughts.
"Come in!" he called out.
When the door opened, the familiar form of his red headed aid sauntered in.
"A report from the order of Jade Tiger has arrived, your highness." Nigel announced while handing the papers to the prince.
Briar took it and signaled for the other man to take his leave.
When Nigel had exited the room, Briar opened and read the report.
The prince's eyes grew wide as his gaze fell on the disturbing data found by the order of Jade Tiger.
The flaxen haired read it a few more times before he made haste towards his steed, Noir.
As soon as he was mounted, he pushed his horse to its limit in order to reach his destination.
It was close to midnight when he got past the outskirts.
Illuminated by the moonlight, Briar saw the landmark in the heart of the woods. The century old emerald tree was sparkling as it was hit by the moonbeam.
The prince dismounted his steed and tied its reins on the branch. He walked a few paces away and entered an abandoned shack.
Though the place looked dilapidated on the outside, its interior was very much clean and luxurious.
The place was illuminated by moonlight and seven gilded chairs encircled a table at the center of the chamber.
Though exhausted with all of day's work, Briar knew he could not rest until he could have an audience with the Enclave.
The latest findings shook him to the core and if his hunch is correct, they might have something troublesome at hand.
He could recall a few tales from his childhood and he was hoping that those discoveries must not be related to any of those.
When the clock struck twelve, Briar knelt before the chairs while bowing his head.
"Your Majesties, I am unfit to be in your presence for I am beneath you. But please hear me out. I bring forth grave news."
"Rise up, my boy." King Leo's voice filtered his ears.
"You know, if you have found the princess by now and married her, you may have been one of our members." the king had added with a hint of humor.
Briar rose and eyed the jolly king who had aged quite a bit. Though he is still a bit chubby, the king looked a bit weary.
But despite his stressed look, Leo was still as cheerful as before.
"I could not find Lily, even after all these years." the prince replied sadly.
"A pity…" the king said before getting down to business. "So what's the news?"
"Your Majesty, a dark magic caster had been performing forbidden rituals in the outskirts of Marjoram and Azalea."
"Pray tell, what rituals do you speak of?" King Darius appeared in a flurry of light and inquired.
The High King took his place at the centermost chair. Nothing much had changed except that the corners of his sharp eyes had wrinkles on them.
Briar shook his head before he supplied. "This caster had been abducting children and had been ripping some of their vital organs out. He/she had used the organs for a sacrificial ritual."
"Outrageous!" Darius exclaimed. He looked as bit sterner as before. "Did you manage to track down and find out who it is?"
"I apologize… Your Majesty." Briar dejectedly imparted. "but we could not determine who it is."
"Marjoram had been devoid of casters for seven years." the prince continued. "Only a few of Marjoran and Azalean knights are equipped with magic."
"Majority has affinity with elemental attribute." he further added. "So we could not possibly trace the corruption."
"How about you, Briar?" Leo inquired. "Can't you do something about this? You are from the Royal house of Azalea, surely you have some spells that you can use."
Briar reddened with embarrassment. "I inherited only earth attribute from my family's lineage. I could use spells if they are stored in a catalyst and magic tools."
"But most of my spells related to the Enclave were borrowed from Prince... I mean King Caules." Briar added while referring to the new king of Cilantro.
In addition, the prince said. "I could cast a locator or tracker spell but its effectiveness is limited. Since the sacrificial area was only found recently, I could only feel the residue of black magic but I could not trace and determine who had cast it."
"Can you think of other solutions?" the stern High King incised.
"I can hire a caster despite Marjoram's history with them." The prince muttered.
"Then why would you include the Enclave for this matter? It is not large scale." One of the kings whom Briar did not notice cut in.
"King Carson!" they acknowledged his presence.
"Why involve the Enclave?" Carson's brows creased as he took his seat.
Swallowing his nervousness at the presence of three members of Enclave, Briar shared his speculations.
"The signos, Your Majesties. Mysterious cases of illness are happening both in Marjoram and Azalea, disappearances of children and forbidden rituals held using their body parts. They all point to the return of the Suzerain."
The kings were taken aback. They all knew about the story of the Suzerain but this is quite preposterous.
"Prince Briar, how old are you, my boy?" Leo questioned.
"Nineteen summers, Your Majesty."
"Nineteen!" Carson exclaimed. "and you believe in such old wives tales?"
Briar kept his mouth shut. He had anticipated that some members of the Enclave may not believe him.
After all, not everyone had believe that the legend was true. Most people just shrug their shoulders and say that the Dark Suzerain was just a figment of imagination.
There are three kings here right now, which includes the high king. Briar is quite sure that the others will have the same reaction as well.
"Prince Briar, they are just old wives tales." Leo calmly said. "The Suzerain was said to be sealed more than a thousand years ago. There is no telling if he even existed or not."
"Such legends are not proven true at all. So better concentrate on the matters regarding the rouge caster." Carson advised.
Darius broke his silence. "We permit you to hire a caster. Do what you must to stop the dark caster and prevent the murders."
Though Briar was happy that he was permitted to hire a caster, he could not shake off the feeling that his hunch is correct.
The Enclave did not believe him, but he really believed that the Suzerain might be coming back.
With the latest report he had received, his initial suspicion that the Suzerain have reincarnated into his childhood friend, Lily.
He shook his head. He might be too sleepy and might not be thinking well.
Lily might be planning and exacting her vengeance but she might not resort to such killing innocents.
But why is he thinking about her when this case was opened.