When my love swears that she is made of truth,
I do believe her, though I know she lies,
That she might think me some untutored youth,
Unlearnèd in the world's false subtleties.
Thus vainly thinking that she thinks me young,
Although she knows my days are past the best,
Simply I credit her false-speaking tongue:
On both sides thus is simple truth suppressed.
But wherefore says she not she is unjust?
And wherefore say not I that I am old?
Oh, love's best habit is in seeming trust,
And age in love loves not to have years told.
Therefore I lie with her and she with me,
And in our faults by lies we flattered be.
- William Shakespeare
Sonnet 138: When my love swears that she is made of truth
Oddly enough, Emerelda believed him.
Everyone watched her carefully and cautiously has she processed what Mr. Leonard had said.
She believed him.
That night when Floyd was killed, the killer had no speed. She hadn't thought much on that moment. The Midnight Assassin also never leaves witness, this was a common fact that the whole city knew of. The killer didn't kill at Midnight. It was around ten, and she remembers perfectly as Floyd came into her room at nine.
"Your right," she said, "The King is ill."
Everyone leaned back and almost looked relived. She couldn't blame them. Anyone in her position could either dramatically denied it, or calmly agreed to it.
Mr. Leonard crossed his fingers, "Glad you figured that out." He looked away from her and to the crowd, "The King has one mentality which blinds his ruling. He fears that someone would take away his throne."
"Odd, isn't his children supposed to have throne after him?" Elliot quietly asked at his corner.
Mr. Leonard settled on his seat more comfortably, "I supposed I should start from the start, where my Father and his friends had left England."
Emerelda frowned, "Everyone knows the story."
He shook his head, "You only know what the King had told you." He started, "My Father, Sebastian Leonard, assisted his best friend, Cyrus Throne, to escape to England and bring many benefits for Garlin. They left for a whole year, with the ladies as well, and returned back with a letter from the Queen. It was unsure how they did it, but according to Father, they ranked to the top and slightly expose their great gifts to catch the attention of the Queen. They had made a deal with her; send resources and become allies with Garlin keeping it a secret, and my Father with his friends would work closely and right under her. Anything she needs, they would be the one helping her with it.
"The King couldn't touch them as they were under the Queen's protection, if anything were to happen to them, the Queen would seek revenge and Garlin would be in chaos. He also couldn't deny the deal as Garlin, still in the medieval era, needed the new resourced and build its economy once again. Garlin was almost dying, and without these young adults, it would have died."
"That is true," Emmett's twin had said, his hands crossed at his back, "Although where do we play in this picture?"
Elisha stopped tracing the dagger on the painting behind her, "Indeed. How does us English people have anything to do with Garlin?"
"The real question is, what do us all have anything to do with your goal?" Niko asked.
"Good question. I simply want Garlin to grow, just as my Father and his friends had done. They started the first step, and I intend to finish it. Garlin needs a new monarch ruler, the King should be gone. After staying with him close I realized he is attached to his throne like a child attached to a toy. He wasn't going to give the Prince the throne, despite performing the Promise Prince coronation. He would stay King until he dies, and that wouldn't be soon. He also knew Emerelda had a gift from the very start."
Emerelda was taken back, "He did?"
Mr. Leonard nods, "Every child goes through a test of gift when they reach a certain age. It is to know if the child is gifted or not. Your Father figured you were gifted when you were young and didn't bother with the test. If he did, that would mean you would be trained. And since you were gifted, he worried you'd take his throne."
Niko placed a hand on her mouth. Elisha looked at Emerelda with a frown. Mr. Thomas cursed silently beside her. Everyone was in disbelief. She was as well. No one had told her about the test, although her tutor hasn't told her much about gifts. She figured her father prevented her to do so.
"Dear god." Emmett mumbled loud enough.
Mr. Leonard looked at Emerelda with hungry eyes, "That is why a new ruler is needed, and the King should be removed. That is why Emerelda is here, she plays a huge role in this all."
Emerelda's thoughts were racing. Her father knew, no wonder he didn't seem so shocked when she had announced her gift. That was what he feared, becoming powerless. He reached far to ensure no one took his throne. If he prevented her using her gift and killed Floyd, what else had he done?
The thought of her mother came to her.
No, she became sick. She was sick. That was correct. Her Father loved her.
However, her father loved Floyd as well.
Mr. Leonard didn't stop there, "You, 'English' children are tied to Garlin as I am." He looked at Mr. Thomas, "The Thomas," then at the twins, "The Jackson's," and at Elliot, "The Leonard's" he looked at Elisha, "And the Malachite." He finished with "And finally, the Thrones."
Of course, how had she not figured out? It was right in front of her the whole time. Jackson. Emmett was a Jackson from England. He had mentioned his family was descendants from Garlin. Yes, that could mean anything, and there were many Jacksons, although she missed the connection; Vivian Throne, Mr. Thomas and Mr. Leonard. Emerelda felt stupid for not realizing.
"Where is the future boy?" Emmett's twin asked.
"At home with Julius, he said he'll join another time." Luther answered.
Niko sighed, "And what am I here for?"
Mr. Leonard glanced his silver steel eyes at her, "You know Garlin better than anyone of us here. You grew up here and know the streets of Garlin. Although I am the royal guard, I only came here with Christopher for the purpose of knowing Garlin better not for my status. I served my right to the King which got me where I am, closer to my goal I set back at England," He glanced at Mr. Thomas, "However, I never really knew why Chris had joined me."
Mr. Thomas shrugs, "I was bored with England and I wanted my children to know of my Father and Mother's homeland."
"Are you saying our Father and Mother did a poor job?" Emmett's twin asked out loud.
They all turned to him and he stood with a large smirk on his face, his eyes daring. Mr. Thomas raised his eyebrows, unbothered by his reaction as if he had gotten used to it. Perhaps he did.
"I wasn't referring anything to anyone." He simply answered.
Emmett steps forward, "I understand how our families-" he waved a hand across the room, "All had history and a wonderful time making the late King look like a fool, but that was two generations past. We are not obligated to follow our grandparent's steps and we do not want to bother ourselves with Garlin. Everyone came here for their own purpose, their own desires and goals. You have a goal Cyrus, good for you, but do not drag us in it. Whatever happens to this land isn't our problem."
"However this is my land," Emerelda speaks up, "Whatever happens here effects me as well. You all have a place to go back to, a wonderful life. I'm sure each of you had reached your goals here in this room." She starts looking at Mr. Thomas, "You wanted your children to be exposed of this Land, to know that there is a business here which brings in money, Luther is only here to know the truth that you promised; to understand the group goal. However, that goal isn't the Judas group; it was Mr. Leonard which you support on. As for Emmett, the Midnight Assassin's are here, although you were looking for one of them. Elliot is simply following his Father to find Emmett again, which he did. And for the Midnight Assassin's, you follow whoever orders you around, and that is simply for a wonderful price. A price Mr. Leonard had promised."
Emerelda looked at everyone in the eye, "Niko is simply bored but she is curious. Mr. Leonard is the only one with an active achievement set in mind."
"And what about you, Emerelda?" Elliot quietly asks, "What are you going to do now once you found out the truth?"
Emerelda turns to him, "Garlin is my home, and a land I am destined to rule. As Mr. Leonard said, my Father, the King, is not sane. That much I knew. And Garlin in his hands is a dangerous gamble. So far Garlin is running smoothly only because his Father and the Queen had made it such. Although, how long would this last for, especially with him ruling?"
"He won't abdicate. Mr. Leonard made that clear." Elisha says.
Emerelda looks her way, "The throne would need to be taken from him."
"Here in Garlin, you must be nineteen to take the throne on yourself." Emmett's twin said, almost with a hint of mockery.
"I understand that, I'll turn nineteen in three months time. But that is not the real problem."
And everyone knew what the real problem was. Mr. Leonard has stated his story and goal. He had called everyone here to assist him. However, there is much more that is making the country in havoc.
"The odd killings happening as we speak," Mr. Leonard said it out loud.
Niko crossed her legs; it was an un lady like behavior. In fact it was something Emerelda had picked up from her. "Everyone thinks it's the Midnight Assassin, however the Assassin's stopped once Mr. Leonard took charge. We all know that the Prince Promise connation is near, and that the country thinks Emerelda left to Scotland making it a perfect time to kill the King or force him to come down."
Emmett took another step forward; he seemed to be coming nearer with each thought. He looked at Mr. Leonard with narrowed eyes, "You want the King to step down, don't you? Why not let this sudden, bizarre, group do it?"
Mr. Leonard stared calmly with an emotionless face, "That is murder. I don't want the King murder, and I don't want the country to be in the shadows and lost. I want the King to step down. I want the people of Garlin to understand why he did it and the truth. I want Garlin to change into a new golden era of peace."
"You want us to find this group and kill them all." Emmett's twin simply said.
Mr. Leonard leans back, "That is part of it, yes."
Emerelda shook her head and looked around, everyone didn't seem too surprised as she was, "We can't kill them. We can simply put them in prison."
"Then more would come after, wouldn't you think they won't have endorsement in case something like that were to happen?" Mr. Thomas said to her calmly.
"The reason the Assassin's were killing those in Garlin was to eliminate anyone who knew of them and were to go against them. They also wanted fear," Mr. Leonard explains, "I stopped that. Another group had formed to continue it. There are many appeasers here in Garlin. Majority of the Apostles are dead, so it can't be them. It is commoners in Garlin."
Emerelda was confused, "I had thought everyone in Garlin were…approve of the new change that happened in the past?"
"They did, though not everyone approves of Garlin to be in secret," Niko said, "They all feel as if they are in a prison. When the Midnight Assassin started, that woke most people up. It woke this new group."
"Therefore if we kill them…they would be out of our way and we can peacefully take the throne?" Emerelda questioned.
Mr. Leonard nods, "It is the only way. Seems revolting, and a horrible thing, though to ensure no more appeasers come in the way, frightening them like this could solve it."
"Just as what you had done with the Judas Group."
"The Judas Group were, again, blood thirty and greedy. There were others in it who wanted power once the King was gone. This group, seems more violent then the Judas group, more rash in their decisions. Though both group wanted power for themselves. I, on the other hand, want you Princess Emerelda Garlin, to take hold of that power."
Emerelda peered into his mind and waited for the lie. There was none. In fact he wanted this all too truly happen the way he plans. He wanted to fulfill this long term goal. And he needed their help, a group who would listen and follow.
Everyone in the room was silent. They were all thinking. Should they agree to this? How would this benefit to them? It seemed as if Mr. Leonard had gathered them all and gave each of their aspirations on a silver tray only to want something back.
"I don't want to work with him." Emmett says glaring at his mirrored person.
The person smirks, "Oh brother, you don't have a choice."
Emmett looks at Mr. Leonard ignoring him, "Send me, I'll finish the job in less than a day."
Elisha detached herself from the wall with a frown, "No, this is a job for us Assassin's, you can sit back with your Princess."
"I beg your pardon?" Emerelda looked at her with disgust.
Elisha grins, "We all know that you stayed in a small, beautiful, cottage with Emmett, alone in a forest, for weeks."
"It was for business, I was trying to find and kill you!"
Elisha raised her arms, "Here I am. Sadly you simply can't kill me."
Mr. Thomas laughs, "You lot realize that Cyrus has no idea who this group is?"
Everyone looked at him with shock, then back at Mr. Leonard who nodded at that, "Indeed it is true. We need to find them as fast as we could before the Promise Prince Coronation. Havens knows what they plan to do that day."
"That is in a few weeks time…"Niko murmurs.
"How would we start when we simply have no idea who they are?" Emerelda asked.
"I'm sure they have someone within high society providing them. And I'm sure they gather in meetings with them. How else would they kill silently and smoothly like the midnight assassin? Either they are gifted or have someone from a high status who provided them the killer." Mr. Leonard said.
Mr. Thomas crossed his arms, "Hmm, after our Grandfather's had realized what our Fathers had done they had made sure their children wouldn't be apostles, therefore new members from the society were chosen to fill in their place."
"Are you suggesting that we are dealing with apostles and high members again?" Emmett questioned.
Mr. Thomas shook his head, "There were a dozen apostles who joined the Judas group, and their death would either expose the court of their crimes or confused the members of the court. The killings were happening at the last meeting they all had. Therefore it wouldn't be a court member as the rest hold high loyalty for the King. It is someone below them."
"Or someone outside of Garlin." Emerelda murmurs thoughtfully. They all looked at her and she starts to explain, "Mr. Chester, he wasn't quite in the group as the members of the Judas group didn't trust him."